Omid Scobie Endgame PART 3

[Mymilkshakebringsallthepapstotheyard]

La Pom Pom Girl is doing the Double Dutch. But who is turning the skipping ropes? Part three/trois/drie of the continuing discussion of Endgame by Omid Scobie. Previous thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_royal_family/4951834-omid-scobies-new-book-part-2

Presumably this was the plan before the fall out and the separation of the two households. It would make complete sense for the Sussexes to have had a base in London. Windsor castle, not so
much

Windsor makes perfect sense to me. It's the home of the royal family and within easy reach of London. If the Prince and Princess of Wales can be based there, I don't see why the Sussexes couldn't. Only the most senior royals have a permanent London base.

I want an apartment with 20 rooms.

I think they were absolutely meant to get the big KP apartment - and it would have mirrored what happened with W&K fairly closely:
-live in Nottingham Cottage as engaged/newlyweds

• get given a country place (Anmer/Frogmore)
• live between the two while KP apartment renovated
• then end up with big KP apartment and country home

Except from everything we are hearing the wheels were coming off the wagons pretty quickly so it never actually happened. And M in particular seems to have viewed NottCott as a tiny shit hole and been quite angry about living there. I think part of the problem is they expected to immediately have what W&K had - which was a double issue as a) hierarchy and b) w&k had been together and building everything up for years. Even the royals can reno 20 rooms overnight

Windsor yes. Windsor Castle no. Presumably because the Queen herself was based there and it would have been strange for them to have a base there and not the then Prince of Wales and the Cambridges. It’s possible that they wanted to be based there because a) it’s an actual castle and b) it would have given them closer access to the late Queen. But KP would absolutely have made sense as a London base. Haven’t the York sisters lived there at various times? They are not seniors 🤷‍♀️

An actual castle for the princess fantasy.

Agree that Windsor Castle would have been ridiculous.

I could also see them having a base in Kensington Palace but probably after all that went on it was thought best to keep them apart from William and Kate. I imagine that had they stayed on however, a grander home in either London or the countryside would have been offered to them once Charles became King. But they left.

An actual castle for the princess fantasy.

Exactly.

How much living space is there at Windsor Castle, anyway? When you take out the Queen and Prince Philip's personal space, office space, staff accommodation, guest accommodation for official visits, how much is left?

I read that H&M were offered a rural estate in Herefordshire - but turned it down.

I have always thought that Meghan thought she was being offered Frogmore House and didn't understand that Frogmore Cottage was a different, smaller property.

The newly married royals don't tend to live in enormous properties as newlyweds. William and Kate lived in Nottingham Cottage at KP, much derided by H&M as the tiny frat house, even when they had Prince George.

Meghan must have known the difference between Frogmore House and Cottage- they had their evening reception at Frogmore House.

The original plan was for them to live in Kensington Palace ( former Gloucester pad I think) but they turned it down as it was smaller than C and W’s one . They wanted an apartment in Windsor Castle but HM said no . I read ( can’t remember where) that when they were offered Frogmore they thought it was Frogmore House .

There is some because , although it’s not widely known, Edward and Sophie lived together there in an apartment before they were married . The York girls shared a four bed apartment at St James’ palace before Eugenie and Jack moved to Nott Cott, they seem quite happy with it , on the latest Table Manners podcast she describes driving down to the gatehouse in her pyjamas to collect their Indian takeaway ! I think Beatrice still uses the St James apartment as a London base.

Xpost with @Lunde . Slow typist !

The ego has landed.

The Duke of Sussex has argued that he had been treated “less favourably” than others when he was denied the right to automatic police protection in the UK.

The Duke on Tuesday said the Home Office committee that made the decision after he announced that he was stepping back from his role as a working royal, had “failed to treat (him) as it treated others”.

Shaheed Fatima KC, the Duke’s lawyer, also told the High Court that the committee had failed to consider the potential “impact on the UK’s reputation” that a successful attack on the Duke might have, “bearing in mind his status, background and profile within the Royal family”.

From today's Telegraph ^^

Drop the URL of this into archive.ph to read in full (or try flight mode).

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/12/05/prince-harry-high-court-case-police-protection-duke-sussex/

He really is a spoiled brat.

Behind closed doors because he want his privacy, it’s just a joke. It’s so obvious that if he can win that he needs security in the UK, the next step is he needs it abroad as the risks are the same or worse paid for by anyone else but him.

Just FYI the hearing will be private because of the discussions around how security needs are assessed and prioritised, not because Harry doesn’t want publicity (the court generally operates on the basis that hearings are public, and don’t hold closed hearings without good reason)

To be fair, I think it’s behind close doors because it is touching on matters
of security ( the judge said something along those lines). Harry isn’t here this time. But I agree he seems to think everything is all about him

Shaheed Fatima KC, the Duke’s lawyer, also told the High Court that the committee had failed to consider the potential “impact on the UK’s reputation” that a successful attack on the Duke might have, “bearing in mind his status, background and profile within the Royal family”.

Impact on the UK's reputation? Is she saying that the country's reputation would suffer if it were seen as not having protected Harry from an attack on him? When Mountbatten was assassinated at the end of the 70s, that reflected upon the IRA (well or badly depends on your viewpoint). In nobody's eyes did it reflect on the UK and its ability to protect a key colonial figure.

I would like to think that there are written criteria (although ultimately someone will have to apply some discretion) which have to be applied in order for taxpayer funds to be allocated. Harry's status and profile within the Royal Family, a son of the King who has chosen to marry a foreigner, leave the UK, raise his children abroad and have as his sole residence another country, doesn't have much of a status or profile within the Royal Family! his background - a once-working member of the RF - is irrelevant. He had security then, he's not earning it now.

He has an equal profile to his brother in the private family-of-3 that is Charles + William + Harry, but that's it. If he wants to see them, Charles has told him he and his children will always be protected on royal grounds. What else is he looking for? He doesn't work for the RF, he doesn't do anything for the UK - if he didn't insist on bringing such attention to himself with the likes of Oprah and Netflix and Spare, he would be an entirely private citizen.

This is nothing more than DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?

What security arrangements do Charles' siblings have?

I have read it in the past but forgotten

they have security while on official engagements. Not 24/7

I can imagine if you're used to zipping around London with a police escort and outriders to clear your way then being a pleb and having to pay for normal security isn't fun.

I would say its also massively expensive and you'd have to contract people locally so would have to plan everything ahead of time, you couldn't just fly over at a moments notice because your mate is having a party or something.

If I was in that much danger in a country that I wasn't living in, I'd stay away

It is probably true he needlessly raised his threat level after his comments in spare
An intelligent person would have dialled back on his involvement for the safety of his family but not Mr Ego

He undoubtedly does need security and the solution is to stay with the king in a secure royal residence

No need for any big fuss
If he comes back to live here in the future it can be reassessed

In the meantime just as a heads up to Mr Stupid - how about keeping a low profile about your war exploits 👍

They have security while on official engagements. Not 24/7

That hasn’t changed recently either - i.e. they have the same security now that they are siblings of the monarch as they did when they were children of the monarch and siblings to the Prince of Wales. So Harry is not in a special category all by himself, he’s in the same category as his aunts and uncles were when QEII was alive.