Page 3 | Heir and Spare

Nard75 · 2022-09-19T08:56:31+00:00

Looking to the future and all the problems that have happened with Harry being the spare and being treated differently to his older brother. How do you think William will handle this with his 2 children seeing as he has spare X2. I feel William has been unsympathetic towards the position that Harry has been in so how will he feel when it is his 2 children are going through the same thing that their Uncle did.

bloodyplanes · 19/09/2022 18:21

Cosycover · 19/09/2022 13:49

Harry was thrown to the wolves to cover up Williams affair.

He sat back and allowed that to happen.

I'm not surprised Harry wants nothing to do with him after that treatment.

Do you have iron clad proof of this ? No thought not! The trouble between W & H started with Meghan, who William saw straight through! Harry didn't want to hear it and its got progressively worse from there.

Cosycover · 19/09/2022 18:24

bloodyplanes · 19/09/2022 18:21

Do you have iron clad proof of this ? No thought not! The trouble between W & H started with Meghan, who William saw straight through! Harry didn't want to hear it and its got progressively worse from there.

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What did Meghan do?

TrashyPanda · 19/09/2022 18:26

ajandjjmum · 19/09/2022 18:10

I agree with you. Particularly as it is well known that Diana confided in William - probably more than she should have done. I wonder how much of this he shared with Harry as they grew older - and how much will appear in the memoir. I can understand William and Kate keeping their distance until it's published - and maybe beyond.

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oh yes, those awful tales of how poor little William would sit outside, while Diana howled inside, and he would push tissues under the door. William should never have been subjected to that. Must have been just awful for him.

im glad William has Kate and his cousins to confide in and gain support from.

DocD · 19/09/2022 18:26

@bloodyplanes pretty sure Meghan saw through some of the family pretty quickly.
First meal together - was she put next to Andrew the paedophile, Philip the racist or Charles whose life ambition was to be a tampon for his mistress.

PipinwasAuntieMabelsdog · 19/09/2022 18:27

@TrashyPanda Absolutely. However, the only person MN has sympathy for, is Harry for some reason.

RandomPenguinHouse · 19/09/2022 18:28

DocD · 19/09/2022 18:19

DP is a TV presenter. His employer (think one of big two stations today) sent an email out saying what bits of coverage can’t be used in repeats (Palace PR got this out before end of the service)
included were -
Wessexes using hanky
Zara being upset
Beatrice and Eugenie leaving early
AND
Prince George picking nose!!! So a very normal child then, but not allowed to be seen to be one

This is fascinating, thanks for sharing.

Was there much kerfuffle or loud nose blowing by the Wessexes with their hanky then?

Interesting about the York girls. Does anyone know why they left early? I’m guessing because of their babies?

PipinwasAuntieMabelsdog · 19/09/2022 18:28

@DocD I think you mean the family saw through MM pretty quickly....

TrashyPanda · 19/09/2022 18:29

DP is a TV presenter

can you ask him to tell the high heid yins to stop with those awful interviews with random members of the public? They add nothing to a broadcast and I don’t know anyone who thinks they add any value.

RandomPenguinHouse · 19/09/2022 18:30

Correcting myself: York sisters. Girls is infantilising.

Motnight · 19/09/2022 18:31

MaulPerton · 19/09/2022 15:14

There isn't a 'spare goes off the rails' obligation built into the monarchical system. I expect that Anne decided that she was better off in than out and acted accordingly.

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@MauMaulPerton my question was more about how Anne was treated, not how she behaved.

TrashyPanda · 19/09/2022 18:32

PipinwasAuntieMabelsdog · 19/09/2022 18:27

@TrashyPanda Absolutely. However, the only person MN has sympathy for, is Harry for some reason.

A squeaky wheel gets the grease

bloodyplanes · 19/09/2022 18:33

From the reading I've done ( reputable and non reputable sources) she refused to accept instruction on protocol yet later stated in the OW interview that she wasn't given any help. Was rude and demanding with staff, was over familiar with himself and his family when she first met them and he just didn't trust her. To be fair though obviously things went on that no one has leaked yet, probably on both sides. However I would like to think that William is a pretty shrewd judge of character having grown up in the position he is in, weeding out fake friends etc. There have been very few negative stories leaked about William so he is obviously good at judging who he lets into his inner circle.

ittakes2 · 19/09/2022 18:34

I think it’s very ironic you call Harry the spare and then mention he struggles with it. Stopping labelling him a spare might be a good step maybe?

bloodyplanes · 19/09/2022 18:36

My pp was an answer to @Cosycover

Floralei · 19/09/2022 18:41

Bloodyplanes - a good example of her not wanting to accept offered help was the walkabout in Windsor. She took the flowers from mourners, not realising it was impractical to lay them herself and when an aide stepped up to help her she didn’t give them to him and explained she was going to lay them herself.

Omid Scobie posted the footage of her declining the help on Twitter.

The aide was not trying to make her look silly. He was offering help because it is impractical to run backwards and forwards when you are there to talk to people. You’d have a great step count but either be buried under armfuls or flowers or going back and forth, meeting fewer people. Eventually Harry had to step in to explain to her that she should accept the help.

Theskyisfullofbirds · 19/09/2022 18:46

roses2 · 19/09/2022 11:49

I was thinking the same today when I saw the two kids at the funeral on tv. Charlotte is already treated as a spare, not going to all events etc. I wonder how they handle this to make sure she feels ok.

I thought this too, the cycle is already repeating itself.

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 19/09/2022 18:49

7amByTheSeaPlease · 19/09/2022 11:14

Not a fan of Harry but people calling him a spare is and has always been horrible. As if he doesn't count and isn't a person who is loved too.

This. ^

Theskyisfullofbirds · 19/09/2022 18:50

RandomPenguinHouse · 19/09/2022 18:28

This is fascinating, thanks for sharing.

Was there much kerfuffle or loud nose blowing by the Wessexes with their hanky then?

Interesting about the York girls. Does anyone know why they left early? I’m guessing because of their babies?

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I just knew all of these would be edited out when I watched! Just think, this coverage will be replayed over a period of many, many years, the last thing they'll want people being reminded of is George picking his nose! Even if it is the normal behaviour of a child. Or maybe because it is the normal behaviour of a child.

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 19/09/2022 18:53

roses2 · 19/09/2022 11:49

I was thinking the same today when I saw the two kids at the funeral on tv. Charlotte is already treated as a spare, not going to all events etc. I wonder how they handle this to make sure she feels ok.

I don't see this as an issue. People are just TRYING to create issues here.

Calling Charlotte a SPARE, how nasty.

Mamamia7962 · 19/09/2022 18:57

Fliralei - I think Meghan was just being kind to the people who gave her the flowers. She had said to them would you like me to place them by the gate, so when the aide offered to take them she said that she was going to take them to the gate herself. She did thank him and say it was thoughtful of him. I don't think she realised just how many bouquets she would be handed.

She seemed very nervous on the walkabout.

toomuchlaundry · 19/09/2022 18:58

If Charlotte is being treated as a spare why was she at the funeral today?

Lesserspotteddogfish · 19/09/2022 19:07

Having two spares will make it a much better set up. They won’t feel left out alone. They’re also being brought up by more stable parents and a set of non-royal grandparents which Harry lacked.

bloodyplanes · 19/09/2022 19:07

Mamamia7962 · 19/09/2022 18:57

Fliralei - I think Meghan was just being kind to the people who gave her the flowers. She had said to them would you like me to place them by the gate, so when the aide offered to take them she said that she was going to take them to the gate herself. She did thank him and say it was thoughtful of him. I don't think she realised just how many bouquets she would be handed.

She seemed very nervous on the walkabout.

Well i had a totally different perspective when i saw it. Her tone was quite sharp and dismissive then she saw the camera focused on her and that was when she back tracked and thanked him in a much nicer tone of voice. Its amazing how differently we all perceive things isnt it.

Lesserspotteddogfish · 19/09/2022 19:10

Floralei · 19/09/2022 18:41

Bloodyplanes - a good example of her not wanting to accept offered help was the walkabout in Windsor. She took the flowers from mourners, not realising it was impractical to lay them herself and when an aide stepped up to help her she didn’t give them to him and explained she was going to lay them herself.

Omid Scobie posted the footage of her declining the help on Twitter.

The aide was not trying to make her look silly. He was offering help because it is impractical to run backwards and forwards when you are there to talk to people. You’d have a great step count but either be buried under armfuls or flowers or going back and forth, meeting fewer people. Eventually Harry had to step in to explain to her that she should accept the help.

I thought the aide was taking them to hold for her, like they normally do when flowers are given to the royals, but they had been given to her to place with the pile for the queen, which was different. Kate also went over to lay flowers for people.

Loudhousefun · 19/09/2022 19:12

StolenWillowTree · 19/09/2022 11:24

The heir and spare cycle is really toxic and we've seen the same patterns play out over three generations now going into a fourth.

In every generation, the heir is the important one and the spare exists to protect the heir. In every generation the spare is given a negative or scandalous media persona so the heir can be portrayed as whiter than white (and every generation, the public genuinely believe these media personas are real and an accurate reflection of the real people!). In every generation the Palace allows or even encourages the press to print bad stories about the spare while trying to censor anything bad about the heir. In every generation the heir has a sacred purpose while the spare drifts purposelessly. In every generation there is discord between the heir and spare.

Princess Margaret had a wild child persona pushed on her by the press since she was young. She couldn't marry the man she loved, wound up going through a divorce, life beset with scandal, never really accomplished anything, and ended up an alcoholic and seemed bitter.

Andrew's life has been beset with scandal, money woes and failed business ventures, and now he's widely regarded as a rapist. Edward struggled and had scandals for years, failed military career, failed theatre career, failed TV career, filming William at university scandal, Sophie fake sheik scandal, personal life rumours before ultimately settling for a life of dutiful royal engagements that avoids scandal by being too dull for anyone to take interest. Anne's the only one who escaped the curse of the spare and the only one who actually accomplished something (her horse riding career) for herself.

Harry everyone knows about.

You can already see how it's beginning with a fourth generation. The Cambridges are still young children yet the media are already creating personas for them, and the family trot them out whenever they need a PR boost or are fighting some scandal. The tabloids always portray George as preternaturally mature, serious and well-behaved, while Charlotte and Louis are portrayed as the naughty ones (often with euphemisms like rambunctious, mischievous, energetic, over-tired, through earlier this year a tabloid literally printed ie made up a story with the headline "Charlotte is the naughtiest of all the Cambridge children"). Any time the younger two don't act like perfect robo-children the press jump on the chance to write lots of articles about how naughty they are, that doesn't happen with George. A reporter was even asked to delete footage and not report on George saying he wanted Djokovic to win. What will happen when Charlotte and Louis are teens and start dating and going out? When they have to start choosing their careers and life paths? When the Palace start leaking scandals about Charlotte to protect George? When Louis has to decide between supporting his brother or following whatever his career passion is?

They need to find a way to stop that and protect the spares and not have so much divide. Harry talked about needing to break the cycle and got mocked. In 20 years will Charlotte and Louis be working privately towards meaningful careers and lives, or will they be the new tabloid whipping boys?

This is so accurate. British press behaviour just doesn’t change