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With another podcast set for release this week, The Sunday Times has a piece addressing Harry and Meghan's apparent strategy:

Courtiers are bemused by the Sussexes’ determination to rage against the past. As Davis observed of Meghan in her article: “She has taken a hardship and turned it into content.” A source who knows the Sussexes questions why Meghan “is constantly looking back at how awful it was to briefly be a royal. What does success look like, is it a number in the bank? Is it that they’ve killed off the monarchy?” Another Palace source says: “Ultimately they are bashing the institution that has put them in the position they’re in, the longevity of that strategy is not sustainable.”

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/harry-and-meghan-keep-bashing-the-monarchy-because-its-good-business-royals-believe-nq29p6g7z

I'm curious about their strategy, too. They seem to think that criticizing the royal makes them look better - it really doesn't. Instead, it just makes them look petty and increasingly irrelevant.

Indeed.

As a black person who grew up in an all white community- Afro hair definitely was ugly and uncelebrated at that time- and something you hid away and straightened. The fact her mum didn’t relax her hair during the time most young black girls either had hair chemically straightened or wore braids rather than leaving their Afro in full view, would definitely have made her stick out in a negative way.

So it sits right with me because my experience was that afro hair and brown skin made me ugly back then. Doesn’t mean she’s saying those features are ugly, but that’s how those with afro hair experienced society back then. It’s only in very recent years that there has been a strong movement to promote black women wearing their hear naturally. Even then, I still feel prettier with straight hair now- it’s hard to completely ignore beauty standards when living in a world that celebrates whiteness.

These types of thing are always super expensive and there are of course questions to be asked about these organisations and their financial jurisprudence but it has been interesting to see how yet it’s another thing that she’s been castigated with. 🤣

I think that's unfair. I haven't watched her speech so I can't say if it was good or bad. But I won't be watching Bob Geldhofs or Mary Robinsind either. All the speakers get paid, but that's because their name draws attendees that fund the charity. That's on the charity, the trustees and, one would hope, the charity commission, to see that the speakers are value for money. It's not up to the speakers, whether that be Bob, Kofi, Mary of Meghan, to make that judgement. They're just fulfilling the contract they're being paid to do.

But I'd never heard of this charity before. I think for a CEO to triple her wage in 5 years is excessive. And when you drill into it and see the wage bill alone is 6 times the amount they actually raise for charity, that must mean they're contributing in charitable terms somewhere else. But a blog shows that the young people who go there are actually using gofundmes to raise money for projects which the charity then counts towards money they've raised in the form of "social value".

It sounds like a questionable charity to me. But if these speakers can get a good payday for it, then I'm not casting shade on them for doing it. They've all got to eat.

Seems you are ill informed and likely disappointed then @skullbabe

Direct from the horse’s mouth……

“Archetypes is the podcast where we explore and subvert the labels that try to hold women back. Here's where we dismantle them with action.”

archewell.com/audio/archetypes/

@LateAF i was typing something along these lines but you explained it well. Hair is a very emotive subject in black and mixed race communities - media representation for girls who look like my daughter is something I have to seek out because blonde straight hair is what is promoted everywhere as an ideal.

I’m struggling because it’s talking about the labels which hold women back - perhaps I don’t equate that to discussing women’s equality. Hey ho.

I think you make a valid point - it is really interesting how this charity in this very thread has been interrogated, found questionable (which I may agree with) and this is further evidence of Meghan being terrible as opposed to the charity itself. I’m not sure if I’m getting my point across - I hope I am.

I think if someone or something shines a light on a charity then imo it usually is a positive. I don’t agree with the huge salaries these charity CEOs take though.

I hope Meghan & Harry can move/look forward rather than back. For myself I only started to heal when I had done that.

Slight derail:
As for the hair comment, it’s not remotely the same but my youngest feels that about her hair. She has the typical curly & frizzy Cypriot hair. There is no point in her straightening it in hot countries due to the frizz. She hates it. Sil once asked me (jokingly) if I hated sil as I hadn’t noticed her hair getting frizzy as my contacts had steamed up.

Has MM’s podcasts helped you join the dots now?

Last nights speech was meant to be about gender equality though and unless I'm drastically missing something, it wasn't.

Hair is a very emotive subject in black and mixed race communities

I'm aware of this, and it's why I was so surprised that all Harry could think of to say to Serena was something about her hair and its "vibe"

A bit insensitive perhaps ...

...and this is further evidence of Meghan being terrible as opposed to the charity itself.

I don't think it reflects on her particularly. I don't know what her actual participation has been. Bob Geldhof seems to have been to a few summits but if he performs as they require, is he owed criticism? I don't know. But I would like to see celebrities really exploring what the charity is about and how wirygwhile it is, before looking at the pay. People often donate (not here - I can't see anyone donating anything much) because of the celebrities who attach their name.

I did say, before looking into the charity to see what they do, that I thought young leaders was a good fit for them because of their popularity in that age group and its a good tie in with the mandela foundation project.

With regards to MM, I don't think her content matters, as per Harry's rather blah UN speech. What is important is that they have enough star power between them to publicise worthwhile initiatives. When people look back, they'll never remember her words, they'll just remember, sadly, what she was wearing and that she was there. That's her value to these organisations.

I don’t believe so - it was a Keynote Speech

@LateAF @skullbabe Thank you for explaining, that makes sense when you listen to her statement within that context.

From the OYW website:

"The Duchess will be delivering a keynote address at our Opening Ceremony at the iconic Bridgewater Hall. The Duke and Duchess will also be meeting with a group of Summit delegates doing outstanding work on gender equality."

So I can now see that there has been some confusion, that makes more sense.

I just watched the first two or three minutes of MM speech, while she is very articulate and probably had prepared a good speech, but what was that ear to ear grin about? I couldn't watch anymore because her facial expression was so out of place.

I’ve listened to Meghan’s speech and I’m surprised by the narrative of her making everything about her. As someone who has given presentations and talks - it is encouraged especially in US circles to personalise your delivery. I heard Meghan’s speech as (and I’m paraphrasing)

Look at all of you here - isn’t it really exciting? I remember when I was first chosen to be an ambassador - I came here and I was amazed by all of the significantly more important people around and here I was - an actress from suits. I was overwhelmed and I doubted myself. But this organisation saw something in me and they see something in you - you deserve to be here. I see in you the things you are doing right now and I see how you will be in the future. I’ve been here a couple of times - each time a little different. (These anecdotes - the Eritrea one and the flight from Toronto are muddled and shouldn’t have been added). Things changed the last time I came and today I have brought my husband to see just how wonderful you all are and how the organisation works. I’ve had a child - this has really expanded my worldview in understanding how important the work of this org is.

I’m bored now - I don’t like Keynotes and such like so don’t feel like going through the rest.

I seriously feel like she is a funhouse mirror because I felt her personal touch was great for a speech and it’s so odd that people see other things in it that I don’t feel are there. It’s really strange.

Not really but each to their own

This organisation saw something in me and they see something in you - you deserve to be here.

The delegates pay to go. They're not hand picked by the organisation.
Is she actually saying they saw something special in her? 🙄
This is why I avoid their speeches.

@skullbabe - wondered what you think of Michele Obama’s take on the H&M situation?

The delegates pay to go. They're not hand picked by the organisation

There is a selection process and the young man who’s blog I linked above was picked and funded by his university.

Look, I’m not PR for this organisation but it wasn’t difficult for me to find out a bit of information. This dissemination of untruths just because it’s an organisation that Meghan is associated with does not reflect well on you.

@HeddaGarbled
This is from their website...

How to attend the Summit?
Attend with a partner organisation: We partner with many of the world’s leading businesses, universities and foundations that support One Young World by sending delegates to the Summit. If your organisation is interested in partnering with One Young World please contact us: [email protected].

Attend independently: You can nominate yourself to attend the Summit as an independent delegate. The fees to attend a One Young World Summit can be found on our Pricing page. You can pay this fee yourself or find an organisation or individual to sponsor you.

There's no mention of any sort of selection process. In fact this is the only way that they make their money, getting people to come to the summit.

What untruths am I disseminating? 🤔

Application process for delegates from Japan:

oywj.org/apply/

Next one down on the search page was the application process for the delegate from the University of Bath.

This took me a couple of seconds to google.

And just to add @HeddaGarbled, the guy from UCL in the blog you attached (I can't find it to give his name, sorry) said that he was selected to represent the UK. The implication being, one person from each country. In 2017, in conference fees alone, the organisation raised £4m. This year (2022) the average fee was probably less than £4,000 but let's stick with that figure and use it for 2017. So that's a minimum of 1,000 people. Which does not give one per country.
That young man in question sounded very motivated and impressive. The blog was clearly about publicising himself and his gofundme. Nothing wrong with that all, in fact this is something young people are encouraged to do and in my mind should be applauded for it.

looking at their own website. This is the pricing for anyone who wants to attend independently

www.oneyoungworld.com/fees

I note that you attend as a delegate - you leave as an ambassador. So you’re not picked to be an ambassador, you just need to pay and attend