'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?

I’d also point out that both Diana’s funeral and William’s wedding were huge news stories in the US and featured a lot of magazine coverage.

She thinks we’re stupid Brits who have no idea what happens outside this island. My nieces in America watched William’s wedding.

All you have to do is Google the number of US weekly covers featuring Wills or Harry. There are loads.

I might believe this if she was from back woods Virginia but she is from California and part of the media industry, had visited Britain and apparently had a Diana obsession.

Was there not a picture released of her teenage bedroom - covered in William and Harry pictures?

That was a faked photo, I think.

Her comments in the engagement interview are certainly inconsistent with other accounts, though. Her former friend and talent manager Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne is quoted as saying that the duchess "googled Harry" and had "gone deeply into his life." And then Valentine Low reports a courtier who said Meghan told Harry’s staff: 'I know how the palace works. I know how this is going to play out. You don’t care about the girlfriend.'"

I think they may have refused because they were invited to 'family' events, with all the family there, apparently grandkids and great grandkids, it wasn't just an invite to join the Queen alone.

That sounds really lovely.
Charles seems a humane man.
Only seen him once, but he used to occasionally ride past my friend’s cottage on his horse.
No one paid him any attention, just let him be.
I’d love a tour of his house and garden- It looks beautiful .

I think H&M wanted to push the safety narrative, that it wasn’t safe for them to visit without dedicated police protection per their ongoing court case.
They didn’t want to weaken their case by visiting family. They thought they’d have time beyond the court case.

The garden is so beautiful but it has very limited opening and you have to apply and be security vetted. It’s not like rocking up to Hidcote or somewhere.

Where did the Sophie thing happen? I haven't seen that

That’s bloody 😆 funny!
Like a fawning puppydog, looking at it’s owner who is holding a treat.

Suppose her narrative is correct and she didn't really know who he was (I've never believed that but gave her a pass because it didn't seem important then) The thing is, you have a date with a Prince, the actual Queen's grandson, no one would blame her for spending entire days on Google looking him up (Hell, I'd have been Photoshopping the tiaras on to my picture the way people do hairstyles) It would have come across as more authentic to say that of course she knew who he was and was a bit nervous about the whole thing, because who wouldn't be?

However, I believe she has said, on more than one occasion, that she knew Eugenie socially before she started dating Harry. It is hard to believe that she didn't know anything about the RF, if she was in a social circle with Eugenie.

Agree that Meghan 's behaviour always looks contrived and I think that is what I respond to. Feel as if she is trying to elicit a specific response (they are so in love! She is so brave! etc) and it all seems a bit manipulative.

@themessygarden

Wasn’t it Eugene who set then up?

I know we shouldn’t compare but I’ve just been back to watch the Kate and Wills engagement interview. While they are a more reserved couple they are more honest about the challenges and look more at each other as and before they speak in agreement- the conclusion could be that they know and understand each other more and are more aware of what they are getting into.

I did also notice that Meghan was already making a big deal of ‘I wasn’t prepared for what happened’ despite having six months of Buckingham Palace smoothing the way for her.

I can’t help but contrast how Kate lived through that time she was on a break with William and was hounded all around London with no security detail or any protection.

It was something that was mentioned on a previous page.
It was Commonwealth Day 2020, the last royal engagement of H&M I think.
They were in a cathedral or Westminster Abbey, and Meghan was smiling up at a live screen that was showing her, because the cameras were on her.
Sophie turned and stared at Meghan and Meghan more or less instantly stopped smiling and looked down.

If you google it I'm sure you'll find it!

The "I never googled him" claim just seems to pointless.
No one would have cared less if she had said she had - because its what we'd all do. If you're set up on a blind date you'd check out what you could find on SM about the person.
It seems such an irrelevant thing to lie about because admitting she did just makes her more relatable.
Saying she didn't just seems a bit weird, because everyone else would do it!

To be fair it might have been a cultural misunderstanding - she might have thought she was on the Kiss Cam at an L.A. Dodgers game ….

Thanks for doing that @goldierocks.

interesting thread

Now, now

Kiss Cam.. 😂

@Puzzledandpissedoff

I hope you’re OK in Florida!

Thinking about you puzzled & hope all well with you.

To be fair to Meghan I’d have googled everything I could about Harry but would have been too embarrassed to admit it.

Thank you for the share tokens.

To be fair it might have been a cultural misunderstanding - she might have thought she was on the Kiss Cam at an L.A. Dodgers game ….
^
🤣

I rewatched the Queen at 90 on iPlayer last night . The one with lots of clips of private film with people like Sarah Chatto. It was very poignant seeing the Queen with the family and footage of her fathers funeral. But the most poignant was seeing W&H together watching old films it is hard to believe that they hated each other, you do see it differently than 6 years ago , Also it was interesting seeing the Queens extended family and one of her cousins I think made the point that she had really very few people who she could really let her guard down with including her sister and close cousins .

One point to note is the joint statement released by one of the staff and the royals upon her exit. (Apologies, it is in one of the links kindly provided but my internet is playing up)

That’s fairly typical in a settlement agreement, when someone is leaving in bad circumstances. Often used if someone has grounds for a claim against the employer and everyone would rather keep it confidential. The document contains an NDA, the employee may get a pay-out of some sort or extended paid leave, and everyone’s happy. Very often they agree a joint story on the reasons for exit (usually brief).

If one wasn’t used, interesting that they anyway went to the trouble of agreeing a statement. (Just the time it takes to agree one usually)

The bullying claims have a lot of detail and I didn’t realise how many staff they got through. (Not a royalist really!)

Given their previous actions, H&M would almost certainly claim against the publishers and the author for this book if the contents were untrue. It really is the most obvious test of whether something is true or not. If true, typically that party would release a non-committal but strong-sounding PR piece instead, regarding eg not responding to such disgusting claims (without saying the claims are untrue). Employment law isn’t my specialism but we come across it on a weekly basis,

Nb if there are any employment agreements, settlement agreements etc these would be between the household and the employee. The household could choose to waive some of the confidentiality provisions if the employees wanted to speak. Equally, Meghan sounds very keen to speak and maybe has had a bad experience too - Charles’ courtiers sound bizarre and that environment pretty awful.

One point of public interest, surely, and the ONE point I wish they would address is who made a comment about their child’s skin colour. That is a genuine ground for complaint - perhaps said curiously but perhaps revealing strong prejudices. As public staff I want to know who that was. Why H&M teased it in an interview and then refused to say… That was frustrating!!