Royal style: we want more salwars and we're not sari about it!

[QueenOfTheAndals]

Previous thread

I watched the Prince Charles documentary about the Duchy of Cornwall.
It was interesting but excellent PR as well.
I have a friend from Dorchester, ( right next door to Poundbury) who says it’s a dreadful place; “ a plaything” for the Prince.

It did make me think PC is a shrewd businessman. Basically gets people to work for him for free. The business is worth £ 1 billion and turns over £21 million a year for just 3 families. The PoW, Cambridges and Sussexes.
I’m curious as to how the Sussexes ( and any siblings of monarchs) are funded.
Whilst they have a parent who is a monarch; there are obviously handouts from the Duchy of Lancaster. (Although it hasn’t stopped Andrew from being subsidised by many dodgy friends)

Here's CPM in an Erdem dress that actually looks good.

She looks beautiful there, I love that dress.

I cringe a bit at the way caps are doffed at PC, while he revels in the beneficent laded gentry role.

So many questions re Harry though ...
Did Harry genuinely think things had really changed re: the way the palace machine and the way things are done?
Is this where all the anger is coming from?
Does he feel guilty?
What things specifically did he think had changed since his mothers time?
Had he pinned his hopes simply on his brother being more supportive?
Did he tell Meghan things had changed and it would all be ok?
How else could anyone considering marrying a son of Diana not be prepared for how the British press might tear you down?

I suppose Harry benefitted so much from his own white male privilege that seeing first hand what is not afforded to his wife has been genuinely shocking to him.

I don’t mean that in as snippy a way as that sounds. He’s lived a very specific kind of life with no very close female relative to witness how they might be treated differently before. (Kate doesn’t count here I don’t think, her introduction was very different and not stage managed by Harry).

(Obviously he witnessed his mother but I’m sure he’s put a lot of emotional energy into confining that to ‘the past when things were different’)

Anyone knows if official tours wardrobe comes from the income the Duchy hands to the princes? I’m aware it comes from P . Charles , wondering whether it’s paid separately.

Harry is very close to Zara and his female cousins, but they are all products of the same white middle class set I suppose. Though Meghan has hardly had a tough life before marriage. Her life has been quite privileged too.

I imagine that the RF have tried hard to include Meghan and make her welcome. They probably don’t emote much or ask her how she is. I can’t imagine they’d openly discuss the publication of her Dads letter for example. Perhaps she expected something different.

At one time they all looked to be getting along well. Harry said it’s like the family she never had, also Charles and Meghan got along pretty well too.
Then it started to break down. No one knows why really!

@queenofarles
Official tour wardrobes are paid by the foreign office.( tax payer)
Meghan did well in Africa; she apparently only spent about £4k

What? I thought it was all paid for by PC.

If there is a break down within the family it would be, i imagine, because harry and Meghan are outraged at how they are being treated by the press and want to fight back while rest of family thinks they should let it blow over. The problem is that the rest of the family, ensconced in their white, upper class, royal privilege simply don't experience the same level of vitriol as Meghan and harry and simply don't understand.

The ENDLESS commentary pieces by the camilla long, Sarah vine, piers Morgan. The blatant lies told by the tabloids (with palace denials included in final paragraphs or in a "correction" on page 6 three days later) etc etc.

Harry and meghan made mistakes- the birth of archie was handled badly for example. But they have been punished for such mistakes to a level that is completely unacceptable. And it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation - they react because of way they are treated (eg baby shower fiasco with press making up shit, accusing them of things etc so they batten hatches for birth) and then their reaction gets punished.

So she's listening and learning, and did a good job whilst in Africa. What a shame it was all overshadowed by the announcements on the last day.

Really Harry may well just feel as if he isn't seeing Charles and William as much because their work has increased as the Queen gets older, as they are heirs. Therefore he isn't getting moral support from them. At the same time he is having to grow up and become responsible for his own family. And all in the public eye. It is probably 2 big shifts for him at once. No wonder it is a struggle.

Things have definitely changed since Diana and Fergie’s day, when they were both left to sink or swim.
Sophie was treated very differently and was allowed to live with Prince Edward at BP prior to getting engaged. They had a very long courtship too, of about 8 years.

Kate also lived with William at Anglesey. Her parents were invited to Balmoral prior to the engagement and she was given informal lessons on how to be a Princess / duchess

Prince Charles funds everything else for his children’s lifestyles

.looks like the Monaguesque royals have popped down to SA for the 2 week Vacances de Toussaint.
Cheering on SA in the rugby semi final.

@queenofarles i remember that. But was that just before their marriage or just after? To be fair M & H's whole relationship has moved so quickly that there hasn't been time for any long periods of anything for the pair of them really.

I wonder if Meghan didn’t want to be part of the Fab Four because she likes to be in control. So she may have put pressure on Harry to go their own way. Same thing with living in KP. I don’t see her as a team player. There was talk in the press about her having let PC down at the last minute when invited to a private exhibition. Don’t know if that’s true, but it seems she’s moving as far away from them as she can and taking Harry with her. They may feel damned if they do and dammed if they don't and feel powerless to help. All the while H and M are getting more and more disenchanted and seeing themselves as victims.

Belgian Crown Princess Elisabeth celebrates her 18th birthday.
Apparently she goes to boarding school in Wales.

I agree with all the theories here and i'm thinking it's a little bit of everything which has caused things to come to this point.

William's role has changed as HMQ has aged. He'll be concentrating more on his own household. The swirling rumors. The increasing public role. He'll have had less time for Harry.

Harry's role has changed massively over the last few years. The army job, the playboy prince has long gone. Yes he's got married and had a child in a short space of time. Big changes.

And yes, although he witnessed first hand what happened to his mother that doesn't mean he's necessarily picked up the tools to help deal with it or prevent it happening to anyone else. It didn't happen to him, it happened to someone he loved. While that was going on and ever since until now the press and the public were always very pro Harry.

The way H & M have tried to manage their exposure has been quite a mixed bag. I agree they've made mistakes and it's all spiraling a bit now.

Did Kate really have lessons in how to be a princess or is that another urban myth about the royals?

Maybe Finishing School type lessons.

@QueenOfTheAndals
Who knows, but it doesn’t seem unreasonable.
Apparently Sophie was supposed to be guiding Meghan.