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?

The blanket banning of H&M threads for 3 months was when they were completely out of hand and so prolific that MN (as I understand it) just did not have the manpower to moderate them.

They are still out of hand AFAIC but there aren't so many as there used to be. It does make interesting reading to go and look at what they were like back in 2017 and 2018 when Meghan had done nothing to offend except exist.

Sadly now they are back with a vengeance.
even threads that have nothing to do with them, posters bring them up

They are still out of hand AFAIC but there aren't so many as there used to be

Didnt the worst offenders move to Tattle?

Quite likely but via that forum that cannot be mentioned but whose initials are MC
I recognise writing styles from my days as a proof reader, I imagine quite a few are back!

Wow. His mother died in a horrific way and the media hounded him. If you think money saves people from all life's ills then you are of limited capacity

Many of the reasons people have opinions about M&S is down to what they've said themselves. Without even looking at possibly false things that appear in the papers, they have put quite a lot of material out there.

They did this, voluntarily, with people like Oprah, after having said they wanted to be out of the spotlight. And they have said things that were clearly untrue, or which seemed manipulative, or they have seemed like they are trying to string people along.

People find these things unendearing.

W&K, on the other hand, don't say much, which is usually a good policy to keep people from having any strong feelings about you.

I agree OP. It's really weird. None of us know any of these people. And even if we did, there are so many people I love whom others really dislike, and vice versa, that there's very, very rarely a simple answer on whether someone is 'a good person' or not, anyway. Most of the time we are ambivalent about our own actions, choices and motives, never mind anyone else's.

It's like it's a soap opera, and not real people. Makes you wonder how the public would view our own families, if we were suddenly reality tv show characters (which effectively is what this is - only we have no footage to speak of, edited or not!).

I wonder if there's a correlation between those who love W&K being monarchists, possibly more conservative politics and those liking H&M being anti establishment, possibly more left leaning. W&K have been finely crafted to be held on pedestals by Daily Mail and Express readers. Practically perfect in every way, even their kids are gorgeous, well behaved little angels. They need a loyal following to keep the monarchy alive. I identify more closely with H&M, who are flawed but at least human, if not necessarily 'normal'. And people like their princesses beautiful to look at, demure and well behaved, keeping their mouths shut and opinions to themselves. Like good girls do. So it's most likely a combination of sexism/ Misogyny and politics.

How telling is it that only you and one other poster engaged with this horrific story?
There are many more just as horrific since the day the news got out that Meghan and Harry were an item
Yet let's ignore all the hatred and concentrate on the book or the way Meghan moved her hand or smiled.
When people show you who they are.....

Essentially people choose a 'side' not because they are invested in the people themselves so much as what they represent and how they feel about that. K&W - stability, reliability, status quo. H&M - change, difference, disruption.

I don't dislike K&W at all, I just don't trust their authenticity. And I like people who speak out when they see wrong.

Thanks for that lol. Singling me out?

I don't change my name so you 'know' me.

p.s. there are many threads I don't post on by the way. Not that you'd notice.

Exactly. I have linked a news item from yesterday about two men jailed for years for wanting execution of Harry and Archie. Anyone commenting on that?

You felt the need to attack another poster, why?

When you have many here who dissect every little thing Meghan does yet fails to acknowledge the racism and outright hostility against her from the word go then that is a huge problem.

Neil Basu - the former head of counter-terrorism policing in England - in his final interview as assistant commissioner said
"If you'd seen the stuff that was written and you were receiving it, the kind of rhetoric that's online, if you don't know what I know, you would feel under threat all of the time," he said.
When asked if there had been genuine threats to Meghan, he added: "Absolutely.
"We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats."

Some similar online rhetoric here at times. The hatred is on another level at times.

My opinion, for what little it is worth, is that Harry didn't really prepare Meghan for well anything really. Shame as I thought they could be a real asset to the Royal Family

I wonder this too, OP. People on MN, people I'm assuming who are fully formed adults, so invested in the lives of these strangers. Getting into heated spats with other posters. In a way that seems normal coming from a 13 year old who's obsessed with their favourite celebrity but seems ott when coming from the 13 year old's mother.

@unbelieveable22 The hatred is on another level at times.

This is almost exactly what Jeremy Clarkson said about Meghan: “I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.”

And then of course he went on to talk about imagining her being paraded through the streets naked while having shit thrown at her.

There's only two years and a couple of months between them. I just think it's sad that the focus was on the 'little boy' like it was perfectly fine for his brother to have been put in that position just because he was slightly older and looked like a young man.

@Kalevala ". I just think it's sad that the focus was on the 'little boy' like it was perfectly fine for his brother to have been put in that position just because he was slightly older and looked like a young man."

I was the one that mentioned this-I said it was appalling for both of them. I think I used the word abusive. But this thread is about what made Harry the man he is today.

This is almost exactly what Jeremy Clarkson said about Meghan: “I hate her. Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.”

And then of course he went on to talk about imagining her being paraded through the streets naked while having shit thrown at her.

Exactly. This is just utterly weird.

What's behind this level of hatred for a women he hasn't met? And hasn't done anything even remotely criminal?

And the editor thinking it was OK to publish that vile piece from Clarkson is also terrible.

And the editor thinking it was OK to publish that vile piece from Clarkson is also terrible.

Yup. And didn't Camilla have lunch with him a couple of weeks later?

And so many people being outraged when he was called out for it because “he’s allowed to say what he thinks”…

And exactly the same thing has happened here as happens on most of the royal family threads in recent years, making the board pretty much unreadable. It's a pity because it would be nice to have had a reasonable discussion as this thread started out. It might have allowed both sides to get less nuanced views and try and understand others' pov.

It's like a klaxon is sounded:
A group of posters arrive at around the same time saying "I don't really support H&M; I only support them because how everyone else is nasty to them", backing each other up by either tagging @whoever or quoting whole posts with a clap or "I agree" at the end. Then you get the posts about what has been said in the past, linking newspaper articles and then saying "why aren't people talking about this?" because that isn't what the thread's about. Start your own separate thread about that if you want.

And that is why you get the impression that people love them or hate them. Because by taking an extreme view each group pushes the other further.
If both sides would stop the nastiness then you'd see far less of the extreme views.

The Jeremy Clarkson article was vile. I have always said the media are racist, misogynistic and homophobic and I can understand why Meghan did not want them to have a photo of Archie.

Sadly social media allows people to say things they never would say face to face. Meghan and Kate have both had vile posts about them as sadly have a lot of women in the public eye.

Thank you for the article @Roussette, I am glad they were caught and jailed. You are correct the media haven’t reported this because it doesn’t suit their narrative.