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?

No, I think they were probably looking forward to Harry getting married to someone who brought out the best in him & starting a family - enjoying life as an extended family with their children and people who could share the load of their working life. It has all been a crushing disappointment.

Meghan can be very polished but was inconsistent in that - as was Catherine I suppose to start with but not to the same extent. I'm not sure about glamorous - or why that would unsettle them? Meghan is a very attractive woman but even with maximum effort she was never going to be considered more attractive than Catherine. Even if Harry had married someone who could be percieved as more attractive/glamorous/polished that Catherine, I really don't think that would've bothered them.

It didn't take long for Meghan's 'charisma' to morph into almost the complete opposite and for Harry's dark side to come out more. I honestly can't think of a time where I viewed H&M as more relatable or interesting, or in any way in competition with W&C. They were just out doing the job, Meghan learning the ropes - an addition rather than a competition.

This. I remember the press turning on Meghan almost right from the get go. I don't remember it the way you describe it at all @BluntPinkNewt

The press were very very down on M initially and then the pair of them. There was no extended period when M shone or had a chance to outshine W and K.

W and K were right to keep distance and treat H and M like a firework that never went off. History has proved this to be the correct approach too.

I think it's important to separate the initial media narrative - new, mixed race, glamorous America, happy Harry - from what William and Kate saw behind the scenes - a not particularly bright person who they loved being dominated by a woman showing little willingness to do what was required to take on a senior Royal role. Worrying about being upstaged would have been the last thing on their minds.

Edited for typo

Oh W and K and deeply dull, I agree with you there

And I think it does matter to the Windsors . It’s all PR and superficiality now . No one still falls for the ‘ we are appointed by God ‘ crap any longer so it is a race to be the top influencer and neither W nor K are equipped to win that race.

Hence the years long attempts to destroy Harry as his continued existence outside the ‘royals ‘ is a threat .

It’s all so very superficial. The Windsors are corrupt and above the law- THAT is what needs to be addressed not mocking jam or wine or whatever other rubbish occupies endless threads in the Harry and M hate section .

If the Windsors made the slightest attempt to clean up the sex offenders and pedophile protectors among their number would there be any of them left ?
There is serous law breaking there and what are they doing about it ?

Why am I even posting on a thread about Meghan and harry? They are rich twats with a weirdly obsessive fan base💩

No.

Can't imagine a future King (and Queen) being even remotely threatened by at best (and if I am being kind) a c-list actress

Invictus Games? when she tried to march in fit flops! The engagement interview in a totally inappropriate 50k dress interrupting and gurning? Behave yourself.

No, what took a few months to emerge for us (how she really is) - they had seen right from the start.

Dread that she was joining the family, not jealousy

I really don’t think so.

It’s (charisma) a bit thin on the ground now though isn’t it.

Yes, William and Kate don't have charisma at all.

Kate doesn’t have to do much to get huge attention. She looks good, can turn up and have the press and enough public attention.

If anything it’s a bit much although she seems to handle that as well as possible. H&M launch stuff and need PR, it’s a different ballgame.

One thing I have noticed is that the life trajectory of the, "Spare" for at least the last three generations has followed the same pattern. See if you can tell who I am talking about here, Margeret, Andrew or Harry:

When young, could be said to be slightly better looking, a bit more outgoing and charismatic and well known for liking a party. Popular with the public and media alike.

Just when tipping over the edge from, "Party loving" to, "Bit embarrassing" settles down with somebody completely out of left field, nothing like anybody they had ever dated before but the public wishes them well, even if slightly puzzled. Media plays along.

Brief interlude of cute babies and calm before storm but media is starting to get snippy.

Disaster strikes.

Harry is still arguably still at stage three and can maybe head off the big trouble but it does seem to be a pattern.

Is it something inherent in the rôle of Spare? Does the Royal Family conciously or unconsciously sabotage the second born to avoid some kind of coup or uprising?

If William paid his taxes , stopped ripping off charities and even better , said the public purse could be better spent elsewhere than on the billionaire Windsors , he wouldn’t need to worry about trying to produce an iota of ‘charisma ‘

The Windsors want us distracted by their gaudy baubles and fooled into thinking that they deserve the half a billion a year they steal from us - but we have the internet now lol and it isn’t working .

The Andrew revelations add another negative dimension: repeatedly endangering national security including alleged sex tapes and friendship with Chinese spy.

You’re right, Margaret, Andrew, and Harry all seem to follow a similar arc. I do think the “spare” role comes with a tricky psychology: less pressure in some ways but also less purpose, so the public and media latch onto personality and lifestyle instead. That can make the “curve” of public opinion sharper and faster. Whether the family actively nudges that arc is harder to prove but the pattern’s definitely there.

From what I could see the only people Meghan had at her wedding were her mother and Hollywood hangers on. I think that says a lot about her popularity amongst people who actually know her. She is manipulative and Harry will rue the day. As for William and Kate I doubt they give a stuff, their position is safe whatever the public think.

This has always been the way with women in the royal family and the press and it's quite ridiculous really.

Diana was loved and then the press turned on her a bit.
Fergie was a "breath of fresh air" and loved for her fun personality, right until they turned on her for being unprofessional and slated for her weight.
Anne is either the dependable workhorse with frugal finances or a dreary and boring (and if they're against her the dangerous dog issue will be brought up).
Sophie was another breath of fresh air, looks compared to Diana but her personality was calm and sensible, until she was a greedy commoner who didn't understand how things worked and shouldn't copy Diana's hairstyle. She's now very much back in favour with the media.

Camilla - well her ride with the press has been an absolute rollercoaster.

Then Kate was young and exciting and fresh. Then she was lazy and work shy. Then she was elegant and the classic English rose.

Around the time of Kate and William's wedding it was the York sisters that became the punchbag.

Then it became Meghan's turn. It's constant.

The habit of pitching two of the most high profile women at the time against each other is also a constant.

Stability and tradition are enduring qualities we need in a Royal Family, I believe. Also, I don’t think it matters if they’re charismatic or not. It’s a life of service and if the emphasis was more on their personal image it would be a bit naff.
They’re demure and focused on their work, using their status to highlight causes of local and international communities. I think that’s more classy.
People like them as they are and the two couples are like chalk and cheese so why try to compare them?

To be fair, Anne was the Spare for a while, then went down the los, like the others. She didn't go that way, so she has bucked that trend.

Not at all. I think Harry and Meghan wanted immediate equal treatment, the same as the Heir and his family which is never going to happen. They couldn’t handle it (still can’t ) so they left.

I’m sorry but this nonsense

Life of service ?? This is parody surely

William is out worked by his octogenarian relatives !
The only service the Windsors understand is self service

I don't know about threat but I remember when the four of them did that interview, as the 'fab four'; Kate was pregnant at the time. Up until then Meghan and Harry were largely feted by the press, the wedding was marvellous, everyone enjoyed it and she made a very good impression wherever she went. Meghan was asked about giving women a voice, or that subject came up, and she said something like, "Women don't need to be given a voice, we have a voice", and went on. I agreed but thought, "Royals don't say things like that", and I said to my husband, "I wonder how long before the press/the firm start tearing her/them down". He agreed with me. We didn't have long to wait. It was disgusting. We needed them, they were a great asset and surely there is room for everyone.

They are rarely off the front pages of the Daily HateMail and some of the stuff printed is ludicrous. What gets me is that people believe it, they enjoy controversy and latch on to the slightest thing.

I was having a conversation with someone the other day about 'Spare', the only book actually in Prince Harry's own words. The person was slating it, things he supposedly said in it, which I did not recognise or were hyperbolised or taken out of context, and I have read it twice. I asked her if she had actually read the book and she said, "No and I wouldn't piss on it". Says it all really.

I have no stake in either couple but take everything I read with a large pinch of salt, especially when 'sources close to' are quoted.

I wish the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had stayed here and fronted it out but do not blame them one bit for leaving, they are far better off out of it with their young family. Good luck to them. It is sad though - and shameful that they felt the need to go. I had hoped they'd come back sometimes but only Harry has done that, briefly and for particular reasons. Though I'm sure he's fairly happy with his life he must miss the UK and his family. Thankfully some of his friends and family do visit but it's not the same.

It's not just the royals the media love to buld up and then tear down, anyone with a high profile is 'fair' game. We see it time and time again and people fall for it. If something dies down, the press will resurrect it - so will facebook.

The Mail today is instigating outrage by publicising a book written about the Yorks, complete with faux sympathy for their two daughters. The media thrives on whipping up outrage. It's sickening.

Nothing fine and good, or even innocuous, is remembered, it's just hate all the way.

Shakespeare was right when he wrote (from memory, I'm 75 and did Julius Caesar for O level), "The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones".

I am eternally grateful not to be famous.

We needed them,

Speak for yourself!

What exactly did you 'need' Harry and Meghan for?