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The royal family

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Original poster

writing style

451 replies

PineappleDanish · 30/03/2020 18:05

Why do HARRY and MEGHAN write their INSTAGRAM posts with this WEIRD mix of words in block CAPITALS and others in standard script? It's very ODD.

OP posts:
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11
TimeLady · 05/04/2020 08:00

Talking of family resemblances, I remember being taken aback when I saw this portrait of "Princess Anne" hanging on the wall at Blickling Hall in Norfolk

www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/355475

BarleylemonPenguin · 05/04/2020 08:13

he's got himself in a right mess, hasn't he?

Indeed, but there's something interesting going on beyond this messy surface. To have got himself in this mess, he/they couldn't have made any plans for leaving. It also seems that no advice was either taken or given. No drawn-out discussions contemplating issues from all angles? No friend, family member or constitutional expert to talk it through? They were not private citizens at this point so how and why would this situation be allowed to arise?

yoloPenguinsEatfish · 05/04/2020 08:13

If they were Paul Simon fans or something Grin LaM

CallmeAngelina · 05/04/2020 08:23

But wasn't that whole main issue, barley?
They had this hare-brained scheme of upping sticks and moving (but cherry-picking the bits of royal life they fancied) but they couldn't/wouldn't wait until the family and advisors hammered out the implications and details. They thought they were being stone-walled, when actually it was just that the task was immense.
So they jumped the gun by releasing their statement to the media and the shit hit the fan.
And now look where they are!

BarleylemonPenguin · 05/04/2020 08:28

TimeLady - thank you for the article. H' investment portfolio has probably dropped about 20% since the virus, so he will be worried for now. I wonder who his advisors are? He must have financial advisors at least, and they will be telling him that he no longer has the money for his original plans. They will probably say that it'll all come back once the crisis is over but right now or in the near future, no.

Myimaginarypenguinhasfleas · 05/04/2020 08:40

Absolutely, Barley, how could they have got this far without anyone realising the consequences?

I think the original plan probably went like this:

They would ask HMQ to let them cut back on their royal duties, scheduling those that remained so that they could be out of the UK for long periods of time. They would live in the US, using their royal title and status to the max to build MM's career and establish an income for them as a couple.

They would keep Frogmore for use when in the UK. Harry would be back often enough to fulfil his residency obligations for tax purposes.

All of the glory, and only so much of the duty as was convenient.

I think HMQ saying no threw a grenade into that plan and they have nothing to replace it.

PenguinOrHippo · 05/04/2020 08:47

I am a bit worried about how it will turn out. I wish they were settling in a different part of the US.

This is a Scandinavian take on it.

In the UK, people put a strange emphasis on class and background. This happens everywhere of course, but in the UK, it is so much stronger.

In the US, there is a strange emphasis on measurable achievements, especially monetary achievements. I lived for a few weeks in Pacific Palisades. The beach houses are absolutely amazing. The villas in Malibu are incredible. The amount of money spent everywhere is insane.

They go from one place of the world where Prince Harry’s background give them a strange entry ticket to whatever they want in order to settle in a particular place where they just don’t have the money to keep up with the Jones’s.

There has been psychological studies showing that people living in a poorer area, but having more money than their neighbours are happier than people who are objectively richer, but living in an area where their neighbours are wealthier. I would speculate that this effect may be stronger in the US.

BarleylemonPenguin · 05/04/2020 08:58

Angelina - yes, you are quite right. There was mention of doing it properly but, seemingly, they just left (or, were they pushed because of something unspeakable, hence the rush to own the 'we are leaving' narrative?)

HarryDaylight · 05/04/2020 09:17

I hope that they get settled somewhere soon. It's said that giving up one's job and moving home are in the top ten most stressful life events.

It must be doubly so for them.

APenquinIsCuttingthegrass · 05/04/2020 09:21

But Barry’s MO is only being royal. And now he’s not. So he will be a fraudster IMO. And hence their very visible statement he remains 6th in line to the throne. If that remains the case.

I saw in the US media he will be expected to open up about what it’s like to a member of the RF. That will be certainly selling himself and his family and benefiting from a privileged birth. None of which he has achieved himself just been born into.

I don’t see how she can be considered A list. She merely married a UK prince. Who is not now royal. So she’s who she was before. Unless she is going to trade on the fact she married into royalty. Again selling the British tradition for her own benefit.

Just makes me think, in good old fashioned MM tradition, ODFOD

Needmoresleep · 05/04/2020 09:21

Add in marriage, new baby and loss of job, and they are close to stress chart bingo. All they need is bereavement or divorce.

The former, sadly, is all too possible.

Poor Harry must wonder who he is.

Myimaginarypenguinhasfleas · 05/04/2020 09:44

You're right, Needmoresleep.

Although I think they're in a bed entirely of their own making, no-one would wish it on them.

TimeLady · 05/04/2020 09:44

Maybe if Harry is bored he could do an on-line bodyguard training course and they could save themselves a packet. Wink

DandyPenguin · 05/04/2020 09:48

That’s a good idea TimeLady! By the way I PM’d you the other day about how to get and use a share token for The Times; don’t think you saw it so I’m asking you here now.

Myimaginarypenguinhasfleas · 05/04/2020 09:51

TimeLady

Maybe if Harry is bored he could do an on-line bodyguard training course and they could save themselves a packet.

Klaxon - pelvic floor fail. GrinGrinGrin

TimeLady · 05/04/2020 09:54

I never check my inbox! I'll have a look.

If you're a subscriber, you can click on the email icon at the top of the article. It opens up a new window and you can cut and paste the share token link. Smile

Needmoresleep · 05/04/2020 09:56

I never understood why Harry did not follow in his brother's footsteps and continue flying helicopters. Air/sea rescue or air ambulance, ticking a "useful and worthy" box. Part time to allow for the odd parade. Nice country house and London pad. It gave Kate a, relatively gentle introduction to Royal life, and time to concentrate on being a mother. (And through those difficult pregnancies.) It sounds like a privileged and comfortable life to me.

APenquinIsCuttingthegrass · 05/04/2020 10:12

BaR were offered a low key start by HMQ. In exchange for no title. This was declined.

I read they were offered an estate in Wales. Pretty low key and rural. This was declined.

The two bed grace and favour house was dismissed for Frogmore at great expense with copper bath. Although apparently the virus only lasts 4 hours on copper v days on stainless steel. I wonder if it’s being shipped to LA?

They had many fantastic tours which they requested. Which aligned to their interests. And their requests were granted.

Then they announce the RF is toxic. They need to escape to keep their family safe. They need privacy and a quiet life. So of course LA is the first place that springs to mind. Honestly !! Pffft

7Penguins · 05/04/2020 10:17

They haven’t launched a Instagram yet, correct?
How will we receive timely and factual information about covid in the interim???

7Penguins · 05/04/2020 10:17

A new Instagram that should have said

HarryDaylight · 05/04/2020 10:18

I suspect that Meghan's gift for acting proved too strong to be hidden away in a rainsoaked country far away from the sunshine and studios of Hollywood.

It must have been a heartbreaking decision for her. And Harry of course.

Myimaginarypenguinhasfleas · 05/04/2020 10:21

When you put it that way @APenquinIsCuttingthegrass ....

OVienna · 05/04/2020 10:34

It isn't @LilyMumsnet. It's a discussion about the UK and US media content which I personally feel is a legitimate debate and I'd be very disappointed if the "TAAT" argument is applied here, in a wide-ranging way.

Back to the topic at hand, the UK and the US 'entertainment' coverage is generally in lockstep with respect to the royals, in my experience. I suspect that many of the stories over the years have originated from British sources - although not all, given the financial incentive. With H&M living there, this will change though and also I suspect that a big US communication advisor will have much more ability to control the story. It's not so much that "they're aren't tabloids" in the US it's that the US market is receptive to the idea that Meghan has been hard done by, Britain is a terrible racist place, and the Royal Family full of evil, grey cardinals (although they wouldn't use that term.)

It's an incredible volte face as well - I am an avid horoscope reader and Elle, Cosmo, the lot were lining up to push the match along. It's also about rescuing poor Harry, remember. Lady Di was hugely popular there. This is the narrative they know will play out well.

OVienna · 05/04/2020 10:40

Good to know I posted on the right thread. Sorry @LilyMumsnet. As you were!

I will cut and paste.

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