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

 

[Marvin]

Have you ever had a run in with inept young adults in a university setting who cannot do laundry, cook, clean, etc? Meghan is that on stereoids since she's rich as fuck and never had to adapt like the rest of us.

But she's blackkkkkkk

 

[Sean Andalou]

But she's blackkkkkkk

Not overwhelmingly.

 

[Free the Pedos]

Have you ever had a run in with inept young adults in a university setting who cannot do laundry, cook, clean, etc? Meghan is that on stereoids since she's rich as fuck and never had to adapt like the rest of us.

She was raised middle class so she doesn’t really have an excuse.

 

[Sean Andalou]

She was raised middle class so she doesn’t really have an excuse.

Bourgeois by birth, a rich bitch by choice.

 

[Overwritten Tapes]

I hate this entitled bitch. She was known for

" Meghan Markle, at the age of 11, wrote to Procter & Gamble to protest a sexist advertisement for Ivory dishwashing soap that stated, "Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans." She also sent letters to First Lady Hillary Clinton, civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred, and Nick News anchor Linda Ellerbee. Her efforts led to the ad's wording being changed from "women" to "people," marking her first activism success1234."

That limpdick cuck husband of hers deserves everything he gets.

 

[Otterly]

Her efforts led to the ad's wording being changed from "women" to "people," marking her first activism success1234."

Success ..? Did it make any more men do the washing up?

 

[Tasty Tatty]

Queen Elizabeth was a mechanic during the war. Many nobles of that one family can hunt and do stuff associated with it. I wouldn't be surprised if the Queen could skin a bird to cook it. Historically, nobility weren't useless.

Meghan has zero excuse.

 

[Corpun]

She was raised middle class so she doesn’t really have an excuse.

There's plenty of entitled middle-class shits who were never told to make their own fucking bed out there.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

Her efforts led to the ad's wording being changed

Except she made that part up. Brands change their messaging on a frequent basis to see what resonates best with consumers in longitudinal surveys. Meghan has no idea if her letter was even received or read.

The Behavior Panel guys pointed out that by the principle that the organism does what works and keeps doing it, the ego feed Meghan got from this outspoken activist feminist shtick ensured she would keep recreating that scenario in different circumstances. Hence we got her telling everyone before the wedding that she was going to “modernize the monarchy,” hence we got her bull in a china shop persuading her husband to ditch his family for the sake of their shared crusade, and on and on.

The latest: She announced today that her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, is coming out next month. Nevermind that there is already a podcast by that name (created by a Muslim WOC of all people). Only 10 years late to the zeitgeist, Meghan is making the trailblazing #girlboss her next costume/identity in the hopes this will finally be what works for her.

Spoiler alert: It won’t.

 

[gobbles]

Female Founder

I detest modern hyperbole. We no longer have owners or even “entrepreneurs”; we have “CEOs” and “founders”. These nascent industry titans (just wait!) have created businesses that: (1) are less than five years old, (2) have never earned a profit, (3) have fewer than 20 employees—all paid for by accruing debt, and therefore (4) don’t have a solid financial plan or long term viability.

I like a lot of modern language. I was just thinking about how “voluntold” is a great addition to the new American lexicon. I just hate pretense. She’s selling jam; she’s practically a costermonger.

 

[RomanianSchizo]

The latest: She announced today that her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, is coming out next month. Nevermind that there is already a podcast by that name (created by a Muslim WOC of all people). Only 10 years late to the zeitgeist, Meghan is making the trailblazing #girlboss her next costume/identity in the hopes this will finally be what works for her.

Spoiler alert: It won’t.

She obviously didn't learn from the Archetypes podcast. Do we know what platform this new one is going to be on? Last I heard, Meghan and Harry don't have a deal with Spotify anymore.

 

[Imp]

Lemonada, some fly by night, women led podcast host.

https://lemonadamedia.com/

Founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Lemonada is an award-winning, independent, audio-first podcast network, with a mission to make life suck less. In 2022, both Cordova Kramer and Wittels Wachs were named among the ‘Top 50 Most Powerful People in Podcasting’ by Podcast News Daily and Inside Radio. The company is also the creator of the audio reality™ podcast genre, and launched BEING Studios, where reality TV meets podcasting.

No obvious they/thems, only a few with restrained dangerhair colors on staff. Huge downward step from Spotify

 

[John Andrews Stan]

No obvious they/thems

But they claim that LGBTQIA+ issues are one of the pillars of their content.

 

[Sean Andalou]

She’s selling jam; she’s practically a costermonger.

Yank who doesn't speak British had to look it up.
And now I say -- spot on.

 

[isalaide]

I detest modern hyperbole. We no longer have owners or even “entrepreneurs”; we have “CEOs” and “founders”. These nascent industry titans (just wait!) have created businesses that: (1) are less than five years old, (2) have never earned a profit, (3) have fewer than 20 employees—all paid for by accruing debt, and therefore (4) don’t have a solid financial plan or long term viability.

I like a lot of modern language. I was just thinking about how “voluntold” is a great addition to the new American lexicon. I just hate pretense. She’s selling jam; she’s practically a costermonger.

@Otterly new business proposal: I'll get a bigger shed out the back, pay the boss ten bob for the licensing rights, and you and I can go in on the jam making, "Kiwi Jam", special flavour mixtures of jams and chutneys including Boldy Spicy, Pickle Suit (obvs), Liz Plum Gone. We only need to sell about 6 jars and we can advertise as More Profitable Than Meghan Markle.

We can sell it as FEMALE FOUNDED AND OWNED

 

[Pedophobe]

“Category 5 twee” is my new favorite descriptor.

"limited edition artisan Oscar Wilde buttonhole" stuck out for me.

 

[FatalTater]

Is "female founded" even a big deal anymore? It's 2025. Women do stuff nowadays don't they?

Unrelated ramble - For some reason I am thinking of how in the 1987 movie Baby Boom the main character is a businesswoman who quits her job to live on a farm and starts selling the baby food applesauce she made for the kid she inherited.
Tedious movie. Should have been about half as long as it was.

 

[Sean Andalou]

Is "female founded" even a big deal anymore?

Nationalistic pride.
As it might be "buy American" or something.
Didn't know females were a nationality, did you?

 

[Otterly]

Kiwi Jam

Sounds more fun than my current gig.

 

[John Andrews Stan]

Is "female founded" even a big deal anymore? It's 2025. Women do stuff nowadays don't they?

Women have been entrepreneurs as long as commercial activity has existed. Sure it can help to network with other CEOs who have experienced some of the same challenges you have, but all of Meggot’s challenges are self-created. She’s not looking to share with other women on the same level as her. She wants to talk down to women about how they should be doing things, just like her entire show is about talking down to her friends. (Notice the drastic difference during the Roy Choi episode. It’s as close as you’ll get to seeing her act humbly. But with her friends, she’s The Expert and no one is allowed to forget that.)

I’m calling it now: She will not acknowledge her mistakes in announcing a brand name before she secured the trademark, or her disasters based on thinking she knew more than she did about trademarks. Her “war stories” will be about how nobody ever gives her credit for being a Boss Babe, how nobody realizes how smart she is, etc.