Harry’s podcast

[smilesy]

Carrying on the discussion about Harry’s podcast.

I think W and K are very skilled at appearing to be just a really lovely upper middle class family, and it makes them both relatable and aspirational. I know full well I’m being manipulated and it still fools me!

[quote HeraInTheHereAndNow]@Allington... I agree. Harry seems to be endlessly focussed on the difficulties he’s had.

Without going too Monty Python... I grew up on a difficult council estates the north of the UK with a violent alcoholic father and a very young mother. I often (for my own safety) was farmed out to relatives (now, social services would have removed myself and my older sister) and on more than one occasion “saved” my mum from being beaten by my father. I don’t blame my dad - he was the product of his own upbringing. I don’t blame my mum - she was young and couldn’t leave him. She did, many times, but always went back. It was commonplace for myself and my sister to sleep together as teens, with a huge carving knife under the bed, ready if needed.

I am now 58. Only my husband knows of all of this. Friends had no idea.

My point is... “Enough! FFS!”[/quote]
thanks so much for sharing this story, Hera.

And agree totally with your last line!

I wonder how much of a part The Crown Netflix series is playing in this whole unfolding rl drama?

Everyone now thinks they know what happened behind the RF's closed doors. Their individual personalities have been simplified and exaggerated by the show's writers, all nuance and shades of grey obliterated for the sake of a good story. It makes great viewing because we all like to see people as heroes or villains and we all want to root for the underdog and feel fury on their behalf when they get crushed by those with more power.

The really weird thing is that Harry seems to have bought into it as much as anyone. Either that, or he's seizing the moment to ride the wave of public sympathy for Diana and really point the finger at Charles being the source of all evil.

I grew up at a similar time to PH and my father had multiple affairs and drank too much. He was also, in lots of ways, brilliant and generous and loving. It would be easy (very easy) to focus on his flaws, and I have spent a lot of time doing that, but having identified them for myself it's best to move on. They undoubtedly affected my upbringing and made their mark on the person I am, but what would be the point in going on about that endlessly to everyone else, except to kind of exempt myself of responsibility for my own flaws? My kids are older now and I certainly didn't make the same mistakes as my parents did in bringing them up, but I have absolutely made plenty of my own. No one is a perfect parent. No one can be, and to strive for that is denying your kids the right to see things from their own perspective.

Lots of children are boarders, it's just another stick to beat his dad with

Harry hasn't said anything about this, it was me, but only in the context of how W&K are doing it differently and me wondering why.

I suspect that Kate had that fairly ‘normal’ MC life growing up - house and dogs and family. I get the impression that’s the type of life she wants her kids to have.

Hollywood family life doesn’t seem to be so much fun. Too much bloody drama. I couldn’t be doing with all that Dynasty Drama...

@SlowlyThenQuickly

Harry thinks the first ammendment is " bonkers" and isn't afraid to let everyone know that. I can't see that going down well in the USA.

omg i didnt know that , lets hope he doesnt say anything negative about the 5th one the right to bear arns , then there really will be ructions lol

For all the wealth I think the whole concept of the royal family is actually cruel. He didn’t ask to be born into that. He would be so much happier being a pleasant hooray Henry estate agent with a horsey wife.

And W&H went to the school down the road from the palace. I remember (so many people killing themselves to get their kids in there!)

@HeraInTheHereAndNow I know you won't want them but anyway!

Triumph over adversity is possible while still being allowed to process bad memories.

Chaosrabbitland agreed. All this hand wringing and talking / lecturing, no idea what it actually achieves, complete hypocrisy really. At this point all I hear is poor me, blah blah blah, we are all in pain, blah blah, blah, the world is terrible, blah blah blah.

Thanks @JaniieJones.

Thing is, I know of others lives who made mine look like a picnic. It just wouldn’t occur to me to bang on about it. I grew up knowing I wanted better for my own.

I agree with whoever mentioned the Norland nanny for Williams kids, dressed like something out of the 1950's, it is so out of touch with real life it is beyond a joke.

@MobyDicksTinyCanoe

Why's everyone skirting around the fact that Harry's had to carry the weight of speculation about his parentage and jokes about his dead mothers sex life from the entire world. And not one person in his family spoke out to say enough is enough.

Dealing with that all alone through your formative years and beyond would mess anybody up.

why was he dealing with that alone?

He had his brother, father, cousins, friends, aunts, uncles... etc

@Lockupyourbiscuits

What sort of counsellor would encourage family estrangement . How can such a public discussion of private thoughts as a productive outcome? Is he being encouraged/exploited to do this by people ?

What sort of counsellor would encourage family estrangement."

One whose client has a particularly toxic or gas-lighting family, perhaps? Not saying that's the case here, but I do know of cases where abuse victims have been encouraged by their counsellors to just go NC with their family of origin (the one they were born into). There are plenty of families out there who will refuse to acknowledge abuse of any sort, and insist the victim/s of abuse is/are lying. It's interesting to witness such families closing ranks and shunning the one/s who speak out. Like I said, I'm not party to whatever's been going on in the RF, but that sort of thing does happen, and a lot more often than perhaps people realise.

How can such a public discussion of private thoughts as a productive outcome?
That sounds an awful lot like, "Really shouldn't wash your dirty linen in public.". Counsellors do sometimes encourage people to speak out about abuse in some cases. Perhaps that's the case here.

Is he being encouraged/exploited to do this by people?" No idea. It's a bit strange that he was the one saying their union and marriage would give her the family she never had, and now he's apparently declaring his family the troubled one.

Therapy is such a difficult one.

Bil had therapy in his 40s. Mil got it in the neck. Now, there is no doubt that mil was a difficult person, but she wasn’t an evil person and bil was fired up by his therapy to go NC for a year for her perceived abuse when he was younger. One of the abuses was her buying herself a new dress to celebrate his passing the 11+ . Irritating, and typical, but I can’t help wondering at what kind of therapist would be stoking up a client to feel so angry about this.

@MsTSwift

For all the wealth I think the whole concept of the royal family is actually cruel. He didn’t ask to be born into that. He would be so much happier being a pleasant hooray Henry estate agent with a horsey wife.

That’s essentially what Princess Anne is. She manages to keep her private life private, live in the country with her horses and dogs, doesn’t have airs and graces yet still works hard for the RF. He didn’t need to be a working Royal. He could have had a desk job in the Army and bought himself a country pile. He could have married an agreeable woman like Camilla who would be jolly and good with his family. He made the choices he did. If he’s got the life he wants now he ought to be grateful and get on with it quietly. Angst about his personal issues should be kept for his therapist and friends.

This is 180 degree turnabout in a very short timescale - how can that be !!

If you've been raised in a family, and not had much experience of other people's families, someone joining your family and pointing out things that are a bit fucked up, is entirely possible. I've seen people posting about that here.

No ordinary citizen would have been allowed in witn that history.

You honestly think there aren't some people from chaotic backgrounds and potential MH issues in the British Armed Forces? They target kids like that in their recruitment.

William has had exactly the same experience
Those boys were not raised the same way. One is the heir, the other is the spare. Can you imagine being the sibling who wasn't expected to amount to much, next to the one who would go on to be King?

the end cant come soon enough for me rose , i honestly get wound up listining to this idiot moaning about his tough life whilst sitting in a huge mansion in california earning millions for doing sweet fuck all except working his mouth

Then stop listening?

What level of income do you believe is the cut off for having mental health problems or being raised badly by your parents?

'W&K and H&M’s kids are being brought up differently. It will be interesting in 20/30 years to see how the social experiment will work.'

Yes if only we had mn 30 years ago, we could have all predicted that The Wales's disastrous and dysfunctional marriage/separation was going to lead to terrible rifts in the future with their kids and.. voila! I bet Archie will flee the US to escape his resentful and bitter df in 2040 (who will still be trying to appear on telly to tell tales every 5 minutes ).

@lavenderandwisteria

I think W and K are very skilled at appearing to be just a really lovely upper middle class family, and it makes them both relatable and aspirational. I know full well I’m being manipulated and it still fools me!

But they are an upper middle class family. Remember that Kate's mother came from a working class background. Presumably Carole was a very hands on parent. Unlike Diana's mother who actually left the family home.

Minty:"If you've been raised in a family, and not had much experience of other people's families, someone joining your family and pointing out things that are a bit fucked up, is entirely possible. I've seen people posting about that here."

What you mean Meghan pointing out he still spoke to his family? Yes, she'd find that strange.

Someone above said all their kids have is Doria for family - that is if she continues to agree with everything they say. Nodding along is the only way to have a relationship with these two...

I agree with whoever mentioned the Norland nanny for Williams kids, dressed like something out of the 1950's, it is so out of touch with real life it is beyond a joke

I agree. I just don't see any signs of anything being different from how C&D brought him up. The christening footage with the carriage pram and the Norland nanny was just so peculiar...

I wonder if William and Catherine will pack their kids off to boarding school and, if so, at what age?

@Nishky

I haven’t listened to the podcast - but I read he commented on the photo of Archie going to nursery- so they are still being hounded? That is sad

Nishky " but I read he commented on the photo of Archie going to nursery- so they are still being hounded? That is sad"

That's part of the choice they made by moving to the US, they dont have the same "genetlemans agreement" that the RF have with the UK media. UK media don't generally print paparazzi shots of the RF.

W&K are dripping with privilege too but they have the good sense to do some tedious royal duties with enthusiasm before they hop in the helicopter back to their arcadian base in Norfolk.