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The royal family

Harry’s podcast

999 replies

smilesy · 13/05/2021 21:27

Carrying on the discussion about Harry’s podcast.

OP posts:
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KarensChoppyBob · 14/05/2021 17:12

Just no one mention Rose Hanbury to the the die-hard royalists. They'll get the vapours.

ajandjjmum · 14/05/2021 17:12

@callingon

Baffled by this thread - I don’t understand why I’m supposed to think the RF is a wholesome family. Imagine the AIBU - my husband’s uncle is friends with a sex offender and his mum doesn’t seem to think it’s a problem. The family has a weird history - I think his great aunt drank herself to death and his dad had a very public affair. I think his brother is depressed and might have had an affair too! AIBU to say I don’t want to see them? It’s awkward because they do a lot together but I don’t think my husband likes spending g time with them.
Like most families, they have their ups and downs. You're lucky (and unusual) if your family is perfect.

And of course, a number of the comments you make are resultant of gossip or imagination rather than fact.

CokeDrinker · 14/05/2021 17:12

@StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind

Yeah *@MmeLaraque* , that's exactly what I said Hmm

It's an over investment either way is it not, to either repeatedly criticising them or posting about them as though they basically can do no wrong all the time?

Out and out nastiness towards them is clearly not on but people are allowed to comment- and I can see why some people don't exactly hold them in high regard.

If people are "allowed to comment", then people are allowed to defend them. Hmm

and I can see why some people don't exactly hold them in high regard

And this bias against them shows why you call defenders odd, and not haters. Hmm

Frezia · 14/05/2021 17:14

@callingon

Baffled by this thread - I don’t understand why I’m supposed to think the RF is a wholesome family. Imagine the AIBU - my husband’s uncle is friends with a sex offender and his mum doesn’t seem to think it’s a problem. The family has a weird history - I think his great aunt drank herself to death and his dad had a very public affair. I think his brother is depressed and might have had an affair too! AIBU to say I don’t want to see them? It’s awkward because they do a lot together but I don’t think my husband likes spending g time with them.
Right? I genuinely don't understand all this riding to the defense of Charles, William, the Queen etc. They're all people with dubious moral views (yes, even the Queen), the family dynamics in the royal family is screwed up by default and in light of what happened with Diana I really didn't need Harry to reveal he had a messed up upbringing, it was quite obvious before he even said anything.
smilesy · 14/05/2021 17:15

@Maggiesfarm. I mean they seem put out that Archie is not a Prince ( or may not be one in the future) as per the claims in the OW interview about him not getting protection because he is not a Prince and the suggestion that he would not be made a Prince because of his colour.

OP posts:
MargaretFraggle · 14/05/2021 17:15

There's a difference between not seeing your family and airing your grievances about them to the world, humiliating your family in the process. Nobody would blame Harry for retreating to America and not seeing the RF for most of the time. Personally I think his unique experiences and vulnerability following therapy are being exploited (not by Meghan). He is happy for them to be, but he may regret being so open. Lots of celebrities do. It is also odd that Harry cites no grievances about Diana, who also brought him up.

I am not sure who said the RF was wholesome Smile Athough I think W&K seem fairly wholesome actually. I don't feel sorry for their kids at all. They seem like good parents and the monarchy will look very different by the time George is king. Their nanny also looks lovely and kids don't notice a uniform. It's the Norland nanny company which requires the uniform. Their nannies are trained to work with high profile families needing security, among other things. The organisation is quite fascinating actually.

KarensChoppyBob · 14/05/2021 17:15

It's been a great deflection for Andrew though.

Bet he can't believe his luck.

Roussette · 14/05/2021 17:19

Oh yes. Andrew must privately urge M&H to bring out something new! Let him make the most of it, he has until July to enjoy his life without headlines... but then the shit might hit the fan for him!

TheVanguardSix · 14/05/2021 17:20

I couldn't care less about H&M but there is a small innocent child in the middle of this shit storm, and he deserved better from the adults around him.

Please. He's not being raised by street dogs or drug-addled parents. I was just in Santa Barbara (I'm from Ojai, nearby). Are you kidding? That boy will be more than alright!! He's got auntie Oprah, Wholefoods, and the California sea and sun. H&M are a pair of a-holes, but I'm sure they're decent, loving parents.

KarensChoppyBob · 14/05/2021 17:21

I do hope so Roussette!

StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind · 14/05/2021 17:21

Bias against them? I've never commented in a nasty way about them on any thread- personal attacks are disgusting, to spew vitriol against complete strangers is vile.

My reasons for understanding why people don't hold them in high regard:

Massively expensive public wedding then decide to quit the royal family barely any time later

The hypocrisy of cutting off her father for talking to the press and then doing exactly the same with regards to his own family- at a time when his GF was dying

Throwing Kate under the bus during the OW interview when she has no right of reply

I don't think comments like 'nobody asked me how I was' were particularly well judged on the SA tour

Lecturing on climate change/vaccines/whatever it happens to me that day, during a global pandemic when people are suffering terribly- from their massive comfortable mansion, whilst wearing ludicrously expensive designer clothing and jewellery

MargaretFraggle · 14/05/2021 17:23

I am not a die hard royalist. But there is no evidence that William had an affair with Rose Hanbury. Just like there is no evidence Meghan made Kate cry, or that she has fallen out with her Mum, or whatever.

Maggiesfarm · 14/05/2021 17:25

[quote smilesy]@Maggiesfarm. I mean they seem put out that Archie is not a Prince ( or may not be one in the future) as per the claims in the OW interview about him not getting protection because he is not a Prince and the suggestion that he would not be made a Prince because of his colour.[/quote]
Yes, that is a tortuous way of looking at it, with an obvious conclusion, I suppose.

Someone above said H&M are deflecting attention from Andrew. I wasn't thinking about Andrew anyway, preferring to wait and see what transpires about him and many other notable people, a lot of which will be nothing much. However we will find out soon enough.

Back to Harry and Meghan, whom I like, I will listen to the podcast later.

Skiptheheartsandflowers · 14/05/2021 17:26

One point of interest for me was Harry's criticism of elements of the US media for, I think, the first time. Previously the emphasis has been on the British press and their dislike of how some of it has covered them. Now he's spoken about the paparazzi attention they got in their first few months in LA and also about the shot of Archie on his way to school (as Harry puts it, though it must be daycare / kindergarten / nursery given that Archie wasn't even 2 then) published in the New York Post. I've read that it's illegal in California to photograph the children of celebrities. Will Harry now take legal action then over that? And will their stance on the British press now extend to the US media? I agree that he's biting off more than he can chew in starting down the road of criticising the first amendment.

Roussette · 14/05/2021 17:26

@KarensChoppyBob

Shame. Just read they've changed the date from July to 29th November. (Just incidentally two of the 14 year olds recruited are giving evidence).

KarensChoppyBob · 14/05/2021 17:27

Depressing.

Maggiesfarm · 14/05/2021 17:29

@MargaretFraggle

I am not a die hard royalist. But there is no evidence that William had an affair with Rose Hanbury. Just like there is no evidence Meghan made Kate cry, or that she has fallen out with her Mum, or whatever.
Well said! I do realise that some royals throw a blind eye, or used to, but Kate and William married for love, are radiant in each other's company & neither are accomplished actors. That business, which I only heard about on MN, came from a short lived, nasty-piece-of-work, scandal mongering, 'journalistic' rumour.

That and plenty of others, about others.

FrippEnos · 14/05/2021 17:36

CokeDrinker

And this bias against them shows why you call defenders odd, and not haters.

And your bias is showing here as well.

sashagabadon · 14/05/2021 17:39

I think Harry is now in a world he doesn’t understand and is too naive to navigate. He is reliant on paid for advisers that do not understand the monarchy and do not necessarily have his best interests at heart and cannot (imo) be trusted.
But he cannot be reached by his family now and wouldn’t listen to them anyway and if they did try and help him it would be spun in a negative way. I reckon Charles is at a loss what to do, I know I would be in this scenario with my adult son or daughter.
It seems a shame that Archie will grow up without his many cousins without his paternal grandparents and only his maternal grandmother as extended family. Almost like M and H haven’t prioritised Archie in this at all. Most parents even in a family breakdown are mature enough to put their own grievances to be side and try and maintain cousins, aunty, uncle , grandparents contact as they realise this is best for the child if not for them. That’s the mature thing to do ( in the absence of physical abuse of course)

SchadenfreudePersonified · 14/05/2021 17:40

@Roussette

Before I get my arse handed to me on a plate, I can't remember which european RF go out to work, but there is one.
The Belgian Queen was a speech therapist.

I think the Dutch royal family also work for a living.

Roussette · 14/05/2021 17:41

Yes Schaden there are some who... all but the monarchs... catch the tube, go to work, carry on normal lives. I haven't researched because I will end up down a rabbit hole!

tadpole39 · 14/05/2021 17:41

Why are we all behaving as tho all this isn’t just par for the course with this family?? The Queens uncles, were both admitted for detox for drug addiction and used prostitutes and we’re wild young men. Princess Margaret! Charles’ book where he spoke at length about his emotionally distant parents and how hard he found that, his boarding school, wanting to be a tampon! Then Diana, tv interviews publicly accusing her husband of infidelity, eating disorders, depression, suicide attempts. Countless members of the family using their status for financial gain. I ask you, what’s Harry done that’s so awful??

tadpole39 · 14/05/2021 17:42

AND ANDREW!!!

Onetraumaatatimeplease · 14/05/2021 17:43

@grownupbeans 'He's not said much about the difficulties of being brought up as the 'spare', which must be a very odd situation.'

See I think that's part of his problem, he has been treated as a spare part. Even his own feted mother called him a spare publicly. I think it boils down to jealousy, he hasn't got the same role in life that William has, he is the 'creepy uncle Andy' of this generation of royals and let's face it the press have never been kind to him, even before the sex trafficking thing came to light.

Smashingorbs · 14/05/2021 17:50

Yes it's a serious upheaval to be separated from your family and country, but equally, the RF are hardly typical. William and Harry both attended boarding school and spent their school holidays travelling between their parents' homes where they were partly looked after by nannies and security staff. They spent Christmas and Easter and part of the summers with the rest of the RF who move between Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor. They were never in one place for long. Who knows how securely they were "attached" to anyone?

And both of H & Ws parents had seriously miserable childhoods.

Charles was four when the Queen was crowned. Six months later his parents left him with his grandmother for a six month tour of the Commonwealth. Then he was bullied at Gordonstoun. I think he had a difficult relationship with his parents. And then there's the dawning awareness that you are the heir to the throne.

Diana's mother Frances Shand Kydd was only eighteen when she married Johnnie Spencer who was thirty I think. So not an ideal scenario from the start. And Frances was under dreadful pressure to produce an heir and suffered the loss of John, a baby boy, who died a year only a year before Diana's birth. Diana witnessed , by all accounts , the really vicious subsequent breakdown of her parents' marriage and her mothers loss of the ensuing custody battle. According to Charles, Diana went selectively mute when her mother left the family home, and used to sit on the door step waiting for her to return.

So Harry isn't lying when he talks about negative parenting patterns. And of course suffering the loss of your mother as a child is not something you ever recover from fully.

Despite all of the above, the problem with blaming your parents in your thirties is that you haven't completed your own parenting yet and there's no guarantee that , despite your best efforts, your own DC won't find you lacking in some ways, or unexpected events won't upset family life . I think it's wiser to wait until your own DC are young adults before you judge your parents' performance, and certainly before you broadcast that judgement to the world at large.