‘Courtiers’ 2

[RandomPenguinHouse]

The last thread filled up during a particularly chatty morning.

That’s still a vast amount of money - many many millions Charles gets to keep, without being screwed for 40 % tax.
Duchy of Lancaster made £22 millions last year alone.

They should pay like the rest of us.
No reason at all that Charles should be exempt whereas someone leaving a modest house to their children gets clobbered.

@Aspiringmatriarch

i wasn’t trying to be mean, Hollywood is bloody cut throat, Hollywood is chock a block of gorgeous women. She hadn’t made it in her mid thirties and apparently 40 is a cliff for women there

She had so many knock back but got back up again and kept trying to make it

She was in the UK to get some positive publicity to raise her profile to back to Hollywood and keep trying

she had the opportunity of a lifetime and grabbed it, but you think she was blasé about the whole thing 🤣

@oakleaffy

Dodgy saudi and Russian oil billionaires would be the only ones able to afford Windsor castle and Buckingham palace and all the jewels

Ok. I really doubt that Harry is that complicated tbh. She's a very beautiful and engaging woman, I don't think she needed a dossier to attract him.

I think Harry is a lot like his mother, unpredictable and paranoid. I think that would make him quite complex and awkward to deal with. Hence both his brother and girlfriend/wife telling him to get counselling. Having said that, she is beautiful and has a variety of interests so I'm sure engaging as well. He's handsome and from the RF. Why wouldn't they be attracted to each other?

But, surely, he would have tried to find put stuff about her? Read her blogs, watched her programme, looked up past relationships? We'd all do that, wouldn't we? I'd heard of R Kelly but l never knew anything about him until his court case came up. Apparently there'd been rumours for years but I'd never heard them. If I'd met him and was looking to go out with him, of course I'd look him up to see his attitude to women. It would be bonkers not to. So I'd expect them both to research each other. These are not kids who know no better. I wouldn't believe him if he'd said he hadn't so I wouldn't believe her either.

I don't think Ashley Cole is the best anyone can hope for tbh but if you think she was only interested in using a relationship to further her career then I guess maybe it made sense.

I don't think for a moment she wanted a "relationship" with AC. How could she? She never met him as far as is known. It was PR and probably the best Lizzie Cundy could offer up!

Meghan just wanted some ‘buzz’ around her name.

Agree on the “Ms MissMrs Mr” thing- and indeed Titles.
“Ms” implies divorced -

Titles clearly carry “ Status” which is why people are so keen on them.

Dad worked for a very nice client who was unassuming and modest- only when she paid him did he realise she was a Titled person, as it was on the cheque.

she had the opportunity of a lifetime and grabbed it, but you think she was blasé about the whole thing 🤣

I didn't say blasé. I just doubt she was as calculated as you make her out to be. Viewing someone as an opportunity or a role, researching them in order to manipulate them, wearing Princess Diana's perfume etc (as if that would be sexy anyway as opposed to a way to make someone feel really weird!) - there's just no evidence for these accusations.

I was making the point that all the RF do pay tax except that one person in one very particular circumstance. There are a few reasons why they don't but I doubt they'd persuade you so I won't bother listing them. 🙂

Does anyone know what was the issue with the UN Women in Fiji? Why would she have an issue with them being there? When she had to leave very quickly?

That doesn't make any sense to me.

@oakleaffy - Ms does not mean divorced! I've always been Ms, married or single because I do not wish to be titled according to my relationship to a man.

@Aspiringmatriarch

i never mentioned perfume ? I meant
she probably was going to say ‘she rode’ vaguely, talked about her charity work in Africa and avoided bringing her objections hunting 🤣

That’s still a vast amount of money - many many millions Charles gets to keep, without being screwed for 40 % tax.

It’s unworkable otherwise though, due the various things that the monarch holds for the state because of their position. Take the Crown Estate, for example. Worth more than £165 billion, it belongs to the reigning monarch '”in right of The Crown”, that is, it is owned by the monarch for the duration of their reign, by virtue of their accession to the throne. But it is not the private property of the monarch - it cannot be sold by the monarch, nor do revenues from it belong to the monarch. They go to the government.

Charging tax on that means the government would have to break up its investments to pay itself tax, which would diminish the value of the estate and achieve no actual purpose but waste money.

The same is true of the Royal jewels - most of those are also held in right of the Crown, and are not the monarch’s personal property.

@MalagaNights Apparently they didn’t make her a goodwill ambassador several years before, so the rumour is that she had the hump. However, that’s only speculation on the part of the press so far as I can see. It was very hot, humid and busy and she was pregnant, so it’s quite possible that she did genuinely start to feel unwell and need to leave.

£165 billion

Typo! £15.6 billion, that should read!

Ashley Cole was equally motivated by money and sponsorship deals (remember 'Cashley'. However, he was famous due to having some talent as a footballer. I don't think he would have enjoyed all the woo which H has lapped up enthusiastically. His partner is significantly younger than MM. He may not have been interested.

Wrt the MIC connection, she was briefly friends with Millie (I think they were photographed out cycling near Soho House) but ghosted her after she overtook her socially.

Ok, but the narrative is (and the one you're claiming) is that she meticulously researched him because this was her opportunity of a lifetime. I just don't think that's the case 🤷🏼‍♀️. I think you underestimate her 'Americanness'. And according to reports she made no secret of her feelings about blood sports etc. Almost like she was just being herself, really.

I agree @Maireas

And as of just recently I’m now choosing to go without any gendered title.

Meghan used to meet producers and casting agents, she was used to doing some research to make a good impression, I would have expected her to do the same here.

i never said she was rooting through his bins and watching with binoculars from a tree outside his house.

But the idea that she didn’t google him 🤷‍♀️

Good call. This really grinds my gears. Sorry to derail the thread, but I'm 62 and all my life I've been asked "is it Miss or Mrs?" Men are automatically Mr. - no matter what! I taught in a school where every man was Mr and every woman was Ms. I can't tell you how bloody refreshing that was. I'll calm down now!

Same age as you Maireas, and kept my maiden name on marriage. Whenever I'm asked Miss or Mrs I tend to say 'neither really, you choose'. Have been given some very odd looks over the years!

£16.5 Billion!
A mere bagatelle 🙂

Oh my goodness - it's always an issue! Men never get this. They sail through life as Mr, single, married, divorced, whatever.
Also - as if you'd want a special pronoun as a divorced woman! "Oh yes, please call me Ms because I want to let everyone know I'm divorced!"

I completely agree.
I was asked about Ms Miss or Mrs for pet insurance recently- Why the heck should it matter?
I did have a couple of men say “Ms means well men are divorced “ but these were the “Pale male and stale” types.
Ms should ideally be the only option.

£16.5 Billion!
A mere bagatelle 🙂

Well, it was agreed by George III that it would be managed for the benefit of the government, and all proceeds handed over to the Treasury, so it’s a shame it’s not the higher figure, really!