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Harry & Meghan savaged by South Park

692 replies

sydneysunset · 17/02/2023 10:30

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/south-park-mocks-meghan-and-harry-and-their-high-profile-pleas-for-privacy-btkq9g2mg

Their standing in the US is at an all-time low. US audiences seem to hold them in the same contempt as people in the UK

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BeatricePortinari · 19/02/2023 19:19

IcedPurple · 19/02/2023 19:04

That's kind of what I expected them to do after 'finding freedom'. I think the pandemic and not being allowed to use the 'Sussex Royal' brand put a spanner in the works, but I also think they thought they were a bit too good for that sort of thing too. They seemed to be trying to be 'American royals', which was never going to work.

I guess they, or at least she, could try to rebrand themselves as 'influencers' but as I said above, I think 3 years of portraying themselves as rather bitter and self absorbed may have ruined their chances. Plus, the whole 'influencer' thing is very competitive and increasingly dominated by much younger people. It's not as simple as getting an Instagram account and expecting the money to flow in.

Show quote history

I agree and I think things like this South Park episode make it increasingly unlikely they could create a positive brand, as the whole notion of them creating a brand has been lampooned so directly.

They should have gone to the USA worked on living well and projecting that, while continuing to be all friendly with the royals and popping back to Balmoral and Sandringham for Christmas etc.

Then they'd have been aspirational cool winners with direct royal links, then they'd have been in demand with Americans.

Instead they chose to leave the fort and then shoot their horse.

I think they thought they are much cleverer than they are. They thought they could set the agenda, control the narrative and beat the RF and the press. Very very naive.

IcedPurple · 19/02/2023 19:24

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 19:19

It's not as simple as getting an Instagram account and expecting the money to flow in.

That's been the problem throughout, hasn't it? How to fund the lifestyle they want/see themselves as entitled to.

If they didn't need to raise huge amounts of money presumably they could have gone down a different route, but they did need to, and didn't have much to sell except the RF connection. They didn't have years to build a brand when they wanted the however-many-bedrooms house in Montecito.

Of course, they could have chosen a less expensive lifestyle...

Yes, they had enough money to live very well by most people's standards without needing to earn serious money again. But they don't want to live by most people's standards. They bought a very expensive home in one of the most exclusive towns in California, where other residents have a net worth of hundreds of millions. Presumably that's the sort of wealth they aspire to, but it's very hard to see where it's going to come from.

BeatricePortinari · 19/02/2023 19:31

What kind of house in what kind of area would have been more realistic for them do you think?
(Asking genuinely as I ponder this...)

They'd need somewhere which could provide protection and privacy (as they like that so much 😁) so it would need land?

A nice 4 bed colonial style house in New England with a long driveway and gardens would have been nice/sufficient? $3/4 million? I love that style of house!
I don't know about house prices in the USA?

Is there a US equivalent of Right move? We could help!!

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 19:35

A quick Google suggests Realtor.com 😀

AliceOlive · 19/02/2023 19:36

Zillow.com.

Prices are all over the map really. Depends on the area.

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 19:40

I like the views of this one but am rather suspicious that none of the photos are of the house itself 😂

purpledalmation · 19/02/2023 19:44

Instead they chose to leave the fort and then shoot their horse

purpledalmation · 19/02/2023 19:44

I bloody love that. So much cleverer than burning bridges.

BeatricePortinari · 19/02/2023 19:45

Prices are much more reasonable than I expected!!

This one would surely suit them. ( I love it) and lots of mummies money left over for nice hols.

www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Connecticut/pg-2

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 19:47

It seems our links don't work!

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 19:47

Do a search on realtor.com for 3197 Benedict Canyon Dr

BeatricePortinari · 19/02/2023 19:54

Ah well.
Let's just conclude there are very lovely family homes available in the USA with land in nice areas for less than $1 million dollars.

(Otherwise I'll be down a property porn rabbit hole I don't have time for!!)

AliceOlive · 19/02/2023 19:56

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 19:47

Do a search on realtor.com for 3197 Benedict Canyon Dr

pretty sure that’s just a lot, not a house. If you read the description it mentions “develop”. There’s no way you can get a house in Beverly Hills for under 1.5M, I think?

MarshaMelrose · 19/02/2023 20:08

Somewhere like this so we get a rest over the winter months.

Harry & Meghan savaged by South Park
mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 20:13

@AliceOlive it says it has 4 bedrooms? But if it is just the land it would explain the lack of photos of the house - though one photo is of a terrace/veranda...

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 20:15

9622 Highland Gorge Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 is on for $1.5 million. Apparently there's an open house viewing today. Sadly I won't be able to make it 😂

AliceOlive · 19/02/2023 20:17

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 20:13

@AliceOlive it says it has 4 bedrooms? But if it is just the land it would explain the lack of photos of the house - though one photo is of a terrace/veranda...

I tried to look at the house on the street view and couldn’t figure out where it was

mixedrecycling · 19/02/2023 20:20

AliceOlive · 19/02/2023 20:17

I tried to look at the house on the street view and couldn’t figure out where it was

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It has a 'semi-private drive' apparently... perhaps Google maps couldn't go up there?

Anyway, yes, there would have been cheaper options in nice areas in the LA area.

Morestrangethings · 19/02/2023 23:49

AliceOlive · 19/02/2023 16:52

By the way, Cruise went nuts about that South Park episode and tried to get it pulled. He obviously didn’t think it was no big deal. Even with the power of the Scientology organization behind him he got nowhere.

I’m not a fan of Crise, although he has done some really good acting in Magnolia, Collateral and a couple of other things - he lost me with all the hyper masculine Top Gun and Mission Impossible, ‘save the world’ roles. It’s made him a very wealthy and powerful individual though. And the bits n pieces I’ve heard about Scientology are concerning. At the time I did think it was a pretty funny SP episode - ‘Tom, you can come out of the closet now.’ But now, having learned more about ‘outing’ I think it’s a pretty bad thing to do to anyone.

(Not sure who made the point about the William and Kate episode and the rumour - but I think it’s highly likely that the SP episode saw the start of the rumour, not the other way round).

I haven’t watched South Park for years - watched it regularly with my children when they were teenagers. But must admit all this talk about SP had resulted in me wanting to watch it again.

I highly doubt that Harry tried to stop the episode airing, given that South Park has had a go at Royal Family members before.

ThighMistress · 20/02/2023 08:50

They could have done CottageCore in Canada. Actually I think that Harry would have been ok with that, Meghan not so much.

Meghan’s clothes are lovely and she wears them well; and perhaps doing children’s outfits and lifestyle too could build a good Gwynneth-style business if the market isn’t too saturated.

I agree with a pp that their ambitions were too highfaluting. Didn’t they at one point position themselves as global covid ambassadors or some such? 🤭

ThighMistress · 20/02/2023 08:51

highfalutin don’t know where the g came from

jeffgoldblum · 20/02/2023 08:55

@ThighMistress 🤣, haven't seen highfalutin used for ages!
Love it !
I think they really wanted to be an alternative royal family, king and queen globally, unfortunately this was never going to happen!

MrsFinkelstein · 20/02/2023 10:55

(Not sure who made the point about the William and Kate episode and the rumour - but I think it’s highly likely that the SP episode saw the start of the rumour, not the other way round).
**
There was no rumour at that time. The 1st hint of a rumour was a Blind Gossip item dated circa 2018.

Have you seen that SP episode with W&Ks wedding? It's a take off about Royal/aristocratic traditions & ceremony/religion, its absolutely nothing about "sex".

Rainbunny · 20/02/2023 13:35

There's some new reporting (as always "sources" say...) that H&M are talking to lawyers to see if they can take any action about the SP episode. I honestly don't know if I believe that, they must know they have no chance whatsoever of a successful legal action here. No chance at all.

However, they do care very, very deeply about their image and they're known to scour the media for all coverage and mentions of themselves. I bet they wish they could sue!

SoTedious · 20/02/2023 13:54

Legal action would be very ill advised - ignoring or laughing along with it are much better ways of making it go away. By causing a fuss they would be encouraging more people to watch, encouraging SP to make another episode, showing that they have no sense of humour about themselves. Unfortunately there is no legal remedy they can pursue to stop people laughing at them. The only solution to that is not to be so ridiculous.