UK United Kingdom Royal Family / Royal Families Drama General Thread - formerly "Prince Harry and Meghan to step back as senior royals"

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced they will step back as "senior" royals and work to become financially independent.

In a statement, Prince Harry and Meghan also said they plan to split their time between the UK and North America.

The BBC understands no other royal - including the Queen or Prince William - was consulted before the statement and Buckingham Palace is "disappointed".

Senior royals are understood to be "hurt" by the announcement.

In their unexpected statement on Wednesday, also posted on their Instagram page, the couple said they made the decision "after many months of reflection and internal discussions".

"We intend to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen."

They said they plan to balance their time between the UK and North America while "continuing to honour our duty to the Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages".

"This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity."

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said discussions with the duke and duchess on their decision to step back were "at an early stage", adding: "We understand their desire to take a different approach, but these are complicated issues that will take time to work through."

The couple's announcement on Wednesday comes two months after the Duke of York withdrew from public life after a BBC interview about his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in August.

Harry and Meghan to step back as senior royals

No other royals were consulted before the couple's announcement, the BBC understands.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Kosher Dill]

His name is just Archie, right? It's not short for anything? Could you imagine having King Archie? No one would ever take him seriously.

And the thing is, "Archibald" would have been a badass royal name and they still could have nicknamed him Archie.

 

[mold]

Kate has taken the kids to the bunker cause the nukes are about to fly

 

[duckling]

It's been her plan all along. She named her son Archie, and his sole existence since birth has been as a product and a brand. Their foundation is called Archewell.

She wants him to have this massive name recognition to compete with future King George VII, because in her delusional heart she truly believes it's a popularity contest and her son can somehow be king.

I don't know who will have the biggest complex about their childhood, Archie, or his sister who gets ignored completely outside her initial naming controversy (which again was by design). Your mother created you as props and a brand, enjoy!

Also prince George’s private nickname was Archie. Meghan and Harry picked it to piss off Catherine. They’re deranged.

https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a31913836/archie-nickname-prince-george/

 

[Free the Pedos]

Also prince George’s private nickname was Archie. Meghan and Harry picked it to piss off Catherine. They’re deranged.

https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a31913836/archie-nickname-prince-george/

Like they picked Lilibet to show how super close to and respectful of the Queen they are.

 

[Flan Handler]

As far as I can tell she is going for diet Martha Stewart - table settings, cookbooks, and a fuck ton of salt.

She was running a “lifestyle blog” called The Tig alongside her acting when she met Harry. I guess the other grifts are not working out, so it’s back to… blogging?

 

[Otterly]

Also prince George’s private nickname was Archie. Meghan and Harry picked it to piss off Catherine. They’re deranged.

https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a31913836/archie-nickname-prince-george/

She’s the type who’d turn up at your wedding in a white dress. I dont get it - I could get it if she was fabulously beautiful but she’s very plain looking and built like a fridge. Do they teach them some special tricks at yacht girl school maybe?

 

[MongInTheMirror]

She’s the type who’d turn up at your wedding in a white dress. I dont get it - I could get it if she was fabulously beautiful but she’s very plain looking and built like a fridge. Do they teach them some special tricks at yacht girl school maybe?

I've long believed that Megs has a wildly disproportionate/detached from reality impression of her own looks. Partly as a result of being spoiled, partly as a result of being a literal whore. Daddy Markle started it by spoiling her rotten to overcompensate for Doria's abandonment, then every step of the way since she's relied on manipulating men through sex for opportunities and status progression. A more intelligent or self-aware woman would realize that this is a short-term strategy of limited effectiveness: you don't need to be stunningly beautiful to get men to give you things in exchange for sucking them off, you just need to be... willing to do that. I think she's taken men's superficial asskissing to get her to drop her well-oiled knickers much too seriously, and developed an image of her own beauty that is wildly at odds with her rapidly aging reality.

It's also relative: what might have been "stunning" in her suburban girls high school is an utterly disposable 6, at best, in actual Hollywood/royalty circles. Whether the attribute is beauty, brains, or athletic ability, the "small fish in a big pond" effect is real and narcissistic types who've excelled in more banal settings often struggle to adjust.

 

[Stoneheart]

I dont get it... she now is covered in shit, like the peasant she is, so whats the big deal?

 

[duckling]

She’s the type who’d turn up at your wedding in a white dress. I dont get it - I could get it if she was fabulously beautiful but she’s very plain looking and built like a fridge. Do they teach them some special tricks at yacht girl school maybe?

I personally thought she had a beautiful face before she melted all her face fat with ozempic but yes her body is truly unfortunate and she is in desperate need of a stylist. Meghan is built like a fire hydrant on twigs and has no calves to balance out her big rib cage. I get it Meg, I have a big ribcage too, but she seriously needs a stylist to smack some sense into her and PRESS her goddamn outfits. Also this might be because I'm an urban american and am just used to 50 shades of brown but I didn't know she had any black in her at all until she screamed about the woyal wacists in everybody's face on pay-per-view.

As for taking lilibet from the queen: https://www.newsweek.com/queen-elizabeth-swipe-prince-harry-meghan-markle-1860902#:~:text=However, an argument blew up,I own is my name.

> Queen Elizabeth II felt Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had taken "the only thing I own" after they named their daughter in tribute to her childhood nickname.

Obviously completely out of touch on the old bird's part - I'd love to have a tiara moment and a royal apartment on the crown's dime - but sad nonetheless.

 

[The Gene Genie]

She’s the type who’d turn up at your wedding in a white dress. I dont get it - I could get it if she was fabulously beautiful but she’s very plain looking and built like a fridge. Do they teach them some special tricks at yacht girl school maybe?

It all makes sense when you realize that Meghan's endgame was to become another Diana; that is, a visibly popular Royal who divorces a Prince and then goes on the media circuit for clout and money. It seemed like a perfect plan too: back Harry into a corner and force him to choose between you or his family, divorce him when he chooses the family, and then go on the media talking about how bad the Firm is and how they brainwashed Harry and this that and the other. The tabloid press love that kind of shit and have been itching for another go since they chased Diana into that tunnel.

Too bad for her that Harry really is a spineless cuck, and she's just too unlikeable to be Diana in any case.

 

[obsdj]

Under the circumstances, it's pretty wild to me that they don't have a Twitter presence, especially her. As far as I can tell, there wasn't any stipulation in their severance agreement (heh) about not having a social media presence. I wonder if she's secretly negotiating with Elon for a deal of some sort. Even if not, she could have been monetizing this whole time.

 

[Not A Bunny]

> Queen Elizabeth II felt Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had taken "the only thing I own" after they named their daughter in tribute to her childhood nickname.

Obviously completely out of touch on the old bird's part - I'd love to have a tiara moment and a royal apartment on the crown's dime - but sad nonetheless.

Thing is, though, they want to separate themselves from the royals (so they say, but um, nice titles you got there), and they decide to name their daughter using a very personal nickname.

The least cynical interpretation I can think of is that "Lilibet" is a very well-known nickname of the queen and the poor kid will always be associated with the RF, and she'll never have a life of her own, despite not really being a part of it. Worst of both worlds, really.

Most cynical? Here's this great-grandbaby of yours, and you don't get to be a part of her life, even though we use her name. I have a lot of sympathy for people with estranged family members when kids are born. The kids have nothing to do with the family fallout, and they get shafted for not even knowing their family. Still goes back to being a pawn, in all versions of this story.

Markle got her anchor babies, and Harry was too stupid to see what was happening. They're going to be well taken-care-of forever, but if they're ever repossessed by the royals (and I suspect they will be someday), I get the sense that because they weren't raised as proper royals (and because they're their mother's kids), they'll never truly "fit" or be accepted.

 

[duckling]

Under the circumstances, it's pretty wild to me that they don't have a Twitter presence, especially her. As far as I can tell, there wasn't any stipulation in their severance agreement (heh) about not having a social media presence. I wonder if she's secretly negotiating with Elon for a deal of some sort. Even if not, she could have been monetizing this whole time.

Yeah I was also surprised she didn’t immediately re-spin up her personal blog The Tig - it was actually modestly successful from my understanding. I think maybe Meghan spent a few years trying to convince Harry she totes wanted to be a private citizen and fearmongered him with his mom’s death by paps. It seems to me with her various relaunches that she wants to be Gwyneth Paltrow/Martha Stewart, who are successful at this point simply by being who they are and stamping their name/lifestyle on merchandise.

 

[babadook]

Here's a rundown of the rumors swirling if you want to listen to them rather than read. Bonus sweet Yorkshire accent.

You call that accent sweet??

 

[The Judean People's Front]

You call that accent sweet??

Gotta remember that us Americans don't really differentiate in our enjoyment of Brit accents. I only know about the North/South culture divide because I unabashedly enjoy Love Island (first seasons, especially. Jonathan and Hannah forever). But most Americans? No idea.

 

[A Sentient Cloud]

That is the one thing about the colostomy bag story that would disprove it--if it were true, there is zero chance Meghan wouldn't leak it by now

Meg and Kate didn't know each other for long and weren't exactly close. I don't see why the fairly private and buttoned-up Kate would disclose such information to her, and even if she did for all the hate Meg gets she doesn't seem to be the type to disclose someone else's private medical information to the press. Plus, doing so would make her look bad, not Kate.

 

[batigol]

hasn't part of this been the UK papers revealing that they're actually totally controlled and any thing they cover is only what's allowed?

Between D-Notices and Super-injunctions this has been true for decades.

 

[Free the Pedos]

You call that accent sweet??

Music to my ears. The dulcet tones of a young Sean Bean.

 

[CertifiedFedBot]

Like they picked Lilibet to show how super close to and respectful of the Queen they are.

That is so fucking weird. A normal person would've just named her Elizabeth in honor of the great-grandmother and called her Ellie or Lilly at home. Markel is such a ghoul, there's nothing behind those eyes, just a pit that hungers for attention.

 

[Free the Pedos]

Markel is such a ghoul, there's nothing behind those eyes, just a pit that hungers for attention.

Did you watch their South Park episode? That was the penultimate joke: Harry opens her head like a coconut and hollers inside only to receive a resounding echo.