Harry but not Meghan

[lipstickwoman]

No surprise he's coming on his own to the coronation.

No I don’t think it is! I think both slivers of truth and twisted lies get leaked. Even official statements can be bullshit. The one supposedly from both Harry & William saying wills wasn’t a bully, Harry knew nothing about it.

It would have been more effective if H&M, or M, had come out early on with a firm rejection of the invite, but now that it's transparent the delay was because of emails shooting back and forth on all the details about seating plans (presumably also other aspects, like the balcony - who really gives a fuck) then I do feel it diminishes their credibility as it turns out the rejection is not one of firm principle, but more of a lack of being able to have stage management.

You have zero clue and of it is true. Same thing happened at the queens funeral over what Harry would wear, he made a short statement about it because it was relentless.

Why would it not be true? Why else was there such a delay and it is now being reported that the delay was because they couldn't agree on details like seats? It makes absolute sense.

Have you read the book? Because it really really wasn't 400 pages of initimate details

So it's OK for the Palace to leak private details like this? Is that what you're saying?
If it's true of course.

It makes absolute sense to a DM reader who laps up stuff like this, yes. That I will agree with.
Others have a more balanced view.

I think it's an attempt to smear Harry - whether it's a palace leak or a made up Daily Mail story.

Yes, I know Harry said that. Which made me wonder where the story that William was a bully had come from.

Was it being reported in the papers? I don’t remember seeing anything about that. I have read things about Camilla being shocked at his anger. Anger issue stories seem to have followed William since he was young. Convenient way to deflect from other issues possibly? Or possibly true

It makes sense and is the best option. She looked uncomfortable at the funeral (which isn't surprising) so why would she put herself through that again. Maybe now that they've had their 'say', they really will stay quiet and move on with their lives. I feel sorry for them in some ways, but also think they're dicks, overall though it's just sad for the whole family as is in any family when there is a rift.

Yes, but short statements were also made about Meghan travelling up to Balmoral with Harry when QEII died, and Harry then himself told us he’d been arguing with his father over the phone about it.

There are also other signs that things have been going on behind the scenes that are consistent with later reports that there were arguments behind the scenes. Like William inexplicably not wearing his Aide de Camp gold braid at the grandchildren’s vigil when it was later reported that Harry had been angry that the uniform he had to wear no longer had that detail. And Kate and William not walking in the procession at the 2020 Commonwealth Day service when they printed programme showed that had been the intention - again, said to be because the Sussexes were unhappy behind the scenes.

From my perspective, there are plenty of past instances we can look at that support the speculation that demands were being made behind the scenes. That doesn’t make the speculation true of course. But it does make it more likely to be true than not.

I read the DM online. I also read the Guardian, which is perhaps as opposite as it gets, and have various other subscriptions to national and local news since I don't trust any single newspaper to give me a comprehensive take on anything and you can clearly see their different agendas in reporting.

You have received this as a leak from the palace. You haven't said what you actually think about Meghan not coming and delaying the answer all this time because of a seating chart - not so much about principle. Let's add the caveat 'if' it is true - what's your response?

Law of averages?

I just think the Palace have a real big problem if they are leaking this sort of stuff.

@Nono22972 some great examples there yes, the overwhelming thing though is how terribly sad this situation is for any family. To think this is their trusted method is pretty awful.

My response is... is this true? Was it a leak? I would like to know that. As I said more than once, it could be a totally made up DM story, they have done that incessantly. I have not received this as a leak from the Palace, as you will see from my posts on this.

Given the vile Press Meghan receives even when she is quiet and low key for months, I don't blame her for wanting to know where she would be sitting. The media cannot leave her alone.

Good on her for not coming. I'm sure the Palace will cope.

I really don’t get the angst about this. Who cares if they were discussing seating arrangements, it’s hardly a pearl clutching moment,

Yes, but short statements were also made about Meghan travelling up to Balmoral with Harry when QEII died, and Harry then himself told us he’d been arguing with his father over the phone about it.

I believe that statement simply said he was going alone, no explanation. The funeral clothes statement said that what he wore wasn’t important and the focus should be on the Queen.

Because it's the, 'Who's sitting in front of me? Who's sitting behind me? What's the subtext of where I rank in the hierarchy of seats? Are there going to be any more bloody candles?'

Then as they (seemingly more so Meghan) didn't get the information they wanted, or weren't pleased about the seating arrangements, that's why she didn't come.

There were exhaustive negotiations that were still going on after the RSVP was due.

It was not a cut and dry 'I'm not coming out of principle. I'm not coming because of all the things I say that this royal family have done to me and I don't want to be associated with it'. Purely because of dissatisfaction with a seating arrangement and presumably other details of the day.

That decision-making process looks petty, not principled as some commentators are making out. Principled would have been a straight up 'No' from before the RSVP date.

Yes Rousette. And it has been posted and discussed several times over the past few months in a couple of other threads.

But I'll link to a small selection.

I just think the Palace have a real big problem if they are leaking this sort of stuff

My personal experience in working with a large organisation which had a lot of private information find its way into the press via leaks, is that there is a vast difference between the press office itself giving a line to the media, and a disgruntled staff member (or maybe not even disgruntled! Just someone who likes having a gossip to a contact they have on WhatsApp and the feeling of importance they get from passing on some nugget - which in practice might even just be workplace gossip rather than fact).

It’s impossible to stop the latter, as you are entirely dependent on people’s loyalty to the organisation and their own sense of obligation to the clauses in their employment contract. Load as of people really don’t care about those things, I have discovered. I expect it’s true of the Palace too. And they are in a worse position, as there is clearly a big market for tidbits from the staff there. My own organisation was deeply unsexy, really. But the press still liked to write about our issues, and so we have a leaking problem.

(It’s also impossible to find out who’s doing it in a big organisation too. People who aren’t stupid enough to send emails from their work account, and who avoid leaking the truly big stuff where there is a list kept of who knows about it, are impossible to find out in these days of end to end encrypted messaging services…)

I think it's fairly likely (and not unreasonable) that the fine details of seating plans and suchlike would contribute to the decision-making Harry and Meghan were doing.
Don't have an issue with that, or who "leaked" it.
What one needs to do is to observe the slant that newspapers put on it (and either laugh at any blatant bias or ignore it)

Then as they (seemingly more so Meghan) didn't get the information they wanted, or weren't pleased about the seating arrangements, that's why she didn't come.

Seemingly more so? Where did you get that from? How would you know?

If there was a delay in RSVP, it could also have been solely about Harry and Meghan was never coming right? It could have been discussions on where he stayed and what security he got for all we know. It’s the fact people are so willing to believe stories based on how many reporters are repeating it. You can create a total lie and turn it into a truth as long as enough people believe it.

More so Meghan as she's not coming! Whereas Harry has accepted the seating and other arrangements - the same Harry that declared how many people he killed as to make himself a bigger security target.

Seemingly more so? Where did you get that from? How would you know?

Seemingly more on so Meghan’s part because she is the one who is not coming, while Harry is. It’s a reasonable deduction that whatever the arrangements for hi are, he’s okay with them.

If there was a delay in RSVP, it could also have been solely about Harry and Meghan was never coming right? It could have been discussions on where he stayed and what security he got for all we know.

Except we also know that Harry popped over here for a few days on his own for the preliminary issues hearing of his court case against ANL. I don’t think it’s reasonable to suggest that they could have been important factors in his decision making as he’d literally just demonstrated they are not a problem for him to sort out.