To think Kate and William saw Harry and Meghan as a real threat to their image?

The Andrew revelations add another negative dimension: repeatedly endangering national security including alleged sex tapes and friendship with Chinese spy.

If William paid his taxes , stopped ripping off charities and even better , said the public purse could be better spent elsewhere than on the billionaire Windsors , he wouldn’t need to worry about trying to produce an iota of ‘charisma ‘

The Windsors want us distracted by their gaudy baubles and fooled into thinking that they deserve the half a billion a year they steal from us - but we have the internet now lol and it isn’t working .

One thing I have noticed is that the life trajectory of the, "Spare" for at least the last three generations has followed the same pattern. See if you can tell who I am talking about here, Margeret, Andrew or Harry:

When young, could be said to be slightly better looking, a bit more outgoing and charismatic and well known for liking a party. Popular with the public and media alike.

Just when tipping over the edge from, "Party loving" to, "Bit embarrassing" settles down with somebody completely out of left field, nothing like anybody they had ever dated before but the public wishes them well, even if slightly puzzled. Media plays along.

Brief interlude of cute babies and calm before storm but media is starting to get snippy.

Disaster strikes.

Harry is still arguably still at stage three and can maybe head off the big trouble but it does seem to be a pattern.

Is it something inherent in the rôle of Spare? Does the Royal Family conciously or unconsciously sabotage the second born to avoid some kind of coup or uprising?

Kate doesn’t have to do much to get huge attention. She looks good, can turn up and have the press and enough public attention.

If anything it’s a bit much although she seems to handle that as well as possible. H&M launch stuff and need PR, it’s a different ballgame.

Yes, William and Kate don't have charisma at all.

It’s (charisma) a bit thin on the ground now though isn’t it.

I really don’t think so.

No, what took a few months to emerge for us (how she really is) - they had seen right from the start.

Dread that she was joining the family, not jealousy

Invictus Games? when she tried to march in fit flops! The engagement interview in a totally inappropriate 50k dress interrupting and gurning? Behave yourself.

No.

Can't imagine a future King (and Queen) being even remotely threatened by at best (and if I am being kind) a c-list actress

Why am I even posting on a thread about Meghan and harry? They are rich twats with a weirdly obsessive fan base💩

Oh W and K and deeply dull, I agree with you there

And I think it does matter to the Windsors . It’s all PR and superficiality now . No one still falls for the ‘ we are appointed by God ‘ crap any longer so it is a race to be the top influencer and neither W nor K are equipped to win that race.

Hence the years long attempts to destroy Harry as his continued existence outside the ‘royals ‘ is a threat .

It’s all so very superficial. The Windsors are corrupt and above the law- THAT is what needs to be addressed not mocking jam or wine or whatever other rubbish occupies endless threads in the Harry and M hate section .

If the Windsors made the slightest attempt to clean up the sex offenders and pedophile protectors among their number would there be any of them left ?
There is serous law breaking there and what are they doing about it ?

I think it's important to separate the initial media narrative - new, mixed race, glamorous America, happy Harry - from what William and Kate saw behind the scenes - a not particularly bright person who they loved being dominated by a woman showing little willingness to do what was required to take on a senior Royal role. Worrying about being upstaged would have been the last thing on their minds.

Edited for typo

This. I remember the press turning on Meghan almost right from the get go. I don't remember it the way you describe it at all @BluntPinkNewt

The press were very very down on M initially and then the pair of them. There was no extended period when M shone or had a chance to outshine W and K.

W and K were right to keep distance and treat H and M like a firework that never went off. History has proved this to be the correct approach too.

No, I think they were probably looking forward to Harry getting married to someone who brought out the best in him & starting a family - enjoying life as an extended family with their children and people who could share the load of their working life. It has all been a crushing disappointment.

Meghan can be very polished but was inconsistent in that - as was Catherine I suppose to start with but not to the same extent. I'm not sure about glamorous - or why that would unsettle them? Meghan is a very attractive woman but even with maximum effort she was never going to be considered more attractive than Catherine. Even if Harry had married someone who could be percieved as more attractive/glamorous/polished that Catherine, I really don't think that would've bothered them.

It didn't take long for Meghan's 'charisma' to morph into almost the complete opposite and for Harry's dark side to come out more. I honestly can't think of a time where I viewed H&M as more relatable or interesting, or in any way in competition with W&C. They were just out doing the job, Meghan learning the ropes - an addition rather than a competition.

This.

That said, I think a lot of people are over all of them. It's all a bit silly with people struggling to make a living.

Hear hear!

I am in your 65+ age group and I am heartily sick of the lot of them. They are going nowhere unfortunately.
Just downsize, stop taking millions and millions from us for less and less royals doing miniscule amounts of work, and let the wider family go and earn their own money. Let's just pay for King to sign his red boxes, and Queen to support him. I don't want to see the rest of them.

It is criminal that the Sovereign Grant is going up next year 2025/6 by 53% to £132million. I'm amazed they've got the nerve to show their faces at all !

Actual LOL.

How shocking! Ripped jeans! Did people just faint in the street at such a sight?!

Welcome back the 1950s!

And to add... are you saying that Harry has fallen out with his brother and father all because you didn't like the look of Meghan to start with, and deemed her 'unsuitable'?
Gosh!!

I’m bored with the lot of them really. I was only ever ‘here’ for the weddings so I’ll probably watch George get married if I’m still around. I don’t really care if we have royals or not, I’m not invested either way, I certainly don’t have the energy or care to protest against them or support them. It’s a case of ‘wake me up when George or the other two get married’.

Meghan had no 'profile' to speak of in Britain before she met Harry. Nor was she ever any sort of 'activist'. Come on.

You can't compare her to Diana. Not only was Diana Princess of Wales and future Queen - as opposed to the wife of the 5th in line - she lived in a completely different era. Diana now would not be the global superstar she was back then, for many reasons. The media, the role of the royal family, and society in general have changed massively since Diana's day.

I think it is quite likely. The brothers have always been compared. Catherine has been compared to members of the royal film including Beatrice and Eugenie but shes always come off better eg. taller, thinner, more beautiful, dresses better according to the press. She has been compared to her own sister and still in the media at least has always come off better. When Meghan came on the scene it was the first time she had been on the other end of comparisons. Meghan does dress in a more fashion forward way, previously Catherine had played it a lot more safe. Just because she is royal doesn't make her immune to human emotions and she may well have felt surprised, jealous, fed up but that's speculation on our part. Who really knows?

Well there’s an awful lot of unsuitable couples on MN who fit similar criteria. Heck I was part of one once.

I do not believe that the Windsors are genuinely popular now in the UK
Yes with the 65+ age group perhaps - but popularity is clearly time limited .

But people below that age not a chance .

And no, the ‘polls’ do not convince me .

Add a question to the next ballot paper . No need to act on it so you can relax re Brexit type upheaval .
Just ask us .

If we live in democracy as we are told we do - let us have our say about the Windsors .