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?

Money? Spite?

Meghan said she could not go out. Everyone else seems to drive and use the vast estates of the RF. William and Kate see friends and her family.

Quite.

If William can pop to the local shops when living in Wales ... And Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie can go to Pizza Express.... I'm fairly sure Meghan could have gone down to Tesco and got herself a Magnum.

I thought Anne refused or turned down titles for her kids. Zara philips and Mike Tindall probably have much more freedom and live in a way they choose because she isnt princess Zara, and therefore shes not obligated to look, dress, behave in a certain way, or turn up to more than the occassional Christmas, wedding or party. They probably get far less press attention, and don't need the same level of security.
Same with Peter Phillips and his family. I imagine their lives are not dissimilar to others in the same wealth bracket that are not well known (not that I'd be able to pick out Peter Phillips in a line up)

If William can pop to the local shops when living in Wales

My friend works in a shop in London and has seen Kate in their before (with security)

@NeedanIdea

They wanted to get their side across and explain why they left. And why not.

I really admire Harry. He did the hard thing and broke up with his family in order to protect his wife & child. I don't think enough praise has been heaped on him for doing that.

Maybe he should have helped her a bit more before hand- maybe jotted down the words to the national anthem, or told her when and how she’d be expected to curtesy? There was a lot of “nobody helped me...”. What about your bloody husband???

In the interview where M was saying she got no help , Harry tried to butt in and say something but she put her hand on his arm as if to shush him , I wish I knew what he wanted to say.

Wasn’t the point that she was ‘all over the press’ so they told her to ‘lay low.’

And she said she hadn’t been out for four months.

Was that why she was trapped in the house? Or was it because they took her keys and passport?

I’m still confused about how she got to NYC twice without her passport

The “No help” bit really underlined what a protected child Harry is. He’s frightened of the press but cannot teach his wife our anthem and when to curtesy. That’s because he took it all for granted. Never really had to worry about anyone else.

Interesting memory jogger today. I had forgotten about this. Harry called a soldier he served with his “Paki” friend. He didn’t seem too concerned about his woke rating back then. And what about dressing up as a Nazi? What does Meghan think of that? Funny or disgusting? Harry got away with it and now conveniently forget his past behaviour.

Seems the Royal Family have different recollections of the arguments. Not remotely surprised.,

They want to be Oprah rich and the Diana money isn't going to cover that.
They've signed some media deals but based on their podcast audiences they've a limited appeal as ex-royals and that will wear off soon as they weren't very good at it They weren't the Obama's either in terms of story or appeal.
They needed a platform - now they have one - MH, Race, Dysfunctional families, Media hounding. People will watch their content because they are now survivors of that. Sadly this means they'll keep milking the story for years.
It's all about the money and fame
Same reason Oprah jumped on the band wagon.

The sad thing is Harry could have done similar round MH and veteran rights, and Meghan maybe on women's rights as she was starting to before the marriage but it would probably only have made them a little rich - not mega rich

They probably wanted ammunition to blackmail the Royal family to get what they want. I wouldn't put it beyond them . Give us titles, money etc if not we will name the person who we claim made racist remarks. Also as a pp has pointed out, more ratings for Netflix. They trade on their Duke and Duchess titles and yet criticise the very institution that gives them the titles. Hypocrites.

I think it was very much aimed at an American audience. Although there's probably an element of wanting to air their side of the story too, money and earning potential are probably the overriding motivations behind it.

I never blamed them for wanting out of the Royal Family -

Oops, posted to soon. Can't blame them for wanting to be out of the royal family, but if airing their grievances was their only concern there were many other less volatile options.

I think Harry has really isolated himself now, especially living in a place away from family and long-term friends. I feel sorry for him in a lot of ways - he did seem so close to William and Kate before. It seems like be was desperate for marriage and a family and previous girlfriends were obviously put off by the pressure of marrying into royalty. He's really put all his eggs in one basket now so I hope he'll be able to find happiness.

Meghan’s response to the privacy claims

twitter.com/lewisa95/status/1369436176596299777?s=20

I mean this forum itself is a platform of people airing their dirty laundry out to the public (albeit more anonymously) but its still what they are doing.

Its hypocritical to say they should of dealt with privately ir botnsaid anything when you have people doing the same thing on a public forum day in day out

Lol what a joke.

Surely you can see the difference between the two things? I could tell you all sorts about my life and my family, but you have no idea who they actually are, where they live, or even if I just made the whole thing up. It's vastly different to going on a TV show and whining to millions of complete strangers. For one thing the people I might talk about don't even know what I'm doing.

Incidentally, I don't live in the UK but I am in a Commonwealth country and the general view here seems to be that M is a drama queen, and that the pair of them are entitled brats who crave celebrity status.

What struck me was their lack of enthusiasm for the Netflix and Spotify projects. I thought they’d be pushing these like mad, all American enthusiasm and ‘can do’. Instead they seemed strangely lacklustre about their money making deals, and mentioned that friends have given them ideas to earn money . The ideas had not come from them . I can’t see it being a roaring success if their hearts aren’t really in it. Of course these huge corporations will want their pound of flesh and won’t be prepared to bow and scrape to them. The age of deference is largely over, as they will find.

The truth.

I believe Meghan had unrealistic expectations about what it would be like to be a member of the royal family, having lived an independent life of ‘celebrity’ before. It seems to me she wanted to have her cake and eat it, and many of her gripes are contradictory - she wanted the titles and the security but all of the independence?

The royal family is an institution and it’s clearly not for everyone but I do feel she’s now lashing out as anyone who will listen and playing the cards that will impact the most (Mental health and racism).

I think they will later regret doing this ‘tell all’ - if they just want a quiet life in California then they are going about it in a polar opposite way. Contradictory once again. It strikes me they are drama junkies.

@Number3BigCupOfTea
Because Archie is a great grandchild of the monarch not a grandchild. As Beatrice and Eugenie are grandchildren they are entitled to use it if they choose. They are in the same generation as Wolliam and Harry . Anne rejected titles for her children and Edward's chosen not to use them though they could if they wanted to.

William's have the title because they are in direct succession to the throne.
When Charles is king Archie will then be a prince if he chooses to use it .

Ok, how does everyone feel about lockdowns because of coronavirus? And being limited to certain circles of friends and families?

Do you really think any royal family really want the job of being royal? I don’t think Meghan is that anxious for her son to be prince.

[quote flapjackfairy]@Number3BigCupOfTea
Because Archie is a great grandchild of the monarch not a grandchild. As Beatrice and Eugenie are grandchildren they are entitled to use it if they choose. They are in the same generation as Wolliam and Harry . Anne rejected titles for her children and Edward's chosen not to use them though they could if they wanted to.

William's have the title because they are in direct succession to the throne.
When Charles is king Archie will then be a prince if he chooses to use it .[/quote]
What Meghan said on the interview is that they were looking to change the law/rules so that even when Charles is King, Archie won't have a title. She references some law and says that she was told while pregnant that they were going to change the law.

@Blueberries0112 this is what I mean re the contradictions. She seems to hate everything about royalty but then be bitter her son wasn't automatically a prince. And what is really galling me is that she links this with comments about the colour of his skin rather than the reality of royal titles / lineage. It’s almost as if the impression that she wants to give is that Archie was stripped of his titles before he was born

Obviously I have no idea what they planned to gain but I assumed it was fame in America. There PR company seems particularly ill timed in nearly everything to the point it makes me think its the classic american 'no such thing as bad publicity'. This doesnt make sense though with what they are trying to say about publicity and shaping narratives.

I think they are confused tbh and I think as a couple they are not a positive influence on each other. Even though I am sure they love each other and are happy with one another it seems to me from the moment they got serious they have encouraged each other to turn on everyone around them. To me that is not a positive relationship.

Ok, how does everyone feel about lockdowns because of coronavirus? And being limited to certain circles of friends and families?

Well exactly. I perfectly agree it is not a life many would want to lead. But thats really a choice people feel comfortable stating only from a place of privilege and security. If you had nothing for yourself or your children I think many would say sure I would be a royal.

As they do have that privilege - fine. But is going on Oprah really the way to achieve a quiet life free of public attention?

@LemonSwan

Obviously I have no idea what they planned to gain but I assumed it was fame in America. There PR company seems particularly ill timed in nearly everything to the point it makes me think its the classic american 'no such thing as bad publicity'. This doesnt make sense though with what they are trying to say about publicity and shaping narratives.

I think they are confused tbh and I think as a couple they are not a positive influence on each other. Even though I am sure they love each other and are happy with one another it seems to me from the moment they got serious they have encouraged each other to turn on everyone around them. To me that is not a positive relationship.

On the contrary, I believe that she tried really hard to fit in. When it became evident to her that she couldn't, she didn't simply fuck off, she also made Harry see that there was a way out of this shit. She has provided that for him by her connections in the US.