Anyone starting to feel sorry for them?

[Aspargar]

https://archive.ph/vV0f9

No matter how preeningly narcissistic the couple may seem, surely even they must now have realised what the source of their woes is? The fact is: people were only interested in hearing what Harry and Meghan had to say when they were dishing the dirt on the royal family.Hence, in January last year, the record-breakingly vast sales of Harrys memoir Spare. with all its eye-popping claims about his brother, father and stepmother. But every time he, and Meghan, start talking about any other topic – be it sport, jam or social justice – the world turns off. No one cares. Now that the Sussexes have finished flogging all the family secrets, they’ve got nothing that anyone wants.

There is part of me that does feelsorry for them too. I mean 2024 has been a disaster, off the back of 2023 which was another disaster. It’s not going to get any better. Reap what you sow, so we knew it was coming their way but it’s all a bit sad and pathetic now. The faux tours, cards from ‘the office of’, as time goes on, the more pathetic that will look because they have lost all connection to the Royals

This must be their year of reckoning. He won’t win his cases, they will lose Netflix, the brand will face further set backs, they realise that their kids will never have a royal Christmas at Sandringham or summer at Balmoral, ever. In fact they are unlikely to ever meet the King again.

Its all came off the rails. We all knew it would happen. Many could even see the disaster impending from the engagement announcement. But it’s still hard to watch and that’s what makes me feel a bit sorry for them.

Prepared to be flamed! 😬

What has Harry even got left to spill on William? He's fed all his crap into Spare, and the unhinged promotional interviews (one of which was with Tom Bradby), and the Netflix series, and the collaborations with US-based Omid Scobie & US tabloids ... what barrels are there left to scrape in court?

I think in about five years absolute max H and M will be completely irrelevant in every way. They will have exhausted every bit of goodwill and every avenue. They will both be well into their forties and will have nothing to say about the RF that is even vaguely relevant. There’s a possibility William will be King which will further compound their isolation within the family. Perhaps then they’ll disappear and live a quiet life. Finally.

'Spare' was not vicious at all and there was a lot more to it than that anyway, the historical perspective was very interesting. There was humour and pathos. I have read it twice and thought it was very good. There is much criticism of the book and homing in on a couple of particular sentences taken out of context, often by people who haven't read it.

I disagree with this, albeit I've only read it the once. Spare was a terrible PR move for Harry, because even with a decently talented ghostwriter, it still revealed him as petty, petulant, self-obsessed and self-pitying. His contempt for women who do not fit a very specific Diana-shaped mold was disturbing. His ridicule of his disabled house mistress was unpleasant. His strongly revealed Oedipal and sibling alienation complexes would have been amusing were they not so pathetic. His stated lack of interest in the history of the UK monarchy was, I thought, tragic. I love history, and Harry could have offered such insight...it's intensely irritating to see so privileged an individual toss aside and denigrate that privilege, and then complain about it, whilst also demanding more of it.

Harry told Oprah that he was only doing the book out of financial necessity, and indeed it's not been good for his image at all.

@AmazingGraze they're already verging on irrelevant, save as figures of ridicule in the US showbiz press and gossip tabloids. The US media's reverse ferret on H&M has been extreme, but unsurprising. The US media values entrepreneurialism and a can-do spirit. It does not value self-pity and above all the US hates its celebrities resting on past glories or nepotistic ties. And like the UK media, the US media is adept at sniffing out and exposing hypocrisy.

In addition, the Overton window of US discourse has shifted markedly since 2018. Woke progressivism is out; American protectionism is firmly back in. US citizens, struggling with their CoL crisis, just aren't interested in what H&M are selling anymore.

As I've said before, the PR fails and fumbles of H&M is going to be one for future media relations college courses the world over. They were handed a platform most could only dream of, a real chance to do some good in the world...and they used that platform to air petty personal grievances. So the world, naturally, stopped listening and started laughing. Such a waste.

One final thought from me. I found out yesterday that H&M don't directly own their Montecito mansion. It's owned by a REIT (which presumably they are the sole shareholders in?). Potentially that's quite the tax avoidance dodge...would be interesting to know more about the REIT's structure, if anyone here knows?

Hello fellow PR person!

Your comments are insightful and absolutely correct. I would add however that an organisation can absolutely kill stories if the org is powerful enough and has sufficient bargaining chips. Kill this story and I'll offer you an exclusive on another.

For example the Palace was able to kill stories alleging Class A drug use by Harry, by offering the Sun an exclusive which said that Charles had caught Harry smoking weed and had taken him round a drug rehabilitation centre. Complete with exclusive pics.

Of course, bargaining chips can run out and that's why Harry is now in an invidious position: he's no longer part of a powerful organisation, and he probably has neither the bargaining chips nor the PR skills to play this game. Which means that US tabloid intrusion into their lives, and the state of their marriage, is about to get a lot worse.

Harry is taking on the corrupt press, the Murdoch Empire and by extension the British State who were engaged in phone hacking on an industrial scale. If you do that, you will get pushback. Leveson 2 has not been given the go-ahead because Sir Keir is understandably scared of the repercussions - it would expose links between the police and the press - namely, that the former will fit up the accused (Caroline Flack for instance, the CPS didn't want to prosecute but the Met Police did, presumably because they could sell a whole load of stories to The Sun about it). It's all very nasty, deep-seated stuff.

It's a shame Hugh Grant backed off suing The Sun and settled out of court because he couldn't risk having to fork out £10m if he lost - you'd think he and millionaire mates like Richard Curtis, Emma Thompson, Rowan Atkinson et al could have stumped up bail money but then again Grant is a singular person and those named are not really mates.

Harry also left the UK because he twigged the extent to which his wife was being set up as the fall guy, the scapegoat, with stories fed to the press about her to take the heat off Wills or Camilla. Having seen that happen to his mother, he didn't want it to happen again. It's telling that now the 'fall guy' or customary scapegoat is now Prince Andrew, There always has to be one, to distract from the fact that the Royal Family is a ludicrous organisation as it stands. In the past it could be anyone from Prince Philip, Prince Edward to that tall bossy one, was it Princess Michael of Kent or something? We don't hear much about her now.

Harry has also hinted about the death or murder of his mother, that he might know more than he is letting on. If you suspected anything like that, you don't want to hang around, you want out. I get the impression that it's not so much that folk believe Diana was murdered, more that it didn't happen because it would be hard to get away with, not that the State wouldn't make it happen. The State gets away with all kinds of stuff, it normally takes about 30 years for the truth to come out about anything.

It wouldn't be the Royals orchestrating it or even getting tipped off about any prospective murder- they are simply the celebrity arm of the British State, they aren't that powerful. They know that.

Again, I'm not saying Diana was murdered. I'm saying, it's not like the British State wouldn't try something like that, it's just a question of how plausible it is in the actual circumstances, and the evidence for it.

Hugh grant had a large settlement from the Sun, that he whinged about having to accept. Poor Hugh.

He made a point that he hated having to take the money and would be donating ( though I’m sure not all 😉) to groups such as Hacked off

I’m wondering if there’s money backing Harry’s legal costs, because there’s no way a known tight wad like Harry would be making himself liable for these costs. Literally millions.

He even said at Dealbook, that he was doing for all 1300 victims.

Could Harry be the test case pushed forward and covered by the pay outs of others?

Tom Watson, who alleges that he was targeted while on the sport/culture committee looking into newspaper practices, is the only other on the Sun case. Additionally, with the case for the DM, it’s only Harry and Doreen Lawrence left isn’t it? Again, how could she afford this. It’s almost like they’ve chosen those whom they believe would be seen as the most ‘righteous’ to be the faces of the case, while the celebs have all taken very large payouts.

Very very strange

It's the usual thing that The Sun can simply use the lawyers to escalate and run down the clock so the opponent runs out of money. Steve Coogan was another who had to settle. I suppose if you feel your case is just you could take it to the wire but can you really afford to - you have to rely on a judge who may or may not be corrupt or be leant on to rule in your favour, it's a risk and it takes over your life. The postmaster generals were in a similar boat, at some point they just had to take the money offered - and nobody from the Post Office is in jail of course.

It you take on the State it can ruin you. Often you need to make that fight not on the State's territory, you have to turn exile. It is similar with single mothers who get targeted by the County Council's Safeguarding teams, the only way to deal with it is to leave that county and live elsewhere, likewise Colin Lawrence gave up the fight and headed back to the Caribbean I think, he turned exile - a satisfactory result for the notoriously corrupt and racist Met police, of course. You get others like Baroness Lawrence who took the bauble and stayed - but after many years the Met was seen as more racist and sexist than ever, of course.

That doesn’t make sense

Why do uber rich celebs ‘have’ to settle because of legal costs- Hugh Grant said he would have been liable for 10 million so couldnt afford to go any further, so settled. But Tom Watson, Harry, Doreen Lawrence can afford to proceed to a full 8 week trial after years of legal costs?

From the Times regarding the DM case:

Legal costs for Harry and others are expected to reach £18,399,428 if it reaches trial, the court was told. Costs in the part of the case focused on Harry are predicted to reach £1,468,017. The publishers’ estimated legal bills are £19,850,282.

The Sun case will be similar costs. We know he is highly likely to have to pay costs in the Sun case. So covering his and the Suns fees- that’s a couple of million.

He doesn’t have that kind of cash to waste.

It is hard to understand why Hugh Grant, of all the litigants, settled. He is reportedly worth close to 200million, he is one of the co founders and on the board of Hacked off, and has been one of the most high profile advocates for press accountability for years, yet he accepted a settlement with NDA's, he cannot even disclose the amount of the settlement, he can insinuate its 'huge' but who knows, it could be an effort to make it look like he 'won' ? 1 movie and he can earn up to 10 million, would have covered his costs, why did he not see it through to the end ? I find it hard to believe the motivation for settling was solely financial.

I agree, I too think Harry is being bankrolled in the event it doesn't pan out the way he hopes, he is not going to lose money whatever the outcome..

This whole issue explains why the UK is so vulnerable. It only takes a character like Elon Musk to step in, and he can bankroll various types and gain power and influence. It's all very well the State rigging the complaints process, as it has, but it does make itself vulnerable to outside influence. Musk could step in to help the postmasters for instance as the State drags its heels on this and so many other issues... not saying he will, just saying it's up for grabs. The UK, as Elvis satirically sang to paraphrase, is 'up for grabs'...

I find Hugh so disingenuous.

He is well versed in these civil cases. He instructed a lawyer and would have been aware from the very outset, how the legal fees would work and the financial risks involved. He chose to proceed. He chose to instruct very expensive lawyers.

He was well aware that there’s a cap in damages etc and he would have been regularly updated with regards to the costs. But he was determined to have his day in court….or was he?

Hugh knows full well, that the punishment is in the process- that racking up the legal costs sky high for as long as possible, to then settle, hurts the newspapers coffers.

He could easily afford 10 million in costs, to make his point and have his day in court. But I don’t think that was ever the plan.

It’s a shame because I actually think he’s really funny but he’s such a slimeball to make it look like his hand was forced and he had no alternative but to take the dreaded option of settling.

@NewspaperTaxis

“Harry also left the UK because he twigged the extent to which his wife was being set up as the fall guy, the scapegoat, with stories fed to the press about her to take the heat off Wills or Camilla.”

No , Harry left because the late Queen said no to his half in/ half out proposal !
He ( and Meghan) still wanted to be part of the supposedly awful Institution but cherry pick what they did within it !

Let’s not rewrite history!

So what he said about the school staff member with scoliosis wasn't vicious? And nothing he said about Camilla was vicious?

I can't quite believe that the African Parks scandal hasn't completely blown up. Shocking attacks and Harry says nothing, and does nothing. BetterUp is also a disaster. How he isn't sacked from his positions is beyond me. If he wasn't part of TRF he'd be out the door. He is the living embodiment of biting the hand that feeds you.

Phew! Your post makes me glad our Head of State isn't elected!

@NewspaperTaxis
Do you think he has twigged yet who has been planting stories with the US tabloids? Does he know that someone is sending stories to Page Six using his private email address?

Or that Harry himself communicates directly with People magazine writers, that was a huge blunder, although it was quickly removed, it is out there for everyone to realise how he is personally exploiting the media for his own propaganda.

I was wondering if the "deal" icw Prince William will prove to be the out-of-court settlement that is already known about.

That has been reported as a "secret deal" but from the info that has come to light, there is nothing that shows it was more than a totally normal unpublicised settlement.

And did he not donate it to Invictus ?
Am sure I read that .

Harry also left the UK because he twigged the extent to which his wife was being set up as the fall guy, the scapegoat, with stories fed to the press about her to take the heat off Wills or Camilla.

Please can you link to these stories fed to the press from BP about MM.

You will ask in vain.

@NewspaperTaxis if Harry thinks Diana was murdered by the British State, then he is entering dangerous levels of delusion, and requires treatment.

First off, the people at MI5 are smart. That's kind of how they end up in MI5. They do not assassinate a beloved figure via a car crash in a tunnel, because the first rule of any secret service act is to ELIMINATE AS MANY VARIABLES AS POSSIBLE. Now think of all the variables in the Paris situation. We've got: sobriety/drunkenness/trustworthiness of the driver. Weather. Traffic. Visibility. Whether or not Diana would put on a seatbelt (spoiler alert: she didn't, and that is why she bounced, hit the roof and then the seat in front, causing a massive head & spinal injury). Other traffic in the tunnel. Witnesses.

Secret service assassinations are done indoors. You push that pesky person out of a window onto some railings. Or put some polonium on his sushi. Or lock him into his own gym bag so he can expire of positional asphyxia.

People who think Diana was assassinated do not understand logic. Or MI5. Or cars. Or roads. Or tunnels. Or Paris.

@Wheresthebeach a respected US online mag had a recent exposure about BetterUp, to the effect that it's a toxic culture and basically rakes in money whilst doing eff all. Made it sound like a Kids Company set up. Africa Parks scandal should absolutely be out there like the not dissimilar Oxfam scandal was. The fact that Harry isn't publicly doing EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER to get to the bottom of it shows what he really thinks about the rights of Baka people to be respected and unmolested. In fact, one could even say that his high handed approach thus far as been a little bit...I dunno....racist?

Sorry for the double posting. Hugh Grant presumably settled because he knew he probably wouldn't win in court, and even if he did, the embarrassing aspects of his personal life that would be aired (Divine Brown) would damage his career and standing to an extent that would outweigh the benefits of a courtroom victory.

Hugh Grant would have reached this conclusion because he took advice from professionals, and also because he has a sufficient number of adequately functioning brain cells.

Harry, on the other hand...