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Original poster

The knives are out for the royal family

999 replies

justasking111 · 19/08/2019 14:26

It may be deserved in some cases, however it would seem the gloves are off as far as the media are concerned. They have lived high on the hog for centuries so what is new?

Am scratching my head here is it shoot the royal family season or a smoke and mirrors exercise designed to distract us from something more important??

I would hate to be in the PR business with the RF just now.

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Hithere12 · 20/08/2019 18:56

From £56000 engagement dresses

HOW does a basic bland blue office dress cost £56,000?! What a fucking joke. These people are obscene.

Original poster
justasking111 · 20/08/2019 19:00

Who had a 56k engagement dress?

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Pamplemousecat · 20/08/2019 19:00

The amount they spend on an outfit! £56,000 on a dress!!!! Thousands on dresses to wear on a day to day basis. They wear such garb to “ touch” the lives of those less fortunate eg homeless, sick, dying, they could probably turn those lives around by selling the damn dress and donating the money. Or better still not buying them in the first place.

Ibiza2015 · 20/08/2019 19:00

Meanwhile W&K seem... fine? But how many events have they ever done? They’re really lucky their kids are cute, it detracts from the fact they do so few engagements. And ever did... which is strange as their foreign tours seemed a success.

Sorry, know this was posted ages ago, but this is a deliberate strategy. When Prince Charles was small he barely saw his mother. She was in Malta as an navy wife (sans children) until she became Queen then was hardly ever in the country, away doing foreign tours. Remember the picture of her coming back after months away without seeing her little boy? She met Charles on the station platform and ...shook his head. A toddler.

The Fergie situation also came about because she saw Andrew for about 3 months in 3 years in their marriage and she was largely stuck home alone with infant children. (I have a huge soft spot for Fergie as she very courageously went to Turkey to expose the dreadful conditions orphans were kept in, I never think she gets the credit she’s due for that.)

There’s been a seismic shift in the royal family’s attitude to parenting and an acceptance that small children need their parents when they’re small, not governesses or nannies.

Wildorchidz · 20/08/2019 19:00

Are you thinking of Kate’s Issa dress??

Hithere12 · 20/08/2019 19:03

MM’s engagement dress was £56k.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 20/08/2019 19:03

Do you think they actually pay for these clothes though? I know the RF aren't supposed to accept gifts but I'm willing to bet no money changes hands. It must be worth thousands to the suppliers of the Meghan/Kate wardrobe to have their pieces worn.

IcedPurple · 20/08/2019 19:04

Who had a 56k engagement dress?

Take a wild guess!

The knives are out for the royal family
Original poster
justasking111 · 20/08/2019 19:04

aha MM dress was 56k but you would never wear it to the office and it was not blue... oh and it was British, some folk are never satisfied.

www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/895138/meghan-markle-prince-harry-engagement-pictures-body-language

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Original poster
justasking111 · 20/08/2019 19:06

Diana spent a fortune on clothes, no-one bitched then. The Queen and her mother also spent a huge amount. Duchess of Cambridge wears some fab. hellishly expensive stuff.

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IcedPurple · 20/08/2019 19:08

Do you think they actually pay for these clothes though?

Yes I do. They may not pay full retail price - though that point is moot for a bespoke piece - but they have a strict policy of not accepting freebies. Or at least, they did.

I know the RF aren't supposed to accept gifts but I'm willing to bet no money changes hands

The palace gets sent clothes all the time, but they are always returned unworn.

And most of the clothes the women wear are not outrageously expensive. It's only for a major event like a gala dinner that they wear high fashion pieces.

IcedPurple · 20/08/2019 19:11

Diana spent a fortune on clothes, no-one bitched then. The Queen and her mother also spent a huge amount.

The queen has most ofher clothes made by her personal seamstress. It's not a 'huge amount' if we're talking high fashion prices.

Diana mostly wore bespoke pieces by a British designer, Catherine Walker. And I don't know how old you are but there has always been plenty of 'bitching' about the money the royal women spend on their clothes. But Meghan's spending has been particularly outrageous, especially given her relatively minor status in the family.

MangoFeverDream · 20/08/2019 19:17

There’s been a seismic shift in the royal family’s attitude to parenting and an acceptance that small children need their parents when they’re small, not governesses or nannies

I don’t buy it. There is a huge difference between months-long foreign trips and doing more charitable engagements at home. That’s what a lot of the criticism is about. Even if they worked as hard as Princess Anne, it wouldn’t even add up to a part-time job ....

GlitchStitch · 20/08/2019 19:17

The engagement was MM's first 'real' introduction to alot of the British public. It would have probably been more tasteful to wear something that didn't cost twice the average salary. I'm pretty sure KM's engagement dress was only a few hundred quid and she'd already been around years and felt more 'known'. If you have no relationship or bond with the public you ought to take your time and act a bit more low key whilst you find your feet IMO, not rock up like Marie Antoinette.

GlitchStitch · 20/08/2019 19:19

Re W and K, I have read somewhere that there is an acknowledgement that as future King and Queen they are likely to be very busy into old age and so are being given a bit more leeway now in their schedule whilst their kids are young. Not sure how true that is.

Ibiza2015 · 20/08/2019 19:20

Do you think they actually pay for these clothes though? I know the RF aren't supposed to accept gifts but I'm willing to bet no money changes hands. It must be worth thousands to the suppliers of the Meghan/Kate wardrobe to have their pieces worn.

They’re strictly, strictly not supposed to. Her taking freebies was be just as big a problem as vastly overspending on a guest.

Ibiza2015 · 20/08/2019 19:25

Agh. Pressed to soon. Overspending on a dress.

Hithere12 · 20/08/2019 19:29

aha MM dress was 56k but you would never wear it to the office and it was not blue... oh and it was British, some folk are never satisfied

Looool you’re a moron. I got the colour wrong 😱 the fake humanitarian still spent £56k taxpayer money on a dress purely for the photo shoot!! Not even the engagement interview

IcedPurple · 20/08/2019 19:30

@Ibiza

I actually think it's worse. Spending a ridiculous amount on a frock is bad enough but it's just extravagance. Accepting freebies verges on corruption when you are a taxpayer funded public servant.

And there's no doubt that Meghan is accepting freebies imo. That whole tacky New York baby shower extravaganza was one big product placement fest, from the super-posh hotel (which somehow didn't have a discreet entrance for its celebrity guests) to the suitcases used by her 'friends'. So very very obvious.

Original poster
justasking111 · 20/08/2019 19:31

Diana was good for British fashion it was said. Well most of us could not afford that, but every Philip Green type retailer had a copy knocked out in a very short space of time. The difference is she was young and very tall so could carry off almost anything. I think Katherine sells clothes with the help of the press who print whose it is and how much within hours. They also helpfully show the cheaper versions.

MM has boosted the sales of some clothing but it is more hit and miss than her SIL.

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IcedPurple · 20/08/2019 19:32

MM has boosted the sales of some clothing

Any of it British? And how can such things be proved anyway?

Original poster
justasking111 · 20/08/2019 19:34

I recall Diana sold a lot of knickerbockers, white lacy blouses and velvet chokers for the retailers.

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IcedPurple · 20/08/2019 19:35

I recall Diana sold a lot of knickerbockers, white lacy blouses and velvet chokers for the retailers.

I knew she worked as a nanny but never knew she was a shop assistant! A lady of many talents, that Di!

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Hithere12 · 20/08/2019 19:42

So? I honestly don’t understand your point? More people will buy overpriced designer crap because Meghan wore it? So??