The knives are out for the royal family

[justasking111]

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.

Oh, I don't think she's naive in the slightest. She simply doesn't give a shit. And neither does Harry. Which has me scratching my head as to why so many people seem to care so passionately about them.

I think she does care about how she is perceived but only in the US. She seems to view the British with something approaching contempt. I live in a northern working class city where Harry recently opened a new wing of our children’s hospital, then he went to visit one of our unis where the culmination of 50 years work mean amputees can control their false limbs using their mind and its electronic impulses like a real limb. Not very glamorous but both incredibly important and worthy.

Meghan didn’t bother turning up which was noticed and commented on by many, many people up here. It wasn’t lost on us that she turns up to watch Serena at Wimbledon or Beyoncé and Jay-Z at a premiere but she has a high handed and dismissive attitude towards normal British people and has no real interest in them.

In America on the other hand people who are wealthy and successful are feted and admired for their achievements. She really doesn’t seem to understand that Royals haven’t succeeded on merit or done anything remarkable or useful. She seems unable to deal with the concept that she must earn respect as a royal, not demand it.

I have a feeling part of the reason they don’t seem to care is that they have zero intention of being royals long term and are using their position to build a massive US profile then bugger off to live there, where the population is more sycophantic.

No agreed, but this was also a job in the city that any old toff could’ve got, so pretty under the radar

She simply doesn't give a shit. And neither does Harry. Which has me scratching my head as to why so many people seem to care so passionately about them.

Agreed.

I thought the Royals weren't supposed to accept freebies...

They're not. For the very good reason that when people other than close friends or family give 'gifts', they tend to want something in return. The royals are meant to be above all that. Not to mention that if word gets out that the royals are profitting from their status, people will start to wonder why we should be funding them at all.

And just before any of the zealouts start screaming at me, yes I know very well that other royals have done similar. But we aren't talking about other royals in this particular instance.

Same. The zealous defence is baffling.

Yes. I simply don't get it. He's a man-child with (barely) 2 A levels, an army drop-out with a history of less than dignified behaviour. She's a D list cable TV actress and small-time lifestyle blogger who nobody cared about until she married the above-mentioned man-child. Yet to read some of their more rabid fans, you'd swear they had found a solution to world poverty, global warming and an end to war, all for the cost of one private jet to Nice. Complete with carbon offsets.

Getting their celeb mates to “ tell off” the British public is going to sort it out isn’t it? Jeez.

I think she does care about how she is perceived but only in the US. She seems to view the British with something approaching contempt.

Yes that's probably true. She rarely wears British fashions, when one of the supposed benefits of the royals is that they promote all things British. I mean, if you're going to spend 5 figure sums on frocks, let them at least be by British fashion houses. Kate - and I'm no great fan - usually does.

I have a feeling part of the reason they don’t seem to care is that they have zero intention of being royals long term and are using their position to build a massive US profile then bugger off to live there, where the population is more sycophantic.

Thing is though, as I've said a few times already, nobody gave a damn about Meghan until she married Haz. If they were to head off to Los Angeles, minus the prestige and mystique (!) of royalty, they'd have to compete in a very crowded celebrity marketplace. Would anyone really care about a middle-aged couple with no particular talents other than self-promotion? I think they greatly overestimate their appeal. It's not them anyone's interested in, it's their royal connection. And that includes Elton.

He's a man-child with (barely) 2 A levels, an army drop-out with a history of less than dignified behaviour.

All true. I think the biggest issue with him, though, is a complete and utter appreciation for just how privileged his life is.

I understand having paparazzi follow you would be unpleasant. However, in no world can it be worse than trying to make ends meet on a minimum wage job.

Getting their celeb mates to “ tell off” the British public is going to sort it out isn’t it? Jeez.

His claim they will end up dead if they don’t fly on private jets is laughable. Diana was killed by a drunk driver. Pilots on scheduled flights aren’t drunk.

It was much more fun in the 80s, Stephanie of Monaco running away with the circus

Meghan and Kate are so fake and boring and corsetted

They always look like they are holding their breath, hold their tummy in, and smiling inanely at the plebs

Wonder if Stephanie is still around

I have a feeling part of the reason they don’t seem to care is that they have zero intention of being royals long term and are using their position to build a massive US profile then bugger off to live there, where the population is more sycophantic.

100% this. They'll be on the first private jet over to L.A. after Her Maj's funeral.

Pilots on scheduled flights aren’t drunk.

Don't private jets have a worse safety record than commercial planes?

Or did Elton mean that, despite the highly trained taxpayer funded RPOs which accompany them everywhere, at our expense, Haz and Megz just have to be shielded from the braying mob?

^ Oops lack of appreciation for how privileged his life is.

@Winterlife
Do you mean lack of appreciation?

She simply doesn’t give a shit. And neither does Harry.

She seems to view the British with something approaching contempt.

Then why the fuck did she marry into British royalty? She targeted and bagged him for the prestige. Very American in her style. Americans are incredibly warm and friendly from the start and back off from people when they realise they can’t do anything for them. This seems to me what she’s doing with the British public.

@NewStarterPack

Agree but wait until the Queen is gone. She’s still popular and that would likely win a referendum in the RFs favour. Charles et al are not popular, as we can see from these comments.

Do you mean lack of appreciation?

Yes, noted above.

She targeted and bagged him for the prestige.

I believe it was for the money, not the prestige. She also reportedly asked to be introduced to UK "celebrities" to date, particularly UK football stars.

I’ve just massively gone off Elton John. I also went off George Clooney recently. Getting their celeb friends to tell the plebs what to think just makes them all look even more out of touch.

Hey everybody!!! Look over here!!! Look at this!!!! Distract distract distract.

Most of us are capable of holding more than one thought.

I don't believe for a moment that Elton John made any kind of donation before the controvesy blew up, he's way too self absorbed for something like that to even be on his radar imo.

Sadly for Harry he appears to have learnt nothing from Diana's mistakes, why is he allowing himself to be beholden to flakey celebrities.

Is fergie debt right off a freebie?
What else did Andy except from epstein?

May I just take this opportunity to say 'tres bien fait' to one Cressida Bonas, who today announced her engagement to the handsome, wealthy, semi-aristocratic Harry Wentworth-Stanley. She was with him at university before dating hapless Harry for just enough time to raise her profile and advance her career ahead of all those other pretty posh gels hoping to break into modelling and acting. And now they're engaged. So now she can enjoy a highly privileged, glamourous, royal-adjacent lifestyle without being burdened by the restrictions and media intrusions of the 'real' thing. You'd almost think the girl had it planned all along.

Well played, Cressida. Very, very well played.

Think with the younger royals, their age also just highlights how ridiculous having a royal family is. They seem a lot more like humans like the rest of us... except at the same age, they live in castles and using private jets, whereas the rest of this generation can’t catch a break. I don’t think William looks keen anyway, he should be able to walk away if he wants.

I’ve worked incredibly hard, all my life, saving every week... the fact even a penny of my taxes goes towards this family is baffling. For what? Tourism? They do have tourism on the continent don’t you know...

They can be nice as you like, it’s still completely wrong and immoral to have a royal family. What is it supposed to mean to be royal? That it’s fair for life to be a complete lottery?

Really riles me up. Then you have idiots like Harry - and if you complain about how utterly useless he is, his fans come for you like Taylor Swift fans and complain you must dislike Meghan too. So he’s nicely cosseted. Agree the two of them seem like empty self promoters, so disappointed from what they seemed to be to what they are. They seem like middle aged tweens. Really, a private jet just after speaking at an already hypocritical Google event about environmentalism? Jesus Christ. Think part of the disappointment is they seemed a new and interesting addition to the royals, and now seem like the rest and as out of touch.

And at the other end of the spectrum... Andrew. It is seriously dangerous that any public interest news could be hidden behind the veil of “royalty”. I’d hope any investigation is now carried out as if he were any other person in the UK. What are the chances that happens?

It is only in recent years that Prince Harry has been made out to be a lost little boy, unlucky in love and missing the influence of his mother always in his brother's shadow type figure. Before that let's not forget as another poster mentioned the racist term he used to describe a fellow soldier yet he called out the press and many members or the public for racist behaviour and vitriol towards his wife. His nazi uniform wearing day and larking about in Vegas naked. His behaviour in Vegas could be written off as stupid drunken behaviour but quite frankly there is no excuse for the other two.

Meghan doesn't portray herself well or endear herself to the British public. This is a shame as they are both happy using tax payers money but don't behave in a way befitting members of the royal family. It is a game of give and take, members of the royal family accept press intrusion and public interest for the very big benefits they receive. She seems to enjoy all of the privilege of being part of the royal family but will accept none of the negatives.

As for the hypocrisy around climate change and then flying on private jets, any idiot would have been able to foresee the fallout from this ( they do have pr secretaries and advisors galore), they just don't care. Elton John's Instagram post just shows how out of touch the rich really are. His 'appropriate' donation to offset carbon emissions means it is fine for them to travel about on private jets. However, the rest of us should not fly as we can't afford to plant shed loads of trees or make such monetary donations to off set carbon emissions. Rich, privilege at its finest! There is absolute nothing wrong with having opinions but practice what you preach or be prepared for people to call you out on your hypocrisy!

I think they will leave for the US eventually and for the sake of the monarchy longterm is perhaps no bad thing.

It must be so irritating that Meghan and Harry are not bowing to people who hate them. It makes me smile. All this bleating out hate is achieving nothing. In fact, I'm sure it's making their relationship even stronger.

Go on Harry and Meghan. The silent majority are with you. We can see the haters for what they are.

Well played Cressida!

coconuttelegraph loooooooooooool NO! As if Elton did that before the news broke. And does he do the same thing for all the celebs he brings to Nice? Haaa as if!

But if you have money then climate change doesn’t apply to you, the wealthy can just off set :) and OBVIOUSLY only having two jet-setting kids is MUCH better than us plebs who have more kids who travel once a year if they’re lucky

PH and MM are Edward & Wallis Simpson for the 21st century.

Edward liked the privilege and attention his status afforded him, despite having (given up, in his case) the monarchy. Harry is, and has always been, the spare.
Both couples preferring the company of high profile celebrities and politicians, living off the back of being a Royal, and making the most of their connections.

Both of them have been demonstrative of their political allegiance. Okay, H & MM are aligning woke and vocal Democrat types, where Edward & Wallis were Nazi sympathisers, but the RF are supposed to remain politically neutral. Harry doesn't seem to care, because they don't see England as a place of permanency.

I agree with pp upthread, PH and MM don't give a stuff what the British public think. They've already cultivated a following where they intend to spend their lives in a few short years.

But instead of being photographed wearing crowns at high profile parties, Harry and MM will have Amal Clooney, Serena Williams & Barack Obama to pad out their Hello Magazine features and party appearances.