'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 don't think Kate is the peace maker now at all.
She has a core of steel. Not once did she make eye contact with MM in the walk about or at the funeral ( caveat albeit on tv / press).
Kate was steely throughout and looked very determined to keep her gaze ahead or on her children.

I agree about KM’s face. I think one of the worst parts of the OW interview was the comments about Kate. Aside of bridesmaidgate, M was also asked about the joint trip to Wimbledon and she said ‘Nothing is what it seems’ implying Kate’s apparent warmth that day was fake. She was the only RF member to be directly discussed negatively in that interview.

Can anyone remember where MM said recently that they want to tell the story of their love story? Is this what the Netflix reality TV filming is likely to be? I am not sure where they will loved up footage of them both because all I ever see is PH looking rage-full, sullen and tormented.

I am fascinated by the point of view Valentine Low taking-look forward to reading and or listening to it.

I went to my local bookshop to try and buy Tom Bower's book-couldn't find it so asked member of staff-he said it keeps selling out and they keep ordering more but can't keep it in stock.
I live in Windsor and the book shop can be seen from the Castle. I am envisioning members of the Castle staff sneaking in to buy copies on their break...

They were invited when Archie was a few months but said he was too young to travel then disappeared to the South of France on a private jet !

@DFOD I think Meghan made those comments in The Cut article

A Telegraph article has just popped up saying they have been "demoted" on the Royal family website.

"Duke and Duchess of Sussex ‘demoted’ on Royal family website
Prince Harry and wife Meghan have been ranked lower than minor royals and join Prince Andrew at the bottom of the page"

I don't quite understand it as it says:

"When the webpage was updated to reflect the order of succession following Queen Elizabeth’s death, the Sussexes and Prince Andreww_ were repositioned at the bottom of the page."

And yet surely the order of succession is the order of succession and can't be changed on a whim even if there are players who would be unwelcome monarchs if all the preceding personages fell by the wayside.

Anyway, here's the link. Telegraph don't do share tokens I'm afraid but it's a short article so I'll add some screenshots. Unfortunate photo there of the two black sheep looking...unhappy.

www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2022/09/27/duke-duchess-sussex-demoted-royal-family-website/

I think disgust radiated from her .
I didn’t get the impression she has any time for Harry now either. I’m sure she has seen William very upset and angry about the things that have happened, Charles and the Queen too. She really seems to be done with it all.

My thoughts too.

Remaining screenshots

Personality types like MM need target of blame to project on and I suspect that that unsuspecting Kate was her nemesis from the beginning.

MM would have been jealous of her history and emotional intimacy with PH as well as Kates reputation and superior royal status.

She would likely see her as competition and need to take her down to make herself feel secure.

Thank you so much, Goldie!
I really appreciate your Share tokens.
I just can't afford subscription to the Times at the moment~ so am used to seeing the tops of stories that grey out to nothing.
Maybe when things improve, I can subscribe.

The Grauniad, bless them, is free, but they tend not to do Royal gossip.

If the real Meghan is anything like the stories from Courtiers then I imagine she did not love having to walk a step behind PW and KM.

She was also apparently very angry that guidelines meant she couldn’t keep the freebies she was being sent all the time.

M did make a very pointed allegation against Kate, specifically. Within the power dynamic, M would waste more sleep on despising the goody-two shoes SIL than any other member of the family. It would be her natural rival in the absence of a MIL. Mind you, one of Diana's close friends is on record saying that she would have taken a dim view of M's antics and shenanigans. Diana was more about going the extra mile to change the monarchy rather than firing missiles from a faraway mansion paid for using inherited wealth.

I agree that Kate has a core of steel behind that pretty face and flowing hair. Whatever you think of her, she's played a brilliant long game. But she knows her limits. Same with Sophie. They showed her and Meghan in the car following the procession, and both were looking sternly out of opposite windows. I suspect few if any words were exchanged. I'd have done the same if I'd drawn the short straw like poor Sophie.

I don't think Kate is the peace maker now at all
She has a core of steel. Not once did she make eye contact with MM in the walk about or at the funeral ( caveat albeit on tv / press)

I was reminded of me and my ex husband at my daughter’s wedding. Hadn’t spoken for 5 years. There was no way I was going to cause tension for her so I just smiled at a point somewhere just behind him and never made eye contact.

Very interesting thread - thank you for insights and to goldierocks for tokens.
The RF side of things is much what I thought but admit I hadn't considered the US side. Hadn't noticed how much they're part of the celeb elite in the US. Did they interact with the Bidens at the funeral at all? M was a vocal supporter of his at election time and has indicated she wants to be politically involved, (and H's grandmother died) - so I wondered. Not a pitch obviously but a few words of condolence and some conversation.
The RF and M's own family had no choice but others may prefer to keep things a bit more private.

K&W vs. H&M is very much like Perfect Peter (and plus one) vs. Horrid Henry (and plus one) ... just in case we ever wondered what happened to the characters once they reached adulthood!

Yes I can't imagine there was any conversation at all.

A detail in the latest 'Courtiers' instalment was how a courtier texted 'hello mate' to Harry, then realised what he'd done, so wrote an apology saying sorry for calling you mate. Harry (sweetly - my word) texted back 'please don't worry'.

It must be so odd working closely with royals but there always being titles and an actual legal hierarchy to be mindful of.

I always imagine that Meghan would have disliked Kate from the early days, as Harry would have effused about his wonderful SIL who was pretty much perfect.

The other detail I wonder about is the supposed pressure put in Harry to announce their relationship which would tie in with complaints Meghan made about courtiers contacting her telling her not to wear the monogrammed jewellery that would have given the game away. It was part of her complaint about being stifled.

But now we see the other side that the palace and Harry were frantically trying to protect her from herself and prepare her for the tidal wave of press that was coming. Sort of a ‘be careful what you wish for’ situation.

Did they interact with the Bidens at the funeral at all? M was a vocal supporter of his at election time and has indicated she wants to be politically involved, (and H's grandmother died) - so I wondered. Not a pitch obviously but a few words of condolence and some conversation.

I don’t think that would have been possible - the Bidens and the Royal Family members had their designated arrival times at the Abbey for the funeral, and their paths didn’t cross. The Bidens were seated by the time the procession came in with the coffin. And the reverse happened on the way out - the Royals left first behind the coffin then followed it in cars to Waterloo Arch and then onto Windsor. The Bidens didn’t attend the Committal service at Windsor.

The only real opportunity would have been at the Sunday reception at Buckingham Palace, but obviously the Sussexes didn’t attend that.

Agree, I thought that Kate could handle anything with a smile but actually after that walkabout, I see she's human and there is a boundary she just cannot ignore. Being trashed on tv is not something that she can set aside with a smile.
She's not just faking getting on with people. 99 times out of a hundred she gets on with people. But when she doesn't, she does have a boundary that she won't ignore. We've seen that steely side to her now.

Personally I'll hold her coat and fix her a keto snack. I think she was pushed so far.

Yes, me too, I admire her for it.