Harry and Meghan are expecting their second child

[Standrewsschool]

Wishing them all the best

dragonsmoke read a post at 00.25 listing friends that were at the wedding, posted to correct 'Corona's incessant shouting 'she has no friends' thing.
Hardly unlikely there were slebs there, he's a prince who knows some and she was an actress.

I too wish them well !

Why are people banging on about the wedding anyway, it was nearly three years ago, it's history.

Oh, I forgot, it's to illustrate that she is a friendless harridan who stole a prince, silly me!

I don't think Meghan or Harry are 'damaging' the royal brand at all, I think that is a media narrative put out. I think they are a breath of fresh air and are trying to reinvigorate the royal brand. Ironically I think it is the Queen herself who has damaged the brand the most, with her ham-fisted way of handling this, the way she handled the week Diana died, the Prince Andrew thing etc. I honestly believe Meghan would be much better at handling the royal brand than the Queen

^This in spades. I was quite the royalist until the Queen did two fingers up to everyone by publically supporting Andrew less than 24 hours after the carcrash interview about why he was friends with a paedophile. At that point I thought... you really didn't have to do that, you could've just lied low. I just felt different.

BBC interview is nailing at on M&H.
'We have to look at ourselves and how they were treated. And how women coming into the RF are treated. And there was racism that she had to contend with and to be frank it was pretty appalling. They are a huge loss.'
This by Professor Williams, Royal Historian. She said a lot more and made total sense. All about the future of the RF

I wonder what we will disvover about the Queem when she hangs up her crown?

Perhaps she could have stepped down and allowed younger people to make changes.
Agree her handling of family matters is like something from another era.

No one thinks Meghan should suck up racist abuse. The comedian who published the chimp photo was investigated by the police and has been effectively cancelled. Harry has done a few things in his past which could also lead to him being cancelled. As a couple they will have to try and hide some of his past antics. I think to a certain extent royal titles and the privilege that entails belong to the country and not so much the individual, therefore I do not think it’s fair for them to use these abroad for their own gain. If we are so much of a dreadfully racist country then I can understand going back to the US but leave the titles and royal associations behind. Royalty and aristocracy is associated with colonisation and empire as it is.

Oh, I forgot, it's to illustrate that she is a friendless harridan who stole a prince, silly me!

Friendless harridan is a bit harsh. I wouldn't say that, gosh. I do reserve the right to have an opinion on inviting A listers to a private wedding... it's a bit, networky dont you think?

Anyhoo, the Oprah interview should be interesting. I'm looking forward to it, sad as I am!

What privileges? There are none now. Forget the Sussex titles until Andrew gives up his York one.
What royal associations do they now need to leave behind? There aren't any.

Perhaps she could have stepped down and allowed younger people to make changes

I've said this for years. She should've abdicated like the Spain King did. (mind you, he had to given his history).
The Queen is hanging on to the old ways, the way she has always done it.
It reminds me of trying to wrestle my old Dad's driving licence from him
If Charles had been Monarch then for say 10 years and then done the same and passed to William.
This monarchy is steeped far too much in the old ways AFAIC

dragon I didn't mean you saying that. I was picking up from the endless no friends at the wedding nonsense from late last night. Sorry.
Networky, maybe.
No choice really given he's a Prince and she an actress, it was bound to be

Two things annoy me about the situation H & M are in.

1. now that they have made the break they could just enjoy their wealth, sunny home, friends, family as private people and have a really lovely life. But they can’t seem to resist ‘releasing statements’, photos, interviews etc and they never quite seem to get them right, not quite reading the room properly. They can’t have it both ways.
2. I often stood up for M against my judgemental family, and it’s bloody annoying when they say ‘told you so’!

@Cokie3 Thank you

So the take away message from this thread seems to be that if you are a confident female who dares to advocate for change, for good causes, who dares pop her head above the radar - shut up woman, you get the abuse you deserve, you should just behave, be quiet and not heard from. If you get too 'uppity' as a woman, you deserve the abuse. Just be conforming and meek like the other nondescript royals. If you show any character, any spirit, any wish to make the world a better place, we'll hound you, abuse you and you deserve it.

Such misogynistic handmaid tale-like crushing attitudes. Women truly are own worst enemies when we bully, hound and suppress a spirited woman into submission.

It’s the opposite. The strong, confident woman advocating for good causes, and taking on men in their own world, are what makes you a successful female Royal ie The Queen, Kate, Zara, Sophie etc.
Sophie supports difficult work such as campaigning against gender based violence in difficult places (she was the first Royal to visit South Sudan) and visiting Serra Leone.
It’s understanding that it’s not about “you” it’s the role. I guess that’s what service is. It’s the opposite of self promotion.

Do people really have hundreds of friends going back to childhood to invite to their weddings?

I have two. One from primary school and one from university. Rest of my friends are from work and people I’ve met through life events.

I’m NC with my family so none of my family would be present.

Had no idea wedding guests were and indicator of the authenticity of someone.

How in god's name is Kate taking on men in their own world? I am laughing at this because nothing could be further from the truth.

Kate has to be totally subservient to William and have no views, no opinions of her own at all, oh yes she has a role... look good and be the perfect wife.
That ain't taking on men!
Zara? No, her neither.

Sophie has a voice because of who she is married to.

Had no idea wedding guests were and indicator of the authenticity of someon
Only with Meghan!

She’s still happy to accept their large income from the Duchy of Cornwall, isn’t she?

Not quite “strong woman” enough to stand on her own 2 feet, there.

Sophie supports difficult work such as campaigning against gender based violence in difficult places (she was the first Royal to visit South Sudan) and visiting Serra Leone.
I guess that’s what service is. It’s the opposite of self promotion.

Sophie - is it Sophie Countess of Wessex who you are talking about?

The Sophie who in 2011 accepted jewellery and expensive gifts from the Royal family and prime minister of Bahrain?

Bahrain , the place with some of the most horrific human rights abuses.
Including a law which states
Anyone who commits rape or sexual assault shall not be sentenced to any punishment. Will be absolved of any prior conviction if he contracts a proper marriage between himself and the wronged women

Sophie may be against self promotion, but she's more than happy to financially profit. But I guess that's what Service is.

It wasn't a 'normal' wedding either, and it was in a different country and being televised. She had also lived in Canada for a while for work, so even if she has tonnes of friends, it doesn't mean any would go to her wedding either. I don't think it's an indicator to be honest, and comparing to Jane from Bermondsey who didn't have celebs in the front row is a bit weird.

LOL at the Queen being a poor old lady.

Her whole life (she thinks) has been in service to the Crown and the Commonwealth. (The rest of us see the life of luxury and untold riches, but she sees it as service.) In her view you are either in or you're out.

In = live in the UK, do your royal duties when required, never complain, never explain, support the crown, don't give opinions, be handsomely remunerated but don't draw attention to it.

Anything other than that = out.

The money side of things has kept a lot of them "in" over the years.

I do think it's possible the Duchess of Sussex thought the Royal Family would be richer than they actually are, hence her wanting to earn her own money. That, coupled with the fact that she wasn't expecting the nastiness that always seems to accompany women marrying into the Royal Family, and also the culture shock of coming from America/Canada into funny-old-stiff-upper-lip-self-deprecating Britain with all it's rules and etiquette, made her want to go home.

But this required some negotiation because of all the appointments and patronages that they both had.

Quite why it has clearly become so unpleasant behind the scenes is anyone's guess.

Royal family guidelines and procedures relating to gifts published by the government in 2003, state that "before accepting any gift, careful consideration should always be given, wherever practicable, to the donor, the reason for and occasion of the gift and the nature of the gift itself ... Equally, before declining the offer of a gift, careful consideration should be given to any offence that might be caused by such action."

Gift giving is what happens in the Middle East. There’s nothing to say she kept them after receiving them. Given that she drives herself to her public engagements and doesn’t employ a stylist etc she don’t appear to be particularly grabby.
Zara is an Olympian.
Maybe Kate doesn’t take on the men. But she does a pretty good job of presenting a family that can take on Royal duties.She comes across as entirely capable.

All of the Royals have run in’s with the press whether it be topless photos or affair rumours or criticism of how they look. What they don’t do is keep it all going. Sophie doesn’t carry on taking gifts or make a big deal of much she’s doing to justify taking gifts , Kate doesn’t quell rumours of an affairs by putting out lots of soppy picture of her and Wills.

We can all find examples of everyone’s behaviour to pick apart.I have no idea why the Meghan supporters get so aggressive when people give examples of things they find annoying.

Sophie may be against self promotion, but she's more than happy to financially profit. But I guess that's what Service is.

It’s clearly what H&M think it is too.

Disagreeing is not aggressive. It's just that... a different opinion.

I have nothing against Sophie but you would've thought that after the sheikh interiew that was endorsing business deals and running down the Government, she would be averse to accepting gems from despot countries. But no...
There is nothing to say either that she didn't keep them which would lead me to believe she did.

That's the thing about all of them... they don't seem to learn any lessons at all.

Quite why it has clearly become so unpleasant behind the scenes is anyone's guess.

I think I read somewhere that many of the Palace courtiers and advisors are Snob Central. In all sorts of ways.

@Roussette

How in god's name is Kate taking on men in their own world? I am laughing at this because nothing could be further from the truth.

Kate has to be totally subservient to William and have no views, no opinions of her own at all, oh yes she has a role... look good and be the perfect wife.
That ain't taking on men!
Zara? No, her neither.

Sophie has a voice because of who she is married to.

Prince Philip was subservient to the Queen as she was the main role.

I agree Sophie has a voice because of who she married but that applies equally to Meghan. She is a duchess because the Queen gifted the duchy title to Harry.

I don’t blame them for stepping back but I just wish they won’t so snarky with it. That bit about service just reminded me of a teenager rebelling against boundaries. And they could have stepped back in the U.K. live a life quietly & the bad press may have eventually stopped.

I hope that makes sense - feeling bit lightheaded as had the vaccine yesterday.

Sophie doesn’t carry on taking gifts or make a big deal of much she’s doing to justify taking gift

She does carry on taking gifts. The Royal family have to declare the gifts they receive, its an interesting read.
The official list hasn't been released yet for 2020, so we have yet to see what gifts she gift from Sierra Leone.

We can all find examples of everyone’s behaviour to pick apart.I have no idea why the Meghan supporters get so aggressive when people give examples of things they find annoying.

Thats the point. All royal members of the family have done really questionable things including illegal activity.

For every annoying thing Meghan has done, I can give you an example of Royal family member who has done the same thing but 10x worse.

Yet the only person who gets called manipulative, gold digger, attention seeker, grabby, bad mother, narcissistic - is Meghan.

I couldn't care less about the Royal family, but what I will always challenge is bullying and hypocritical criticism.

feeling bit lightheaded as had the vaccine yesterday

Fantastic! I had it on Tuesday, I was so excited but thought I would be affected a lot as I am with the flu and pneumonia ones.. badly. I was fine! Hope it passes soon for you.

I couldn't care less about the Royal family, but what I will always challenge is bullying and hypocritical criticism

That mirrors 100% how I feel.