Prince Harry - AIBU?

[barniee]

Prince Harry saying "we can all do better" has really irked me- aibu?! He has every want and need satisfied while the majority of us and trying to do right by the environment whilst making ends meet. He is becoming very sanctimonious!

Oh leave him alone!!!! We used to be a country of live and let live now we've created a toxic climate of abuse and bullying and its eating away at our national soul !! Stop it already.

They're not particularly bright people and have not been since the time of the Hanoverians

But is it due to genes or that they don't have to push themselves? What is the motivation after all? I could be wrong but I doubt the top schools in the country put them through the same brutal hoops for entry as everyone else. The competition for decent 6th form places for high achieving comprehensive school children is bloody tough. They don't ever have to go through that, grades just need to be good enough.

They live in very protected wealth with access to unlimited leisure. Given the choice between working for an occupation in medicine or business say, or pursuing my interests I would choose the latter and explore something in the arts in the same way Beatrice and Eugenie have done. No reason to push hard for top grades in school or elsewhere.

And I think either E or B is an art director now? Nothing to sniff at.

I'm not sure what the excuse is for those marrying in however, they might not be rich but all had a very decent education at selective or private schools. I think Meghan and Kate are clever just that they've not focused their abilities on business or some such similar.

None of them are a good argument for private schooling though.

I take that last back. They may not be an argument for private schooling in tbe academic sense but they are in the networking sense.

“. I think Meghan and Kate are clever just that they've not focused their abilities on business or some such similar.”
Meghan made a good life for herself in a notoriously precarious profession for nearly 20 years. That’s an achievement, surely?

@separatelives - you were going to list some of the things that M and H have done that are worse than the Fake Sheik incident....

Meghan had a good life in acting when she got the part in suits and that has not been 20 years. Up until then she was in minor parts in films, ads, or TV game shows - She herself has detailed the extreme disappoint of not getting chosen at an audition and the difficulty of paying the rent. She was very much sustained by her first marriage. Not to cast aspersions on any of this, but it's more about being personable and receiving a break and I don't place acting in the same category as business, medicine or even being a personal secretary or accountant which requires application of knowledge. It's a bit like football or some other sport. It demonstrates skill for sure, but not necessarily intelligence (god I sound snobby) although you can be intelligent and play.

If you get the right break acting has huge returns for something that doesn't require doing sums, working out contingencies, or any sort of administration, and which is why, I suspect, acting is becoming increasingly dominanted by the MC, something Julie Walters has spoken about.

However I do think she is clever, I am suprised she chose acting as her focus to be honest as it seems she's always wanted more, although what other profession pays as much as acting once you make good? So for a young ambitious woman who wants to retain the standard of living she has grown accustomed to, I guess it makes sense.

I get Bertrands point that she had to live by her wits. That takes ingenuity.

And she clearly is smart. A good degree from a very high ranking university.

Kate clearly has brains too, but hasn’t used them in any academic/professional se we since university.

you can't be royal and work as a teaching assistant or a doctor's receptionist or something

I guess it worked for the Diuchess of Kent, but then she isn't "blood royal" and by that time she'd retired from royal duties anyway because of ill health: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8798441/Duchess-of-Kent-my-love-for-teaching-music-at-Hull-state-primary-school.html

Not sure where to start with that extraordinary snobbish take down of the acting profession! So I won’t- it’s not the time and place. But- blimey.

I think M dumped her first husband once she got a part in Suits. Maybe the two things were related.

I heard that the charities the Sussexes support have changed based on what makes the better 'photo op' - so environment, animals, fashion etc. These are cooler, involve more A listers and beautiful backdrops.

Backfiring massively though.

It's not just their own carbon footprint. Harry regularly transports his polo ponies around the world on jets. His polo ponies alone have more air miles than most of the uk population.

I am quite surprised by some of the attitudes on here about intelligence /work etc. There seems to be an assumption that intelligence has to be displayed by working in a high powered professional job using analytical skills. There are many sorts of intelligence. Someone who does not enjoy soulless office jobs toting up figures or climbing the 'ladder' completing in a cut throat corporate environment may have other talents. Creative talents, an affinity with people, caring and nurturing talents. They may enjoy working in a field which involves self expression or working for the good of others on low pay.

Where does this assumption come from that the RF are all 'thick'? Many of them probably aren't the brightest buttons in the box, but it's a bit arrogant to assume because someone isn't working in a high paying professional job all the hours that God sends, is 'thick'.

Kate has a degree but perhaps she is showing intelligence and aptitude in the role she is in, which though privileged is very difficult in my view. It requires people skills, nouse, and fortitude.

Acting can be a vacuous profession, but it is also a highly skilled one, particularly in the theatre. A part in East Enders or a soap is perhaps not the same , but actors are in the main skilled professionals. Most of them never make the 'big time' but struggle on, because they love it.

@joyful I am in the wrong then, sorry! I thought they had been together 7 years or so until she hit it lucky with Suits, and then she dumped him. Obviously got my time frames wrong.

Harry has been supporting Invictus and Sentebale for a long time though. Ditto Meghan and her interest in girls' education and women's empowerment - looks like it predates Harry.

But is it due to genes or that they don't have to push themselves? What is the motivation after all? I could be wrong but I doubt the top schools in the country put them through the same brutal hoops for entry as everyone else. The competition for decent 6th form places for high achieving comprehensive school children is bloody tough. They don't ever have to go through that, grades just need to be good enough.

I can make a comparison to the Dutch Royal Family. The current King is a pilot (flies once a month for KLM), his younger brother (who sadly died) had a MBA from INSEAD and worked for Goldman Sachs, and his youngest brother works for the RAND corporation. Their cousins all seem to be quite smart too (and the current Queen Maxima is a former banker who still advises and advocates for the UN on microcredit). The difference is striking

he flew his polo pony to Italy for a charity Sentebale polo match earlier this year - I doubt he took the same flight as it. So that's two return flights for him, the pony (probably a spare pony) and all the related entourage who take care of the horses. That is one match. How many matches does he play overseas each year. This is outside of vacations.

He then says we all have to 'do our bit' to reduce our carbon footprint

How people defend this is baffling

Oh, that is interesting about the Duchess of Kent! Nice article.

Harry has been supporting Invictus and Sentebale for a long time though

He was much more convincing and persuasive when he stuck to stuff he knows about - military personnel/veterans’ issue in particular and also maybe young people’s mental health. He looks out of his depth, panicky and inauthentic when talking about things like the environment. If I were his adviser I would suggest he stick to his strengths. However at the moment he’s only listening to his wife and he’s trying to please her by adopting her pet causes.

“he flew his polo pony to Italy for a charity Sentebale polo match earlier this year - I doubt he took the same flight as it.”

I’m not defending it. It’s completely ridiculous. The point is that it’s what people who play polo do. So condemning Harry for doing it while giving William and Charles when younger a free pass is unfair.

Oh yes, I agree he should stick to what he knows but I don't see that Meghan has been particularly vocal about the environment in the past, so I'm not sure his recent preaching can be entirely put down to her influence.

However at the moment he’s only listening to his wife and he’s trying to please her by adopting her pet causes.

This is utter conjecture.

His father has far more form than his wife in championing environmental causes.

“I heard that the charities the Sussexes support have changed based on what makes the better 'photo op' - so environment, animals, fashion etc. These are cooler, involve more A listers and beautiful backdrops.“

Yep. Loads of A listers at the Hubb Community kitchen. And Grenfell Tower makes such a beautiful backdrop....

Kate has a degree but perhaps she is showing intelligence and aptitude in the role she is in

She had an arts degree IIRC and her relationship with PW would have opened a lot of doors. A real waste if you ask me, she did almost nothing but be someone’s girlfriend for about a decade.