Harry and Meghan statement on Afghanistan

[Mummyoflittledragon]

“The world is exceptionally fragile right now.
As we all feel the many layers of pain due to the situation in Afghanistan, we are left speechless.
As we all watch the growing humanitarian disaster in Haiti, snd the threat of it worsening after last weekend’s earthquake, we are left heartbroken.
And as we all witness the continuing global health crisis, exacerbated by the new variants and constant misinformation, we are left scared.
When any person or community suffers, a piece of each of us does so with them, whether we realise it or not. And though we are not meant to live in a state of suffering, we are as a people, being conditioned to accept it. It’s easy to find ourselves feeling powerless, but we can put our values into action - together.
To start, we encourage you to join us in supporting a number of organisations doing critical work. We also urge those in positions of global influence to rapidly advance the humanitarian dialogues that are expected to take place this fall at multilateral gatherings such as the U.N. General Assembly and the Leader’s Summit.
As an international community, it is the decisions we make now - to alleviate suffering among those we know and those we may never meet - that will prove our humanity.”

• THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF SUFFOLK

H&M are being criticised for making this about them and for not calling out Biden, notably the FLOTUS is report as being a personal friend of H.

What do mumsnetters think?

I have extended family like this too. What the original falling out was about I can't remember 30 years on.

Yes I believe it's immature. But it's how some people deal with strife. I could take offence at the same members of my family, indeed when younger I did.

Tolerance is actually work.

I agree some people go nc for what I would consider spurious reasons. I know someone, whose identical twin is nc with her and their father through jealousy. Reading between the lines, I think the father was expected to choose and as he couldn’t was also ostracised by default. It is a terrible burden on the rejected twin.

@smilesy

Just seen some more in the epilogue for Finding Freedom. Apparently, H hound that he had “an extra layer of pressure” at his grandfather’s funeral because of having to be alongside the family he hasn’t seen in a year 🙄

If this is a reflection of what he thinks then he is truly spoilt isn't he. So did he expect the family to go the extra mile to make HIM feel better and relieve that "new" layer of pressure, is that the implied comment? At his grandfather's funeral? Otherwise why would you say that, yes it is going to be weird just deal with it like any other normal person deals with events in life.

I think Harry and Meghan have made a profession of being aggrieved and affronted. It’s their go to mode now. No other reaction will do. Apart from ‘layers of pain’.

@Mummyoflittledragon

Sorry what does that even mean? Couldn’t the same be said in reverse? Didn’t it occur to either Harry or Scobie that actually his family members felt an extra layer of pressure because they had to be alongside someone, who had spoken so harshly of them on the most popular talk show on the planet? And does Omid Scobie ever engage his brain before writing such drivel?

Or even better, Haz could have said, "oh it was a very sad day but still nice to see everyone and be together with my family". But of course he would prefer to talk about "another layer of pressure" on himself - on his grandfather's funeral!

According to FF , H and M considered naming the member of the RF they say made a racist comment about Archie but decided against it. I am left wondering why ? It’s a serious allegation . By not naming the person everyone ( other than HM and PP ) is in the frame .

It seems to be a long epilogue !

What I don’t understand is H&M sue at the drop of a hat.
Of this biography isn’t authorised why don’t they sue OS?

If they named the person, and were anything other than 100% accurate about what that person said and the context in which they said it, the person would have better grounds for a complaint than H & M did for most of the ones they've filed. Meghan didn't even hear what was said, and only knows whatever Harry told her about it. Which he apparently didn't do until 6-12 months after he heard it, so even if he was trying to convey it accurately, chances are he fell somewhat short of the mark. And I've always thought that he didn't interpret it as racist at the time, because if he had, why in the world would he tell his pregnant suicidal wife that some relative had made a racist comment about their future children a year previously? So I think there's a decent chance that Harry, at least, had reservations about that interpretation of whatever was said.

Nauseating and inappropriate

Good points @ PurpleOkapi

I thought Harry said the comment was pre-wedding Purple. I know there were a lot of threads on this at the time. Supposing Harry didn’t find it racist at the time, is this then what Harry means when he says he’s learned about his racial bias? So did he talk to the family member concerned and / or wider family before blasting them?

The I know better, I do better adage is good. However it serves no purpose to then judge others for not knowing better when they haven’t been privy to the knowledge, which affected the change in behaviour in the first place. For isn’t it more important to impart that knowledge rather than to berate others for not knowing? Otherwise you risk being seen as hypocritical and pompous rather than holding the high ground. Once then seen as hypocritical and pompous, others are more likely to shut down than be responsive and I wonder if this has come into play within the RF.

In this regard perhaps they did try to talk to the person implicated? However whipping up a storm and at the same time refusing to report what was said and who said it surely decreases the likelihood that you will be taken seriously, surely?

Whatever the truth, we will never know. But the current situation, with myriad misunderstandings and where everyone is hurt, is definitely not the answer.

I thought Harry said the comment was pre-wedding Purple. I know there were a lot of threads on this at the time. Supposing Harry didn’t find it racist at the time, is this then what Harry means when he says he’s learned about his racial bias? So did he talk to the family member concerned and / or wider family before blasting them?

Good questions. I don't think he understood it to be racist at the time he chose to repeat it to Meghan, because I just can't fathom why he'd have picked that particular time - months after the comment was made, when she was pregnant and supposedly suicidal - to pass along something he expected to upset, when doing so wouldn't really accomplish anything beyond that. It only makes sense if he understood it to be harmless at the time he chose to repeat it. Meghan promptly 'educating' him on why it was racist is a good guess.

You're right that if Harry himself didn't see a problem with it until Meghan explained it privately, it's quite hypocritical of them to publicly attack the person who said it for viewing it the same way Harry did. Supposing it truly was offensive, if Meghan privately explaining her thoughts to Harry was an effective way to make Harry understand why it was wrong, then that should logically have been the way they tried to 'educate' whomever said it - with a private explanation.

I think there may have been a way back for Harry even after the Oprah interview. But the final nail in the coffin must have been when the conversation between Harry and Charles and William was leaked afterwards via Gayle King ie “talks were unproductive”. At the point the rf must have realised that they can never trust M&H and that everything they say will be fodder. That’s why relations now will always be polite but frosty. I don’t know why Harry would expect anything else.

OS is just stirring now, and if Harry and Meghan haven't helped him in some way I will be very surprised.

They never repudiated the intimate and personal details in FF.

@DottyHarmer

I think there may have been a way back for Harry even after the Oprah interview. But the final nail in the coffin must have been when the conversation between Harry and Charles and William was leaked afterwards via Gayle King ie “talks were unproductive”. At the point the rf must have realised that they can never trust M&H and that everything they say will be fodder. That’s why relations now will always be polite but frosty. I don’t know why Harry would expect anything else.

A way back to what? A failing institution? To go around cutting ribbons, to being abused by the British media, to playing second fiddle to his brother and having no say over his life? Back to what exactly?

Some of you would want Harry to leave his wife and two kids to return to a miserable life just so he can be seen to support his brother and his family but abandon his own. Very twisted thinking.

The Royal Family is dysfunctional and I doubt there is closeness amongst any of them.

Why anyone would leave a prison and then want a way back is beyond comprehension. They would not have achieved a fraction of what they have achieved if they made their way back.

A way back to being a member of the family they can trust with loving relationships. Not a way back to being a working Royal. That will never happen.

@SwimmingUnderwater

A way back to being a member of the family they can trust with loving relationships. Not a way back to being a working Royal. That will never happen.

A loving family that questions the colour of his child’s skin? A member of the family that did not support his wife? A member of the family that do not show regard for his children. A member of the family that leak stories about them to the media? A member of the family that destroyed his mother? A member of that family? Interesting!

I hope they stand their ground and enforce boundaries and never ever let the victimisers expect the victims to kow tow.

The RF must make their way back to Harry. Anything else is unacceptable. Victimisers do not get to force the victims to come on bended knees. May that never happen.

That’s the way they see it, clearly. It seems to me there was an awful lot of support for his wife and himself. A lot of love and concern for his son who they have not seen for nearly two years now. No evidence of leaking to the Press from the family itself. I’m sure courtiers who were pissed off leaked though.
The family did destroy Diana to some extent yes. However that didn’t seem to be a major bone if contention for Harry until now. William is also Diana’s son. He is going to be King one day. He upholds the system Harry seems to want to destroy. If that isn’t treachery, I don’t know what is. Harry could have kept his grievances private and thrashed then out behind closed doors. He has chosen to publicly drag his brother, his father and his grandparents through the mud instead. In doing so he’s shown himself to be spoilt , entitled and self absorbed . I used to really like him. I think his behaviour has been despicable.

@SwimmingUnderwater

That’s the way they see it, clearly. It seems to me there was an awful lot of support for his wife and himself. A lot of love and concern for his son who they have not seen for nearly two years now. No evidence of leaking to the Press from the family itself. I’m sure courtiers who were pissed off leaked though. The family did destroy Diana to some extent yes. However that didn’t seem to be a major bone if contention for Harry until now. William is also Diana’s son. He is going to be King one day. He upholds the system Harry seems to want to destroy. If that isn’t treachery, I don’t know what is. Harry could have kept his grievances private and thrashed then out behind closed doors. He has chosen to publicly drag his brother, his father and his grandparents through the mud instead. In doing so he’s shown himself to be spoilt , entitled and self absorbed . I used to really like him. I think his behaviour has been despicable.

I think they would know far better than you or me how they were treated and how they felt.

What seems to me or you is irrelevant.

Since when do strangers get to tell others HOW they should interpret how they felt or how they were treated? Have they been certified as mentally incapable of assessing how they are treated and how they feel about that treatment?

Barbados will become a republic later this year from what I’ve read in the news. No doubt others will follow. The institution makes no sense and with the behaviour towards H&M, the protection of PA and the fact the Queen has been actively involved in politics in terms of preventing equality laws from applying to her, I can’t see what t going from strength to strength but rather from decline to decline.

*I can’t see the institution going from strength to strength but rather from decline to decline.

@SwimmingUnderwater

That’s the way they see it, clearly. It seems to me there was an awful lot of support for his wife and himself. A lot of love and concern for his son who they have not seen for nearly two years now. No evidence of leaking to the Press from the family itself. I’m sure courtiers who were pissed off leaked though. The family did destroy Diana to some extent yes. However that didn’t seem to be a major bone if contention for Harry until now. William is also Diana’s son. He is going to be King one day. He upholds the system Harry seems to want to destroy. If that isn’t treachery, I don’t know what is. Harry could have kept his grievances private and thrashed then out behind closed doors. He has chosen to publicly drag his brother, his father and his grandparents through the mud instead. In doing so he’s shown himself to be spoilt , entitled and self absorbed . I used to really like him. I think his behaviour has been despicable.

How do you know how much he has tried to thrash it out behind closed doors eh? For all you know he has tried many times and so fed up he up and left and the made some public comments when people hounding them about why.

You admit they did destroy Diana to an extent...Harry might have spoken out behind closed doors for all you know. And since you admit they did destroy his mother ro some extent then how can you in the same breath call them a loving, supportive family. That is so twisted! Because a loving, supportive family wouldn't destroy a mother like that.

I call it karma, they destroyed his mother and now they are getting a taste of the medicine they dish out and they clearly don't like it one bit. If anything thank god we can really see the monarchy for what they truly are, archaic and dysfunctional. No place for this institution anymore and other commonwealth countries can see it and are leaving.

@OverByYer

What I don’t understand is H&M sue at the drop of a hat. Of this biography isn’t authorised why don’t they sue OS?

Yeah - they threated to sue the BBC for some article and the BBC stood by it. But they don't even bother with OS, for all he writes so OS must have a backstop from them. Playing games, it is all PR gimmick to keep visible and make more money out of their "fame".