The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Invictus Games 2023

[MrsMaxDeWinter]

Most of the Invictus threads seem to be filling up, or focused on fairly parochial issues, so I thought, now that Meghan is in Dusseldorf, I would lead us off with a general new thread about Harry and Meghan at Invictus 2023.

Some initial thoughts from me.

The UK tabloid narrative about how much Harry and Meghan are loathed globally is blown apart by the warm and rousing welcome they both received, both separately and together. So the UK tabloids have to dig deep to write eye-rollingly silly stories about Harry being "humiliated" because he did not score a goal during a fun, light-hearted TV appearance to promote the Games.

Invictus clearly means everything to Harry, and it is lovely to see Meghan supporting him, and to remember that it was at Invictus in Toronto that they first went public. The event must have such lovely memories for them both.

Favourite picture: Meghan with Glory Essien, the Nigerian athlete.

The Nigerians have really lit up the tournament. A Kenyan senator who met Harry last week posted on X that she would work on Kenya to be the next African team.

After everything in the last year, it's so lovely to see that Invictus is getting bigger, that Harry is as committed as he has always been to the Games he started, and that Meghan is there to support the veterans, and her husband.

@StormzyinaTCup I don't recall the OP complaining Meghan, or Harry, were taking the attention from the vets, but please point it out if you can.

I would quite like to see the end of the constantly staged photos as well. If you are doing positive things in the world then you shouldn’t need the extra paid publicity.

Personally I think that about our RF also. Endless photo ops....a visit to a food bank has videographers, RRs and a bank of photographers
But I suppose they have to prove their worth don't they...

It makes a change for the tabloids here, not to be going for negative headlines on them. They have been printing lies, twisted truths, and rubbish about them for years.

Harry is suing the tabloid trash. They hate him for it. Murdoch and his ilk have tried to destroy H & M.

The RF have treated them appallingly. The media here are genuinely stunned that the whole world doesn't hate them, and their vengeance hasn't worked on everyone.

Piers Morgan, Dan Wooton, Angela Levin, Eamon Holmes, Jeremy Clarkson, Carol Malone, Lady C, Rachel Johnson, Richard Littlejohn, Richard Tice, Tom Bower, GBs news and their ilk, to name a few have spent the last 7 years trying to destroy them. It hasn't worked.

If you look at those names, you get a certain demographic of people who do this who are zenaphobic, mysogonists, racist etc. They have tried to destroy them with their lies and twisted truths. It hasn’t worked

The tabloid trash here is vile and in bed with the RF, who have their own agenda

I feel the same way about commenting. I'm glad H and M are apparently moving on with their lives. Spending time with veterans is far better for H's mental health than festering about things from the past.

making puff pieces about themselves.
I would quite like to see the end of the constantly staged photos as well. If you are doing positive things in the world then you shouldn’t need the extra paid publicity.

You’ve just described the Royal family 🤔

Absolutely. Meghan and Harry have done some incredibly stupid things, but it is no more than what other members of the RF have done in the past ( Charles said his childhood was unhappy and his mother was cold towards him, Diana said ALOT about them, Fergie pointed out their ways in much the same way as Meghan, and on Oprah) Yet the vitriol has been off the scale. The can't even go out without people screaming 'I THOUGHT THEY WANTED PRIVACY??' It's utter nonsense, and far morecdustained than the Kardashians get for example. The Tabloids only care about money, and they are getting it in spades from slagging off Harry and Meghan. Once they go away, they will start on someone else. They know this, and the Royals know this.

Well, Invictus 2023 has been another HUGE success, thanks to the entire team who make it happen and their sponsors, including Harry and Meghan, who this week have reminded people why so many around the world and not just at Invictus think they are FANTASTIC and love them to bits.

Yet on these boards, lots of the usual resentments, and even woeful insults, including "pair of faux marching, faux grinning wannabes", a sign of frustration at not being convincing, despite this particular poster making the same anti-H&M assertions as if they were the Gospel of Truth in 98 posts per day, every day for the past couple of months at least.

Some would have us believe that Harry and Meghan should be blasted into oblivion for everything they said or did before Invictus 2023, with the laser-sharp focus being on anything perceived as critical of the RF. The message is: "shut up, NEVER speak up about the way you have been treated by the RF, NEVER disagree with their collusion with the British tabloid/Murdoch media, NEVER have a set of perspectives of your own, put up with being called "gangsta" and "straight out of Compton" etc, OR ELSE we will shout you down wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you say. You stay in your lane, or else we will give you an electric shock, each time you pop your head above the parapet.

Well, despite 1000000s of posts asserting that Harry and Meghan are EVIL for what they did with their Netflix series "Harry and Meghan", in Harry's EXCELLENT autobiography Spare (if you haven't read it and are pontificating on these boards, you should), and in his TV interviews and testifying in court in the trials against the British media etc, there remain TONS of people all around the world, me included, who are simply not buying it, and NEVER will as we are capable of making up our own minds independently of British tabloid/Murdoch fodder.

Repeating endlessly on these boards that Harry and Meghan "sold out their family", "are whiners", "are liars", "are whingers", and attempting to portray what is nothing but OPINION as fact, is simply not convincing, and is convincing no-one. So, we get more and more of the same (whining?), and even insults, attempting to derail threads or have them removed.

At some point, such posts are best ignored?

They know this, and the Royals know this.

Yes yes yes to this. H&M unpleasant media takes the heat off them. Without it, there would be questioning of how much W&K do, how much money they all get, how hard they work, why hasn't Andrew moved out of the royal estate, and so on

This way.. the rubbish media can bang on about Meghan's expensive jewellery, marriage in trouble as no engagement ring on and the price of the shorts she had on

@TallerSally

You nailed it there. All of it, but especially your third paragraph

@TallerSally I have observed the same and share the same sentiments. I especially agree with the last paragraph.

OR ELSE we will shout you down wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you say. You stay in your lane, or else we will give you an electric shock, each time you pop your head above the parapet.

This. This is much the same thing Tyler Perry said, he recognised the patterns of an abuser and wanted to help them get out and stay out. I agree, there is an abusive and toxic relationship between the royal institution and the British media.

'in Harry's EXCELLENT autobiography Spare'

🤣

His Moanathon book you mean? Lovely! write a tell all Take A Bresk style book and break everyone else's privacy in the meantime.

In the next breath be a patron for an organisation that focuses on not festering in the past and oh yes complain about having your privacy broken by various folk. Got it. Three cheers for Harold.

@Roussette You have kind of proved my point there. All those photos are through the press photogs because they are public events, apart from the few official photos released as part of their official role as representatives of the U.K.

Those are to be expected when you have an official role. It’s their job.

But the ‘here’s me a a drive through’, ‘here’s me at a farmer’s market’ don’t seem to happen with U.K. royals.

Oh my bad, the OP found the other Invictus threads were 'filling up' and 'focussing on fairly parochial issues' so decided to start this one (fair enough). So a thread where the main focus is H&M. Gotcha👍

Anyway, I'm off now for a lovely lunch with a good friend.

Is that not just because (despite what H has said) the UK has more restrictions against paparazzi and the royals have an agreement with the UK media to respect their privacy if they give them access? I don’t think it’s planned, they’ve just moved to literally the worst place on earth if you want to avoid paps.

But the ‘here’s me a a drive through’, ‘here’s me at a farmer’s market’ don’t seem to happen with U.K. royals. Those photos are hilarious

'A toxic and abusive relationship' . You really do a disservice and insult to those in abusive relationships.

Like all celebs there will be an unwritten agreement, they get a bit of access ie kids pictures etc in return for not being chased down the street. I'd hardly call that toxic.

Also, can I just say the very offensive 'compton' comment bizarrely repeated by a pp came from an LA journo. So can we stop this 'British media' nonsense. It is global, they are all the same. Actually worse in other countries I don't think it was this country that released pics of Kate topless on holiday.

Why is going to a food bank a 'public event'? It was two in Windsor widely publicised visits I saw
Why doesn't one of them quietly go weekly and help out?

But the ‘here’s me a a drive through’, ‘here’s me at a farmer’s market’ don’t seem to happen with U.K. royals
No it doesn't happen, in return for selling their souls to the media with their 'symbiotic relationship' there's not many pap shots

Why doesn't one of them quietly go weekly and help out?

How do you know they don’t?

Your answer can only be because you assume they seek publicity for every good work they do. But that’s just an assumption - you don’t know t’s true.

Also, can I just say the very offensive 'compton' comment bizarrely repeated by a pp came from an LA journo

And jumped on and front page in the widely read by British people DM. UK edition and dot co dot UK online.
It's still there if you want to check
They didn't think twice did they?
Please don't try and excuse that disgusting article because someone from LA wrote it

I don't know they don't. Ditto H&M.
I just found the massive media circus for a food bank just up the road, twice, a bit much

But the ‘here’s me a a drive through’, ‘here’s me at a farmer’s market’ don’t seem to happen with U.K. royals No it doesn't happen, in return for selling their souls to the media with their 'symbiotic relationship' there's not many pap shots

😂Those pictures of Meghan aren't pap shots. They're carefully staged photo opportunities. Just like the annual holiday photos of George and Amal on Lake Como. Nothing wrong with them it's just the celebrity way of doing things.

@derxa Absolutely! I would have more respect for H&M if they would admit it!

That drive through photo is a prime example- professional photographers have said it was taken with an extremely expensive DSLr with a special lens. Very, very odd coincidence really 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes. They don't have those shots. They also have lots of other stuff either hidden or minimised by the British press, in return for leaks and access. Harry was naive in being resentful of the press for this. His own family are complicit. They are not trapped, unless it is a golden trap of their own making. As he has found out, anyone who tries to get out is shunned.

It does seem to be the same three or four overly invested posters.

Exactly, there is a very small handful of us who comment (argue🤔) regularly on the RF board. It is a drop in the ocean compared to the membership of Mumsnet. I think that is also reflective of the general public's interest or lack thereof, in the RF and the Sussexes.

Even on this forum I think there are less posters who support the Sussexes' than those who criticise them.

The reality of the general support and interest in the Invictus games is not at the level of some of the posters here, who have a very strong interest in the games, but in general audience terms that is not the case. I watched part of one of the games online, the stadium was practically empty, there was hardly anyone watching it online either. There are photos of other games with a practically empty stadium too.

I don't know how true this is, (a DM reader comment) but one of the games was interrupted to present Harry with that birthday cake and to sing happy birthday to him, and he left soon after and before the end of the game. If that is the case, you would have to ask are the games really being run very professionally. Meghan marching out with the vets is another moment that gives a really unprofessional vibe and even Harry looked out of place when he marched with them.

Yes, the veterans participating and their families seem to love Harry & Meghan, it would be a sad state of affairs if they didn't show him any level of support.