Harry’s anxiety in NY

[Makingwaves2]

What to make of the fact that he appeared without Meghan and looked quite anxious and stressed?

It was evident from their engagement interview they were excited by the idea that they were going to change the world through their charity work, empathy and general amazingness.

It felt like Harry really sensed he'd now be like his mother loved and cherished for his Good Work.

Thing is, I thought they might do this too. They could have done this.
What they didn't realise is that being cherished for your good work takes evidence of years of dedicated hard graft. It's not an instant gift for your declared intention. It's hard earned.
It's also easily removed. If the public feel you are beginning to act like entitled twats, then previous good will can quickly dissolve.

They weren't prepared to stick at the role. Show dedication. Weather the storms of ebbing public opinion and occasional bad press. To gain the ultimate prize of respect for a job well done. Over time.

That's why the queen was loved. That's why the duchess of Edinburgh has become so respected. That's why Diana was loved.

They couldn't do it. They wanted instant unconditional adoration. Such naivete.

There’s a lady YouTuber called Lost Beyond Pluto and I find her very articulate and intelligent. I think she’s a lawyer and was also in the army. Her views on Harry and Meghan very much align with my own. I don’t tend to watch when she’s doing a video with her partner (there’s nothing wrong with him), I just prefer her solo videos.

Yes, I can see this. In his head, William will be merely the British sovereign but Harry will be a global superstar.

William can currently expect to be HoS of I think fifteen nations and possibly also Head of the Commonwealth. That's pretty global. (Although of course that could all change after the present king.)

I daresay we'll see William attending CHOGM and doing other global events if and when the King becomes less able to travel long distances. And I very much hope we'll see Catherine accompanying him.

That’s fair. As said, I think they beleived the hype. Netflix and Spotify throwing millions at them. Penguin for the books, a top notch ghost writer, Oprah doing the interview, plenty of other suitors, a bidding war. The clooneys fronting up at their wedding. They thought it was them. Them as people. They just misunderstood so overwhelmingly.

the good will started ro decline after Oprah. But they didn’t read the writing on the wall. Pushed on regardless. Did more of it. The book. Netflix. The promo interviews for the book. And they fell out of favour. But instead of pulling back they doubled down. Started lying even more. Dior ambassadors. , a high speed chase, even now, Harry is having a lads trip for his birthday, Megan is a great manager shite from staff, through to the spiteful acts. Launching aro and the archewell prize when William was doing the Diana awards. How petty and spiteful. The huge error that is aro. Faking the Spotify interviews. Signing with lemonada to make a point, with no intention of following through. Doing daft trips and acting like working royalty to corrupt countries. All the daft lawsuits. The lying about his dad not seeing him. Fighting for security, at st James;s palace, and then staying at a hotel. Or launching an eco travel company after taking 4 private jets in a matter of days.

you just think what shite are they going to do next.

Excellent post. Very true.

They weren't prepared to stick at the role. Show dedication. Weather the storms of ebbing public opinion and occasional bad press. To gain the ultimate prize of respect for a job well done. Over time.

As Camilla has done. I was fairly neutral about her when she first married Charles, but I have a lot of respect for her now, for the way she has got stuck into a public role she never really wanted. Whatever might or might not have happened in the past, her public conduct as Duchess of Cornwall and as Queen has been impeccable.

Absolutely, and think about the negative press she's had! It just shows you, it can be done. However, you have to make it about the role, and not yourself, which seems to be quite beyond Harry and Meghan..

To be fair, their most fervent supporters still believe that the above is exactly what they are currently doing, so I can well Harry and Meghan themselves may have a way to go until reality bites.

I've felt from the beginning of all this that their real, glaring major issue, from which much else follows, is that neither of them have the wit to recognise that without their Royal titles and in Harry's case his heritage, they would bring nothing to the table. Nothing. Neither of them have any outstanding attributes, talents, original ideas or real charisma (well, maybe Harry a bit at one point but that's evaporated) We're seeing the proof of that now.

Unfortunately, neither of them had the humility or wisdom to recognise their limitations and be very grateful for the very fortunate position they were in, because of course they could Do Better, because of innate Specialness. There are other royals who do know that until and unless they put some real graft in, they will be looked up to for who they are, not what they are. They are the wise ones.

Miguel Head, who was William and Harry's first joint private secretary gave an interview where he was asked how the princes dealt with the barrage of negative stories and gossip that comes from the media on a rolling basis. He replied:

"They had a very healthy attitude to a lot of what was written about them, which is that they largely just completely ignored it.

So, our rule of thumb was we only commented reactively on stories if the stories were judged, in our view, to have a detrimental reputational impact. And the bar for that was quite high.

The princes took the view that they were going to be in the public eye from the moment they were born to the moment they died and with that level of interest in them, the only way of coping with that would be to detach themselves from much of what is said about them. It was actually quite liberating, because it meant that we as a team could concentrate on what we wanted to say about them.

When he talked about what the core value and operating parameters for working for the royal family was:

"...the royal family are there for what we used to describe as being in “the happiness business.”

We’re there to celebrate success and to put a spotlight on people who have done great things.

That can be as a caregiver or someone’s who campaigned for a sports hall in their town or it can be a Nobel Prize laureate. It can be anything in between all of those things. The royal family takes great delight and spends a lot of time searching out those things to celebrate them. It’s probably the biggest guide for when we were looking how to fill the program, that was the thing by which we operated."

And that in a nutshell is one of Harry and Meghan's biggest mistakes - they react to every little slight or negative opinion about themselves, and they have done the opposite of being in 'the happiness business' - all the whining, complaining, explaining why everyone around them is so horrible to them etc.

They come across as oversensitive, negative people - not characteristics anyone is rushing to work with.

They're very thin skinned. They just can't tolerate any negativity or criticism and that's just not realistic when you're in the public eye.

I agree; the pr onslaught of staff saying she is great is just toe curling. It would have been better to say nothing than engineer that. No one believed it, it was such an obvious pr play. And it’s resulted in everyone printing it but with a counter balance of the initial accusations, so dragging it out.

all it says is the allegations have really bothered her, for her to take that route.

They also want the spotlight themselves. They don't want to shine a light on someone who has started a charity helping other parents who are going through what they've been through. No they want to start the charity and receive the acclaim. The problem is that they don't have the expertise to do so and just burble meaningless platitudes instead of giving actual help and support.

The best celebrity charity support raises the profile of people who know what they are talking about so that others can access their services

Oh yes, I agree with you - it's Harry's perspective I'm imagining. And you've reminded me that, interestingly, there is evidence of Harry trashing the Commonwealth. If he can't have it, he trashes it. Didn't he call it 'Empire 2.0', i.e. A Bad Thing, during his racism-accusation-period?

Harry's global hegemony with his wife (and players like the Aspen Institute) on the other hand will be an 'authentic' one.

It's so bonkers it's almost eschatological.

Agree once again, MrsLF, but going back to the title of the thread it begs the question of why Harry's in New York alone

We've no way of knowing if he paid for the right to attend, but with a number of very high profile people there I'm amazed Meghan didn't grab the chance to be seen ... after all it's her usual MO, but strangely not here

I don't know. It isn't illness because she wasn't ever coming. I wonder if the reports they are separating their charity/ business interests are correct. It would make sense and lots of people here have said over the years they should do that.

Like lots of couples who work different jobs. What a much ado about nothing.

I'd imagined that they thought they would be receiving all the prizes rather than dishing them out.

"Work different jobs"? They're both team Sussex, aren't they? What do they do that's individual?

Oh yes, I agree with you - it's Harry's perspective I'm imagining. And you've reminded me that, interestingly, there is evidence of Harry trashing the Commonwealth. If he can't have it, he trashes it. Didn't he call it 'Empire 2.0', i.e. A Bad Thing, during his racism-accusation-period?

@AutumnCrow
Slightly different topic, but this has reminded me of the bizarrely different and very unfair interpretations put on a) the Wales's Jamaica tour and b) the Sussex's Nigerian tour. The Jamaican tour is seen by the Sussex supporters as horrifically colonialist, with very little justification - I think it rests on Catherine having worn a dress which reminded them of Scarlett O'Hara, and her and William reaching through a fence to greet some children. (What were they supposed to do? Snub these enthusiastic children and walk on by??) None of it makes any sense...

H & M's tours are certainly redolent of the colonial past - too many incidents to mention here - and they also reached through a fence to the crowds on one of these - but that's OK, apparently. I've seen one video of them both sitting in state on a raised dais while 'the natives' dance for them, standing on a balcony above the crowds, waving regally from a great height - all kinds of things the SS wouldn't have allowed W & C to get away with.

They and their supporters are tone deaf and utterly blinkered.

Absolutely they played the long game, she put her head down and got on with the job.
When they married I don't think she would have been accepted as Queen, but she has proven herself over the last 20years.

H&M had tons of good will when they married they threw it away.

They didn’t want to do the work.

camilla doesn’t seek the limelight and it’s very clear she does what she does to support Charles.

harry and Megan had a sense of entitlement and didn’t wish to do the work. The shameful fake Spotify podcasts evidence that sadly

there is evidence of Harry trashing the Commonwealth. If he can't have it, he trashes it. Didn't he call it 'Empire 2.0', i.e. A Bad Thing, during his racism-accusation-period?

But they had the Commonwealth - President and Vice President of The Queen's Commonwealth Trust. Given how important the Commonwealth was to the late Queen, giving them this role was a tremendous compliment and statement of faith in them, which they threw back in her face.

The Jamaican tour is seen by the Sussex supporters as horrifically colonialist, with very little justification - I think it rests on Catherine having worn a dress which reminded them of Scarlett O'Hara

When this came up on a previous thread, no-one could identify this alleged Scarlett O'Hara dress.

I was neutral until they said that the British people were racist towards her. I don't believe that for a moment, there was enormous good will towards them when they announced their engagement, we had a party the day of the wedding. I was looking at the photos the other week.

I don't know either, MrsLF, but with no actual functioning business to speak of I just don't see Meghan resisting the temptation to muscle in on the opportunities Harry's visit might have offered (at least in her mind)

I suppose there's always the nuclear option - that Harry was told her presence would be inappropriate/unwelcome - but of course that's another thing we can't know