Thread about Harry and Meghan that has no deletions

[OverUnderSidewaysDown]

Play nicely and don’t say anything that will get your post (or the thread) deleted. I’ll start. Archie is cute and it would be lovely to see him more often.

@Viviennemary

I can't see how the Royals can stop Harry talking about Princess Diana. After all she is his mother. I wonder if he's still bitter about the Charles/Camilla business and this is his revenge.

Nor do I unless they retaliate by cutting off all funding, titles and claim to the throne. Comes down to what is more important to him...

@BarleylemonPenguin

I find it difficult to believe that Netflix execs would insist that a longstanding commitment that is Invictus Games is left unfulfilled. I can only imagine that this decision by H represents not only a cessation of activity that does not lead to direct financial personal gain but also any activities that are UK-focused unless it's one-way transfer of funds from the UK.

I very much hope Harry has said fulfilling it is nonnegotiable and he will go ahead with the plans for it next year. Or is it possible that will be part of their deal with Netflix and they will show it instead?

@Viviennemary

I can't see how the Royals can stop Harry talking about Princess Diana. After all she is his mother. I wonder if he's still bitter about the Charles/Camilla business and this is his revenge.

I don't see why they would even try to stop H talking about his mother. If it is true that all of their ventures are subject to RF scrutiny though, making money from his mother's story might be a different matter.

I can't understand how it is possible to pull the plug on the agreement for Amazon to show the Invictus event because of a conflicting contract. Presumably there was some kind of contract with Amazon?

Perhaps Omid will release a clarifying statement.

Re Invictus, unsolicited donations make up just £1million - surely, with such a reportedly large payout, Harry can pitch in enough to make up any shortfall? After all, it will still be smaller than the annual upkeep of his new house? That us, if he truly cared to...

@meercat23

I can't understand how it is possible to pull the plug on the agreement for Amazon to show the Invictus event because of a conflicting contract. Presumably there was some kind of contract with Amazon?

If it was a PH event to benefit Invictus with PH using his contacts to pull in the likes of Beyonce and Ed Sheeran PH could pull it anytime he wants. If it was an Invictus organised event it could continue without PH's backing.

The fact that PH's lawyers contacted Invictus (didn't even have the balls to do it himself) tells me that a) It was the former and b) That H&M were so keen to sign with Netflix that they didn't even consider the effect on the event until said lawyers pointed out potential conflict of interest.

Then it gets even more interesting. At this point there appears to have been some realisation of the potential negative fallout. At which point it all suddenly gets blamed on Covid. Really? I don't believe Covid COULD be the primary reason. The fundraiser isn't even happening until late 2021 and plenty of 2020 Covid cancelled events have been rescheduled before that. Why would Covid cause the cancellation of an event scheduled to take place AFTER lots of other rescheduled events are presumed to be able to go ahead?

The optics are REALLY bad on the Invictus event - and the glaring absence of a swift explanation or rebuttal or even a 'wait, there is a plan coming' placeholder statement is terrible PR from whoever's supposed to be handling this.

Amazon can't just allow Netflix to poach an event from them where there was a prior agreement for coverage. Invictus gets big coverage each time it runs, so there's no incentive for them to give it up tamely.

Oh, wait, sorry - I missed the lawyer's statement. They have stated that the event was off even before the Netflix deal. My mistake.

They knew this was coming, though. You'd have thought a media team would have come up with a proactive strategy to pre-empt the inevitable tabloid take, which reads terribly.

The outcome of their review will be interesting, given that Covid notwithstanding, I am not aware of them carrying out many/any royal engagements or supporting the royal patronages bestowed on them.
I still think the heat would be off them if they gave up their titles and funding and then they could focus on what they want to do, which is living a celebrity lifestyle and making lots of money. Titles or not, I would still however roll my eyes at any celebrity preaching about favourite causes when they don't lead by example (eg: environmental issues vs large personal carbon footprint.)

According to Omid Scobie , H has fully repaid the £2.4 million for Frogmore renovations.

I wonder if making all that money will really make them happy and give them freedom. I would say it's very possible that it won't.

@Oldbutstillgotit

According to Omid Scobie , H has fully repaid the £2.4 million for Frogmore renovations.

Well if anyone would know it would be Meghan Omid.

Harry's spokesman said: 'A contribution has been made to the Sovereign Grant by the Duke of Sussex. This contribution as originally offered by Prince Harry has fully covered the necessary renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage

I’m assuming contribution really does cover everything. It just seems very vague to say contribution and not specify £2.4 million. I’m guessing the accounts will be made public at some point though to clarify.

Whether it’s true or not that Amazon cancelled Invictus I don’t believe that it couldn’t have been rearranged and Harry involved if he had wanted. I’m also very surprised that his PR Team didn’t preempt this by announcing quickly about the cancellation.

Excellent dead cat bounce.

Is anyone else slightly puzzled that the statement refers only to H repaying the money ? No mention of M .

@Oldbutstillgotit

Is anyone else slightly puzzled that the statement refers only to H repaying the money ? No mention of M .

I hadn’t registered that. The cynical part of me would say that Meghan has washed her hands of the U.K. and had no intention of ever living or staying at Frogmore Cottage whereas Harry will need to return to the U.K. until he gets a USA visa so perhaps feels more like he will get a use out of it.

All that Netflix money has been given to them to run a large business which neither of them has done before, using skills which neither of them has previously demonstrated.

@StartupRepair

All that Netflix money has been given to them to run a large business which neither of them has done before, using skills which neither of them has previously demonstrated.

Which would be ok if they had form for listening to those who can do the job and advise accordingly.

I think “contribution” and “necessary renovations” are the key words here.

I think the amount they would pay would always be billed as a contribution

What we now need to know is

a) how much is that contribution?
b) now that they are no longer works no Royals, they should be paying rent on Frogmore (senior Royals usually don't, but that's because of the job not the seniority). How much are they paying? should be not too different from market rates

(useful that Prince Andrew has passed the retirement age for the military, so he can be just shoved out of the way as 'retired' and left in current accommodation without charging rent)

Yes, they may as well tell us the amount, as the Sovereign Grant accounts are published

More legal action . According to OS , H has filed a legal complaint against the Sunday Times for saying that the Netflix deal was the reason for the Invictus event being cancelled .

So if that's not the reason, what is?