Harry stepping down as a royal family member

[kittykatkitty]

Just read this on their instagram page.
They plan on becoming private citizens

How can they set up a separate 'court' and not overshadow K and W?

So what if they do? Who decides and controls who the public are more interested in? Imagine having to operate in such a way as to constantly monitor your words and actions so that you don't inadvertently overshadow someone else. I think that is more odd and unnatural.

Yeah, google for Peter Philips’ ‘completely independent’ work. Whose company got the £0.75m contract to arrange the queen’s birthday event? Completely independently, of course.

As for Zara Philips and her Longines endorsement contract, or her highly-paid consultancy work for racing companies: if she had been plain old Sarah Smith, even if she was a world class rider, do you really think those contracts would have dropped into her lap? Would they bollocks

Thank you, thank you for this post. I make the same point every time the trite old bollocks about Peter and Zara pulling themselves up by their bootstraps gets trotted out on these threads.

The pair of them milk their privileged royal connections so hard it's amazing their hands don't fall off and yet at the same time have somehow contrived to make the public believe it's all their own doing. The magic of royalty, eh?

No I don’t have some desire to be servile, what a bizarre thing to say. I think that Viscount Linley’s work is really beautiful, and that it would be well thought of whatever his background. It would have taken him longer, but he would have been successful anyway, in some design field.
Of course connections help anyone, plenty of middle class parents use their connections to give their children a leg up, whether they are talented or not, I am not disputing that.

Yup, I've also been shouted down for suggesting that Zara has the best of both worlds.

Immense wealth/privilege due to who she is & no responsibilities.

Of course she's a good horsewoman, but so might one of my offspring be if we had the money/connections...

*How can they set up a separate 'court' and not overshadow K and W?

So what if they do? Who decides and controls who the public are more interested in? Imagine having to operate in such a way as to constantly monitor your words and actions so that you don't inadvertently overshadow someone else. I think that is more odd and unnatural.*

As in, yes I'm sure it is possible I don't think the Palace will allow it. How would it work - would completely dilute the whole point of the RF (am pro a republic anyway)

I'm no real fan of the royal family but even within a regular family one member treating the others shabbily would be seen a bit shitty wouldn't it?

Agreed! And if you watch the Crown 🤣🤣 you'll see that none of them come off very well. Liz has done her fair share of throwing people under the bus all in the name of duty.

My favourite scene so far is Mike Parker's wife Eileen telling the queen that she wasn't going to hold off announcing the divorce and using the phrase 'you people'. Awesome woman to stand up for herself.

Like many others, I respect their desire to quit and actually don't much care. But the bare-faced cheek of being happy to represent the Queen on foreign assignments yet not wanting to open a community centre in Grimsby on a Thursday in February is what sticks in my craw.

As in, yes I'm sure it is possible I don't think the Palace will allow it. How would it work - would completely dilute the whole point of the RF (am pro a republic anyway)

Exactly! They don't have Harry's best interests at heart. I just don't think they worry about individual happiness it's all about protecting the institution. It's so fucked up as an organisation and privately as a family.

To be fair to Viscount Linley, he has huge talent and would have made a success of his career without his Royal status.

His business has been repeatedly bailed out over the years with cash injections from wealthy associates and he lost overall control of it several years back:

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5972739/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Queens-nephew-David-Linley-hit-1-5million-business-loss.html

I don’t buy this Tom Bradby stuff at all - saying M&H learned the monarchy was going to be slimmed down and jumping before they were pushed. The general public have known about the intention to slim down the monarchy for years!

Now, now, @cathyorclaire. Don’t stray off the script!

Viscount Linley, gawd bless him, is ENORMOUSLY talented and a business colossus.

(Thanks for the link to the article. Particularly the bit about the cash injection from the Russian later arrested for embezzlement. And the bit about one of his customers being ‘independent film director in his own right, David Furnish’)

I don’t buy this Tom Bradby stuff at all

Neither do I. Even a slimmed down monarchy would include Charles' kids. It also doesn't chime with aides saying the palace has gone above and beyond to facilitate H and M's requests for their home, office, tours. It's damage control, they don't like the backlash.

Even a slimmed down monarchy would include Charles' kids.

I don't agree. The monarchy and the Family are 2 distinct things.

I also don't think that they will remove the titles

I expect such decisions may hang on what pressure H&M can bring to bear in order to keep them. Harry in particular has an inside track, and if PPs are correct that all this really was Meghan's intention from the start, she probably won't have been slow to gather whatever titbits might be saleable later

Given that any pretence of dignity and reticence seems to have ended with the Queen - and I'm not even sure about her - there's no doubt plenty swilling round that the media will pay good money for

Why would they set up a court? Do William and Kate even have a court? I thought that kind of thing ended 100+ years ago.

I reckon they will go and live a private life in Canada or wherever they end up and not much will be seen of them. They will associate with other rich and privileged people in the area where the are and hopefully live a happy life together.

No I don’t have some desire to be servile, what a bizarre thing to say.

Is it? How else to explain your, and other posters’ determination to put these people on a pedestal despite evidence to the contrary?

I think that Viscount Linley’s work is really beautiful, and that it would be well thought of whatever his background. It would have taken him longer, but he would have been successful anyway, in some design field.

Of course he would, love. Just ask all of the talented people from normal backgrounds who studied fine art, or industrial design, or fashion design. Every single one of them has eventually become successful. Through talent alone. Oh, hang on...

Of course connections help anyone, plenty of middle class parents use their connections to give their children a leg up, whether they are talented or not, I am not disputing that.

Your thinking is a bit fuzzy. The debate is about whether your darlings would be successful in their own right, without royal connections, not whether connections are helpful or whether parents are inclined to ‘give their children a keg up’.

Hahaha that should read ‘a leg up’, not ‘a keg up’. I am typing as if I am several kegs up.

Brassbrass-I fairness most of what it hi k about the RF has been based on The Crown so I'm probably not the best person to judge any of this

Well yes, they are absolutely banking on trading on the Royal connection like others have. Why do you think they trademarked the Sussex name then?

I don't think they have any intention of being private citizens, they have no intention of giving up their titles or status at all. Absolutely none. They want the fame and fortune without any criticism - that doesn't happen for anyone.

Hollywood celebrities are treated like gods and rarely get called out (except once a year by Ricky Gervais) for their hypocrisy, grandstanding their values and opinions but never questioning their airmiles and fur lined insulatation from the 'common people.'

Yes. Did you notice how upset they all got when H&M were called out for their private jetting? Several rushed to defend them with vocal support, then loads of them signed a paper in support of Extinction Rebellion saying 'we're hypocrites, but we are 'determined' to support the fight to make the world better' or some silmilar variant of hypocritical hogwash, which people swallowed unbelieveably.

It was noticeable just how upset they were that people would question their green credentials or expect them to actually put their money where their mouth is. I expect they were not used to it. But in the US you can be woke without having to actually live by what you preach or be accountable.

Guess that's what H&M want.

The events are real hard to say about the characters and dialogue. I imagine they did their research though. Certainly enough material around. They're very much a soap opera Murray 😂

Viscount Linley: “It would have taken him longer, but he would have been successful anyway, in some design field.”

Do you have access to a matrix of alternate realities?

Your post suggests ignorance of inequalities affecting many things, including what people achieve professionally.

she probably won't have been slow to gather whatever titbits might be saleable later

There was an interesting blind a few months ago about her recording details and private conversations that would be of interest to the press.

I think that’s the only thing that could get me back on side, if they published a huge book of RF secrets I bet Liz has some terrible habits, leaving empty dubonnet bottles all over the palace and has a sly can of Kestrel in her bag to crack open after each visit.

I reckon they will go and live a private life in Canada or wherever they end up and not much will be seen of them

That sounds rather at odds with the website, trademarking of merchandise and collaborations with Oprah.

next thing people will say is that Beatrice/Eugenie would have done well in any field - but they chose to marry well (one has done ok, the other might/might not)