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!

mathanxiety

I don't care that M&H are 'celebrities' but they should either embrace being royals or step away from it completely and stop living off the infamy of the RF.

The RF is completely driven by the culture of celebrity. H&M have just hopped aboard another brand

Indeed. However, we get a bit of work out of the royals that benefits us. We get nothing out of H & M.

She has done something very unusual - joined the RF and then left it suddenly - so the surprise would be if she were not discussed. Unusual or unique events are always far more interesting to discuss than routine or mundane ones.

Just on that note, it’s more than 85 years since Edward VII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, and doing an Amazon search on that topic came up with 20 pages of results…

Like what???

Please don't mention tourist revenue, I can discount that.

What do they do that benefits me or a struggling family or an OAP worried about her heating bills. Maybe the feelgood factor can keep her warm 😲

I think she is a strong independent woman, she has a lot of courage.

I'm really struggling to find anything positive about Harry tbh. I blame him for this whole mess tbh.

I cannot blame either of them for wanting to leave the RF, there's no way on earth I would sign up for that level of public scrutiny. I think though that you have to understand that the RF are well compensated for the inconvenience of public life. You can't quit your job and still get paid. To me the "fame" would be unbearable and there's no financial compensation that would make that worthwhile, but I wouldn't expect to have my cake and eat it, I'm happy being poor and anonymous.

@FishBowlSwimmer
A very measured post, I agree

I think Harry was desperate to get out and Meghan was the vehicle to do so

All of this!!

Thanks Roussette, I am severely editing my thoughts on them though in order to comply with the OPs request to not "bash" them.

You don't want to get me started on how they behaved when Prince Phillip was dying.

Who are you decide what they should / shouldn't embrace. You are free to live your life how you want so should they.

Who are you decide what they should / shouldn't embrace

Probably a taxpayer, who paid for their goodies. They owe us.

I've said it before but I've nothing against any royal clown shooting themselves in the foot.

Anything highlighting the nonsensical nature of the entire circus is good with me and H&M go above and beyond.

I am new around MN, but I want to say thank you for your attempts with this thread. I would love to have an actual conversation regarding this couple, but any type of discussion always seems to be quashed by negative views. I have yet to find any balance.

I think she has looked amazing this week. She should always wear brightly colored jewel tones. I did think when she first married Harry and wore black/navy all the time that it seemed like she was trying to recede and not stand out. Once they made the decision to stand down and she returned to the bright colors (the red dress and that emerald green outfit!!!) it was like she was allowing her personality to shine.

She was involved in One Young World Summit clear back to 2014, before she met Harry. Harry created the Invictus Games. This is no "royal like tour". These are organizations they have both been working with for a long time.

I also enjoy her podcast. Well the first 2 episodes I have listened to. I am looking forward to listening to this weeks episode with Mindy Kaling.

They owe us

They do indeed.

Starting with repaying the cost of the ghastly wedding they subsequently insisted was all for the slack-jawed peasants.

Harry created the Invictus Games

He nicked the idea on a visit to the US Warrior Games and he'd have had an army of talented advisors he didn't pay for to shape it.

Do you really think a rather dim spare dreamt it up and made it happen all on his own?!

I never said he did it on his own. But because he, with his team of people, worked it through it exists and is popular among the people it was created for. He did something good for people that are important to him.

They can do what they like, but when they do it in public, I am free to call them out on their hypocrisy.

They can promote themselves as being strong righteous people that are supporting the poor and down trodden, but don't do it whilst selling others to those same wolves that they were berating for ruining their lives and using the titles that they so dislike.

Exactly they are. Their are minuses and pluses and he shouldn’t have thought he could keep the good bits and do away it’s the nad. If we could all do that.

He did best thing he will probably ever do. It’s a very worthy and amazing event. Again though the speeches he, and particularly Harry made at the opening last time just made it about them. He did it for other people.

I think she has looked amazing this week. She should always wear brightly colored jewel tones. I did think when she first married Harry and wore black/navy all the time that it seemed like she was trying to recede and not stand out. Once they made the decision to stand down and she returned to the bright colors (the red dress and that emerald green outfit!!!) it was like she was allowing her personality to shine.

I agree that Meghan looks terrific in jewel tones and that she should wear them more. Though I think she genuinely likes black and navy as she's chosen to wear them often, and after leaving royal life too, like on their visit to New York. I
don't think her post royal style is all that different.

I agree auroracake. Very few events like this are created out of thin air. Someone gets an idea from attending other similar events and move forward with their own vision. Lending your high profile name to a charity is never a bad things and it happens all over the world. It is not a Royal Family trademark.

I am sorry I am confused. Did you mean the speeches that she and Harry made at the opening of the last Invictus Games?

I wonder, if Meghan and Harry paid back every cent and dropped their titles, would news articles and threads against them cease to exist? Or would continue with bad opinions and bad press?

I haven't read the whole thread but @MaulPerton you are not on form tonight at all

Getting 'work' out of the royals ! Come on !

Anyway , the vitriol re Meghan ( and is it Meghan , Harry is barely mentioned ) is so weird .

I'm a republican, Make Elizabeth the last etc , so I can see that royalists must be fuming at someone walking away - it really destroys the fairy tale . It also looks modern and original and leaves W and K looking even more dull and stuck in the mud .

And I can understand republicans being critical to some extent - by lumping them in with royals - and I appreciate the rigor of the criticism in that sense.

H and M do have charisma . Both of them .
And I hope they are really going to throw some 'truth bombs' sooner rather than later .

@onevision maybe. Since I do not know her I shouldn't assume. Maybe I projected what I would wear if I felt uncomfortable being in the spotlight?

Do you really think a rather dim spare dreamt it up and made it happen all on his own?!

Nice
I hate anyone calling anyone 'dim'.

Well... he can't be that bad, because he's made it his own, hasn't he?

Starting with repaying the cost of the ghastly wedding they subsequently insisted was all for the slack-jawed peasants

Maybe the divorced members of the family (Charles, Andrew, Anne etc) should be paying back the cost of their ghastly weddings too? They got divorced after all. This couple are still together.

Oh and I know others have pointed this out but it really merits repeating :

The energy the Meghan haters put in to tearing her apart when there is Andrew ( no one mentions the 'poor queen ' re that !)
Charles and the money
Duchies and their ' particular 'tax arrangements
Williams recent treatment of journalists
Etc etc
None of it is ever mentioned .

Yes I meant that. Awful you can’t edit these posts.

nonof course it wouldn’t stop. They antagonised the media good and proper. They haven’t stopped and the media is a best. But then a lot of these journalists are going to take it as a personal assault too. I mean saying one of them called Archie an n word and saying they would bombard him at school. They are going to take it badly. 6 of one. Half a dozen of another.