Can anyone explain to me why some people feel so passionate about hating Harry and Meghan, or vice versa?

[whyptho]

Why do people love Harry and Meghan and Hate William and Catherine so strongly. or the other way round?

I don't mean - what is their stated rationale for it, I mean what kind of psychology is behind this massive investment in total strangers?

The Dianna public grieving was a strange time, but it at least made sense - death of someone in the prime of her life, a huge loss to her family.

But why are some members of the general public so invested in picking sides in a family feud?

Agree, @FishBowlSwimmer

I championed them but the Oprah interview was the turning point.

Well, their own words are readily available. Spare, Oprah, their PR.

They have numerous platforms including that so-called documentary.

Probably because they have no life 🤷🏼‍♀️

Given that the wealth and privilege is publicly funded, they are not wholly private individuals. Therefore some people will not have any boundaries when offering up opinion on the royals. Even so, some of the hate on social media towards Harry and Meghan is bizarre.

The Royals are used to people bowing and scraping to them, they are indulged but have an extraordinary amount of attention. It’s not that surprising that this environment produces some deeply flawed characters. William and Kate (and the rest of the family) have a palace PR machine managing the publics opinion of them. Harry no longer has that so people have been able to see the real him. Firstly, he is isn’t bright. Secondly, due to his strange life and traumatic experiences he is not a balanced individual. He isn’t coming across well when left to his own devices.

Harry had a horrible life 😂. Yeah, must be really difficult having access to all that money and privilege; never worrying about the costs of your mortgage/gas bill/petrol, having access to the best education money can buy, even though you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Literally being able to do whatever, whenever. Yeah, really horrible 🙄.

@LutonBeds Personally, I'd abolish the lot of them tomorrow. But nobody who was around at the time can unsee that forlorn little boy walking behind his mother's coffin under the eyes of millions because that's what protocol demanded. I think that might scar a person....

This. I think they always planned to leave and told a load of fibs, related to current popular ideas around identity and “trauma” to smooth that path. It feels manipulative and most people don’t like being manipulated.

I am not a fan, though don’t hate them or anything and they’ve hardly been in the press over the last couple of weeks so haven’t given them much thought. It’s the silly pap strolls and claims of lethal car chases that piss people off. I don’t think they have enough talent and glamour to be the kinds of figureheads they clearly want to be and the constant playing the victim is so tired now. If they went quiet I don’t think people would care anymore.

As for W&C - I love Kate’s frocks, the kids are cute and they seem to just get on with stuff without whinging too much. That’s it really.

I really admire what Harry is doing in the Courts re phone tapping.

I wish he hadn't married Meghan because its all gone to shit since then and I loved watching William Kate and Harry being such good friends (I know, I'm an old softie)

I think the William and Kate touchy feely holdy handsy look William DID NOT have an affair act, is a bit 🤮 because I think he probably DID have an affair (whoops, not such an old softie, more of an old gossip!)

I get very very very bad vibes from Meghan. I so want to like her - strong vaguely black woman, intelligent yada yada, but I think she's nasty, jealous and very unpleasant

I loved the Queen. Adored her.

Can't stand Charles or Camilla and was a huge Diana fan.

So there we are

🙂

I don't really follow it all but in general if the Daily Mail hates someone, I support them.

I didn't think William was much older?

I don’t like Harry purely because he broke the golden rule I actually agree with. - you don’t air your dirty laundry in public. I don’t like the kardashians or most reality tv either.

You're being disingenuous, OP. 🙄

They need a focus for their hatred and discontent with their own lives.

The media generously provide them with a range of targets to choose from (Harry and Meghan, XL bullies, Russia, a darts sensation's girlfriend....).

Now go forth and froth!

What is RM?

I really liked Meghan at the outset: strong, independent and well-educated.

I found it very peculiar that there were no friends or family members from her formative years, especially close female friends, at her wedding. These people know us in a way that later friends may not. Even if people don’t show a perfect image, a wedding is a time to be generous and include all those who genuinely wish you well.

I think Meghan was given a horrible time by the press and those who perpetrated it should be ashamed of themselves.

I thought the Oprah interview and the Netflix documentary were big mistakes and Meghan was very unfair in what she said about some members of the Royal Family, knowing that they had no ability to reply.

She has sensibly stayed pretty quiet in the last year or so and so has slightly risen again in my estimation for doing so. But I suspect that the story isn’t over and she will be the centre of news again at some point.

Kate seems pretty sensible and well rounded, not ever putting a foot wrong. I don’t think that anyone particularly believes that she treated Meghan badly (the lack of reaction to the racism leaks is a case in point), but they are quite different personalities and weren’t ever going to be close.

That’s all really, no strong feelings.

People who are dissatisfied with their own lives relish the opportunity to rage against a common foe with other malcontents.

I think H&M have behaved badly so I ignore them but go on the Royal Family board and it's like the Daily Mail comments section. People absolutely frothing about two people that have no impact on their lives. It's sad.

I do like Kate with her swishy hair and gorgeous children. She looks like she really loves being a princess and a mum 🙂

From a UK perspective: It's because the mainstream press paints them as absolute villains who want to bring down the royal family and spoilt cry babies every single day. I only see the front pages when I go to the supermarket and I'm honestly shocked at how much negative attention they get, despite doing very little. Many of the public buy this without question as it's like pantomime. It gets repeated as click bait and on social media. Splash in a bit of good old fashioned dog whistle racism with this, because how dare exotic Meghan cast her evil spell and charms on 'our' once innocent Prince Harry.

Why does the mainstream press do this?

Because Harry has taken them on and won in the High Court of England and Wales and proved that there was extensive and illegal phone hacking for the last few decades. He's got enough money and intense dislike of the British press to do this (R.I.P Diana) when tens, if not hundreds of other celebrities and normal people have had to settle with the press and not go all the way to a public High Court hearing as the financial risk is too high. The press hate him for this. If you haven't heard of this then it's because the mainstream press don't report on their own losses in court.

Harry and Meghan have been villified more than serial killers in the UK, if you compare daily coverage and column inches. We're just used to the press creating villains in the UK and people don't question it, because it's not that important in real life.

I was happy when H and M married and wished them well when they requested to step down royal duties. However, the way they've gone about it was thoroughly unacceptable. I also dislike the two faced nature of them- we're not royal but are when it suits us. I don't hate them, though. I just don't want to hear anything more about them.

I mean, did you ever see this comparison of Meghan v's Kate press coverage where Kate is praised and Meghan is criticised for the exact same behaviour? It's ridiculous and blatant that they are just portrayed differently by the press, and that's a very big lens.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/meghan-markle-kate-middleton-double-standards-royal

Because people like being on teams. It's footie supporting for people who think they're too good for footie. Meghan Markle hasn't actually done anything wrong, there were threads on here complaining because she hadn't been seen for do long as a private citizen with 2 small kids. Harry can talk about his family as much as he wants and it's really weird to take it personally. Kate Middleton was shredded by the press for all the silly gaffes she made but is now reinvented as a latter day saint, at least until another family member needs a juicy story to deflect from what they've done and even Meghan Markle can't save them. It's all so silly.

I find on MN if you dare to say anything mildly against H &M then you hate them and you can't tolerate strong independent women.

For me I don't hate them. I feel sorry for Harry whom to me comes across as traumatised from his mother's death and upbringing.

I dont think M is a strong woman I think she is a flawed human being like most of us. I think they both made some questionable choices. Interview, book, when showing for events/not showing for events/ rewriting stuff they said - here specifically thinking of M going the "he won't get a title the colour of his skin" and the shock on Os face. Only for H to later proclaim this was not intended racist. And actually no I dont think it was. However the comment in the interview 100% was intended to create a stir. I don't agree with that.

Doesn't mean I hate them. It means I have different priorities and different morales to them.
As someone whom is.old enough to remember the Sarah headlines I.actually think M had it easy when she was in the RF. (After less so) from media.

No matter how many here proclaim differently. They did lie in interviews and no I don't agree with that. Doesn't mean I don't think it was hard for her to join the RF and it would not be the first time a Royal bride had said this. (Both Diana and Sarah said this) I also find it interesting the two who managed the integrate the best into the RF (Catherine and Sophie) both had years on the out skirts of the RF and thus likely were taught less crash course than D S and M.

The original.headlines about Camilla placed all blame on her when C and D were parting. C was some sort of poppet clearly... again C had worse headlines than M. I will acknowledge here neither C or S had racist headlines. However S in particular had many about her weight that must have been very difficult as a young mother. Different situation but it doesn't mean Ms was somehow worse. We can't know this. What we do know is M has spoken up about it S less so.

I 100% feel M should have had better support. I also suspect she thought she could make it work the way she wanted. ''I'm a hugger they were just so formel" well dhs gran said Grace before dinner it was not a practice in any home I grew up in. I said grace before dinner in grans home. That was her home and her ideals and I was fully able to modify myself for this for a short time. Then return to "me" after. M instead put it out as some level of fault on others. (And the kneel thing was cringe worthy imo)oin most families you have to get used to different ways of doing things. This is an example of where I feel they made questionable choices.

I supported Harry's news suit and I was happy he got that outcome.

As for Catherine and William I've very little view of either they come across as a bit bland but I've not met either. Their morals and choices for me have been a bit more on the side I would prefer. Doesn't mean I like them above H&M. Their outward personality is more formal and I don't mind that.

I think it is.possible to be somewhere in the middle with this see positives and negatives.

However, on MN that means I hate M because I don't see her as flawless. I don't know her but she and H have put a lot more of themselves out in the media than C and W have.

I think it's because Harry and Megan come across as whiny and unlikeable. They have spent too long moaning about the RF and we are fed up with hearing about it. We feel that Harry doesn't appreciate all of the privileges he was born with. We feel that Megan is self interested and wants to be super famous in her own right and will use anything and step on anyone to do so.

William and kate on the other hand seem to have a lot more respect and appreciation for the role of the RF. I used to think Kate had quite a bland personality but now I can see that that is deliberate and she is playing a role of not offending by having strong opinions. They seem happy and contented with their lot and are trying to do some good with their position.

I wonder if Harry and Megan look back and regret the way they went about things.

In the beginning, I absolutely think it was a combination of British people seeing as a slur on the royal family they think they own and that Harry stopped towing the line for the press. The rest of the royals leak stories and pose for Christmas family pics, so the press don't write bad things. The vitriol they received for not showing the baby's face on camera was a good example of this. Plus it makes total sense se that the monarchy is modernised and not solely rhn o traditions that have existed for a thousand years. Having to curtsey to your nan is just bizarre!

I was totally team H&M when they fled. They haven't really endeared me since though. The lecturing us plebs to reduce climate emissions while flying on private jets and running a huge mansion was a major misjudged act. Petty sure my emissions are less than theirs by a significant margin. They also don't seem to be moving on from the pity me trope. Lots of people had bad childhoods, but there is a lack of recognition of the extreme privilege too. I think if they are to staying the public eye they should move on a bit.

"Hark the herald angels sing
Mrs Simpson's nicked our king"
Schoolyard chant from the 30s, just more of the same old rubbish now. American floozy steals our lovely Brit Prince. Not fair, he belongs to us. Its occasionally entertaining but mostly extremely boring. I don't understand how anyone can be so deeply invested in the public lives of such people.