american riviera orchard - what was that all about then?

[Tenmus]

It seems to have gone the same way as their Sussex Royal site. I don't know much about social media or PR, but this all seems pretty odd and ineffectual.

No idea about what any individuals think of them, but a reputation for leaking will close a lot of doors (both personally and professionally)

So I think you could be right @AliceOlive!! It's a bit odd compared to some of the things that are left to stand?!!

It's a minefield sometimes!

@Runnerinthenight Sure is. I went wrong with North Korea and booty - who knew🤣

my positive view is that they will remain married for a long time.

I think so, too.

I think their relationship seems hideously toxic but that they are totally dependent upon each other. Neither can easily break free.

I think they (M & H)are already much too toxic and tarnished for the significant Hollywood A listers to want to get involved with - I have heard the Clooneys and several others with significant 'star appeal' don't go anywhere near them.

Could only be damaging to real A Listers, like the Clooneys (who probably have access to the real Royals, and wouldn't want to jeopardise that).

And M has a history of falling out with, or dumping, people when they have outlived their usefulness.

I must say all of this only increased my respect for the late Queen. She didn't allow herself to be bounced or bullied into agreeing to anything, but delivered a swift, clear smackdown to the half in, half out idea. And 'Recollections may vary' was masterly. How to make it clear someone is telling a load of porkies, without coming right out and saying it.

Are you thinking of Stig of the Dump? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes very true.

I think the Low book reported that Meghan was rebuked by the Queen for being rude to the wedding caterers and told that ' we don't speak to people like that'. If true, I find this anecdote very revealing. Meghan never seems to have understood the role of the sovereign or the utter respect felt by the family and the nation for the Queen. I think she cast her mentally as a sweet little old lady in Meghan's Hallmark movie and never understood her true status. For the Queen to directly rebuke a new family member was a big deal, if it happened as reported.

I’m not sure they will stay together long term. I don’t think they would split imminently but I do think Megan would be more successful if she jettisoned him. As harsh as that sounds. Write a book about how she tried to support him., how she is some superwoman, gave herself away to do it.

another few years though, they aren’t done yet though. When they no longer get attention I think she will walk. And as much as it’s negative attention, they still get attention.

Once the book is written though no one will be interested in her. What has she got to offer ? She is getting older and really won’t be relevant in any way any more .

another few years though, they aren’t done yet though. When they no longer get attention I think she will walk. And as much as it’s negative attention, they still get attention.

I think they will stay together until the children are in their teens, up to that point the family unit as it stands is quite marketable in some shape or form, remember she has trademarked ‘Lilibets Closet’ they won’t be splitting up while there is money to be made.

I think that the kids are possibly the last big opportunity H&M have left to exploit so it’s interesting to hear about ‘Lilibets Closet’. I’m assuming she’s referring to her daughter, the Princess, and not that she’s planning on launching a line of brightly coloured frock coats and matching hats!

I admire that they have protected the children's privacy, but I sincerely hope it’s been for the right reasons and not for maximising potential income opportunities at a later date

In my opinion, Meghan married in the royal family, which is an institution to represent the British head of state, where no Parliamentary law is passed until the monarch signs it, into the tacky USA talentless celeb culture, similar to the Kard'ians and B'hams. Although at least they haven't sold their children into the talentless celeb industry yet, to use for their own attention.
It was obvious Meghan was planning on moving to California after the wedding and getting a title, as she had one wedding guest who she knew, and rest were celebrities she hardly knew like Oprah, only there for the royal event. Plus if she dislikes the royal family so much, why is she using the title?

What annoys me though is how the media talk about how if their talentless celeb career doesn't work out, they know they can just move back to Britain and expect a free mansion. Hope if that happened, Harry would have to pay back the millions Charles gave him as a pay off.

I can't imagine Meghan would lose the royal title, seeing as it's the only thing giving her an ego boost to feel as if she's in the with the Hollywood set. Before she married Harry she worked on a hardly watched cable TV series, filmed in Canada to save money. She even lived in Canada while it was being filmed.

I would see the adverts for Suits come up on obscure freeview channels, and that was after she was with Harry so people were curious who she was, but still it was hardly watched in Britain.

These are my thoughts too.

I agree. HMQ learned such a lot over the time she reigned. I would imagine especially so during the tumultuous times, which seems to have served her well, notably in the latter part of her life. She appeared astute, with a lot of energy, a thirst for knowledge and honed great emotional intelligence. All winning combinations for a long standing figure head.

Her stoic style and the magic she weaved was the culmination of decades of just silently getting on with the job. I can imagine her to have been perplexed and exasperated on seeing her grandson and spouse acting completely the opposite. I would have thought of all people she would have been the one to try to bring him back to reality.

Perhaps she tried. Or perhaps she was more concerned to maintain family relations at any cost or maybe even to protect the magic and symbolism of her reign. I wonder what she might have said to him if only she thought he’d listen and not divulge their private conversations at some point to the world.

I really had such an enormous respect for the late Queen. She reminded me of one of my my (obviously significantly less posh) grandmother in some ways - always doing her duty, always being polite, always putting her own desires last and saving money in small ways. And with a backbone of absolute steel.

I think that the demands of a different time, dealing with significant personal losses and living through two world wars did something to some people (not all of course).

If Meghan (obviously a big if) mistook the queen for a sweet little grandmother, and then did something the queen found unacceptable, that would have been an issue I believe.

I was incredibly close to my grandmother and she would also come across as a sweet little old lady. But you would cross her at your own peril (for my grandmother, disloyalty to family or bad manners would do it). Then you would see the core of steel.

As long as you were loyal to family and polite, my grandmother would do anything for you, be silly, spend her pension money on a (above budget) coat you had seen whilst also wasting absolutely no food, turning off electricity wherever possible and using the same clothes for decades.

I wonder if the late Queen was what I imagine her to have been? Regardless, she was such an asset to the country.

I think the key thing about the queen was she was in charge. She was the boss. And her word went. She ruled her family as well as being the monarch.

as such, doing anything against her view of how the monarchy should be run, for example Harry’s stated view in the Netflix series, that Megan was going to shake it up, throw out all the old ways and modernise the monarchy ( I still can’t get my head round the sheer stupidity of that ) was always going to see the queen putting them back in their box. At its core it’s offensive as well as idiotic. Like the Collab thing, like they were her equal or above her.

i think it tells us just how deluded , superior and entitled the pair of them are. The fact that Harry unashamedly tells us, Megan, a woman he’d known for a couple of years, an American tv actress, was going to come in and modernise the monarchy , and that she believed she was both capable and to be given free reign to do that by marrying Harry of all people , is really quite telling at a base level.

That he thought he was in the leadership position and could decide to modernise the monarchy and could bring Megan in to do that. And that she thought she was able for that. And the queen was just going to let them take over.

it says everything about the pair of them. And explains so much about what came next when the queen firmly put them back in their place. The anger, spite, resentment, and then the continually trying things they are not capable of and failing.

most people if harry said right you can modernise the monarchy would think he had lost his marbles and be side eyeing him thinking he wasn’t all there, but not Megan, she was all fantastic, I’m going to do am awesome job.

its two very deluded entitled foolish people.

I don't often defend M and H but they were very encouraged by articles in the British Press, at the time of the engagement, into thinking that they were an overturning godsend to the country, a change from the 'stuffy, unexciting, boring' ones. I know that not ALL of the press said that, but that opinion was very strong in some quarters. I can imagine that they were influenced by that, and in a way it was a bit of a kick in the teeth for the others, hearing the 'breath of fresh air' words from the turn-on-a-hat tabloids.

Very true, @JJathome . Imagine being an actress on Suits and thinking you could come and improve the British monarchy 😂.
How arrogant.

If they monetise the late Queen's family nn, then that's proof they have no interest in return to UK and scant regard for Harry's family.

I think they'll make a success of their marriage - Harry has always said (from long before he met her) how much he wanted DC. Fatherhood must be a very important strand in what makes his life good.

Do you not think the other royals might have just rolled their eyes at the oh-so-predictable tabloids?

I can't think of a woman who married into the British Royal family who HASN'T been described at some point by the clichéd metaphor, 'a breath of fresh air'.

Would it have been a kick in the teeth? It was so predictable surely they just saw it coming? They'd have known she'd be initially highly praised, then probably there'd be stories about a rivalry with Kate (just as Diana and Fergie were pitted against each other, and Beatrice and Eugenie reportedly didn't like Kate). It's all so formulaic.

Yeah I find it really odd. The fact Harry thought she could, that he had the authority to allow that, and she thought she had the skill set. It says everything about how deluded they are.

i agree the very positive media attention would have fed that delusion. Getting celebs to their wedding, getting the Oprah interview. They clearly thought they were all that and a bag of chips.

and then everyone rushing to sign them. Throwing millions at them. Till everyone realised they had no skills and a poor work ethic. That they thought they could just put their name to something and everyone else did the work.one of their ex staffers said they seemed surprised they actually had to work. The culmination of their down fall being the Spotify exec calling them fucking grifters. The shame of that.

what surprises me now, is these fake working royal visits is all Megan. And she was obviously the key one who wanted to leave. We don’t really see Harry going off and visiting sick kids and getting his photo taken. In fact he does nothing fake working royal on his own. If he does it, it’s with Megan. It’s her trying to emulate what they walked away from. Not him.