To think Kate and William saw Harry and Meghan as a real threat to their image?

[BluntPinkNewt]

From the moment Harry and Meghan got together, the media attention was huge. Meghan was glamorous, charismatic, and had a strong public presence - something the royal family hadn’t seen before from an outsider. For a while, it felt like they were the most exciting and modern part of the monarchy.

Kate and William have always been the “stable” and “traditional” royals but suddenly, Harry and Meghan were drawing attention in a way that might have made them seem more relatable and interesting in comparison. The shift in public perception (and maybe even palace dynamics) must have been unsettling.

Obviously things have played out the way they have but AIBU to think that, at least at the time, William and Kate felt genuinely threatened by how much attention and influence Harry and Meghan were gaining?

I find it really funny how the media works. The villified Kate at beginning, she was lazy hanging around for William not to mention the digs about her mother’s past.

They are turning a bit again though, it's like there always has to be a punchbag. So bizarre!

Maybe. I think the internal machinations at the palace are complicated and there are a lot of egos involved. I don’t understand, for example, why the have separate PR teams (Charles and William). Ultimately though W and C will be King and Queen.

I think H and M could have made a massive contribution but again, egos were involved. Meghan in particular needed to step back and watch for a while.

I think most people just feel sad for harry, he's not the brightest, had alot of trauma, and now he's messed things up so badly

The fact that Megan often wore black and was bare legged

bare legged?! the jezebel! Imagine if Meghan flashed her bum like Kate did, there would have been riots!

I think the royal palace likes to keep the animosity and gossip. It is as often the case, keep the proles arguing and bickering amongst themselves and they won’t stop to question the whole fact that the institution of monarchy is in complete contradiction to a true democrat.

Even if this is so the RF know they've got far superior image managers - look at the job they did with Harry - so I don't think they have any reason to worry

Remember too that they already knew the real person, as opposed to the version the public were fed, and I doubt there was anything there they'd want to compete with

And what competition with someone like Meghan - better twerking skills?

@OrangeAxolotyl alas I don't have time to read about things i'm not interested in, there is enough i'm interested in.

I'm on a 10 hour journey but get car sick if I read. Very annoying.

No I don’t, personally I believe Harry and Megan were media scape goats to sway from Andrew’s peodo ring!

I think this assumption that the royals care about their popularity is a total misunderstanding.

Someone like William - shy, introverted, awkward and gauche probably wishes he’d been born into any family but that one. Same with Charles. They are not exactly Gatsby are they? Dutiful but no charisma. I think ironically they're all probably secret republicans at heart wishing for the day the monarchy is dismantled and they can just heave a sigh of relief it’s all over and disappear and talk to the trees.

The fact that you think W&K sit of an evening stewing over the ‘popularity’ of Harry and his narcissist hand holder is laughable.

Is this you megan?

seriously though. Megan had a ‘global profile’ to those who watched a pretty average tv series.

she could have been the best thing y happen to the royal family in decades. Instead she’s probably one of the worst (rivalling andy) and her husbands toddler esque melt downs. They both need to grow up

@bumbaloo never thought of that

Sorry, an older wife for Harry with seriously not ideal moral background, semi laughing when their relatives were buried, shaking her ass in a hospital like a total moron, without any education, going into the Queen's private space on purpose to upset all the protocols.....you call all this glamour, charisma ...and what else.

I call it lack of class, lack of education, promiscuity with financial gain in mind

There is no comparison between Diana and Megan. Diana was loved by people from all over the world. Megan is nowhere close. Nor has she done anything to match what Diana did for humanitarian causes.

I call it lack of class, lack of education, promiscuity with financial gain in mind

How old are you @Bathingforest? Such a bizarre way of thinking, incredibly misogynistic.

Fine! I like to read a lot, so am always looking for different and interesting things. I never knew Stalin, I don't like him, but that was an interesting book. I can't imagine limiting myself to only reading about people I like!
Still. We're all different.

Because it would have been very embarrassing if the public preferred a prince and his wife to the king and queen.

If the public don't like the King and Queen, it will become a problem.

Just like when the public adored Princess Diana and didn't like Charles.

I think this is just what fans of M and H think.

you are deceiving yourself
this woman told the world she never heard of Harry. A screaming sign how much she really organised the whole thing to happen

AIBU to think that, at least at the time, William and Kate felt genuinely threatened by how much attention and influence Harry and Meghan were gaining?
This is way off base. Kate made it clear (way back, in the Noughties) that she wasn't going to be the media's fool; that she wasn't going to be another Lady Di. Remember when she broke off the relationship for a bit until ground rules were established? That's why she plays safe and steers away from fashion.

Meghan fell into the Lady Di Mark II trap.

Yeah right and they would be smirking right now with the mess h & m have got themselves into now.

@OrangeAxolotyl you don't need to keep responding to me justifying yourself. You do you!

Meghan appeared on one US TV show on a cable channel. She was moderately well known but she wasn’t an A list celebrity. She wasn’t the sort to have a seat at the Oscars or the Met Gala. She doesn’t have any Emmy or SAG awards.
Every award she won, she did so after marrying a Royal:
https://m.imdb.com/name/nm1620783/awards/

Was a beautiful charismatic B/C list actress who was very different to the sort of women Harry dated? Of course.
Was she going to be a global fashion icon with a philanthropic organisation to rival the big names and a sellout podcast and TV show? On the basis of current evidence, also no.

Conversely are William and Kate going to be King and Queen. Yes. Are they going to host global leaders for State dinners and hobnob with the powerful by simply having that role? Yes of course.

I personally find William and Kate boring as sin. Regardless of what they thought about Megan I think they much preferred having Harry in tow as the kid brother, rather than forging his own path.

I think this is what supporters of H & M would like to believe. In my opinion, Kate is a self secured lady with focus on her kids than on any competition on Megan. I think there is a chance it was other way round.

The attetion Megan and Harry received is for obvious reasons, within a year Harry had a new girl friend and then got married. It's the same attention K & W got during when they started relationship and around their wedding. Theirs was morw spread out while M & H's everything happend so fast.

That novelty died down. Also, while Megan is glamorous, she is not out of the world stunning beauty. And I am saying as a brown skin people before you go on assuming things about me.

Edited for typos.

Can you not just go and practice using ChatGPT on the Royals board?