Omid Scobie Endgame PART 4

[Mymilkshakebringsallthepapstomycar]

Continuing an enjoyable and civilised discussion of Endgame, and all things relating to its contents.

Previous thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_royal_family/4954329-omid-scobie-endgame-part-3?page=1

Meghan simply couldn’t cope with being below Catherine in the pecking order . I am convinced that has a lot to do with the flouncing off .

Listening to his old interviews (and I know he was much younger) even then he really did seem to hanker for a life of anonymity, away from the media and able to get on with a normal, albeit fabulously wealthy, life.

Meghan absolutely shines when she is in the spotlight, you can see it recently on the red carpet at some event, that was where she was meant to be, she really was thriving. She is a confident speaker and appears really comfortable speaking to an audience, not an easy task for most people, even if her words don't often make much sense. Ironically, she can be really awkward when the spotlight is not on her.

And as for loving Africa, he’s not been back, and he used their tour to attack the press.

I suspect that Harry's love for Africa is the happy memories he has there - away from the press - just being able to be an ordinary bloke. That's what he liked about the army too - in the army he was Harry Wales and while he was always Prince Harry and everyone knew who he was, he was able to live as close to a normal life as possible.

I don't think his current life is even close to his dream - living in America? Selling his royal secrets to the highest bidder so he can pay to live in a faux Italianate mansion surrounded by celebrities? Before he met Meghan, I don't believe he'd have wanted or even considered such a life. Where they live now and the way they earn their living is her dream, not his.

I remember, on the day of their wedding, that M would never have to worry about money again. She really did throw away the chance of a lifetime.

Did Harry not say in an interview that it was his dream to live in Africa and his children to run around freely ?
It may have been his dream but I don’t think Meghan would consider that !

Let's face it, the average person faces a much greater threat to life every single day than Harry or his family do - through lack of access to health care, crime, poverty etc.

This is what gets me. The arrogance that we should feel sorry for him and then pay for his security, when families are struggling to pay for food.

Wealth insulates, yes losing a parent at a young age is the same shock for all regardless of income, wealth protects. My friend had to move when her husband died as she could no longer afford the area, removing the children from school and their support network.

In a time of stretched resources the quickest way to end up as a Republic is by being seen to be frivolous with tax payer money.

Regards Diana's inheritance, does anyone know the ballpark area?

I think a lot of his younger interviews were due to the fact he basically had to behave, drugs, drinking , he resented that if he did that stuff he was held to account, where as the people he did it with, didn’t. He also resented he just couldn’t do whatever he wished. The normal life stuff.

it was rumoured he couldn’t settle down as the women he dated didn’t wish royal life, I’m not quite sure that’s true, more likely he is incredibly difficult . He said Chelsey dumped him due to press intrusion, she says it was he joined the military and failed to stay in touch. He let the relationship drop and expected her to just hang around for years.

there is no doubt though that this desire to be a list, have celebs at his wedding, do Oprah, sign with Spotify and Netflix, trademark so they could flog stuff with their name on it, came from Megan,

I think the reason he bought into it was due to his jealousy of William. He saw an opportunity to be bigger than him, thought Megan was his golden ticket to that. She thought he was her golden ticket to it too.

I read somewhere that he was surprised she wasn’t used to the paps. He had thought she would be, so clearly thought she was a much bigger star and more famous than she was.

Suits was the only thing she did of note, and where as many folks would know her character name if they had watched it, they’d not have known her actual name. I certainly didn’t. I actually couldn’t name any of the actors in that program. Recognise them, yes, but that’s about it.

for anyone entering the royal family it must be strange to be provided a luxury lifestyle without the bank balance that matches. Diana got 17 million, which for most is a very good sum in her divorce from a prince with a portfolio that is now valued over a billion. Fergie, Meghans equivalent reported as 2 million. The wealth is protected and I can see why Harry and Meghan could see an opening that removes the obligations, stop Harry feeling trapped working for his father and could make them and their children substantially wealthy in their own right.

Regards Diana's inheritance, does anyone know the ballpark area?

it was 10 million, held in trust till 25, later delayed to the age of 30, but they got the interest.

Regards Diana's inheritance, does anyone know the ballpark area?

Diana's fortune at the time of her death was estimated at £13 million by the BBC. So Harry would've got £6.5 million. Not small change, by anyone's means, but if your security bill is £2 million a year ...

Is that it?

I mean beyond my wildest dreams, but then I'm not spending £5 million a year on security.

The £100 million with netflix was that all paid at once or dependent on content?

Yes sorry I was in usd.

he was rumoured to be worth 25 million dollars when he met Megan, I guess through investments of his capital fund, and other monies given, plus he didn’t have living expenses. Megan was rumoured to be worth 5 million dollars.

Dependent on content, so that was the total available if everything was produced, as it was just the docu thing, and putting their names to the other series, then it will be way less. I can’t recall but think about 20.

he made a shit ton from spare though.

he resented that if he did that stuff he was held to account, where as the people he did it with, didn’t. He also resented he just couldn’t do whatever he wished

I agree with this. I suspect his friendship group were wealthy & privileged but didn't have the press attention so could behave however they wanted. Had he not been a Prince he may have just ended up as a rich playboy type..doing nothing with his life, perhaps flitting between UK & USA. After 10years in the Army he didn't reach the rank above Captain, that's says something about him.

I think that there's a big discrepancy between what they can earn & the lifestyle that they want-even without the issue of security.

I can see that Meghan couldn't/wouldn't settle to it & Harry was also ok with getting (half) out.

The ridiculousness of stomping off when they couldn't have it their way though rather that trying to work something out.

And still his father supported them for a year wasn't it?

Possibly to the tune of more per month than many earn in a year!

And now all this nastiness to try to justify what they did?

he made a shit ton from spare though.

He received a $20 million advance for Spare and declared profits would be donated to charity (bet he's regretting that decision!).

I’ve been reading these threads with interest and this sums up my feelings too. For all the M&H supporters think that any criticism must come from a source of illogical ‘hate’ or racism or whatever, I’m just fascinated that two people with such a high standard of education, financial resources few of us can even dream of, access to the best advice (legal, PR, branding, styling, etc.) money can buy, and a good baseline of public opinion and they’ve still managed to fuck it up. Instead of this prompting any introspection, they seem to be continuing to blame other people, circumstances, pandemics, without apparently acknowledging that there is a common thread that runs through it all- them and their choices.

Five years ago they were arguably the most popular and glamorous members of the RF, now they’re putting out statements via sources like “actually, we did get invited to that wedding, we just chose not to go”, and staging pap walks.

I honesty do not see where they can go from here. Meghan’s been represented by possibly the best PR firm in the world for six months and what has it achieved exactly, apart from Dior basically saying “as if” in response to rumours of a deal and plenty of pap photos of her in various car parks. If she’d capitalised on their high profile back in 2020 and returned to acting that might have been a good income stream, but she didn’t and I don’t think people really associate her with that any more. The only marketable development that I think will bring in the big bucks they had imagined is a divorce and the inevitable tell-all book and interviews. I don’t wish that on them but I do think 2024 will be testing.

The thing is. I think the half in half out, doing all the celeb stuff and supplementing it with big royal events would have worked for them. The fact they lack skill would have been irrelevant, everyone would have bought the name and created the content for them. Paid a fortune for behind the scenes access to the royals.

the issue was the queen, rightly, said no, she wouldn’t permit them to monetise their titles. They either were in, and took the benefits of being royal, but did the work, or they were out. And lost the benefits.

they furiously chose out after much falling out. And have since found they simply are incapable of making it without royal backing. Hence I guess why they are trying to get back in and wanted Xmas at sandringham. Trying basically for half in half out again.

the queen made the right decision, royal is not to be monetised for celebrity. But that doesn’t change the fact, they would have been very successful if they had been allowed to sell it.

I think as well we need to remember when the royals discuss wanting a "normal life" they don't actually mean what the rest of us would understand as normal. They mean they want their friends lives who are massively wealthy and also don't have press interference and the public judging their work and spending.

When Harry said he wanted a normal life he meant a life like the Duke of Westminster not like John Smith who works in an accountancy practice and is worried about the bill for repairing his car.

I think part of the intrigue with royalty is scarcity so when William and Kate went to LA a few years ago for a BAFTA thing it was a big deal and you saw so many stars clambouring to meet them, now if they lived in Hollywood, I don't think people would be that pushed to go to an event they were at because they'd just catch them at the next one. Its why things like Royal premieres for films are rare, to keep them special. I think thats what Harry and Meghan are fighting too, they're seen now as just people in Hollywood and not special anymore

I think they could have had a good part of the 'half in, half out' if they had gone about it in the right way. Not issued demands and ultimatums (ultimata?!), but just said 'taking a step back, struggling with being working royals, want to focus on our family'. Then quietly worked out a deal.

Even if it meant e.g. not using HRH, how much would that matter in commercial terms? Everyone knows who Harry is related to. It might have made their brand even better, making them seem a bit edgy.

I think their pride got in the way, and they are paying for it.

Their income stream is going to be a continuing problem which will likely get worse with time as funds are depleted and new revenue sources needed.

The cost of their security and their lifestyle is a vast amount of money to constantly pay out year in year out. The type of money that A list celebrities are able to pay from back earnings of millions in the bank and lucrative current and future projects in the pipeline for those in the top echelon of raking in millions each year.

Harry then is aware of the revenue stream that is a constant for both his father and his brother, which basically is guaranteed for life for both of them, and must be eaten up with jealousy at his perceived unfairness of it all.

Their "brand" hasn't taken off as they no doubt anticipated and has now taken a nose dive. Whereas the A listers who can keep affording the security, private planes, vast mansions and vast lifestyles are still top brands generating their multi million income revenues.

With age and further distance from the royal family H&M's star status is just going to diminish which is going to prove difficult in feeding the beast of their mega status lifestyle/security etc. Sure they would be paid handsomely for tacky ad endorsements but with time that would just diminish their standing further as well.

Unless they pull some miracle rabbit out of a hat I'm not sure how sustainable this all is long term.

I honestly think its really just a case of 'marry in haste ,repent at leisure' . they are very different people. I suspect Harry has long wanted to step out of the limelight, although still keep the privileges of wealth and status, but its a case of the grass is always greener, he had no real idea of what life would be like outside his highly protected bubble, even in the army he still had privileges of of being PH. For MM stepping away meant taking back control of her own life, image and earning capacity, and who can blame her much of it must have seemed bizarre in the extreme. They are not the same at all.

William is on record as saying how much he loved Kate's family, the fact that it was a very normal home where they just treated him like any other young person visiting the house. Long breakfasts around the kitchen table, raiding the fridge at night, relaxed evenings watching cheesy films, a strong supportive unit where the parents were always available to back their children and utterly discreet and on their childrens' side. In marrying Kate he has managed to import much of that normality not just for his children but for himself too, it has grounded him, relaxed him and helped him to feel more comfortable in his own skin.

I suspect a lot of that was envied by Harry too , its just that he picked the wrong woman to provide that for him, and thats not her fault, I don't think she's a bad person but like Harry she had a very damaged childhood and in addition grew up in the plastic cut throat environment of LA. Catherine does not need the royal family to validate her or bolster her self esteem because her family does that (likewise Sophie) , she can be Williams rock. Poor MM needed Harry to validate her and provide her with security , but he needed her to do that for him, they are both quite vulnerable people.

I think this is a very good point - they don't want an ordinary life, they want the privileges without the disadvantages.

Harry will have been surrounded all his life by people with quite exceptional amounts of wealth - even the 'poor' boys at e.g. Eton would have come from families in the top % of wealth and income.

I have had contact with very wealthy people through my previous career in fundraising, and without exception they were all convinced they were badly off, because they always compared themselves to someone even wealthier. Even someone getting a £2 million bonus (a couple of decades ago) hummed and hawed about a £20,000 donation - 1% of his bonus!

But he had 2 or 3 children at top (i.e. most expensive) boarding schools, and big house in a 'good' part of London, a country cottage, a ski lodge... it all adds up, and it really is the minimum compared to X or Y who have a private island...

We need to remember harry was paid 5 million pounds a year as a working royal . He also had all living expenses paid, and they were given a renovated frogmore to live in. Harry was not in need of money, and he had the celebrity, he was actually a very popular royal.

and he was being allowed the freedom to do a lot of the things he wished, from Africa to invictus and other many military patronages. He wasn’t some poor deprived put upon soul. He was handsomely paid and had his pick of privileges, with full staff support, and a royal pr machine managing his image.

For MM stepping away meant taking back control of her own life, image and earning capacity, and who can blame her much of it must have seemed bizarre in the extreme. They are not the same at all.

Indeed, personally I couldn't put up with a tenth of the scrutiny or protocol that the royals are expected to adhere to.

In Spare Harry is outraged that it was suggested that Meghan stay acting rather than being a full time royal. I wonder with a sliding doors moment if that might have been the key to success instead, she wouldn't even have had to keep acting but just not being a full time royal would have given them the half in half out they wanted. I could see her being a successful producer that way, still having the mystique of the RF getting to attend State dinners etc and probably attracting a lot of investors to things like film and tv that she would produce