Harry and Meghan, more news!

[callmeadoctor]

New thread following on old one: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_royal_family/3932323-Harry-and-Meghan-news?msgid=97617755

Having read the blind gossip article ... that letter was 100% written to be published... it reads like it should be on some cheap US soap (days of our lives or something like that - not that I have seen that soap but you get idea)

I can’t think of anyone who would decide that was the correct way to handle a fall out with a parent???

She clearly doesn't want a good relationship with her ILs or to return to the U.K. I really wish she'd stop referring to herself as a duchess because she has no respect for the institution or country it comes from.
This with knobs on!!

www.spectator.co.uk/article/did-harry-and-meghan-s-wedding-really-raise-1bn-in-revenue-

Without going into the ins and outs of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s withdrawal from royal life, still less the merits of the Duchess’s privacy case against the Mail on Sunday, a claim made by her lawyers this morning cannot be allowed to pass without comment. They claim: ‘This contribution of public funds towards crowd security was far outweighed by the tourism revenue of over £1 billion that was generated from the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex which went directly into the public purse.’

Should we really be thankful to the Duke of Duchess of Sussex for stuffing the UK’s coffers as a result of tourists flocking here for the pair’s wedding or being inspired to come here after watching the event on TV? It is pretty hard to square that claim with figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on tourism to Britain in 2018, the year of the wedding. Far from the wedding boosting tourist numbers, they fell by 3 per cent compared with 2017. There was not even a positive effect on tourists from the US, the Duchess’s home country – tourist numbers were flat. Worse, the amount of money spent by overseas visitors in Britain in 2018 fell to £22.9 billion, a whacking 7 per cent fall compared with 2017. Far from gaining £1 billion in tourist revenues in the wedding year, the country lost £1.7 billion.

The author concludes:

I feel pretty confident to declare that Harry and Meghan’s claim to have boosted the tourist economy by £1 billion is fantasy.

Wow that spectator article is interesting! You think her lawyers would fact check some of this stuff! Where on earth did they get their 1bn figure from if tourism for 2018 was down on previous year!

I wonder if this is her new set of lawyers. I'll have to check.

Her lawyers hired a branding agency to guesstimate the impact of the royal wedding. As the Speccy article is the first to point out, the Mail can now have an absolute field day putting that completely unnecessary and irrelevant statement to rights

It’s hard to imagine anyone defending these delusions

And yet I'm quite sure some will try ... either that, or insist that even to question the assertions is racist

As a random member of the public who's not overly interested in MM but very interested in who holds power in the UK (RF, govt, media, corporations, rich people lurking in the shadows, cultural influencers from academics to celebrities) my impression of MM is that she's all about her own image. She is, essentially, that teenage girl who practices her Oscar acceptance speech in her bathroom mirror aged 15, but 20 years older and with more sophisticated means at her disposal and, since marrying H, an audience. That she hasn't actually earned that Oscar, and jumped straight into humble acceptance of her exceptionality, doesn't seem to be a problem for her.

I suspect the bit about Eugenie and Beatrice being paid royals was a riposte to H&M being disallowed from being half-in/half-out royals (she ignores their consistent public veneration of the RF as an institution and as their family). Exaggerating the impact of her wedding on the UK's GDP is self-aggrandisement (or gullibility) on an astonishing scale.

On marrying H, she was catapulted into publicity and monetary heights which must have blown her mind. She doesn't seem to have had any support or help in dealing with that: it looks like H is clinging onto her for dear life, she has fractured family relationships, her friends seem to have vested interests, and all her advisors are paid by her. She has no steady hand guiding her. It's tragic.

On the question of who holds power in the UK, H's words yesterday apologizing to young people for not having made the world right for them (can he hear himself?!) were notable. I think he got away with it because the awards were in his mother's name, and he made a point to reference that he and William were behind the message. It was a nuclear family thing, not a royal family thing. He absolutely does not have the authority, as the monarch's grandson/son/brother and the duke of sussex, to go rogue and issue an apology for Britain's racist history and the part the royal family has played in Britain's current race problems. I'm sure the men in grey are watching him very carefully.

Beatrice and Eugenie aren’t really half in half out though, are they? Their security is no longer publicly funded, although they live in royal residences. That differs from what HaM envisioned as their role.

Beatrice and Eugenie aren’t really half in half out though, are they? Their security is no longer publicly funded, although they live in royal residences. That differs from what HaM envisioned as their role.

Agreed, but I don' think MM is one to let facts get in the way of her spin (ref my wedding brought in 1bn). The argument will be that they're one step removed once Charles is King, that Archie is the next monarch's grandson and as such he/they deserve more. To be fair to her (perhaps), the message inside the RF apparatus probably is this: Eugenie and Beatrice definitely aren't to be treated as favourably as Harry and William. Nonetheless, it suits her argument to say that Beatrice and Eugenie are the current monarch's grandchildren, just like Harry, and if they can have paid jobs, why can't she and Harry?

If H&M wanted jobs like B&E, that might be palatable. H&M haven’t really talked about paid employment though, they haven’t given the impression that it features in their plans for financial independence. B&E don’t (or, as I don’t know for sure, certainly aren’t seen to) trade off the family name by doing speeches, making appearances etc. They also aren’t funded by the Sovereign Grant, as far as I’m aware.

I find that slightly disturbing, it's a bit close to the bone

That tweet... fark....

^
To be fair I think the “you are enough” comment from the casting director was gentle advice not to overact.^ 😂😂😂😂😂

I wish the court case was being presided over by Judge Rinder. Maybe there will be a re-enactment on Netflix.

Related, but unrelated, Ghislaine Maxwell has finally been arrested and charged. Good. And I hope she spills the beans on Andrew’s involvement too to finally get some comeuppance and closure on this sorry story.

B&E also do not wade into politics ever. They never pontificate, patronise or lecture to the public on how they should be living their lives. None of the extended RF do that in fact, ever, because they know that when they speak it reflects upon the family and the Queen herself.

Honestly, if H&M want to keep making pronouncements and trying to influence political events in the USA or internationally, then great. But they absolutely shouldn't be using their titles to do it as it inevitably reflects back on the Queen. The more political these two get the more I believe they shouldn't be using ANY titles, not even their Duke & Duchess titles which after all, were granted by the Queen.

They seem to have it really in for B&E, first by stealing Eugenie's wedding day thunder, and now by using them in their media argument.

God I hope Eugenie announces a pregnancy on Meghan's birthday or something but I suspect she's too nice a girl for that. I like her.

They seem to have it really in for B&E

Not sure about H, but Meghan certainly does. I wonder why? Perhaps because of the link to Cressida?

According to Lady Colin Campbell's book, they made a concerted effort to steal Eugenie's thunder at her wedding

Oh and in case anyone wonders how MM could possibly survive and ''thrive'' in LA without the crutch of her Duchess title (nobody forget, my husband is a prince...) she should look to a really talented and successful actress, Jamie Lee Curtis who is also titled as Lady Haden-Guest of Saling in the County of Essex, since 1996 when her husband inherited the Barony.

Jamie Lee Curtis has never marketed herself based upon the aristocratic title she's held for a quarter of a century and most people are not even aware of it. That's real class!

Jamie Lee Curtis’s class goes all the way to eleven.

Jamie Lee Curtis has never marketed herself based upon the aristocratic title she's held for a quarter of a century and most people are not even aware of it

Here's another one who wasn't - though actually Lady Jamie has a nice ring to it

Jamie Lee Curtis doesn’t need faux royal titles though. Her parents were true Hollywood royalty!