Royal style & gossip: Sandringham shots are coming, who will Prince Philip deck in the halls?

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Made sure my autocorrect didn't spoil that title...

As always, let's keep it light and avoid any spite!

Previous thread

I read that thread too Elspeth, i don't switch my phone off for emergencies,so yes i find them disturbing , i left particularly very active group who send texts at all hours.
i don't send emails or, texts prior to working hours as sometimes they get way back in the unread log and they get missed, seecially if I'm sending an email to someone who reads dozens each day.

i remember reading Thomas Markle won the lottery at some point and lost have of it, but still managed to help all his children start businesses and payed for Meghan tuition fees at a private school.He looked after all his children and made sure they got a good thing going on for them in life, i honestly don't think he is a terrible person. Naive and easily fooled yes.

i fail to understand few things , MM lived all her teen years with her father where was Doria? the letters she sent him spoke of a close relationship, but i think MM prefers to emphasize on Doria . the single, free spirt mother raising a daughter sounds better.

I recall a US based poster on here saying that in the US there's no suggestion that she lived with her dad full time during those years. More summers and holidays? This poster said that it seems to be something the UK press has picked up as fact, but isn't considered so there?

personally i think the whole thing was badly handled from the start by H&M and KP.There should have been some sort of contact with TM months in advance.

I work in PR and I can assure you, this would have happened. I am absolutely certain that he was offered support, general guidance and probably some insight into what was coming. However, he chose to ignore it because either he felt it wasn't relevant to him or that he was better placed to handle it himself. I'm not sure why the assumption is that KP and the RF didn't attempt to help him. I don't work in these kind of environments, but I've dealt with enough situations where the larger, more experienced party has attempted to provide some guidance or direction, only to be told to get stuffed and then have to sit back and watch it all fall apart. The ONLY thing I can say in his defence is that I suspect he simply didn't believe the scale of what would happen. But that only works in the context of his first stupid mistake with the staged photos, beyond that he should have learnt his lesson.

I think there is an assumption that KP didn't do enough as am I correct in thinking that PH has never even met MM's father?

On a US forum I sometimes look on they definitely seem to think MM lived with her father fulltime as there is a lot of speculation as to where her mother was. And of course that is fine - shared custody quite normal after all.

I send emails what ever time of day or night I have a moment, I use do not disturb between 10pm am 7am AND set my phone to accept only emergency calls from children and parents/grandparents.

The men in grey need to update their working practice and adjust their settings, receiving an email does not mean it should disturb you or that it must be answered immediately. Just learn to use appropriate settings.

I also understand there is an optimal time to send an email in order for it to be noticed and responded to, I am sure it's out there on Google somewhere!

I think now they just need to work to contain the situation. People make mistakes as the RF know more than many so just need to find a way to gracefully deal with MM's father.

No he's never met him.

To be honest, I've always felt the fact that PH hasn't met her father was a sign right up front that their relationship wasn't great. Ditto, Harry's slip about "the family she's never had". My theory is that Meghan's relationship with her father was complicated for a long time. Not no contact, but probably a bit cautious on her part - we don't know the history but based on his behaviour, and her sister's, I think we can confidently say they've probably let her down many times before.

And that she's gone NC as a result of the craziness since she married Harry.

I'm not buying Doria in jail theory. Simply because I don't believe for one second that wouldn't have come out by now - a inmate who was in jail at same time etc. I'm still not convinced that she DID live with him - for a start, didn't she got o school in California but supposedly lived with him in another state?

People make mistakes as the RF know more than many so just need to find a way to gracefully deal with MM's father. I don't think there is a way to do this if he isn't willing to listen. I've been the PR person desperately trying to convince a third party that their new plan is not going to be any more successful than the previous plan, with zero success. My theory is that some people simply don't believe that others know better than them (lawyers tend to fall into this category a lot! )

Right, we need some royals to get out and about today so we can go back to clothes! I'm wondering if George might be old enough to go to church at Christmas? I'm guessing not - Louisa only started recently I think - but we can hope?

I don't get it @katekat383 what should she have had the decency to have done?

It's is a persons right to walk away from a relationship they find unpleasant/damaging/whatever.

Right, we need some royals to get out and about today so we can go back to clothes! I'm wondering if George might be old enough to go to church at Christmas? I'm guessing not - Louisa only started recently I think - but we can hope?

Don't we just! More clothes please

That'd be a cold, probably not terribly interesting trip for a little boy when he'll doubtless be desperate to play with his presents - I'd imagine he'll stay behind for a few years yet?

On the subject of George, one of the Kate blogs speculated that his appearance in jeans on their card might mean that he'll be out of shorts from now on - what do you all think? At what age did the whole breeching malarkey used to happen?

I can see nothing anywhere that states Meghan lived with Thomas from the age of 11! In fact there are multiple articles saying who she split her time before school with Doria and going to spend afternoons after with him on TV sets.

If he wants to repair the relationship he can start by stopping talking to the press every 5mins it's not far to figure out!!

Those saying they need to find another way rather than ignore him and hope he eventually stops

What way?

There seriously ISN'T one

Phone him?

He'll sell every word of it like he did last time, potentially this time even record it

Send a KP flunky to build a bridge and mediate ?

Again, sold, potentially record it

A letter / card?

Highest bidder

Private photos of them/their child?

Highest bidder

There's NOTHING they can do without opening themselves to further betrayal of confidence

I think Thomas Markle was right when he said Diana would have handled it differently.

But he caused massive offence by invoke his son in laws precious late mother and speculating as to her, but EVEN DIANA I think would have washed her hands of him at this point.

I think Meghan must be DESPERATE to release a statement and can't and so us handling it as gracefully as possible

Any statement she makes offers opportunity for response and yet more interviews.

Silence is their ONLY choice

The beautiful snow princess Mette Marit went to an «our neighbourhood» festival for refugees.

Breeching used to be 7

So roughly right

I think James will attend church this year and POSSIBLY Savannah Phillips who gained notice for mature behaviour looking after the younger ones at Eugenie's wedding.

Now back to clothes. I don't have anything on the British royals but I do have the Belgium royals Christmas card plus a thank you from princess Elisabeth 17th birthday

Queen Rania and King Abdullah welcome the President of Bulgaria
I am really not keen on Rania’s outfit. She has styled it mildly better than the designer, but it looks very mismatched. The only part of it I like is the shoes.

bling TM was involved in Meghan upbringing he volunteered at her school regularly to help with sets for her school play, he was the one who told her to write a letter to procter and gamble and make her voice be heard, MM said that herself in an interview.
I don't believe Doria was in jail or anything ,but its clear she was not around , i think there is talk of her joining a community or something.

as i said i don't think he is a bad person i dont think anyone will go to all this trouble and not deeply care about their child. he should have been treated a bit nicer .Thats all really

And one from Princess Caroline on Monaco not that you can rest see anything of the outfit

That's a beautiful shot of Caroline. Airbrushed, but beautiful!

Hang on a minute @itswinetime did you get an ACTUAL card in an envelope from the Belgian Royal family.
(This is so going to be my new hobby. Getting my 8yo DS to craft cards to various RF members and wait for —my— his reply! )

@queenofarles - we'll have to agree to disagree. I agree with a pp a bit earlier who highlighted all the actions they could try that he would just destroy. He may not be a bad person, but he's clearly arrogant in that he thinks his voice is more important and that his approach is ultimately going to be successful, int he face of overwhelming evidence that that is not the case.

I'm sorry to keep banging on about this, but I've seen people like him in the corporate world who cause public chaos for their companies. In most cases, they're not bad people. They're simply people who think they know better and aren't willing to listen to the specialists who have been hired for a very specific purpose. I'd go so far as to say that most of them have a positive agenda. They just don't have the skills to implement it.

Oh it lunch day at BP. Here are some arrivals.

Twitter Glosters and Kent's.

I forget do all royals go or is it just the ones that won't be at Sandringham??

Princess Elisabeth card crashed my computer but from what I can see she's wearing fun flowery trousers? Love a little age-appropriate dressing (as long as it's not the hideously unflattering high waisted, light blue skinny jeans paired with a tiny little top that make even the prettiest girls with the best figures look weird).

@CurlyWurlyTwirly, that's just a grab of someone's Instagram story isn't it?

@CurlyWurlyTwirly no sorry all credit should got to the dedicated people on Instagram who are far more organised than me.