What exactly is "the Sussex Squad"?

[Prydddan]

I don't know whether this is too controversial a topic for such a thread to be allowed to stand. But I post in good faith on a topic I believe has a lot of social and political relevance.

Does the "Sussex Squad" actually exist? If so, how do you join? If not, do people ever identify as belonging to it?

If it exists, was it hijacked by SarahData and Bouzy or was it their creation? And, if so, to what extent?

Thanks in advance.

I agree. Why on earth do they clutch at each other like that? Someone on here called it "Meghan's Claw", and I was amused to see a mythical creature with claws on her Coat of Arms 😂

Relaxed and relatable like this sweet moment

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7uZxQ6dvow8

That's so lovely!

Genuine affection and appreciation!

There’s plenty of PDA between William and Catherine. It’s just more subtle than clutching on to each other for dear life like or false looking adoration gazes (so feminist). We saw a prime example at the Royal Variety Performance shortly after Odious Scobie’s Dutch racism “mistake” last November . Someone was shouting at Catherine about it and she looked a bit shaken, and William was there with a smile and a handhold as they walked in. Genuine not performative.

Well that is why they said they want to modernise the monarchy to be more relatable

Is it clutching though l? I don't interpret it that way. I think PDA is subjective and very much dependent on the inviduals themselves as to what they like and prefer. Some like to hold hands, walk arm in arm and so on more than others.

I think it's nice to see people showing some affection even if it's just holding hands no matter what age they are.

How's 'relatable' defined? and why does the monarchy have to be it, whatever it is?

Funnily enough the monarchy seemed to be doing fine up to when the Sussexes met.

Yes and this is what I'm referring to I believe protocols usually are that you don't hug although I'm glad to be corrected. You didn't see the queen do that hence why I think maybe ot was a protocol. So relaxing something like that is nice to see.

End of the day they have no choice but to stay relatable to keep their population up otherwise the questions creep in on why do we need them. Times changes and so should their institution.

The thing is, it wasn't a performative hug. Kate wasn't hugging a stranger.
She was hugging a woman with whom she'd formed a bond. So it was genuine.

It's sources from William who say he wants to modernise and be more relatable perhaps you can write to him and ask him to expand on that.

And how you define the monarchy is doing fine? By what measure are you using to determine its fine? Why do they have to be fine? Why not excellent?

Yes and this is what I'm referring to I believe protocols usually are that you don't hug although I'm glad to be corrected. You didn't see the queen do that hence why I think maybe ot was a protocol. So relaxing something like that is nice to see

HM didn't hug because she was brought up with a completely different view of monarchy and the monarch as something set apart (although she did thaw somewhat in her later years, but it would have been a brave member of the public who tried hugging her). Essentially a late 19c view of the monarch and what they are and what they represent in her early years.

Charles as Prince of Wales spent getting on for sixty years being hugged, danced with, grappled by women, doing stunts and generally being treated as public property, and because of that he appears to have a much more relaxed attitude to protocol.

Oh right. So we have no definition of 'relatable.'

Is the rest of it my homework or something? I'm going by how popular the monarchy was at the time, which seemed to be 'pretty popular'. Going by that I'd say they were doing fine.

LumiB
Is it clutching though l? I don't interpret it that way. I think PDA is subjective and very much dependent on the inviduals themselves as to what they like and prefer. Some like to hold hands, walk arm in arm and so on more than others.

I think it's nice to see people showing some affection even if it's just holding hands no matter what age they are.

I don't agree - I find PDAs from public figures excruciating.

And yes, it IS clutching. When M grabs H in all kinds of inappropriate circs, it's about control and insecurity - not affection. She wants him to herself and where she can control him - you can see this in so many egs, where M drags H away from people he's supposed to be greeting officially, and spending time with. It's most definitely a claw.

I was clenching everything with utter embarrassment for them at the Queen's funeral, when they totally (or M did) mucked up the line of the procession by insisting on holding hands. Fgs - it's a state funeral! Can't M walk by his side as all the other family mourners were doing just for that incredibly solemn occasion? But no, they just had to hold hands, a right pair of walleys they looked.

And how you define the monarchy is doing fine? By what measure are you using to determine its fine? Why do they have to be fine? Why not excellent?

And how do you define 'excellent' in this context? I think, considering the rotten time they're having in terms of health and bearing up under the vile attacks from H & M's crazier supporters on SM (and before that with OW, Spare and the Netflix doc) they are doing an absolutely cracking job.

What could people in that situation be doing better, I wonder? Emoting in teary TV interviews?

If you support the monarchy you probably think they're doing more than fine in the present situation. If you don't, you're never going to be satisfied with their performance.

I don't agree - I find PDAs from public figures excruciating.

It's also a risky strategy.

If people become used to seeing you hanging out of each other like lovelorn teenagers in public, they may wonder about the state of your relationship if you stop doing so.

Much better to interact in a neutral, professional manner in public.

Yes that was my point about protocols that she lived to different ones. So glad we agree on this

I only heard positive things about William's visit to NYC. The kids from the Harbor School liked him. The FDNY actually commented that William knew what he was talking about after his visit.

No one expected that crowd by the fire house. Apparently random people on the street asked why the protest barricades were up and stayed to see William.

He ran in Central Park without incident and didn't harm Flaco, a pigeon, or a red-tail hawk.

You could not pay me to wade in a NYC river yet he did so without extra compensation.

Remember the fuss when the PM of Australia (think I'm remembering this correctly) actually touched her back?

The whole RF has become a lot less stuffy since her death. Trouser suits for Catherine, selfies, far few hats.

Sources close to William as said in the media

I don't know what that looksl ike I csnt read his mind. But if the sources are correct then it's for him to say what he determines ir to be not me

Oh it's definitely clutching and it's excruciating! If you must hold hands, do it privately - nobody wants to see it! It was the same when she was pregnant. She clung onto her bump so tightly you'd have thought she was expecting the baby to fall out.

But everything is over-dramatic with her.

Do you always automatically believe 'sources in the media'?

And the royal family is clearly very different now to what it was 10 or even as recent as 5 years ago. Love them or hate them, one thing the Windsors excel in is moving with the times. They wouldn't have survived this long otherwise.