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

 

[AssignedEva]

I actually don't think I can watch the show. After she makes coffee in a cafetiere (which the camera really lingers on for no reason) she makes a platter of crudité decorated with flowers and then has this incredibly awkward interaction with the makeup artist

Has she even met this makeup artist before? They seem like two complete strangers trying to nervously provide witty banter to the camera and failing miserably.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

Has she even met this makeup artist before? They seem like two complete strangers trying to nervously provide witty banter to the camera and failing miserably.

Says they’ve been besties for 15 years, doesn’t know if he likes tomatoes and is left-handed. Personally, when we are hosting people for meals we ask if there are any dietary restrictions or any particular foods they don’t like. She settled on this truly bland, fucked up pasta dish without regard for what he might enjoy.

All of her relationships are transactional. Watching her try to appear human is the most interesting part of the show. She’s just so fucking hellbent on getting the world to tell her she’s so wonderful, but it ain’t working. Just like with her podcast, her “guests” end up fawning over her the whole time as she talks nonstop about herself. It’s really kind of amazing.

 

[obsdj]

she's got a her old makeup artist visiting who has been friends with her "before, during and after"

What the hell does that mean? Is she telegraphing the inevitable divorce?

 

[duckling]

I found this thread on Reddit today with excellent criticism in the comments. The mod team has locked it because the users didn’t blame Meghan’s failings on racism enough, lol.

The criticism basically boils down to

- she’s out of touch and takes herself way too seriously

- she doesn’t know shit about hosting, why is she acting like she does

- continuing to insist on her titles comes of as incredibly hypocritical regardless of whether they are entitled to them or not

Anyways, lots of great criticism without the [IMO] frothing-at-the-mouth insane conspiracy theories that come out of the saintmeghanmarkle sub (my favorite being it seems like many people believe both that Meghan used a surrogate AND that the children do not exist)

https://www.reddit.com/r/popculturechat/comments/1j43v5s/can_someone_explain_something_to_me_about_meghan/

 

[Wargarbl]

So she launched her show to a resounding thud, and didn't have the merch ready to go along with it. Something tells me that merch is going to be DOA by the time she stops fucking up its release.

There's something uniquely satisfying about watching a sociopathic narcissist flail helplessly as their failure compounds and everyone laughs at them.

EDIT: I watched a few of the cringe-inducing clips from her show posted in the thread. She comes off exactly like the villainous sorority girl from an 80s college flick while (presumably) trying to be nice & approachable.

She can't even act human, and her domestic skills consist of putting things into cellophane. It would be unintentionally hilarious if it wasn't so hideously awkward.

 

[Sean Andalou]

a sociopathic narcissist

She is all of that, but it also needs to be stressed that she really isn't all that bright.

 

[KiwiFuzz2]

Her show is currently getting a 15% audience approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes.

 

[Corpun]

Don't know when this happened, but here's Queen Camilla visiting your average lovely British school.
A heart-warming sight! Children are our future!
View attachment 7019760

Reminds me of this old video.

I miss Prince Philip so much. Man can barely hide his disdain.

 

[squidward tentacles]

frothing-at-the-mouth insane conspiracy theories that come out of the saintmeghanmarkle sub (my favorite being it seems like many people believe both that Meghan used a surrogate AND that the children do not exist)

I love scrolling through and reading the tinfoil hat theories they come up with. Surrogates, fake babies, blackmail, it's great.

 

[Eventide]

Anyways, lots of great criticism without the [IMO] frothing-at-the-mouth insane conspiracy theories that come out of the saintmeghanmarkle sub (my favorite being it seems like many people believe both that Meghan used a surrogate AND that the children do not exist)

The "Meghan & Harry have fake kids" theories are just a lazy ripoff of the old "Michelle Obama is a man" theories. I.e. their children don't exist, but are a series of child actors/children they borrowed from friends.

I think Meghan Markle is annoying and narcissistic, but I don't fully grasp why she elicits such blind rage in middle aged white women across the internet.

 

[ddlloo]

The "Meghan & Harry have fake kids" theories are just a lazy ripoff of the old "Michelle Obama is a man" theories. I.e. their children don't exist, but are a series of child actors/children they borrowed from friends.

I think Meghan Markle is annoying and narcissistic, but I don't fully grasp why she elicits such blind rage in middle aged white women across the internet.

Because they used to dream of being a princess, and that bitch got to live out their dream and fucked it up grrrr

 

[John Andrews Stan]

The "Meghan & Harry have fake kids" theories are just a lazy ripoff of the old "Michelle Obama is a man" theories. I.e. their children don't exist, but are a series of child actors/children they borrowed from friends.

This shit is so cringe. It amazes me how many people insist there are no children at all.

I think Meghan Markle is annoying and narcissistic, but I don't fully grasp why she elicits such blind rage in middle aged white women across the internet.

Not a middle-aged white woman but I’ve had her number since her engagement interview with “H.” I found it odd that she was speaking about their relationship in the VF cover story she got only because of him. It was just super indiscreet and gauche. But seeing how transparently fake she was in that first interview made my jaw drop. It amazed me then (and still does) that anyone couldn’t see that she was an obvious fraud. What are people supposed to do, pretend she’s genuine and go along with the charade? That’s an insult to everyone’s intelligence.

I was always certain she would not get away with the phony act she was putting on. I just didn’t expect people to figure it out so quickly and universally.

 

[Otterly]

Reminds me of this old video.

I miss Prince Philip so much. Man can barely hide his disdain.

I used to love the old queen and PHIIIIILLLLIIIIIIIp spitting image sketches.
They weren’t as funny as actual clips of him though

 

[duckling]

Not a middle-aged white woman but I’ve had her number since her engagement interview with “H.” I found it odd that she was speaking about their relationship in the VF cover story she got only because of him. It was just super indiscreet and gauche.

I was much later than you, I hadn’t heard about the vanity fair interview til much later. It was the wildly popular Oprah interview that got me, personally. I felt like I was taking crazy pills with how much support she was getting for trashing the BRF, in stark contrast with their initial exit letter that had said they wanted to “collaborate” with the queen. The hasty backtrack to assure everybody who wasn’t racist made it clear to me just how stupid and short sighted they both were. It was clear to me that they had made a plan, were shot down, and were going on a revenge tour. I do believe the rumors that they had intended to reconcile with QEII before she peskily died on them.

Anyways, Meghan’s star is falling even among her prior supporters due to her insistence on continuing to flaunt her title everywhere. A huge portion of support for her came from anti-monarchists due to the history of colonialism. They thought she and Harry were speaking truth to power when in fact they clearly very much love the institution but hated their place on the totem pole. I find it very telling that /r/fauxmoi isnt glazing the show. They use an automated system to ban anybody who has ever posted in the /r/saintmeghanmarkle subreddit.

I think if Meghan had quietly eschewed her titles and served as the producer of various documentaries on injustices around the world, or as a board member at Netflix/similar, she would have remained wildly popular. That’s just fantasy speak though since it is clear she desperately needs to be the beloved center of attention.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

I find it very telling that /r/fauxmoi isnt glazing the show. They use an automated system to ban anybody who has ever posted in the /r/saintmeghanmarkle subreddit.

So does r/RoyalGossip (ask me how I found out). Gayness hits new levels over there.

 

[Tasty Tatty]

- Mindy kaling refers to her as “Meghan Markle” and is swiftly corrected - it is “Meghan Sussex”. The explanation she gives is that she really wanted to share a last name with her husband and children. But… her children were born with the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. So Meghan is alleging that she changed her last name, the last name of her husband, and the last names of both her children to (improperly, i believe) honor the title bestowed upon her by the “racist” royal family that they estranged themselves from. Make it make sense.

This would be like Diana naming herself Diana Wales or Diana Britain.

- Meghan generously taught us all how to make bath salts according to some recipe but then the mixture she made was insufficient to fill the jar she selected so she just randomly threw in more salt.

The show would have some potential if it was the life of a royal now trying to do mundane stuff on her own. Something like a classy "The Simple Life", except this one ain't a princess, she's a common whore who managed to land a prince.

Maybe the show would have worked as a whore being taught how to be a princess. Like, have the protocol guys having to explain her that Sussex is not a last name, but a title.

"Well, yeah, tomorrow, me and Harold are visiting president Donald United States."

 

[The Judean People's Front]

Figured you guys were discussing what a disaster Meggy is, and I thought I'd come by to shitpost how my husband and I were watching The League the other day and she shows up in the first episode as a chick Pete meets at a bar. I knew from suits she's not great at acting either, but man, she's bad in The League. And it's like a 30 second spot.

 

[neverendingmidi]

I was much later than you, I hadn’t heard about the vanity fair interview til much later. It was the wildly popular Oprah interview that got me, personally. I felt like I was taking crazy pills with how much support she was getting for trashing the BRF, in stark contrast with their initial exit letter that had said they wanted to “collaborate” with the queen. The hasty backtrack to assure everybody who wasn’t racist made it clear to me just how stupid and short sighted they both were. It was clear to me that they had made a plan, were shot down, and were going on a revenge tour. I do believe the rumors that they had intended to reconcile with QEII before she peskily died on them.

I got the feeling when they first “flounced” they were planning on doing the rich person version of couch surfing in California, attend all the snazzy awards shows, rub elbows with the hollywood people, and get connections that way.

But they did the flounce in early 2020 (lol).

Instead of being able to bounce from home to home, seemingly gracing various stars with Royal Presence (i.e. her waving Harry around like a flag), they were grounded at one place. All the ritzy galas were cancelled. They started to wear out their welcome before they could even go and schmooze. Ever since then they’ve (especially SHE’s) been desperately chasing clout.

 

[Corpun]

This would be like Diana naming herself Diana Wales or Diana Britain.

Camilla United Kingdom.

It's honestly amazing that Meghan has taken the spot for most disliked female royal. Granted Camilla wasn't always super despised, but having a reputation as the king's former mistress has never done her favors.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

Meghan generously taught us all how to make bath salts according to some recipe but then the mixture she made was insufficient to fill the jar she selected so she just randomly threw in more salt.

She also used a method that will burn your skin. You’re not supposed to apply essential oils directly to skin without a carrier oil.

Similarly, her open kettle method of canning is a good way to give yourself and your family botulism. It’s been strongly discouraged for decades.