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The royal family

Revenge - by Tom Bower

720 replies

TideTimeSea · 08/08/2022 13:03

As the other thread has filled up I wondered if anyone would like to discuss the book here. I’m listening to it on Audible now.

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SueSaid · 13/08/2022 08:44

ThighMistress · 12/08/2022 11:42

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if H&M had declared their intention to step away and go and live in Canada/Botswana/The Cotswolds/Montecito then that would have been a shame but we all would have waved them off and wished them well. But it Was Not Like That.

There was the advance planning, the statement of wanting to do royal tours etc but no day-to-day boring visits, then the Oprah stuff, television appearances, books, swooping in for visits to bereaved, etc etc etc.

NONE of that is them living “privately”. It is them wanting recognition and the attendant privileges.

I think they have played a stinker. Riding high after the wedding, they could have been a triumph. Worldwide popularity, adoration even. Whoever advised them behind the scenes had an ulterior motive, imo, to destroy the royal family, and M&H were useful tools (in both senses of the word).

Exactly. It's the mixed messages and hypocrisy that hasn't been very authentic at all.

notanotheroneagain · 13/08/2022 09:18

Great to see you sounding chipper today @Roussette . Hope you get better as days go by. 😊

Every Tom, Dick, but not Harry is getting security, that would raise questions marks for sure. Makes the RF sound petty and cruel.

I see even that princess of Japan who left for NY, is getting protection. I believe in their case, there're was a shooting nearby.

notanotheroneagain · 13/08/2022 09:21

There was the advance planning, the statement of wanting to do royal tours etc but no day-to-day boring visits, then the Oprah stuff, television appearances, books, swooping in for visits to bereaved, etc etc etc.

NONE of that is them living “privately”. It is them wanting recognition and the attendant privileges.

Where did they say they want privacy. The press said that.

How do you know what 'boring staff' they would do or not.
They said, they would work at being financially independent, they presented that to the Queen and Charles.

Serenster · 13/08/2022 10:04

“What I want to make clear is we’re not walking away, and we certainly aren’t walking away from you. Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the commonwealth, and my military associations, but without public funding. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
^^
I’ve accepted this, knowing that it doesn’t change who I am or how committed I am. But I hope that helps you understand what it had to come to, that I would step my family back from all I have ever known,
to take a step forward into what I hope can be a more peaceful life.”

Prince Harry, 20th January 2020, saying directly that they didn’t want to leave but they were now looking for a more peaceful life (away from the media spotlight, was the context)

notanotheroneagain · 13/08/2022 10:24

So ?
British media and their lies.

They gave a list of the rags they would not be working with, but other media we're included.

Readinginthesun · 13/08/2022 10:30

Readinginthesun · 12/08/2022 11:40

I think you are being a bit evasive there . I agree he said he was happy in Africa but did he ever say prior to 2020 that he wanted to fully leave the institution? If so you are going to have to link me as I can’t find anything and I think it would have made headlines .
They were told to fuck off ? Who said that ? My understanding is that they were told that they couldn’t have what they wanted ( all the perks and glamour but no community centre visits in rainy Rothesay) but to take a year to consider the options .

Are you ready to be answer this yet @notanotheroneagain ?

Readinginthesun · 13/08/2022 10:32

Sorry , forgot the important bit !

notanotheroneagain · Yesterday 10:22
Harry was never happy. At one point he was interviewed in Africa. Him saying how happy and welcome he was there.

They asked for the half in, with them away from the UK, and were told to fuck off. So the message was clear, you deal with all this shit we hand you or nothing.

Maybe Harry thought when he got older and married, he would be viewed as matured and they stop with scapegoating him - so much for that.

KatharineofAragon · 13/08/2022 10:42

It seemed to me that they were both very much on board with being working royals in the lead up to their marriage. Lots of enthusiasm for the idea. In fact Harry was put out that the Queen suggested Meghan might instead prefer to continue her career. He thought that was insulting.
They talked about how welcome they family had made Meghan, how much she enjoyed being part of a big family.
Things quickly changed when they realised they couldn’t have everything their own way and perhaps they might be subject to criticism as all the other royals have been at times. They just couldn’t hack that at all. Then they wanted out Not before. Even at that stage they thought they could live abroad , picking and. choosing what they fancied doing , ‘collaborating’ ( so condescending), and continuing on the pay roll.

notanotheroneagain · 13/08/2022 10:53

Readinginthesun · 13/08/2022 10:30

Are you ready to be answer this yet @notanotheroneagain ?

So you want me to trawl the internet of you ? You can find negative stories super fast, maybe you can look it up yourself.

If it comes back on my timeline, I'll link it, don't worry. But I definitely remember him saying this.

In the meantime, you can enjoy watching him criticising the British media, as he still consistently does now.

twitter.com/VanessaNguyen28/status/1512553376122347523

Also someone confirming that the stories around him have been to make others look good, while he is made to look bad.

twitter.com/Jasamgurlie/status/1467635881184047108

KatharineofAragon · 13/08/2022 11:19

He makes himself look pretty bad through his own words and actions. He doesn’t need the media to do it for him. I guess it’s easier for him to blame the media than look at his own behaviour. Not to excuse the media, they are awful, but he doesn’t help his own situation.

Readinginthesun · 13/08/2022 11:19

notanotheroneagain · 13/08/2022 10:53

So you want me to trawl the internet of you ? You can find negative stories super fast, maybe you can look it up yourself.

If it comes back on my timeline, I'll link it, don't worry. But I definitely remember him saying this.

In the meantime, you can enjoy watching him criticising the British media, as he still consistently does now.

twitter.com/VanessaNguyen28/status/1512553376122347523

Also someone confirming that the stories around him have been to make others look good, while he is made to look bad.

twitter.com/Jasamgurlie/status/1467635881184047108

I have never disagreed that he disliked the British media . I have never disagreed that he said he was happy in Africa but that’s not the same as saying he wanted to leave the Institution. He only talked about leaving when his ridiculous half in half out proposal was refused.
I am very happy in my holiday home in Spain . I call it my Happy Place but would I want to leave my U.K. home and family ? No.
See the difference ?
I am not asking you to trawl the internet , I am merely asking you to provide evidence .

Readinginthesun · 13/08/2022 11:20

And who told them to fuck off ? I definitely can’t find that !

Roussette · 13/08/2022 11:38

but that’s not the same as saying he wanted to leave the Institution. He only talked about leaving when his ridiculous half in half out proposal was refused

But surely... being in his position, and being a square peg in a round hole and not happy with his life within the RF before he met Meghan... it would have been insurmountable for him to imagine how he could leave and what sort of life he would lead if he did. That doesn't mean to say he didn't want to. I think he did.

Then along comes Meghan 'the love of his life/the man who stole a Prince from us' (delete as appropriate Grin) and the rest is history.
She made it happen. For me that means, she showed him that there's a whole big world out there, you only have one life, you don't have to accept this, you can leave etc.

(I know at this point, some posters would put a different spin on my last sentence in that they'd be saying she realised what he was worth to her as far as making money and a name for herself and him and the kudos for marrying a royal etc, so you don't need to point that out to me!)

Readinginthesun · 13/08/2022 11:48

Roussette · 13/08/2022 11:38

but that’s not the same as saying he wanted to leave the Institution. He only talked about leaving when his ridiculous half in half out proposal was refused

But surely... being in his position, and being a square peg in a round hole and not happy with his life within the RF before he met Meghan... it would have been insurmountable for him to imagine how he could leave and what sort of life he would lead if he did. That doesn't mean to say he didn't want to. I think he did.

Then along comes Meghan 'the love of his life/the man who stole a Prince from us' (delete as appropriate Grin) and the rest is history.
She made it happen. For me that means, she showed him that there's a whole big world out there, you only have one life, you don't have to accept this, you can leave etc.

(I know at this point, some posters would put a different spin on my last sentence in that they'd be saying she realised what he was worth to her as far as making money and a name for herself and him and the kudos for marrying a royal etc, so you don't need to point that out to me!)

He may well have wanted to leave however the other poster said it was on record and I asked for a link as I couldn’t find anything saying this prior to 2020.
She also said they were told to fuck off ! By whom ? My understanding is that they were told they couldn’t have what they wanted but were given a year to consider matters. To me that’s not being told to fuck off.

notanotheroneagain · 13/08/2022 12:03

My expression of what happened is they were effectively told to fuck off with their idea - no matter how 'politely' they try to phase it. Just as the recollections may vary nonsense they sprouted. We can see through all this bs.

@Roussette you remind me now. How the Irish comedian explains how this was all Meghan's fault. 😂

Readinginthesun · 13/08/2022 12:12

notanotheroneagain · 13/08/2022 12:03

My expression of what happened is they were effectively told to fuck off with their idea - no matter how 'politely' they try to phase it. Just as the recollections may vary nonsense they sprouted. We can see through all this bs.

@Roussette you remind me now. How the Irish comedian explains how this was all Meghan's fault. 😂

Ah so they weren’t told to fuck off !? Instead they were told that go away for a year to think things over.
Slightly different.
I am not blaming Meghan , I think they are both at fault for the mess.

Roussette · 13/08/2022 12:31

Surely "fuck off" is just an expression illustrating "I say old chap, you can't have what you want, so do leave blighty and go away. Toodle pip!"

Both the same!

Readinginthesun · 13/08/2022 12:37

Roussette · 13/08/2022 12:31

Surely "fuck off" is just an expression illustrating "I say old chap, you can't have what you want, so do leave blighty and go away. Toodle pip!"

Both the same!

Again , they weren’t told to leave , they were told they couldn’t have what they wanted but to think about it .
Sorry for labouring the point but history is being rewritten here !

Puzzledandpissedoff · 13/08/2022 13:03

They weren’t told to leave , they were told they couldn’t have what they wanted but to think about it

Pity we can't have that pinned to every thread about this ...

To be clear, I wouldn't blame anyone for wanting to leave the toxic mess that the RF personify - only, in H&M's case, for the way they behaved around it.
But while things often get re-written, I wouldn't want to state Harry was clearly unhappy with his overall life here, any more than I'd say he wasn't - though if things really were as bad as he claims he's a better actor than sometimes seems the case

MissMarpleRocks · 13/08/2022 16:37

When I left my family’s firm, I left the firm not the family. But I didn’t get to keep the company car or other company perks just because I was family.

I also didn’t go badmouthing them that I didn’t get to keep my salary & perks that were available to me as an employee not a family member.

Ohnonevermind · 13/08/2022 16:37

The MM/PH exit and their requests/demands was the same as the ‘having our cake and eating it’ attitude taken by the Tories dealing with Europe after Brexit.

It was never going to fly.

ThighMistress · 13/08/2022 18:20

Also the whingeing about the British media - I was looking at something else and came across the headlines in various US publications, let alone online posts, and we are tame by comparison. Awful stuff - dreadful lies - are published there (about all sorts of people) yet it’s always the Brits who are the baddies (as per every Hollywood villain….).

KatharineofAragon · 13/08/2022 19:55

MissMarpleRocks · 13/08/2022 16:37

When I left my family’s firm, I left the firm not the family. But I didn’t get to keep the company car or other company perks just because I was family.

I also didn’t go badmouthing them that I didn’t get to keep my salary & perks that were available to me as an employee not a family member.

Harry’s only job was in the army though. Which has close links to the RF. He obviously has no concept of what a real job entails. He’s lived in a cosseted world where Daddy picks up the bills and there’s a whole PR department to handle his stupid behaviour.

Roussette · 13/08/2022 20:01

KatharineofAragon · 13/08/2022 19:55

Harry’s only job was in the army though. Which has close links to the RF. He obviously has no concept of what a real job entails. He’s lived in a cosseted world where Daddy picks up the bills and there’s a whole PR department to handle his stupid behaviour.

So what?

Do you blame him for being born a royal? Hardly his fault 🙄

He was 10 years in armed forces, and now on his own (with his family), I'm sure he'll be fine

StartupRepair · 13/08/2022 23:41

What's interesting is how early in the piece H and M were buying up domain names and having meetings with big platforms. It seemed like the plan was being set up very early on in their marriage.

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