A positive and non-bashing thread about Meghan and Harry

[MrsMaxDeWinter]

I have rejoined Mumsnet after leaving a few times. The first time I left was because I was concerned about the coverage and uncomfortable undertone of the commentary on Meghan Markle after the engagement was announced, before she had said a word, and before she had married into the Royal Family.

I came back around the time she and Harry left the UK, to be stunned by the pages and pages upon pages of virulent threads. At that time Mumsnet actually banned all threads about Meghan, it had become so toxic.

They have now made their lives in Montecito, but still the virulence continues. Yes, she speaks in a mix of therapy plus corporate gobbledegook, yes, she is occasionally vapid and irritating.

But who is she actually harming that she deserves all this virulence?

Yesterday, when the new UK Prime Minister was elected, the coverage in the Super Tory Daily Mail was all about a seven minute speech to a bunch of young people. Article after article after article. Body language experts. Counting the number of times she said "I" in a speech in which she sought to inspire young people by attempting to relate to them. Before that, 18 articles were devoted to the first podcast by the Daily Mail alone. 18!

Same with her podcasts. The series is about HER and HER take on labels, and she discusses HER take with HER guests.

It's all very anodyne, even vanilla. It does not deserve any of the vitriol sent her way.

SO:

As the next twelve weeks are going to be wall to wall Meghan, and the Meghan haters and detractors have several threads here that fill up rapidly with bile, scorn and mockery, I have started this thread, reminiscent of previous " positive" threads, to talk about what some of us like, enjoy, find amusing and even (gasp) admire, in the next few Meghan rich weeks.

If you don't have anything positive to say, that's okay, you can keep to the existing threads.

Looking forward to a bile-free discussion of everything Meghan!

So the OP, @MrsMaxDeWinter wrote this....
"Why do you want to censor them? They are as free to talk as you are to ignore them."

Pot and kettle 😂😂.

Starts a "Positive and Non Bashing Thread about Meghan/Harry..."

Maybe OP needs to realise that she shouldn't try to censor a discussion forum either!

I was a Meghan fan until she told lies, acted the victim and as for the Oprah interview - laughable, so one sided.

Not interested in being censored by @MrsMaxDeWinter , fact is, my impression of meghan is now negative since hearing the OW interview so sorry for not joining in with your collective "positive" adoration.

Are we allowed to cut and paste from other threads?

There have been some perceptive , intelligent posts in the last 10 mins on this thread :

Aibu - queen passing but I'm not feeling it

This thread has been hijacked. It was so reasonable to start with but the detractors can't BEAR to have a thing positive or nice or pleasant about them anywhere on MN.
And even less than 24 hours of the Queen dying they have to spread their vitriol

I feel sorry for @MrsMaxDeWinter . She tried.
I can't be arsed with it. Get on with your hate and nastiness. I'll check back from time to time, but hold little hope

Just remember Harry's grieving too.

@Roussette
If it's any consolation the posters you refer to actually damage their cause .

so true. its awful that people can't leave one thread for more positive things.
also weird as on the other threads people are told to stick to the subject.

Too right. Insulting M&H transcends a 70 year reign of a Monarch dying quite obviously

The victim mentality is unreal.

The Queen has died. Her death has elicited many complex emotions in people like myself who are pretty much anti royal and feel the the Queen represented some truly terrible things. Many of us are grieving regardless (I for one was hoping against hope that she would be alright even though my grown up mind told me that she wasn’t). I’m struggling to understand in this period of grief why many of you who claim to be Royalists are not focussing on the Queen but sniping at H&M? Why is that? Why does someone’s wrinkled suit or outsourcing motherhood even come into this discussion?

Someone mentioned Facebook earlier. Social media like FB, Instagram and TikTok show you content that is generated by you - your likes, how long you spent on an article, what adverts you read, what videos you want h, what you tend to comment on, what you buy. If you find that your feeds have a lot of certain content it is because of what have been looking at. A suggestion to help with this is to click on the not interested buttons on some adverts, not clicking through to articles and not watching videos related to the unwanted content. This will reset your social media feed in time.

Given some of the comments on this thread - here’s two examples:

I dont know one person who doesn't hate [the Royals]

[The Queen’s] death has elicited many complex emotions in people like myself who are pretty much anti royal and feel the the Queen represented some truly terrible things.

Posters attempting to seize the moral high ground on deploring criticism of the Sussexes is somewhat head-scratching.

Given your stated sentiments, I can only therefore assume you like the Sussexes because they walked away from the Royal family,. If they had stayed within it, I am therefore taking it that you’d still be as scathing of them as the rest of the family?

If you like someone because you appreciate the fact that they have put the boot into the institution and people you dislike, (or, if you’d rather phrase it differently, destroyed the fairytale that you assume the monarchy trades on), then why not own it?

Outrage at people expressing their dislike of the very behaviour that is the only reason you like this particular couple seems manufactured for effect, to me. If you only like them because they damaged the royal family, you must surely accept that other people will dislike them for that same damage?

@Serenster
That's me you are quoting in the first I think - taken very out of context - and referring to how most people I know view royalty in general

If you look at my posts I'm opposed to the whole corrupt 'royal' machine .
I see H and M as lifting the lid on that .
I'm waiting and giving them the benefit of the doubt .

Viewing them as individuals, they do seem very likeable - esp H. Much more so than the rest of the waxworks .

And you’ve neatly illustrated my very point there, Novella. You’re giving M&H the “benefit of the doubt” because they “lifted the lid of the corrupt royal machine”, and accordingly are outraged at people who don’t like their behaviour towards the family very much.

As for the rest of the family though, they are literally dehaumanised as the “waxworks” and anything you like can be said about them.

I guess if M&H take one step back to working with the family, they’ll no longer be so likeable (or at least, it won’t matter, as back in the dehumanised pile they’ll go…)

No Serenester ,
Ironically it's you the royalist who isn't seeing the situation clearly .
It isn't about 'Liking' and 'disliking ' individuals as such - though I do find W very unlikeable but that's just me- it about challenging an institution that is out for itself and should be done away with

Harry and Meghan are about change which is always interesting .

Oh and I believe her 100% that she experienced racism

Again, you are clearly saying you like Meghan and Harry because they are challenging the institution.

You can’t challenge an institution without ruffling feathers/causing conflict/causing harm to it. And in this case, the Sussexes certainly have done all of that. To those people who support the institution (and going by current events, that is the majority right now) they are likely to look at the challenge as unwelcome, and be unhappy with the challengers.

(I’m deliberately using moderate language there, but equally others might cast that “challenge” as Meghan and Harry deliberately attacking the institution and targeting individual family members and causing a great deal of stress and hurt to people along the way, and therefore have more sympathy with them than the attackers)

Last thing, because the H and M bashing really does get dull , there are far more important issues re the monarchy being raised in other threads .

If you want to defend royalty you'd do better there . All this Harry can't be Prince because blah blah letters of patent ...blah blah . It's distracting minutiae and irrelevant as hell.

Look up from this incessant bunfigjt and see what people think of the royals as a good whole .

I can’t see how you can be pro M&H and a Republican because M&H are Royalists - both as individuals and as their choices of being active cogs greasing the wheels of that exploitative, parasitic institution.

She actively chose to marry into that institutional system wholeheartedly.

On the OW interview she said that she wrote letters to members of his family saying she was dedicated to the firm, she was their servant etc.

It was never their plan to leave the institution. They wanted a half in half out - so that they could be super rich by monetising their titles, ditch the “dull duties” and have more personal freedom.

They continue to use their titles.

Their only value is their association with the institution.

They are Royalists.

You’ve clearly decided that H&M are your role models that they wanted to ‘lift the lid’

Their actions show they didn’t want to do anything of the sort, they just wanted to make money on the back of the monarchy. forget service, just follow the money, tinkly navel gazing podcasts and tantrums at interviews

Kardasians with titles - how noble.

Anyone who supports H&M is de facto a royalist.

Hate the concept of royalty and the family but have always cared about the Queen. I’m not a fan of Meghan and certainly not Harry since his racist days but what really makes me realise how unreasonable the Meghan hatred is when people yesterday were making digs about Meghan and Harry but seemed to overlook the presence of the one that’s been accused of sexual assault. Says a lot about these royalists really.

I agree. They are are pair of spoilt brats who like the sound of their own voices and continue to moan about anything and everything I wish they would just go away

Meghan, Harry and HMQ herself have turned a blind eye and enabled Andrew for years and years.

HMQ paid £13m in hush money.

Well yes read my first sentence. I’m talking about the hatred Meghan gets from the public.

Maybe people dislike her hypocrisy as she tub thumps for women’s rights - but tolerates / includes / is silent on sexual assault and trafficking by a member of her family?

I truly don’t understand the hate she gets, even before they were married the UK press decided she want not good enough and went on a witch hunt. I’m not surprised they left.

@DFOD
Maybe you are right

I am keeping an open mind