California not Sussex

[CaliforniaNotSussex]

I was born and grew up on the Surrey Sussex border. My brother currently lives in Sussex, my mum spent her retirement in Sussex, my grandparents lived in Sussex their whole lives, I had Saturday and holiday jobs in Sussex, my friends at school lived in Sussex.

I do not like or agree with Ms Markle having the 'Duchess of Sussex' title. She has spent all of 6 hours of her entire life here. She doesn't represent or care about me and the rest of the population of Sussex. She doesn't even like the UK. She will probably never set foot in the UK again, she hates our royal family and our country.

I cant really do much about the title being given to her. But now she wants people to refer to her as 'Meghan Sussex' according to her new netflix show.

Why?????

Why Meghan do you want you and your family to have a surname of a place you have barely ever been to, know nothing about, and which is located in a country you dislike and will never return to?

Can't you call yourself Meghan California instead? You can call yourself anything informally, and if you want to change your name formally, there is probably a way that you and Harry and the kids could adopt 'California' as your new surname.

Why oh why take/steal our home county as your new name. I get the 'duchess of Sussex' title is given to you, but you don't need to use it, and you definitely don't need to call yourself 'Meghan Sussex'.

(Some of) The people of Sussex do not want you to have our name

If you want our name then come visit. Spend time here. Visit the locals, buy OUR jam, invest in OUR schools, donate money to local charities, show interest in the place you have adopted as yours. Visit us regularly. Learn about the culture, the people, the place.

AIBU for thinking Meghan should make the effort to get to know Sussex if she now wants to be called 'Meghan Sussex'? If she doesn't want anything to do with us and will never come here again, she shouldn't call herself 'Meghan Sussex'.

🙄

Intelligent counter argument 😂

Just leave the bloody woman alone and get on with your day/life.

Maybe if you "Started" on Prince Andrew your thread would have gone your way there would be no disagreement about him, but let's just have a go at a woman just living her life, that hasn't actually hurt anybody and likely not a predator.

There is something about publically dissing your family that I just can't tolerate. It's not that harry and Meghan's family's are wonderful. I'm sure that's far from the truth but it's not ok to public ally air the laundry. I don't know where that value comes from or why I hold it so much, but I do.

My parents have done some terrible terrible things, but I'd never tell the whole world about it. My siblings and I have had arguments, but I'd never tell the world, write a book and public ally criticise them knowing they'd have no right of reply. I struggle to understand how someone could do this.

You realise you don't own Sussex, right?

Also, you realise that most of the aristocracy doesn't actually live in or have roots in the places they are dukes or earls or princes or barons or lords or viscounts or marquises of, right?

Duke or, Earl of, Lord of, or Viscount, or Marquis of (etc) Wales, York, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Chester, Dumbarton, Kilkeel, Rothesay, and Severn are not indications of any familial association with the places named.

The Duke of Devonshire lives in Chatsworth, Derbyshire, where the dukes have amassed vast fortunes as landowners for centuries. They also bled large swathes of Ireland dry, at one point owning 60,000 acres.

But maybe H&M don't have to live by your rules? Is that a possibility?

Harry wrote a book where a passage about him putting cream on his "manhood" reminded him of his mothers face cream I mean wtaf, but let's have a go at Meghan for wanting to be Meghan Sussex.

Of course! I guess if people want to value narcissism, fakeness and money over family that's fine. I shouldn't let it frustrate me so much that this is the state of humanity and the direction some people choose to go in life. I don't know why it does bother me. Maybe because I feel for the people who have been hurt in this

I am sure she has experienced racism at times in her life. My post was clumsy. I was referring to the racism she claims to have experienced from the royal family that made her feel suicidal, which is what was being posted about at the time and I was responding to. That is what I was doubting. I don't think Kate is racist. I don't think discussing the colour of Archie's skin is racist. But if I'm wrong then like I say, that is awful.

Firstly, Meghan never said that racism from the royal family made her feel suicidal—she said it was the relentless abuse from the press, combined with the lack of support from the institution, that pushed her to that point. If you're going to question her claims, at least get them right.

You’re free to believe whatever you like about Kate and whether you think that discussing the colour of Archie's skin was racist. But the fact remains that many people of colour do find it racist, and here’s why: discussing skin colour isn’t inherently racist, but context and intent matter. The issue wasn’t just that Archie’s skin tone was mentioned—it was that it was framed as a concern. That suggests there was something negative or undesirable about the possibility of him being darker-skinned, which is a textbook example of racial bias.

No royal baby’s skin colour had ever been questioned like this before, so why did it suddenly become a topic of discussion with Meghan’s child? That’s why so many people of colour found it troubling. Instead of dismissing it, a more meaningful response would have been to acknowledge the harm, reflect, and learn from it.

Instead, what we’ve seen is a wave of gaslighting, downplaying, and minimising the experiences of other people of colour—many of whom, strangely enough, also read these threads and recognize these dynamics all too well. And yet, all of this continues to miss the larger issue. By bending over backwards to protect an institution that has actively exempted itself from the Race Relations Act and other equalities legislation, people have shown that they’re far more invested in defending the monarchy than in addressing the harm that was done. Because, of course, protecting the institution’s image matters more than confronting its 'dirty laundry'.

I guess if people want to value narcissism, fakeness and money over family that's fine.

I guess if people want to value 'family loyalty' over the victims of rape and sex trafficking (by not giving a sex offender quite literally millions of pounds to spend on settlements) then that's fine too. I mean I don't get it at all but each to their own.

Meghan also hasn't actually done any of those things about her family, Harry has! But unsurprisingly the thread is full of hate for Meghan.

AIBU. I've married a lovely man but his family are a nightmare. They're spreading gossip about me and some even made racist comments about their 'concerns' over the colour of my future children's skin (I am mixed race, they are all white). When I married I had to give up my successful career to join the family business, which I didn't always enjoy and my mental health really suffered.
We've now moved away from the area and left the family business. I'm trying to rebuild my career but it's tough starting again, in part down to the gossip his family spread when we were first married. Even my decision to sell jam has been widely criticised, for some reason.

Really odd to be so invested in the lives of strangers.

If Wales (an actual country) has to put up with Charles and then William when we know the real prince of wales is Michael Sheen, then you can surely cope with someone thousands of miles away using it as a name. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Now, be serious. You are not out in the jungle dodging the Viet Cong.

@PinkArt

AIBU. I've married a lovely man but his family are a nightmare. They're spreading gossip about me and some even made racist comments about their 'concerns' over the colour of my future children's skin (I am mixed race, they are all white). When I married I had to give up my successful career to join the family business, which I didn't always enjoy and my mental health really suffered.
We've now moved away from the area and left the family business. I'm trying to rebuild my career but it's tough starting again, in part down to the gossip his family spread when we were first married. Even my decision to sell jam has been widely criticised, for some reason.

Exactly this!

And:

"What's more, when his uncle was accused of rape (and was friends with a convicted sex offender with hundreds of victims), DH's gran gave him money to pay off his accuser so he never saw the inside of a court room."

Eh? Has Meghan been sex trafficked now?

If you r refering to Andrew, trust me I am absolutely NOT a fan of the sweaty pizza eating loon :)

I guess if people want to value narcissism, fakeness and money over family that's fine.

Funny how so many people fail to see that the royal family are the ultimate exemplars of prioritising image and wealth over actual family—something they have a well-documented history of doing

Your post wasn't clumsy, your post is what you think, at least own it.

I've got no interest in Megan so I don't go looking for everything she says and does.

All of you in the we hate Megan posse spend a inordinate amount of time looking and debating everything she says and does, why if you don't like her ?

If I don't like someone then I just don't think about them, I certainly don't stalk their every move and word.

I'm not even defending Megan but I don't like bullies who post their truth and then start back peddling when they're called out on it or expect us all to believe their truth and agree with them.

There's a lot of this going on at the moment and it says so much about the people like you doing it, like they say when someone shows you who they are ........

skullbabe · Today 17:21

I guess if people want to value narcissism, fakeness and money over family that's fine.

Funny how so many people fail to see that the royal family are the ultimate exemplars of prioritising image and wealth over actual family—something they have a well-documented history of doing.
**
Indeed they do. Watch Mayhem, documentary series about the Georgian dynasty!

And that’s your opinion and of course you’re entitled to it. But your upbringing and their upbringing is very different and will yield different results. Specially as you are not in the public eye. We cannot possibly imagine how it must feel like to constantly be in the news where everything you do is dissected with a fine tooth comb. Your reactions to your experiences shouldn’t be compared to anyone else’s as we are very different and feel very different. She has experienced racism (sadly) just because she is mixed raced. And whilst I wouldn’t publicly go around and expose my private life doesn’t mean that other people doing it are wrong. I don’t know how it feels to be in her shoes. Neither do you. You’re from Sussex - that’s great that you love it but it doesn’t give you carte Blanche to bash a woman that you’ve never set eyes on. Scroll by, don’t watch, give her a little grace like you would like to be given in life. At least I would as I’m not perfect and made plenty mistakes in life - I would dread to think the headlines if I was a public figure.

@CaliforniaNotSussex

If you r refering to Andrew, trust me I am absolutely NOT a fan of the sweaty pizza eating loon :)

But you're defending the family who has defended, protected and funded him to the tune of literally millions of pounds. I can't square that with then speaking about Meghan having poor values to the extent you seem to think hers are worse than theirs by far.

Do you think the Queen was morally right to pay £2m towards the rape case settlement?

That's the family you're defending so staunchly. That's the sort of thing they do. Which is their prerogative but you seem anti Andrew (thank goodness) without also condemning the way the family protected and funded him.

Fair point, OP!

I am sure she has experienced racism at times in her life. My post was clumsy. I was referring to the racism she claims to have experienced from the royal family that made her feel suicidal, which is what was being posted about at the time and I was responding to.

No it wasn’t. The post you responded to by quoting it was about racist abuse, not specifically from the royal family at all.

Fair does, Andrew was only close friends with both a spy and a sex trafficker and was accused of rape. Meghan politely corrected her friend on her married name, that happens to be the same as a county near where the OP is from. It's clear who the monster is.

You're right. It's "Earl of Inverness" I'm thinking of. Same applies in the rest of my comment, though.

You're right. I confused it with his title "Earl of Inverness".