Harry and Megan dubbed "fucking grifters" by Spotify exec and podcaster

[Qbish]

No great surprise there... Would love to hear his story about Zooming Prince Harry, I can only imagine his frustration with the whining ninny!

Leading Spotify figure lashes out at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after end of podcast deal | The Independent

I feel it doesn’t deserve a reply but a truly polite person still sends one.

I think the staff reply is almost worst than none at all.

How did that thank you note get out, anyway?

How did that thank you note get out, anyway?

Indeed. I don’t agree with that either. (Or the delivery picture) A gift is a gift. Not anything to do with publicity.

Putting that up for all to see makes it appear to me that it was a gift with big stringy bows attached.

The bicycle shop bloke released it

I think it would be very hard to be happy, twisted in fact.

Given all the airing of their grievances for money, and the back lash from it, and the very bad publicity they are getting. Estranged from family, publicly derided, isolated from friends and most family, career criticism etc, im sure they have moments of happiness, I hope they do, but I think most folks would struggle to be happy in the life they’ve carved out for themselves right now. I do hope they can turn it round.

but you’re right, they could be loving it and perfectly happy with this shit storm.

Indeed, along with calling out the royal family for being racist, allowing this to be their narrative for years, taking an 'award' for this calling out, then denying that's what they said.... but then again what do we expect, lies, half truths as well as money and 'fame' gobbling

Just read an article where the wife said everyone in town “buys” their bikes there but no one sends a thank you note. 🤣

It does seem like an ok thing though. Store owner is British and it’s located in Montecito. He said he donates bikes to charity, too.

The Better up - Invictus tie in makes me personally uncomfortable.

The bicycle shop publicised the note of thank you from Meghan. Then went on to raise funds for poor children to receive bikes. A win win.

Meghan did have the side hustle of calligraphy, it must come naturally to her - some people just like that sort of thing, just as some still like hard books over Audiobooks. I imagine it come easily to her. Didn't she get a contract for some celebrity wedding invites or something.
She taught book binding and gift wrapping too.

So rather than manipulative, it just sounds like her way of doing things.

Then the win win might have been ever nicer with a note from Meghan and not the office?

And yes, I read that bit too Alice.
as I said on another thread, we should we all be dashing off notes thanking the supermarket we use for selling us a tin of beans and sliced loaf?

Perhaps a little less time writing notes and a bit more time recording podcasts and creating content would have been a better use of her time.

Extra ‘we’ in there - sorry - you get the drift though.

Yes, or Harry. He doesn’t seem that busy.

Apparently it’s extraordinary to get a note from a paid staff member of people to whom you send an expensive gift when these bloody customers who actually pay for their cycles can’t even be bothered. 🤣

Surely she didn’t mean it that way. But it did make me laugh.

I think Meghan made that mistake of confusing the attention/deference she got with the role of a working royal for attention for herself as a person. Must be easily done. When she guest edited Vogue, she was a working Royal - and so all these 'stars' quite happily jumped on board. For the association with Royalty not necessarily her. So when she wrote (or called or whatever) Michelle Obama for an interview - she got a prompt and personal reply. When she called all the stars to be on the front cover, they all jumped at the opportunity. It was a prestigious link to both real and fashion Royalty.

Now she is not a royal any longer - that star dust has gone. There is no real benefit to any association with her or Harry now. On the contrary, association could be damaging. Would be invited to guest edit Vogue now? Not a chance. Anna Wintour and Edward Enninful have had Royal honours bestowed (Anna another just recently).

They made the mistake of thinking the cache they had as the most glamorous of working royals (which they were at their height) would carry over to them as individuals separate from the Royal family. It hasn't. It must be a hard pill to swallow - especially for Harry who has known nothing else his entire life.

Sorry. Absolutely Harry could have scribbled a thank you note or signature too - it isn’t all on Meghan.

Aye. That comment made me chuckle too. I’m sure they didn’t mean it how it came out - it was all kinds of daft.

Wasn’t that another issue when they were working royals ? The royals, like most folks in the public eye, get lots of freebjes and usually decline anything of value amd a clear ploy to get the brand positioned. But Meghan and harry were keeping everything they got which caused issues.

I do think this is true I think Meghan made that mistake of confusing the attention/deference she got with the role of a working royal for attention for herself as a person.

Really hope they correct course now. Every time they get quiet I think “surely…”. But then something happens like that interview in The Cut and I realize, no, not yet.

I think that was the moment when you could tell M just didn’t “get” what being Royal meant. I can just about hear her arguing “Why not?”

And it’s where Sophie could have been so helpful if only the offer of assistance from the Queen wasn’t turned away.

I think we are coming to the end of this thread, unless there is to be a new one! I’m sure there’ll be something else in the news next week.

In addition to the freebies, they really only wanted to do quite glamorous duties - the Disney premier, Vogue edits, theatre trips etc.

I read that for the first official visit that the Queen did with Meghan alone, the Queen deliberately chose the opening of a bridge. Something very mundane. She was making it clear this is what Royal duty is. If the Boss travels and spends most of the day going to the opening of a bridge then you can too.

People tolerate the Royals because they do get involved in ordinary, community based projects that are not in the least glamorous.

JuvenileZebraShark

Aye.

It must be terribly hard going from that level of ‘pull’ to having to graft for it. For Harry too.

It could all have been so very different. As freeing as their truth must have felt for them at the time, I honestly don’t think it has done them any favours long term.

It is a shame. They could have had it all.

There is no denying some of the choices they have made has rubbed the shine right off and some actions rubbed away the shine more than others.

There will be the Emmy nominations and I’m sure Netflix are working hard to get H&M’s documentary nominated.

Invictus runs 9- 16 September and the Emmys are on 18 September

I think people would be cutting them a lot more slack over their lack of natural creative talent if they hadn’t made their ‘brand’ a spiteful, cruel, complaining moan fest, never mind how they treated the Queen and PP. We might have thought they were okay people just trying to navigate their way round a different kind of life from the RF. As people have found them more and more unlikeable they will use any stick to beat them to give them a taste of their own medicine. Don’t dish it if you can’t take it.

Agree, but Harry knew. You don’t monetise it, he was raised in that institution, he knew the golden rule, we all did, but they both kept everything they got anyway, even when told not to.

also I agree that Meghan confused the attention for herself v royal, but I think so did Harry. They were onboarding Oprah way before the wedding, working on trademarking etc, this was always their plan. Not fully out, they wanted that continued connection, attending key events, to support them make money and be A list, but the plan to monetise it was there from the get go, we even saw it in the wedding attendees. They didn’t even know many of them but invited as many a listers as they could.

I think it’s just very sad. They are totally out of their depth and clearly don’t take counsel. They had so much going for them at the start. So much. And it’s come to this sorry mess, which honestly gets worse every week and I strongly suspect it’s going to get worse still.

Quite Will

And that is the rub. The road they chose seemed to be for effect. For the drama. It didn’t seem to be for the good. It seemed spiteful. Even using the queen’s pet name seemed that way. It didn’t feel respectful or out of love. Just a bit of a poke. Respectful would have been Elizabeth.

They chose a road. And sometimes the road you choose is hard. And it is all your own making.