Royal style: Monochrome Megs is back in town!

[QueenOfTheAndals]

new thread!

Stepping down as "senior" royals basically means what? They become like Beatrice and Eugenie, who show up at big occasions and have a few patronages/charities but are also free to have jobs and a private life?

I think from their website they are expecting to be a bit more involved that Beatrice and Eugenie. So somewhere between them and William and Kate. It reads to me like they are still happy to do the royal job visits for the Queen, Royal tours ect but they want to take away the financial side (that has been used against them before) and the obligation to certain press (that have been down right nasty about them) and take some control back.

It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me why not let the royals pay their own way, I don't massively care if they want to sell Sussex royal baby grows is it that different to the queen selling corgi Christmas decorations? And if it doesn't cost the public surely that's a good thing. I do notice the security cost ( I think the most expensive part) will still be publicly funded. So it's not perfect but it's a step forward I hope.

That said if they really haven't discussed this with the Royal family then it may not be as easy as that as I suspect their will be resistance. I hope that isn't the case this looks to be a planned thought out move from the Sussex's not a knee jerk reaction so I would be gobsmacked if they did it all without talking to anyone!

I don't massively care if they want to sell Sussex royal baby grows is it that different to the queen selling corgi Christmas decorations?

Agree. The royals have been monetising for a while now so I'm not too bothered by that. But I think predictions of key rings and baby grows might just be wishful thinking on some people's parts!

They don't say whether they are keeping their security exactly as it is now or if they're only keeping it for when they're undertaking work on behalf of HM. If it's only the latter then I think that's fair enough, if not then I'm a bit

Their website is a masterclass in self congratulation and hypocrisy. They really believe they are untouchable.

I'm sure they will make a fortune touting themselves around the States. Let them. But please not as members of the royal family.

Meghan has had a terrible time from the press and SM, there's no denying that. Even on this lovely thread some of the comments on Monday, for instance, totally crossed a line. I have never have that level of personal insult against Kate.

I wonder what is going on in Harry's head. What has gone wrong with William that has broken the relationship between the brothers? I find that incredibly sad, esp as I have 2 boys myself. If it's true that the planned this on their 6 week break and it came as a bolt from the blue for the RF it must be incredibly hurtful to William and Charles, not to mention the staggering disrespect to the Queen. I got the impression that Charles and Harry has a pretty good relationship and I thought PC handled the wedding debacle very gracefully. What a kick in the teeth.

It certainly seems they want to have their cake and eat it. How naive to think that the public won't see through that. Their plan seems so crass and money grabbing, as if they don't have enough privilege already. I have always had a soft spot for Harry (I think everyone who remembers him walking behind his mothers coffin with the white rose wreath and the handwritten'mummy' on the card feels protective of him) I hope he has wise people in his life who he listens to but it looks doubtful at the moment.

What a sad state of affairs

From what I've read, they want to keep their titles and trade on them to make money....how much money do they need?? And they might be giving up the sovereign grant but assuming they still accept money from Prince Charles, they're basically living of the bank of Dad which hardly makes them
financially independent.

I think they've handled this like most things rather badly and sadly, their focus seems to be about making more money for themselves instead of using their 'brand' to do good and raise money for the charities they support. Which may not be the intention but that's how it's coming across. I think if the Queen is as cross with them as is being suggested in the press then she should take their HRHs away and not have them do any royal duties at all. That'll learn 'em.

The website does make it clear that they expect the best of both worlds. They are hoping to give up a tiny bit of income in exchange for a huge amount of freedom. I'm not sure its going to fly

'Will always have a place to call home in the UK' is the wording about Frogmore that I referred to last night. Suggests they will be primarily living abroad.

Royal funding is all a bit murky and very complicated when you try to look into it, which may well be the intention. I know Charles has the duchy of Cornwall but is that really "private" income?

At the rate things are going, H&M may well announce they're giving up the Sussex titles next week! I'd have more respect for them if they did.

Vive la republique!

So they are giving up 5% of their office expenditure in return for earning their own money. Money that will be earned on the back of their royal status.

Outrageous.

How long before they are banished?

Yikes , went to bed before the website post!

I’m sure they’ve figured out how to generate a healthy income if they are stepping away from their roles as Senior royals. But what about In the long run? Will they still be relevant in 5 years time?
Will they milk their status as Son/DiL of the king?
And why are they still calling themselves their Royal highness? A kin to Royals of republic countries ?
Getting back to the money bit, can Charles stop it? Or decrease it ? What if the foreign office decide to not to assign any duties their way , will they still be considered highly protected? Will they pay taxes?

About Frogmore why not just have some bit of dignity and return it back and buy a property instead?
They sound very grabby!

They need to be a bit careful I think or they’ll find themselves out in the cold similar to the duke of Windsor. The RF tend to close ranks so I’ll be interested to see how this plays out.

I hope it works for them. They are both very damaged. Meghan from her dysfunctional paternal family & Harry from His mother’s death. I wish them good luck. I hope it’s not a cynical move. Time will tell.

Also all the poor us we need a break to regroup as a family now looks like we need some time to set this all up away from Palace interference!!

@wineorginorboth it's different from duke of Windsor. He abdicated the throne for the woman he loved. That was an abrogation of duty as far as the public and the establishment saw it and he continued to bring the RF into disrepute. His actions forced George VI onto the throne and Elizabeth to be heir. Harry is nowhere near the throne unless there was some massive attack on all 3 generations of current heirs and he doesn't have the same level of 'duty'. He doesn't want to be seen as an irrelevant old fool like Andrew and tbh Edward ( Sophie not withstanding wtaf dies Edward do?). So he and Meghan are carving out a new way of doing it that suits their aspirations to do good ( which I thunk are genuine) and which may avoid the terrible racist/xenophobic attitude of the UK press towards her.

I'm actually a republican but William and Harry and their families seem to be reasonably well grounded and understanding of their place in the world. I'm hoping William abolishes the monarchy when he comes to the throne, am dreading PC taking over. Won't be long now though I am sure

Anyway, I still want the dresses and tiaras please!

Harry is nowhere near the throne unless there was some massive attack on all 3 generations of current heirs and he doesn't have the same level of 'duty'.

Disagree. He won't ever be king but as a senior royal he has a significant role in sharing the workload. This is now being thrown onto others, among them the 93 yr old monarch.

I think he and M have worked out that once William is their paymaster things could get difficult and this is a preemptive move. Sadly I think it puts paid to any chance of reconciliation between W and H.

I think we will see loads of designer clothes now? They will all be rushing to dress Megan for free , maybe even pay her to do so!

@Myimaginarycathasfleas I disagree. They will continue to carry out official duties and support the Queen. When PC reaches the throne he will slim down the monarchy and presumably slim down official duties. The constitutional ones will remain. The Patronage's will continue but maybe less. Church and State will be the same. There will just be less cutting of ribbons

After having read their new website all I can say is wow. These two have balls to think they can have their cake and eat it. It is extremely disappointing. Shows such little respect for the Queen.

Well if Andrew can shag teenagers and still get Mummy's approval I'd suggest there's very little any individual can do to be 'banished' and denigrate the constancy of the firm in doing so.

Vice la republique indeed!

Well if Andrew can shag teenagers and still get Mummy's approval I'd suggest there's very little any individual can do to be 'banished' and denigrate the constancy of the firm in doing so.

Indeed and unless I have missed it there has been no statement about him coming of the pay roll!

As I have said before I'm not pro monarchy by nature. But if we are going to have one I'd rather have one that cost as little as possible and if that means they earn their own money by delivering speeches ect so be it. As long as they do so in stunning outfit we haven't paid for I'm getting what I want out of them.

If that happens @queenofarles then these threads will become a lot more exciting and no one will be able to complain that the taxpayer is funding her clothes habit!

A few points that strike me: 1. The press are frothing because it was done without the queen's knowledge. But when you look at initial statements from royal r4porters, it is the announcement that apparently bp was unaware of. I suspect they have been discussing this and there's some internal disagreement and Meghan and Harry decided to just go for it. Whether or not this is justified is impossible to know without knowing what the discussions were like, what promises were made and how long they were going on for. They could be impatient and pre empting things. Or they might have lost patience with the palace drawing things out. I would believe either.

Reading between lines, I think financial independence means away from the duchy of Cornwall. Whether or not that really is private money is questionable - certainly it's not funded by public coffers but the fact that the income is dedicated to supporting prince of Wales and his family/dependents suggests it's, at the very least, royal family funds rather than personal funds. In which case, never mind anything else, Harry and Meghan will want to avoid being beholden to it because frankly, who wants their brother in charge of the purse strings?

Finally, my sympathy is with Meghan and Harry. I would like to give the rest of the family the benefit of the doubt and say they honestly just felt if m and h had let it go it would all blow over. But that shows a complete lack of understanding of the underlying racism and xenophobia Meghan was faced with in comparison to any other member of the royal family. I honestly can't understand why small gestures couldn't have been made to show support or at least or - Meghan and Kate papped shopping for baby stuff or even just Kate buying gifts/ Harry making casual comment to well wishers about Harry rand Meghan that was positive and supportive (they always get back to press), Charles turning up at something Harry is doing or doing one of his interviews and commenting. I mean it wouldn't have been difficult and wouldn't even have required much formal effort.

Also, if I was Meghan and as passionate about women's rights as she is (I am), I would be HORRIFIED by the Andrew thing and would find it very hard 4to be supportive of the family as a whole.

I reckon Andrew has a fair bit to do with it.

I am very happy for them. No one is obliged to stay in a situation where your every move is shat on while your uncle who hangs out with paedophiles is protected. If you don't want to conform, you can leave, and leave they will.

If there is anything to criticise here, the person coming off badly is QE. Part of her job is to have control over the families so she can be proactive in deciding what their roles should be. Even if the changes are initiated by the family members, she needs to be attentive and flexible and able to discuss which changes to make, when and how. She has chosen to remain capo di tutti capi instead of stepping down. I very much doubt she has the energy anymore to be in complete control of all of them, however PC might have, and possibly the children might have it easier opening discussions with him. It's very shoddily done, but very much in keeping with the previous history of the UK RF actually. No point in clutching pearls about it.

IMO QE isn't doing her job, and that's fine if she's delegating, but it doesn't seem she's doing that either. However the British seem to think she's above reproach merely by virtue of having put up with them for so many years or something.

The Sussex website is fine (it's not wankier than anything else in this make-believe world of royalty). Their personal message is fine. It isn't more arrogant than the existance of royalty as a concept. What is not fine is that it isn't coordinated from the institution as a whole. And who is responsible for that? The Queen. Sorry not sorry. You're blaming employees, not management.

I believe Lunde is the one who talked about "prince and princess school". Which, again, is the responsability of KCG and his court, not of the individual children or spouses. Never thought I'd be lauding the fecker!

Unfortunately I have no fashion to distract the thread with. I am annoyed with myself for even posting this diatribe since all the endless gossip and thinly veiled hate irritates me and makes me wish for some reddit-style moderation options!

I wonder if they planned and wrote all the content for their website re how it would work etc. whilst they were on their break with the intention of having a plan if it all became too much again, but wanted to come back and see what reception they got. Then when the press started up again (sweat patches) etc. after that first engagement they had a knee jerk reaction and thought fuck it: it's never gonna change. So they may have had high level talks with the RF but the timing and the announcement was a shock to them.