to believe H&M because of defamation laws?

[Shejustwentthere]

I've watched the full series on Harry and Meghan.
A few things have struck me.
The most important thing is that there are defamation laws in England. Damage to your reputation is grounds for pursuing such a case. That no such case has yet been initiated by William or Kate, suggests that there is truth in Harry and Meghan's version of events.
Meghan comes across as very vulnerable but very real. She also comes across as very much in love still; as does Harry.
I admire Harry for his decision to leave. I do buy his logic; if the tax payer had even 1% of a contribution to their lives financially, the media could then claim a public interest.
Harry comes across as incredibly intelligent. He has always been touted as the dumb one. He seems to be very much more than some dumb guy.
He adores Meghan and that seems to be reciprocated. She gave him an out.

Harry is very much is mother's son. Diana would have supported Meghan I think. I think they were kindred spirits (Diana and Harry) in a way. Pawns in the game where the king and queen reign...

You do if you want to control your own story. Why let the ruthless, vile tabloids control the narrative? Because they will, if you don’t use your voice.

I agree OP. People hate for hatings sake. As if there isn't enough hate and negativity in the world. The same people probably advocate against bullying, such odd behaviour

H&M need to find ways to make money. The way they can make the big bucks is to turn their life into reality tv. So they need dramas to make Netflix pay out. I wouldn't believe very much of it, everything will be exaggerated or invented relying on the theory that the Palace doesn't comment on these sorts of things to get away with their claims.

Reports that they are going to try to build bridges with the family in the new year sounds like planning for season 2 to me. Meghan knows how media works and how to spin something out to keep the revenue coming in.

You'd probably be on another thread telling people to go NC with toxic family.

A hundred million dollars! my mum slagged me off to all the relatives for FREE. That hurt. I'd nearly rather she'd have done it because she was tempted by an irresistible amount of cash.

I felt sorry for Meghan when she was being torn apart in the press, it was racist but I would have had a lot more respect for them if they really had just left to live a quiet life.

So many things in the Netflix show didn't add up for me...

1. Harry said he was looking for a wife who could do the 'royal' role but apparently never told her what that was. They both seemed to be totally taken by surprise that they would need to go out and meet people, it doesn't make sense. If she really was surprised by it then that's on Harry.

1. The content on the British slave trade, and Stephen Lawrence. What exactly were they trying to say with this or was it just a potted history of British racism for Americans? Also raised the questions for me of why they would be comfortable accepting money from an institution built on empire.

1. The 'we just happened to have a photographer there' moments scattered throughout which just made it all feel extremely contrived.

1. Blaming the press/ Royal Family for the behaviour of Meghan's father. That is entirely on him.

One thing that the Behaviour Panel say stuck a chord with me - the bit along the ones of it being like calling a press conference to say you want more privacy.

Please list some of the lies (with receipts) 😆🤯

Just like the rest of the RF then!

No. Defamation is a civil offence not a criminal one. It is dealt with through the civil courts if the victim is minded to bring a prosecution. Such prosecutions are usually lengthy, expensive and provide a valid reason for both sides to present all sorts of unsavoury 'evidence' to defend their case. It is a nasty business and, at the end of it, you get a derisory financial settlement. You can't undo the harm done by the defamatory statements and because of your law suit it will have been in the headlines for a lot longer, instead of becoming yesterday's news. Litigation is time consuming and emotionally exhausting. It should only ever be undertaken when there is no other recourse. Sometimes ignoring people until they run out of steam is the advised option.

I'll never believe the press side of the story, they are racist snakes.

I don’t mind them. They’re very privileged, but privileged people are just as entitled as anyone else to be upset about difficulties they experience.
He seems slightly more intelligent than I expected. Meghan appears to me to be a fundamentally good person. I don’t know of anything proven to suggest she’s not.
I abhor the racism she’s experienced from the press and social media. I’ve regularly looked at the headlines about her over the years she’s been with Harry and been astonished at how the press have got away with it, just endless dog whistling to the lowest common denominator.
And it’s lasted. people keep saying it won’t last. They’ve been proved wrong so far and it’s already been several years.

I agree whole heartedly with everything you have said.

No. With kindness - don't be so dim.

The Royal Family can't and won't get dragged into a slanging match and they know that.

I am sure the whole lot of them acted badly at times, as all families do.

But the primary purpose of this series, Harry's book etc, is to tell a heavily biased version of the story, to make money and set themselves up for an influencer career - that's fair enough, sort of, they have to earn a living. But you are a fool if you don't see it for what it is.

Keeping in mind everything they say is intentionally vague or scripted to be "not a lie" but implying things that aren't true. It's like if I said "your husband is being unfaithful" then you'd assume from that that I'm saying he's having an affair but, factually speaking, I never said he had an affair. If he sued me for defamation for saying he'd had an affair then I'd just throw my hands up and say "nah, I said "unfaithful", it's my opinion" and the court would rule in my favour. So, they're not so much lies as misleading statements - things that are said that omit necessary information or use leading words to make you think something that isn't true - but that they didn't actually say.

Misleading Statement:
Harry: "But, also, the Netflix and the Spotify, they’re all . . . that was never part of the plan...my family literally cut me off financially, and I had to afford . . . afford security for us...in the first half, the first quarter of 2020. But I’ve got what my mum left me, and, without that, we would not have been able to do this."

However:
"The royal expenditure reports published Thursday reveal that, in the fiscal year beginning of April 2020, he provided both Harry and Prince William’s families with £4.5 million. The report does not break down how much money went to each prince, but a spokesman for Charles at Clarence House clarified that the Prince of Wales had allotted “a substantial sum” to support Harry and Meghan as they transitioned out of their royal roles. “That funding ceased in the summer of last year,” the spokesperson continued. “The couple are now financially independent.”"

What you reasonably believe after Harry's statement:
When Harry and Meghan said they were leaving the Royal Family, his family stopped giving them any money and had to rely on media outlets in order to keep their family safe.

Reality:
Their transition was paid for by the royal family and security and funds were provided for many months after they left the royal family (well beyond the time that they were seeking contracts from media outlets). Their home, safety and lifestyle was ensured by the royal family's funds.

What Harry said is not what most people would consider to be the truth. It is what a lawyer and a marketing team scripted to give the impression he was immediately cut off but, in reality, he wasn't.

When you write these kind of statements for a living, you get pretty good at recognising them.

I also think harry and Meghan could have done so much together in role. They really could have been something. Even their own series showed rhe hateful ness shown was limited to a small number of accounts and some limited press articles, overall they received a very positive welcome. The focus has all been on the negativity

however Harry’s desire to outshine his brother and meghans desire to be famous, and his egging her on telling her she was going to lead the British family , her believing him and going for it, has led to their mutual downfall..

I was looking at some images last night, and harry was often the hanger on. He’d tag along with William and Kate, but did very very little solo. Not much other than the invictus games. By comparison. Kate, Sophie, even Beatrice and Eugenie do a lot solo. Harry just didn’t.

the reality is he’s never been big up for doing royal engagements. His military career was his high point.

he clearly has major issues with the fact he was born royal and is supposed to be both grateful for the privilege and repay in terms of service, whilst his brother gets preferential treatment .

Then he met an actress, whose ultimate desire is to be rich and famous.

He looked at her and thought she’d be perfect for the role, a shining media star who could give him equal or not superior status to his brother, who would do all these engagements with him, support him in what was needed, and who would also be his wife and give him kids .

She looked at him and thought he’d make her rich and famous beyond her wildest dreams. And she’s be a princess. Her children royalty. You didn’t get a much faster ticket to global stardom and wealth than that.

They pretty much decided on their second date barely knowing each other that they were in it for thr long haul. Each promising the other what they most wanted.

however what harry promised, was not his to give, she was never going to be the next Diana, the lead role of the Britush royals. So as he couldn’t fullfil his promise, they are in America trying to do it another way and mighty pissed off with it

I agree OP. I find the level of hate for H&M really odd. I’ve watched all episodes. Why do people keep mentioning the privacy thing? People change their minds. Maybe when they were in the midst of everything they were desperate for privacy. And now they’ve had some distance they’re like, hang on, we want to tell our side. They’ve lived through very unique experiences and the documentary was interesting, whether you like them or not.

Toxic family is toxic family. You don’t get a pass because you’re royalty. I think a lot of people have the mindset of not making a fuss, especially in the UK. So their way of doing things is ruffling feathers. But I thought it was very refreshing to see such honestly about mental suffering and suicidal thoughts. Oh she’s not sad enough for you? She’s smiling too much, she must have been lying about being suicidal? You only have to read the recent news about DJ tWitch to see that there are NO true indicators that someone is suicidal. It can be extremely well hidden. Yes they’re privileged but money doesn’t make you immune to mental health issues.

I think opening up is their way of taking control. The media will never ever leave them alone so if they share their family moments, at least they’re more in control of what’s out there.

This is hillarious.

Couple make a docu. about themselves.

It's biased towards ... guess who?
A: Themselves!

Who'd have thought? I mean - quelle fucking surprise 🙄

And people are taking it all as gospel 🙄

You do if you want to control your own story. Why let the ruthless, vile tabloids control the narrative? Because they will, if you don’t use your voice.

This is quite perplexing. Far more people DON'T read tabloids than do. I have no idea what they said about Meghan as I'm sure is the case for the majority.

So how have they controlled the narrative?
This couple have ignored those who were on their side and wallowed in a futile war with a few gossip sites. It's sad. It's a phoney war.

Nasty gossip is an unfortunate side of humans but we can also not take part, not give it any credence and not fan the flames.

It's a shame they didn't just ignore it and let it fizzle out.

@Headabovetheparakeet There is a left-wing American narrative that sees Britain and, more specifically England, as the source of all evil in the world and in particular, the source of racism. This is factually incorrect. If you look back at the History of Ideas you discover that the concept of race came to Britain from the United States. I could give you a potted history, but it is a bit long for this sort of forum!

Well,said. As I wrote earlier, harry and Meghan were never left without security, only the met police protection was being pulled, and for good reason, you couldn’t have met officers in Canada , there was several of them on rotation and it was costing a fortune. Then the Canadian government provided it, but the Canadians kicked off. But even when the Canadian government pulled out, Charles was still paying for their dry heavy private security , so they were misleading. Charles was personally paying in the region of 2musd a year for their private security.

they did the same over Archie’s security before they even left. They said Archie wasn’t getting security. The palace confirmed that babies don’t get met officer security as they are incapable of going places alone. No royal baby got their own met security protection.

so again, it was based in truth, Archie wasn’t getting personal security but totally misleading, as it was the adults with Archie who got the security. And no different to Beatrice and Eugenie when they were kids.

But I thought it was very refreshing to see such honestly about mental suffering and suicidal thoughts.

Really? This is everybody's story in the 2020s!

they have videos about a lot of people. I thought at least one of their earlier videos was very supportive of M&H. I haven't watched many of their videos as they are too detailed and long winded, however their credentials are impressive. They know what they are talking about.

I'm not surprised. Other posters on MN have made the same point. It's just promulgating a very unhelpful myth.