Palace appoints external lawyers to probe MM bullying...

[Sprining]

Last week, in the lead up to Meghan and Harry’s eagerly anticipated Oprah interview, Palace sources were quoted as saying that the Palace was “prepared to retaliate with fresh disclosures about the couple’s behaviour if the monarchy is attacked”.

Great, so what next

External lawyers to probe bullying by other royals?
External lawyers to probe racism within RF?
External lawyers to probe whether there was disability discrimination in denying support for mental health?
External lawyers to problem Andrews behaviour and whether it broke public code of conduct (not criminal investigation, but did he bring us into disrepute type of stuff)?

Is this a vendetta or is RF finally going to be be subject to public accountability?

Diana had a relationship with a cardiologist Hasnat Khan .

It’s not a secret or anything , it was widely known about and is even in his Wikipedia page .

Diana had a relationship with a cardiologist Hasnat Khan . What was wrong with that? She was divorced.

Nothing at all wrong with it. But maybe it was with the RF given his ethnicity. Ditto Dodi Fayed.

@Roussette

Nothing at all wrong with it. But maybe it was with the RF given his ethnicity. Ditto Dodi Fayed.

Who knows. I expect they weren't that they weren't that keen on Dodi's father. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Al-Fayed

A lot of people seem to have total amnesia about her in the sense the tragedy of her death has only left the legacy of the (what I found as a late teen at the time) bizarre public outpouring of grief about a woman who wasn't actually universally "loved" and "Queen of Hearts" until she'd died.

This is very true.

I'm often baffled by the way history has been re-written. It seems to have been forgotten that in the weeks leading up to her death the public were pretty sick of the endless cavorting and smug hints about what was coming 'next'.

Maybe pressing the universally loved saint narrative is felt at some level to mitigate the now embarrassing scenes of snaking queues to sign books of condolence (wonder where they are now) and the mawkish wailing on every news report of the time.

@CathyorClaire

A lot of people seem to have total amnesia about her in the sense the tragedy of her death has only left the legacy of the (what I found as a late teen at the time) bizarre public outpouring of grief about a woman who wasn't actually universally "loved" and "Queen of Hearts" until she'd died.

This is very true.

I'm often baffled by the way history has been re-written. It seems to have been forgotten that in the weeks leading up to her death the public were pretty sick of the endless cavorting and smug hints about what was coming 'next'.

Maybe pressing the universally loved saint narrative is felt at some level to mitigate the now embarrassing scenes of snaking queues to sign books of condolence (wonder where they are now) and the mawkish wailing on every news report of the time.

I was a Diana fan despite her faults.

If you read / watch the full transcript of the Michelle Obama interview it’s not entirely favourable to M . She talks about how most people don’t understand public service and that it’s about other people and not yourself . I thought it was a bit of a slap in the face to MM actually

I wouldn't go as far as to say it was a deliberate slap in the face - Michelle's more classy than that - but it could certainly be read that way if someone takes the view that "everyone's out to get them"

Not being there I can't know, but I'd be surprised if Meghan's exactly pleased about it

It doesn't really matter if Michelle Obama was hinting about Haz and Me-gain. The point is they should take note of what she said. As should other people. Very classy and wise woman not out to ride the media attention around them. Unlike others that clearly have been.

but it could certainly be read that way if someone takes the view that "everyone's out to get them"

Or read that way if you (not you personally) can't stand them and looks for any negative nuance in anything!

Michelle Obama was vilified by racist and misogynistic elements of the press (usually the two are linked) when BO was running for President.

Agree, she is one strong, classy woman. As is Oprah in her own different way.

Michelle wasn’t hinting anything. She just hope they both will work it out including The royal family fixing their system (which they seem very uninterested to do) . Michelle Obama was sharing her story of what it is like for her.

As is Kamala Harris actually. These women have not had it easy

I think they would have struggled with the UK variety of racism and misogyny though.

I think they are straight fighters!

Yet the American press have been going on about the British press being racist. Neither are completely clean. I agree with the new some stories with a racial slant comment. Either if the fake British headlines were outrageous. Don't see lessons getting learnt anytime soon though.

*Even

It is interesting people find tabloid gossip of the RF distasteful. But don’t see how the ‘unnamed sources’ stuff is exactly the same. Like ‘unnamed sources’ say x made y cry. ‘Unnamed sources’ said she was Or some other random shadowy gossip.

RF need the press to keep up the smoke and mirrors that they are relevant in a democracy. I would think H&M don’t. I think it is time for them to just focus on themselves and forget/ignore the circus here

@Sprining

I think they would have struggled with the UK variety of racism and misogyny though.

I think they are straight fighters!

The racism does seem to be more in your face in America for sure. Which would be far easier to try and deal with I suppose. Though judging by the BLM marches maybe not. British racism tends to be more slippery.

Usually American press can’t print anything as fact definitely say they got it from an unnamed source. If they can’t name the source, they have to write it in a different way.

It seems tabloid in UK print anything. Make up lies too and no one hold them accountable.

Yes the British media are terrible it isn't just this stuff though. I think they need a major shake up after all the scaremongering this year. However I also worry about free speech. The silencing of opinion is not good either. So it is a tricky balance.

I’m sorry @DeRigueurMortis I just don’t have time for long, naive, royalist rambles and false dichotomic stereotyping. Cutting through the myths about Diana? I haven’t posted any. The saint/sinner, manipulator/victim, ‘rose tinted’ tropes are entirely your own.

Both sides were feeding the press, that’s not the issue. The question is whether a publicly funded institution should be indulging internecine media squabbles against one individual and whether they come out of it looking anything but ruthless and petty.

@Sprining

It is interesting people find tabloid gossip of the RF distasteful. But don’t see how the ‘unnamed sources’ stuff is exactly the same. Like ‘unnamed sources’ say x made y cry. ‘Unnamed sources’ said she was Or some other random shadowy gossip.

RF need the press to keep up the smoke and mirrors that they are relevant in a democracy. I would think H&M don’t. I think it is time for them to just focus on themselves and forget/ignore the circus here

Agreed on all points.

People here seem quite naive about palace/media interface, indeed the palace in general.

you think rumours true and MM building foundations to become US president ?

I don’t think she can if she have ties to royal family. There is a rule about having a royal title and running as president

To expand on the point I made earlier, I do think Michelle Obama's cautious and nuanced comments might be more helpful to H and M, if they take them on board, than Oprah's uncritical embrace of their worldview.

The Oprah interview not only served to jeopardise family relations but also showed H and M as volatile and indiscreet, even if some of their grievances are valid.

If Oprah really wanted to showcase them as an attractive proposition to commercial and charitable organisations in the States, the tenor of the interview would have been different.

It looks like Oprah has gone for the immediate draw of the 'schlocky horror' tell-all rather than encouraging them to speak more about their interests and objectives as campaigners and humanitarians, which might have served them better in the long run. (Even if they wanted to get it all off their chests, Oprah should have counselled against it if she had their best interests at heart.)

The best speech I've heard from Meghan is one she made in New Zealand. It was notable because she managed to keep herself out of the narrative, in keeping with Michelle Obama's advice on the nature of public service.