What were Harry and Meghan hoping to achieve?

[HumousWhereTheHeartIs]

This is an honest question not a chance to bash anyone. I'm curious about why Harry and Meghan would do this and what the consequences could be. They must have realised the massive fall-out this would cause. This could be the end of Harry's relationship with his family. But for what? Sympathy? Increased profiles? Honesty?

Now lots of photos have been dug up showing Prince Harry on bike rides with his parents and brother, after he said he never did that as a child.
The problem is if they can disprove the little things, it just casts doubt on the more serious stuff

@Blueberries0112 interesting that you find it ok to defend and explain Harry's previous overt racism yet we are not apparently allowed to question his allegations of racism against others.

Blueberries you've avoided the point - it's not about the culture he was brought up in. Diana wasn't a racist and, although he has plenty of faults, there's no evidence that Charles is either. Harry's racism came from his own choices. Now he's trying to smear others, and that's really low.

@MrsSlocombesPussy

Now lots of photos have been dug up showing Prince Harry on bike rides with his parents and brother, after he said he never did that as a child. The problem is if they can disprove the little things, it just casts doubt on the more serious stuff

He didn't say he's never been on a bike ride as a child.

Yes, Harry does all these thing and he should have known better , and it proves what he said is true. He mirrors of what is going on inside. He lived in a sheltered life and this is what he picked up on

Doesn’t prove anything.

Maybe you need to look at public schooling 25/30 years ago (and then also even the Army back then) to get the answer rather than the assumption that it’s obviously come from within his own family.

William went onto University where he would have mixed with a variety of people from different cultures and ethnicities. Harry didn’t.

With regard to Charles didn’t he have a ‘thing’ for Sheila Ferguson back in the day?

He said he had never been on a child seat on a bike .

@StormzyinaTCup

Yes, Harry does all these thing and he should have known better , and it proves what he said is true. He mirrors of what is going on inside. He lived in a sheltered life and this is what he picked up on

Doesn’t prove anything.

Maybe you need to look at public schooling 25/30 years ago (and then also even the Army back then) to get the answer rather than the assumption that it’s obviously come from within his own family.

William went onto University where he would have mixed with a variety of people from different cultures and ethnicities. Harry didn’t.

With regard to Charles didn’t he have a ‘thing’ for Sheila Ferguson back in the day?

Harry went to Eton and would have mixed there.

Maybe not across wealth divides, but certainly culture and ethnicities.

Having a ' thing' about a black woman certainly doesn't prove you're not a racist!

Eton and St Andrews are still bastions of privilege. The proportion of students from private schools is still very high at SA as opposed to other Universities.

Taken from the transcript of the interview:

"But to have outdoor space where I can go for walks with Archie, and we can go for walks as a family and with the dogs, and we can go on hikes [was anyone else thinking "What, like Balmoral?" at this point?] — we’ll go down to the beach, which is so close — all of these things are just . . . I guess, the highlight for me is sticking him on the back of the bicycle in his little baby seat and taking him on these bike rides, which is something I was never able to do when I was young. I can see him on the back and he’s got his arms out and he’s like, ‘Whoo!’ chatting, chatting, chatting..."

Cue the media unearthing loads of photos of William and Harry riding bikes when they were kids. Including one of Harry on the back of Prince Charles' bicycle. Although to be fair, they seem to have been wearing jodhpurs and riding boots, so maybe their bike-riding time was limited because of all the horse-riding they were doing instead.

Having a 'thing' about a black woman certainly doesn't prove you're not a racist!

Well it certainly appears, if we are looking at past behaviour, less likely Charles than his son who was partying around in a Nazi uniform for lols and calling someone a r.. head.

Harry went to Eton and would have mixed there.
Maybe not across wealth divides, but certainly culture and ethnicities.

Oh come on, the mixing would have been extremely limited.

Oh come on, the mixing would have been extremely limited

My post should say ‘extremely limited at Eton as opposed to St Andrews’.

Agree with @Topmum66.

On here, if you criticise Meghan or Harry, then you are racist which immediately shuts down ant debate.

When I first joined MN in around 2007, this sort of stuff was debated and everyone had their opinion and some of the discussions were so interesting.

Now its "I have my opinion and anyone who disagrees with me is racist/insert appropriate insult".

I like Meghan and Harry as a couple. I have always liked them as much as you can like someone without having met them. I was disappointed when they moved to LA as I thought the RF were better with them as working Royals. I thought they were a bit snowflakey and whiny at the time. I disagreed massively with the Oprah interview and thought it inappropriate because I knew it would cause this shit show. I feel strongly that the Queen who probably hasn't got long to live and let's face it, is likely to lose her DH very soon deserved to live out the rest of her life in peace rather than disharmony and stress.

But apparently I am racist. Whatever.

I agree completely, everything is classed as racist on here. You cannot have an opinion or you are simply racist according to 98% of poeple on here. Most mumsnetters are transphobic but are allowed to spew their hatred for trans, especially transwoman all over mumsnet but is never deleted or stopped even though it's pure hate directed at the trans community.

I'd guess that the army was much more diverse than Eton.

Harry has spent 35 years loving his, yet in what 4 years Meghan has managed to cut this tie. This points to her having the problems.
Not necessarily. Some families are happy as long as everyone pretends that it's not deeply dysfunctional. We see this on the boards regularly. The new person gets all the blame when al they've done is try to protect themselves and the next generation from getting sucked into that bullshit.
I'm not saying that Meghan is 100% in the right and the Windsors are 100% in the wrong but i bet there's plenty of if you join that family.

I Find it uncomfortable that they are so pro the Queen it feels almost like an inheritance grab she is elderly after all

Are the people from his school in the same social circles as his family? The army made him take diversity class a couple times from what I read.

It is scary that thought crime is here and now. If you don’t agree with Harry’s view or Meghan's then you’re racist. If you wanted Brexit you’re bigot and racist. If you think biological sex is real then you’re transphobic.

There is a pattern of shutting down debate and moving to thought crimes via Orwell’s 1984.

It doesn’t change what people think calling them racist or bigot or transphobic BTW. If they disagree about something or don’t like someone it doesn’t make them racist, bigot or transphobic - there is a frenzy of trying to prevent discussion.

In real life I don’t like some people. Shh don’t arrest me.

The only confirmed racist in royal family would be prince Harry and Philip. Harry used offensive terms P**i it was explained it wasn’t ok and he now appears the arbiter. Harry IS racist.

I’ve seen so often on these threads that if someone marries a black person or has black friends it doesn’t mean they’re not racist. So same applies to Harry surely? Doesn’t make him not racist because he married a black person, especially since he has documented history and the investigates by the army and required re-training around being an actual racist. Hmmm

Some people (not just on here) think you are racist, just by virtue of being white. That you cannot avoid being at least low level racist, because of all the privelge you and your ancestors have benefitted from.

You cannot have an opinion or you are simply racist according to 98% of poeple on here

I wouldn't have said 98% myself - it happens, but along with all of us who say, "Yes, this may well have been racism but let's wait until we know the facts", there are a handful who absolutely insist it's racism no matter what, even if when those facts arrive they turn out not to support it

Trouble is it's always the same people, and because they go on ... and on ... and on ... it might make the % seem higher than it is

@Oldbutstillgotit

He said he had never been on a child seat on a bike .

Hahaha, that made me lol. What a deprived childhood. Not many people over the age of 30 have been ferried around on them by their parents.

@Theunamedcat

I Find it uncomfortable that they are so pro the Queen it feels almost like an inheritance grab she is elderly after all

Yes it smacks of relatives going to see Granny much more than usual when she's very wealthy and very old. It's all about money with these two. Charles took a stand and cut Harry off financially so he's been thrown under the bus. If Charles had continued to fund them then there would have been no Oprah interview. Thomas Markle was useful to Meghan when he won the lottery. After that he was dispensable.

I can't ride a bike and never been on the back of one either! I was deprived , obviously! 😀

@onemorecupofcoffeefortheroad

I came on here thinking these threads are with the usual Mners, but it just dawned on me that we are dealing with blind gossip trolls

Eh? How do you come to that conclusion? I'm no troll and am a regular mumsnetter. Been here years.

I thought the thread has been pretty measured. I couldn't care less what colour, class or sexuality a person is - if they behave badly - and I believe MM has - they should be called on it. I felt just the same about Diana when she aired her dirty laundry in public (which she later admitted to regretting) - I thought that was crass and awful for her children - and she was a white aristocrat.

Meghan was welcomed by the British public, millions was spent on her wedding, people (who she has since sniggered at) lined the streets of London and she was met with warmth and affection, Prince Charles walked her (looking very kindly and paternally at her I thought) down the aisle when her own father failed to show up. I just saw her as a regular woman at the time - just like anyone else.

But gradually I've seen actions and behaviours of hers that sit very uncomfortablly with me. I suspect that this was also the case behind closed doors.

I agree with this. But her father didn’t fail to show up. This is an untruth that as far as I’m aware Meghan has never set straight. He was not allowed to fly as he had just had surgery. Heart surgery. A stent fitted.

There is no hate against the trans community - How ridiculous - standing up for women’s safety and privacy to sex based rights is not phobic.

Lots of us have kids that are going through the men are women indoctrination via the internet and so are at the coal face of the discussion every day with teenagers in real life unsure if they are allowed to say NO to men accessing their personal space. They are being told to be kind and men and boys are ok in their private spaces. Mothers know this isn’t true.

However the same shutting down tactics are used around the Harry and meg threads. Most people just don’t comment as there is a lot of narrow thinking by some who can’t see that shutting down ANY debate is dangerous.