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?

@Mummyozzi

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

No idea but I'm not sure it's a realistic goal.

H&M are not universally loved in the US (though I think they have far more support than they do in the U.K.) and I feel a lot of Americans would baulk at the notion of a member of the British RF living in the White House - even as first gentleman.

If that's her ambition I think H is serious baggage rather than an asset in that scenario.

I think the president thing was just Trump making a bitchy comment

@OutwiththeOutCrowd

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.

Great post.

@OutwiththeOutCrowd

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.

Totally agree

“I feel a lot of Americans would baulk at the notion of a member of the British RF living in the White House - even as first gentleman.”

I think so too, I think a lot Americans think their best interest will not be 100% for their country if Meghan have her husband and children in mind.

@OutwiththeOutCrowd

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.

Intelligent summation.

Just posted a thread about Michelle Obama as was utterly fascinated after watching her take on MM interview.

I now understand what MM meant about shining a light. Entire world was watching that interview (not quite but almost) and didn't mention any of their causes.

My Mother thinks the interview was a political media intiative by the left to distract people from bigger issues in the world.

I don't know about that but I do find Michelle's take on it to be odd. Thought she'd be far more supportive of MM and sympathetic.

Also made me wonder if people in Michelle's position and power have far more behind the scenes information and background on such interviews & the political and powerful media sources that shape them than we ever will.

everyone looks to MM and Oprah when in fact there are far more powerful people shaping these interviews. CBS isn't paying Oprah the big bucks and having no say about what they're airing and their advertises paying for.

@Mummyozzi which thread?

@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.

Remember Elton John playing Candle in the Wind at the funeral

Greenslide, doesn't that happen a lot when people die?
We had a family member who was a serial cheat, when he died all was forgotten and he was sainted.
Maybe it comes from the old saying about not talking ill of the dead..

Remember Elton John playing Candle in the Wind at the funeral

Remember the news footage of people trampling all over each other in HMV to buy multiple copies of the CD? People literally walking out with 10/20 copies of the thing.

It was honestly just an explosion of mass hysteria.

Of course it was a tragedy she died, especially for her sons but it was a really odd moment in history and since her death I think a lot of people have re-written the contemporary attitude towards her and airbrushed a lot details to reinvent her in a way "saintly" way that I personally think disrespects her.

She was a very complicated woman and deserves to be remembered for who she was and not a sanitised "low resolution" version.

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

IMO this feeds in to what many have said for ages - that there's only so much interest in their ever-changing "causes", and that their real USP lies in being a couple of renegade royals with stories to spill

Certainly Oprah went for notoriety/viewing figures rather than quality content, and no doubt a real friend would have advised otherwise, but she's made her money and if H&M finish up cutting her off too I doubt she'll be too worried

I grew up watching Oprah’s talk show, I wonder if Meghan did too.

Diana was very complex , but she did have the knack of being a ' people person' . She had charisma. I always felt sorry for her. She wanted the fairy tale and it all went wrong :(

@Roussette

I've said it before but it's worth repeating...

Andrew's Wiki page... especially the headings..

Corruption and Kazaksthan
Arms Sales
Questionable Language
(Kazaksthan Presiden't son paid £15M, £3M more than it was worth, for Sunnhinhill which was in awful state of disrepair)
Wiki says he reportedly pocketed £4M for a water treatment deal in Kazakstan
There's emails on this but of course the Palace blocked them all.

And yet.... an enquiry into Meghan... yeah right...

As an aside this prompted me to look at Sunninghill. I didn't know the original house was going to be used for the queen and DoE until it burned down.

But the new one...is it just me that thinks it looks like a BUPA care home or something?!?! No loss to architecture that's for sure!

Sunninghill was a monstrous heap! It cost £15M when it was built and they weren't even there 10 years. A gross waste of money.

Can't argue there, it was horrid! Royal Lodge is an improvement but still looks like a naff hotel to me (mostly because the photos are of a bad elevation I suspect) - his siblings definitely have better taste in houses!

@StatisticallyChallenged

Can't argue there, it was horrid! Royal Lodge is an improvement but still looks like a naff hotel to me (mostly because the photos are of a bad elevation I suspect) - his siblings definitely have better taste in houses!

Royal Lodge used to be the Queen Mothers residence.

Its absolutely beautiful in RL both inside and out and frankly doesn't deserve to be associated with that oxygen thief Andrew.

Remember Elton John playing Candle in the Wind at the funeral

Goodness, yes. The eyebrow action was simply mesmerising.

And yy to the stampeding weirdness with the CD. Oddly enough (or maybe not) it now seems to be a mandatory item in every charity shop. Much like the Glamour CD which also figures extensively.

But the new one...is it just me that thinks it looks like a BUPA care home or something?!?! No loss to architecture that's for sure!

It was dubbed 'South York' in homage to TV series 'Dallas' when first built and that was kind. Others less generously likened it to a branch of Tesco

Can i just say the b side to the candle in the wind song was really good.

Sunning hill was awful. Imagine having such a generous budget and wasting it on something like that.

@DeRigueurMortis

Remember Elton John playing Candle in the Wind at the funeral

Remember the news footage of people trampling all over each other in HMV to buy multiple copies of the CD? People literally walking out with 10/20 copies of the thing.

It was honestly just an explosion of mass hysteria.

Of course it was a tragedy she died, especially for her sons but it was a really odd moment in history and since her death I think a lot of people have re-written the contemporary attitude towards her and airbrushed a lot details to reinvent her in a way "saintly" way that I personally think disrespects her.

She was a very complicated woman and deserves to be remembered for who she was and not a sanitised "low resolution" version.

Hmmmmn agree. I think we all talk about ebr panorama interview but Charles had his book happening. He had plenty of old chums in his corner backing him up. Mud was slinging both ways - Peggy, the boy's nanny was accused of having an abortion and an affair with Charles's baby. The Sussex stuff is child play. Plenty thought Diana was manipulative as do the public of Meghan.

Yes the allegations D made against Tiggy Legge-Bourke were particularly nasty.

I think it’s important not to get the wrong idea about Diana as a mother . She came from one of the great aristocratic English families and was brought up almost entirely by nannies and her children were probably the last to also be brought up like this as well.

Harry and William had a full time nanny who did all the hard graft of parenting , Diana took them out for high days and holidays and also took them on very important educational visits but she didn’t routinely dress them, bath them, change nappies even and she didn’t take and pick them up from school regularly; Harry went to a full boarding prep 2 weeks after his seventh birthday anyway.

She didn’t do homework with them or sew on nametapes or socialise with the other mothers in the way Catherine reportedly does. There was certainly no baking or cooking either, famously Diana couldn’t even boil an egg. It is said that one of the things that attracted William to Kate was how much he loved her family life and the informal meals at the kitchen table and that’s what he wanted for his children.

@MrsTabithaTwitchit

I think it’s important not to get the wrong idea about Diana as a mother . She came from one of the great aristocratic English families and was brought up almost entirely by nannies and her children were probably the last to also be brought up like this as well.

Harry and William had a full time nanny who did all the hard graft of parenting , Diana took them out for high days and holidays and also took them on very important educational visits but she didn’t routinely dress them, bath them, change nappies even and she didn’t take and pick them up from school regularly; Harry went to a full boarding prep 2 weeks after his seventh birthday anyway.

She didn’t do homework with them or sew on nametapes or socialise with the other mothers in the way Catherine reportedly does. There was certainly no baking or cooking either, famously Diana couldn’t even boil an egg. It is said that one of the things that attracted William to Kate was how much he loved her family life and the informal meals at the kitchen table and that’s what he wanted for his children.

I am not a fan of Diana’s but I do think it’s fair to say that she parented in a way largely expected of aristocrats (with the exception of the fun days out). She wasn’t brought up to know any better and married into a family that thought the same.