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

 

[isalaide]

Maybe not?

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Before marrying the second born child of Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, the Duchess of Varmland was a well-known party girl having posed topless for now defunct Lads Mag Slitz and giving saucy interviews about kissing female porn stars at parties.

Aged 20, then known as Sofia Hellqvist, she got a job as a glamour model. In one of her first jobs she wore nothing but camouflage underwear with a live boa constrictor wrapped around her neck to cover her modesty.

Clearly a hit with readers of lads mag Slitz, in 2004 she won the title of Miss Slitz.

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13811289/Princess-Sofia-Sweden-paradise-hotel-p-diddy.html

So I guess she used to be a yachter

Sofia is a whore but she really can't hold a candle to Mette-Marit

 

[Tasty Tatty]

I like how William looks very uncomfortable when they're doing takes of him and Kate, but more natural when he's just playing with the kids and gets filmed doing it.

I also like the statues. She looks like a nice grandma and everybody loves grandmas.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

Upon reflection, I think KP should have gone with another video of Kate on that same bench in the garden at Adelaide Cottage. It would have been a nice bookend with her first announcement, with the not so subtle message that things often look better in the future even if we can’t imagine they will. Something low-key would have been understated and graceful.

I’m a fan of the Walses, but the voiceover struck me as a bit much. They have Kate promising she’ll be there, “side by side, hand in hand” with everyone else suffering cancer. It’s rather tone deaf to say this over bucolic scenes unattainable by most Brits, nevermind the new model Land Rover and stately home. It’s also a celebrity-style move and I’m old-fashioned enough to prefer the monarchy retaining its mystery. In short, the film seems like something the Sussexes would have dreamed up.

Like I said, I like them immensely but I think they’re fortunate this didn’t trigger a big backlash à la the Photoshop incident (which was much ado about nothing IMO). This film could easily have backfired on them.

 

[Hubelublub]

the film seems like something the Sussexes would have dreamed up.

It's very unBritish. Which is a shame, for an institution that's supposed to represent traditional British values.

 

[Cheesegirl78]

Upon reflection, I think KP should have gone with another video of Kate on that same bench in the garden at Adelaide Cottage. It would have been a nice bookend with her first announcement, with the not so subtle message that things often look better in the future even if we can’t imagine they will. Something low-key would have been understated and graceful.

I’m a fan of the Walses, but the voiceover struck me as a bit much. They have Kate promising she’ll be there, “side by side, hand in hand” with everyone else suffering cancer. It’s rather tone deaf to say this over bucolic scenes unattainable by most Brits, nevermind the new model Land Rover and stately home. It’s also a celebrity-style move and I’m old-fashioned enough to prefer the monarchy retaining its mystery. In short, the film seems like something the Sussexes would have dreamed up.

Like I said, I like them immensely but I think they’re fortunate this didn’t trigger a big backlash à la the Photoshop incident (which was much ado about nothing IMO). This film could easily have backfired on them.

I think it's a reply in a way to the "Where's Catherine" BS that was going on, or the rumors that William beat the stuffing out of her.
I wasn't a big fan of the video, but I like W and C, and I'm glad to see she's doing better.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

I think it's a reply in a way to the "Where's Catherine" BS that was going on, or the rumors that William beat the stuffing out of her.

Yeah, and that also makes it a bit odd. Seems like overkill and the product of an American PR.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

Columnist Stephen Glover does a good job of explaining why the Wales’s new video ought to make everyone uneasy. He echoes some of my criticism and has articulated some of what I couldn’t quite put into words. Some key quotes:





The ability to circumvent corporate media is a huge feature of our networked world. But those who live at the largesse of the public shouldn’t be able to opt out of press scrutiny. Overly slick content packages like this seem like a red flag proclaiming that the issuers don’t plan to answer to anyone anytime soon.

Whereas to the UK media, this will likely function as a red rag to a bull. “Oh, you don’t need to deal with us anymore? We’ll see about that.”

People forget that red top and broadsheet editors collaborate/collude all the time. In this case, I suspect they will do so in order to put William and Catherine in their place. I would certainly expect them to make the Waleses pay for this move sooner or later, perhaps with a scandal they won’t be able to evade with any amount of sun-dappled video footage.

This might just be what brings the Rose Hanbury rumors to the forefront after years of the Waleses narrowly avoiding that.

 

[isalaide]

the Rose Hanbury rumors

People have been talking shit about poor Rose Hanbury for years now. Rose Hanbury has not done a goddamn thing other than be born to a family slightly strapped for cash, then marry a much older 'confirmed bachelor' and provide him with a couple heirs to his title and property, and then live in separate homes. By all accounts he is a kind and thoughtful man and their arrangement is a happy one. She is continually slandered all over the internet and MSM and does not even get the right of reply. It is bloody awful what has been done to her. The willingness of people outwith the UK to believe that someone who continues to be a close friend to Kate is also her husband's mistress is some bullshit from the reign of the Sun King. Rose has been treated shamefully.

I feel profound sympathy for Kate, who only had to cope with the normal amount of press intrusion for a senior Royal before her brother in law hooked up with the black trash American whore. The whore successfully botted her way into some deranged internet conspiracy campaign to slander Kate for every mental allegation she could cook up, because the whore was too stupid to understand that the British Royal Family does not allow its members to grift off their royal title. Also she was apparently too fucking stupid to know that the wife of the spare will never be in the same place in the order of precedence as the future Queen. It's how it fucking is.

There was a great deal of goodwill for her and she could have had a very high profile, very well respected role despite her junior status in the family. Duchess Sophie was there to be her example in that. But no, she HAD to grift, so now she sulks in Montecito, emptying Harry's inheritance and trying to flog some kind of Costco jam.

Walmart Wallis indeed.

The divorce, once Harry has spent all of Princess Diana's money on her, will be quite the show. The whore has undoubtedly manufactured a careful paper trail of receipts about how terrible a husband Harry is. There will, absolutely, be allegations that he beat her.

 

[Otterly]

Columnist Stephen Glover does a good job of explaining why the Wales’s new video ought to make everyone uneasy.

It’s a bit saccharine, but frankly, I don’t care. The media have treated her shamefully. She’s the future queen, she’s got a young family and she had or has cancer, she’s not the press’s puppet to trot out when they need headlines.
If this is the Wales’s ‘fuck you’ to the media then good. I hope she remains fully in remission and gets to live out a long happy life.
And I think people DO want a bit of fairy tale unreality tbh. Life’s grim enough, the RF have to walk the line between being that fairytale stuff and not shoving wealth in people’s faces and they can do it - the press likes to seethe about Anne ‘recycling outfits from 1978’ as if it’s some affront rather than someone being stylish and knowing what lasts. Her and William seem to be managing that line alright, they seem to know that keeping quiet, shaking hands and cutting ribbons and visiting primary schools is the way to go.

People forget that red top and broadsheet editors collaborate/collude all the time. In this case, I suspect they will do so in order to put William and Catherine in their place. I would certainly expect them to make the Waleses pay for this move sooner or later, perhaps with a scandal they won’t be able to evade with any amount of sun-dappled video footage.

Yeah I bet they will. Wills must be yearning for a return to the days he could put the troublesome in the Tower.

The divorce, once Harry has spent all of Princess Diana's money on her,

He’s got another installment from the queen mother to pay out when he hits 40.
I look forward to the discount Jackie Onassis arc when she tries to bag a billionaire.
Megs might want to read up more on Jackie (who wasn’t a terribly sympathetic figure) and what Ana said made her do for that money

 

[isalaide]

He’s got another installment from the queen mother to pay out when he hits 40.

Can you fucking imagine what the Queen Mother, the exiler of the original Wallis, would have thought of this fucking Wish version

 

[John Andrews Stan]

poor Rose Hanbury

I wasn’t saying that the rumors had any validity. My comment pertained to the very shady ways of the UK media when they feel slighted and want to show who’s boss. Those rumors were an example, not a suggestion of what the press should do.

Richard Eden, a longtime royal reporter/editor, has now also raised the alarm about the Wales’s new approach. King Charles and Camilla are deeply unimpressed if their friends’ press briefings are anything to go by.

I can assure you that Charles and Camilla will not be filmed kissing each other on a beach [as William and Catherine were] until hell freezes over. It’s distinctly un-regal.

All that lying round, hugging and kissing – they’re not soppy teenagers. It felt manipulative. It’s the sort of thing that Meghan would make.

All the time, effort and expense put into making the video could have been much better spent elsewhere. Why not visit other women being treated for cancer? That’s what Diana would have done.

They should follow the example of Queen Elizabeth. The late Queen was always keen to keep up to date with the latest technology but, at the same time, maintain the dignity of the Monarchy. I’m sure that she would have done as Catherine did with her statement in March, following her cancer diagnosis, and perhaps release a simple video updating the nation on her health – but no more than that.

The Mail, at least, has sent several thinly veiled warnings to KP about this strategy. As I said, they should tread carefully.

 

[Rich Evans Simp]

I can’t download the video (sorry I’m a fag) but the clip of Meghan speaking at the bookstore event is actually shocking. She is not normal and not okay - fluttering her hands, gurning, eyes not blinking in sync.

 

[Marvin]

I can’t download the video (sorry I’m a fag) but the clip of Meghan speaking at the bookstore event is actually shocking. She is not normal and not okay - fluttering her hands, gurning, eyes not blinking in sync.

Do you have a link?

 

[Rich Evans Simp]

Video of Meg at Bookshop

 

[AssignedEva]

Do you have a link?

It's an incredibly boujie bookstoore and community space/"town square" (membership $200/month) that has opened in Montecito (or rather, just down the road in Summerland). The locals are all incredibly wealthy and usually famous in some way -

“It’s Mayberry for rich people!” roars actress Jane Lynch from one of the fireside armchairs. Lynch was greeted enthusiastically Friday night by Jennifer Freed, a best-selling author and Gwyneth Paltrow’s psychological astrologer, complimenting her blouse (bought that day from the Johnny Was store in town). Holding a mocktail with a sprig of rosemary in it, Lynch gushes about her chosen home. “This is the most community I’ve ever had in my life,” she says. “We all know each other. We know each other’s dogs!”

They had a three day launch weekend, and this segment appears to have been for "friends and family" of the store...

Video of Meg at Bookshop

...which is the additional context here; Meghan is so uncomfortable because she got upstaged by Oprah, who had left the green room early. Meghan and Harry are both featured as "local authors" and apparently Harry helped name the store because he described Oprah and the literary agent and celeb backer who founded the store as his "fairy Godmothers" at his book launch.

Meghan and Oprah were photographed hugging but noticeably there don't seem to be any posed photos with either of them, and both apparently made hasty exits afterwards. If there is awkwardness between them (because of how the "tell all interview" has now been raked over and criticised) that might explain why Meghan starts acting really weird.

 

[marjoram]

STARTS acting weird? The town bike has always been a bit wobbly. I can’t fathom how someone behaves as she does and dares to show her face the next day. My favorite is her bulling her way to the center when Haz and his teammates got the participation polo award, trying to snatch that one guy’s box, kissing everyone and standing directly under the trophy, when she had no business being there at all.

The very worst is when she “marched” ahead of the veterans. Cocaine, cocktails, and crazy is a pretty volatile mix; Haz is dumb and spoiled, the Meg is fucking dangerous.

 

[OttoWest]

Well well well the chickens are coming home to roost:
Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Harry and Meghan

Spoiler

Looks like Harry and Meghan have done it again — they’ve chewed up yet another American adviser.

Josh Kettler, the Santa Barbara-based consultant who’d been serving as chief of staff to the Duke and Duchess, reportedly resigned in August — after just three months on the job — becoming the latest member of the ever-expanding “Sussex Survivors Club,” as some former employees have taken to calling themselves. Before Kettler, there was Toya Holness, who was their global press secretary until 2022, and Christine Weil Schirmer, the onetime Pinterest communications director who quit as Harry and Meghan’s PR head in 2021. Samantha Cohen, Markle’s top aide and private secretary, departed the same year.

Earlier, there was Keleigh Thomas Morgan, a Sunshine Sachs partner who started repping Meghan when she was still a commoner (well, a TV star on Suits), adding Harry to her client roster when they became engaged and then helping them set up their own internal comms operation when the couple moved to California.

(Sources tell Rambling Reporter that Morgan stopped repping them around 2020, because the Sussexes stopped paying Sunshine Sachs for its services, though the PR firm denies that was the case.) Other members of the Survivors Club include Catherine St-Laurent, who lasted a year as head of the Sussexes’ charity Archewell; Archewell COO Mandana Dayani; content chief Ben Browning (who got Harry and Meghan’s documentary on Netflix before bolting for FilmNation); and marketing chief Fara Taylor.

Why’d they all leave? What explains the churn? “Everyone’s terrified of Meghan,” claims a source close to the couple. “She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice. They’re both poor decision-makers, they change their minds frequently. Harry is a very, very charming person — no airs at all — but he’s very much an enabler. And she’s just terrible.”

In 2018 Markle’s treatment of two royal aides prompted Buckingham Palace to investigate the then-princess for “bullying behavior.” Though the results of the inquiry were never released, Markle denounced the effort as a “calculated smear campaign.” But some of the couple’s stateside staff-members also reserve special bile for Markle, whose reported penchant for noisy tantrums and angry 5 a.m. emails has earned her the in-house moniker ‘Duchess Difficult.’ “She’s absolutely relentless,” says one source. “She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”

Their unsparing portrait of her is in marked contrast with the kinder, gentler image Markle has been painting of herself. In recent years the former princess has become an ardent admirer of best-selling Texas self-help author Brené Brown, who urges readers to cultivate gratitude and joy in their lives. While touring Colombia with her husband last month, Markle said her new attitude of gratitude had lead her to a “chapter of joy.” “If you’re going to be grateful for your life, you have to be grateful for all aspects of it,” she said.

And in a recent episode of her Archetypespodcast, Meghan spoke about the challenges she has faced asserting herself and overcoming her natural reticence in professional situations. “I find myself cowering and tiptoeing into a room and – the thing I find most embarrassing – when you’re saying a sentence and the intonation goes up, like it’s a question. And you’re like, ‘Oh my God, stop stop like whispering and tiptoeing around it. Just say what it is that you need. You’re allowed to set a boundary. You’re allowed to be clear, it doesn’t make you demanding. It doesn’t make you difficult, it makes you clear.'”

Harry and Meghan’s current spokesperson declined to comment.
Archive

The TL;DR is that Meg’s a difficult, self-sabotaging bitch that no one in L.A. wants to work with, hence their PR firm dropping them and all their deals drying up.

If this were just a tabloid or clickbait, it wouldn’t mean much but The Hollywood Reporter is a legit industry source. If they’re calling you out, you are done.

 

[Sean Andalou]

Meghan Markle is a ‘dictator’ who ‘terrifies’ staff, has ‘reduced grown men to tears,’ bombshell Hollywood Reporter exposé claims
New York Post <Murdoch>

Meghan Markle appears to be in royally hot water.

A bombshell new report alleges that the Duchess of Sussex, 43, terrifies her staff, with one source describing her as a “dictator in high heels” who has reduced “grown men to tears.”

The embarrassing exposé was published by The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, and is likely to rattle Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, who is celebrating his 40th birthday this weekend.

“Everyone’s terrified of Meghan,” a source close to the couple alleged in the article, which examined high-turnover among the Sussex’s staff.

...

The NY Post still New York's trashiest daily tabloid.
It was even before Murdoch bought it and added right wing editorialists.
And tits on page 3, discreetly clad in tight bikinis because this is still (sort of) America.

 

[Not A Bunny]

The TL;DR is that Meg’s a difficult, self-sabotaging bitch that no one in L.A. wants to work with, hence their PR firm dropping them and all their deals drying up.

It makes sense and isn't entirely unexpected. Hollywood is supported by nobody outing each other's secrets. You don't want to associate with anyone who's going to sell you out for their own profit. She's lucky that the RF is basically giving her enough rope to hang herself with instead of pulling a Diana on her.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

It makes sense and isn't entirely unexpected. Hollywood is supported by nobody outing each other's secrets. You don't want to associate with anyone who's going to sell you out for their own profit. She's lucky that the RF is basically giving her enough rope to hang herself with instead of pulling a Diana on her.

I'd say she didn't help with becoming a pariah for the royal family. She thought she could girlboss her way in, only to make herself way too toxic for media appeal. The only ones who accepted her are shitty leftist media that just shames anyone who criticised her.