'Courtiers' by Valentine Low

[RandomPenguinHouse]

Extracts of this were being discussed on a previous thread ('The Times) which just finished.

I'm interested in buying this book, despite never having ever bought any other book about the Royal Family and never having watched The Crown.

I'm interested however in the archaic rituals of the Royal Court and how it works as an employer, and also how the courtiers advise.

Yes the excerpts were focused on Harry and Meghan but presumably that's just for clicks given the relevant timing, and that the book goes well beyond that.

Poignant that in the synopsis for it on The Foyles website it says:

The Queen, after a remarkable 70 years of service, is entering the final seasons of her reign without her husband Philip to guide her. Meanwhile, Charles seeks to define what his future as King will be, with his court wielding ever greater influence as he plans for his imminent accession.

www.foyles.co.uk/witem/biography/courtiers,valentine-low-9781472290908

Anyone else thinking of buying this?

Everything about her is just so contrived.

Meghan is an actress, she has to study her face, her reactions, how she emotes, she has a gorgeous face, her side profile isn’t as strong so she seeks out the camera often so she’s looking towards it , again it’s professional training.
The downside to me is that her facial expressions look more contrived, but that’s just my opinion

Surely the fact that her facial expressions look so contrived proves that her acting skills are not as great as she would like us to think. Which is why she has never been a Hollywood star, despite the references to her being such.

I could never take her seriously after watching the engagement interview, which was a total cringefest.

I could never take her seriously after watching the engagement interview, which was a total cringefest.

Same. I couldn't watch it all. Utter cringe. I was quite excited and into the whole thing until that point.

I saw that that today and thought I'd pop it on here this evening, you have beaten me to it MrsFinkelstein

I feel it is possible that she doesn’t actually know who she is. She’s built up a persona. She has things she keeps referring to which point the listener in the direction she wants them to go. Feminist, egalitarian, dog lover, mixed race, etc etc. It’s like she’s built this person and is inhabiting her, but the real person doesn’t exist. It’s not uncommon with actors. A friend of mine was an actor. He had a nervous breakdown and cut off all his friends from the past, moved to a remote area and gave up acting. I think he reached a point where the calculated persona he had cultivated just didn’t work anymore and he had to go back to who he really was. That person was the complete opposite of the personality he had been projecting. He was an introvert who wanted to live in a remote rural area, connected to the land. I met him years later and he was like a completely different person. Just not ‘acting the part’ anymore. I feel M started cultivating her public persona in childhood. Who she really is is possibly quite different.

I have just laughed out loud at this. I’ve never seen it before. Glorious stuff!

I think that picture of Meghan looking adoringly at Harry is sweet and genuine.

Sophie catching her out looking at herself the other year though - cringe.

Does anyone look like that at anyone in real life especially knowing the world is looking at you?

Interesting - I think it's called external locus of control, and it is quite common in actors (not that acting causes it, but that people with it may be drawn to performace)

Oh yes my DH and DC look like that at me in public ALL THE TIME. Don’t yours?

I genuinely do think that particular shot looks genuine.

You're a much more believing person than I am then Random, to me it seems that she's continually acting.

Yes, I have also wondered about this as well. I remember the video of her as a teenager driving around LA and I think that the authentic M was already lost among the nonsense buzzwords, faker mannerisms. I also feel that the tweaks to her appearance also reflect this. There is a uniform look for wealthy, pretty girls - their choice of dental work, their facial expressions, hairstyle - it is hard to explain but along the lines of Kate and Pippa. It seems consciously put on in her case to appeal to a wealthy British guy (which she stated was one of her intentions). Her look was very different back in LA.

The constantly holding hands I do find odd, but only in the sense that it’s not behaviour my husband I I often engage in (some of which is for practical reasons - our height differential inevitably means someone has to adopt an unnatural posture if we want to walk anywhere holding hands😄). But their relationship, their choices, mostly.

I do find it more unusual when they are appearing somewhere in their professional capacity. But them I find their insistence that they conduct the majority of their professional engagements as a couple, even when they are not invited as a couple, also kind of odd. So Harry was invited to speak at the UN, along with other dignitaries, on Mandela Day. Meghan attended to watch - not an issue. But why on earth was she included in the photo of the speakers?

Ditto the recent One Young World event in Manchester. Meghan has been involved with this for a while, and has appeared at their events before, by herself. This time when she was announced as a keynote speaker she and Harry walked onto the stage together, were both greeted by the organiser, and then Meghan gave her speech. No one else attending either event was there with their partners.

That conspicuous branding - that they always do everything together - does perplex me. The Queen and Prince Phillip used to do that, perhaps?

Good point @Serenster about conspicuous branding.

@Serenster

Or appearing with her husbands polo team with the cup at a polo match.
The only wife to do so, and it was filmed before the the final actually happened.

@Serenster

That is odd. I haft really thought about it before but you are right. How many appearances have they done separately since they left the family? I can only think of Harry’s James Corden interview, the mental health podcast and Meghan’s podcast (even then Harry pops up from time to time).

How many other celebrity couples do all of their appearances together?

THIS. 100%.
Surely if this a pack of lies they would have be shrieking about suing?
Instead there’s nothing. I thought it dd that their return to California went pretty much unmentioned anywhere. Was it because this book was imminent?

Now this, the co-appearances, Harry popping up during her podcast etc, I absolutely believe is deliberate and planned.

Their brand is very much the two of them together against the world.

Which is partly why I don't believe rumours or suggestions that MM is planning on divorcing Harry.

I’ve just gone back to watch the engagement interview because I haven’t seen it since it was first broadcast.

They were set up by a friend and she flew into London twice to see him before they started seeing each other exclusively. But she claims not to know anything about him or the royal family because she’s American.

That doesn’t ring true. Who flies across the world to meet a man they know nothing about based on a blind date scenario if they know nothing about that person?

I would say that the fact that he was a well connected prince and high up in the British Royal family was all that she wanted to know. The less that she knew about the rest the better! She saw the financial potential and moved in for the kill. Annoying family or flag waving proles were irrelevant to the blueprint.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=AYyEx20DiKU

Have a look at The Behaviour Panel as they analyse the OW interview - here again she says she never googled him - and they just talk you through all the body language to show she is lying.

It starts off with the accusations that Kate made her cry …. they are clear about deception.

The things is that I grew up in the states and because of Diana’s death and the world wide attention that created William and Harry were very well known.

There was a period when every modern day Prince or reference to any eligible bachelor in Hollywood films used them as a reference.

So I absolutely call bullshit that a valley girl from Cali didn’t know much about him. He and William were pin ups for girls all over the western world.

Was there not a picture released of her teenage bedroom - covered in William and Harry pictures?
Along with a photo of her outside Buckingham Palace?

The lie about not knowing anything about him and his family was silly (to put it mildly).

I used to look at The Tig from time to time. She was really into Europe, would visit the continent a lot. She came to the Uk several times. She was worldly, and I just can't see how she can't know. As well as the photo of her as a teenager outside Buckingham palace.