Endgame Part 7

[Mymilkshakebringsallthepapstomycar]

Continuing a civilised discussion, with a few laughs along the way, trying to stay within the topic, please. Thank you to all the lovely contributors who make this a pleasure and an education.

Previous thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_royal_family/4968930-endgame-part-6?page=39&reply=132539427

@Slumberlands sadly M & H didn’t take the time to think it through.

They had a plan which was go to the public major RF events e.g. trooping the colour, commonwealth service etc. but not do the boring bits. Plus launch Sussex Royal which was to raise £££ commercialising their royal titles.

The late Queen said no, rather than pause and work through a sustainable option they announced their decision to leave to try and force a solution. They ended up with no in depth plan on how to earn a living and sadly they are floundering how to position themselves.

I have always said there was a lack of understanding of the difference between celebrity & royalty. H & M appear to be trying to find a mid point between the two and I don’t think there is one.

Yes the plan was be a list in the USA, and hang out with other a listers, and be royal in the uk, attend all the major royal events. The best of both worlds, and also meeting both their needs, and likely making them bigger than the rest of the royals combined .

when the queen said no, instead of then taking time out, listening to experts, being guided and coming up with a plan, to give them a long term career and gravitas, they did Oprah, Netflix and spare. Basically they tried to exact their revenge and show the royals.

it has backfired spectacularly. And now they turn up at award ceremonies and are rent a guest. And certainly from their seating at the Marley movie, not treated with respect either, but absolutely as just guns for hire, there to do a job.

meet me at the lake, which they bought the films rights to, is being produced by Netflix. But the detail behind that, ie how much Harry and Megan are actively involved in reality, remains to be seen, I suspect very little, as Netflix sources had reported them as a nightmare to work with,plus they lack the skill set, but there will be money and they will get the faux credit/title of exec producers, just so they can have their name on it.

if they can stop all the pretend guest, award nonsense, and settle down , do some real charity work And do some actual work, they could eventually turn this round, but I think fundamentally their instincts are poor, and that makes it unlikely, they want the fame, and want the easy way of achieving it.

Exactly.

Can we pause to remember for a moment her that they do have PR advisors (who, based on what I pay for rather less lively projects) must run to tens of thousands of dollars a month. Like their even more expensive legal advisors, it seems they pay for a lot that they then elect to ignore.

Depends on what their PR is telling them, though. I don't envy anyone that job.

I think they really need Meet Me At The Lake to be a success, and this year - before the Netflix deal runs out.

They were unlucky with timings - covid arriving just as they were leaving UK, which meant that whatever their original thoughts on how they would arrive (and be greeted) in the US must have been scuppered. Plus writers' strike meant delay to MMATL, which means they don't have that much time left under the Netflix deal to prove their worth. But I've no idea how long it would take to make an adaptation such as that, and I hope there is still enough time

The announcement of H&M purchasing the rights to MMATL only came out in August. It's impossible that production is already underway because fictional film productions take absolutely ages. They need to write the script, send it out, cast every character and crew, arranging filming locations etc.

There was a very plausible theory that Netflix only gave H&M the deal because they wanted a royal version of the Kardashians. That type of reality TV content is much easier and much faster to create. They just send a camera crew after them and have a few people do post-production. That half in-half out deal was in hopes that Netflix could get exclusive insider footage of the Cambridge family plus behind the scenes stuff from big royal events.

Would even be willing to bet that a few savvy execs from Netflix knew the chances of the Queen passing within the next 5 years was reasonably high so they could get the scoop of the century with funeral and coronation footage. That is the only reason they gave Harry such a massive advance.

They didn't bank on H&M having a total falling out with the RF so they couldn't get nearly as much content as they wanted. They created that documentary with whatever they managed to shoot but it was definitely not what they had envisioned.

Nail in coffin is that H&M flew all the way to Jamaica to socialise with the head of Paramount Pictures (direct competitor). That's a clear sign if any that the Netflix deal is dead.

Feel sorry for them really. Grifters seems the most appropriate label for them. I mean they are totally unskilled for any of this. Even Fergie writes books. All 4 cousins, who are off working age, have careers.

It is just all really unsavoury.

No there isn’t. They really are prize chumps.

But I think Netflix is producing meet me at the lake, that’s what’s being reported widely, and I think it’s in pre production. Doesn’t mean the deal won’t end though, just simply they bought the rights to a book Netflix was keen to produce.

i agree it wasn’t a great sign they did the Marley film for paramount, what I find odd though is they were not treated well ,sitting in the cinema where they were, away from the other big names, in the midst of the general public.

paramount humiliated them by putting out the South Park episode, and I don’t think they showed much respect in Jamaica either. They clearly weren’t favoured guests or they’d have been sat someplace better, they were treated like there for a publicity job and the screening itself was irrelevant. It wasn’t really a positive for them.

Yup.

Paramount humiliated them by putting out the South Park episode, and I don’t think they showed much respect in Jamaica either. They clearly weren’t favoured guests or they’d have been sat someplace better, they were treated like there for a publicity job and the screening itself was irrelevant. It wasn’t really a positive for them.

Maybe that was part of the plan. They were effectively used as pawns in the battle between Paramount and Netflix. Can well imagine the CEO and execs coming up with a hilarious scenario where they fly Netflix's two "royal stars" to a Paramount event and essentially humiliate them there, but by then the photos will have spread worldwide and it's too late. They purposely gave them the impression that it was a VIP gala premiere, when they knew the real event and location was just cobbled together on a tiny budget.

Apparently Jeff Bezos had a birthday party in California with all the a-listers during the time they went to Jamaica. Meghan the narc would have been seething at not being invited (had they been, it would have been a much better networking opportunity than the film premiere). They were also shafted from the Golden Globes. Would be interesting to see if they're at the Oscars.

Possibly also some revenge for Harry and Megan maybe going with Netflix when they first left, I understand most of the big streamers were interested.

im not sure why they’d be at the Oscar’s though, they aren’t involved but then I guess lots of hangers on go,

I feel a bit sorry for them in part, they appear lost. They’ve made such a mess of things.

and I’ve no idea why they have their pa lady with them so visibly, no one else does that so visibly , it just makes them appear incapable of basic adulting and a bit needy. She’s now becoming as recognisable as they are. I wonder if it makes them feel more important.

Totally trivial aside to the current conversation, but did any of you watch Head Of The Class when you were kids (1980s US teen show)? It was one of our faves growing up. Brian Robbins, the Paramount boss, was a child star in it. He’s the lad in the white shirt at the back. Robin Givens is the beautiful young woman in the front, she went on to be Mike Tyson’s wife, poor thing. But good to see Brian didn’t sink into one of the unfortunate fates that tend to befall Hollywood child actors.

Very interesting!!! 👍

@Propertylover and Gardeningtime

I think you're right about the plan H & M had for themselves - their behaviour ha already given indications that they found most of the stuff the royals do boring, particularly when it was low-profile and involved showing an interest in ordinary people (who actually DO stuff as opposed to make speeches about it...). Look at the Garden Party where they bunked off early and the South African trip where Meghan definitely felt she was the one who needed attention and sympathy, not the women who'd suffered all kinds of horrors.

The more I think about it the more I realise what a wise old bird the Queen was! She was no intellectual but wow, she saw through people very quickly. She must have seen the relationship and marriage of H & M as a slow-motion disaster unfolding before her eyes.

Thank goodness she was tough and held on to clear boundaries. I'm sure that came as a suprise to spoiled Harry, who was convinced his granny would grant him any wish, and Meghan who must have felt certain that the RF would be absolutely bowled over by her glamour and couldn't manage without her.

I understand Amazon were already in talks with Harry to do the Invictus documentary as a charity fundraiser before Netflix came between them. Could be why Jeff B is proceeding with caution.

ive always thought all they had to do was turn up on a wet Tuesday in Wigan, smile, wear a hat, cut the ribbon. Just do the hard yards and everything would have worked itself out.
Instead they only wanted to do the glamour jobs when they couldn’t get they own way they buggered off.
The rf will keep going regardless.

He was given too much, too soon. I am sure the Palace wish they could re-run history. A small wedding, a minor title, an apartment near his cousins, no truck with "hitting the ground running". Managing his expectations in that way would have squashed down his ego.

Tlolljs · Today 11:01

ive always thought all they had to do was turn up on a wet Tuesday in Wigan, smile, wear a hat, cut the ribbon. Just do the hard yards and everything would have worked itself out.
Instead they only wanted to do the glamour jobs when they couldn’t get they own way they buggered off.
The rf will keep going regardless.

Sums it up!

Yes - oddly, royalty is about NOT having an ego - as with the Queen and PA and Charles, to some extent. It's not meant to be about you - it's about the ordinary (for want of a better word) folk who have done good things. As a royal you need to listen and let the light shine on them, not on you and your designer outfit or massive Hollywood smile.

He didn’t want a small wedding . He himself said he wanted Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s.
They wanted to live in Windsor castle . The Queen said no.

I can’t criticise their plan in terms of what they wished to achieve.

absolutely they could habe used their title and being senior royals for money and celebrity. Absolutely they could have been bigger than the a listers like clooney or Witherspoon. Absolutely they could have been bigger than William and Kate .

front up at all the major royal events, stand on the balcony, and do all the red carpet events, sell the Sussex royal brand in the USA, famous for being famous, doing interviews and hanging with the stars, putting their name to content, selling merchandise and making it a mini duchy of Cornwall.

but it was never ever going to happen. The queen would never ever have allowed it, even we the public knew that as soon as we saw the statement , and presenting her with a fait accompli was never going to change that. The role of the monarchy was way more important to her than Harry and Megan’s embarrassment or fame hungry ambitions.

Didn't Prince Philip used to say to newcomers to the family, something along the lines of 'never think that the crowds and adulation are for you - they're for your position'.

I don't think that Meghan would ever be able to get over returning all the freebies sent from designers for her use. And I can imagine her being surrounded by people telling her how this marriage would open doors to a very glamorous lifestyle, which she was daft enough to believe. Sad all round really.

I’m thinking the African Parks scandal will probably end any plans for the Harry/Netflix Africa documentary. I know he also has Sentebale, but the optics are not looking great for anything on a continent he’s barely set foot in for the last few years (if at all) despite his professed passion; and when he seems to be hopelessly out of touch or indifferent to the activities of his orgs’ operations on the ground. Tessa Dunlop (H&M fan who spars with Piers Morgan on his show) was absolutely adamant a couple of weeks ago that it was going ahead. Surely it would be another disaster.

What were they actually going to do with “Sussex Royal” though? Sell merchandise (bit limited) and what else? That wouldn’t have brought in much of an income 🤷‍♀️