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! 😬

FancyBiscuitsLevel · Today 10:54

Exactly what I was thinking.

If something happened on British soil - I'd expect there to be hard questions, conspiracy theories, and some blame attaching to the reigning Monarch.

But if something happened in Cali or NY or Jamaica or Columbia or Nigeria? I expect there would be an attempt by the press worldwide to drum up controversy and shame the BRF. But I expect also that the British public, by then, to be of the opinion that we don't want to pay for 24/7/365 protection for him and we are fed up of him trying to force us to provide it. He is nowhere near as popular as his mum was.

QEII wrote to RAVEC when H & M quit to request continued security for them and the committee refused her request. The Royal Family offer secure properties for them to stay in when they do come to the UK and it's not possible to buy armed security in the UK.

In the states, they pay for their own and have inherited millions to help with the cost (so Royal help isn't needed). And they made millions more by attacking the family.

I think the British public would understand it was a consequence of H & M's decision to quit their Royal jobs. The papers would definitely love to write about grief and guilt etching Charles's face but the British public knows how the papers work so likely wouldn't take an enormous amount of notice. Charles survived public bad feeling after Diana's death and I think they'd see a bereaved father (the papers don't seem to go after monarchs like they do the others anyway).

I should add that if H & M run out of money that would be a significant change of circumstances so I'd have to rethink my opinion.

I think this is one of the things Meghan struggled to understand: how the British public thinks differently to tabloid headlines. We aren't stupid, we know they play games. In the early days of them papers going for Meghan (increasingly negative coverage), I was annoyed for her but also recognised that this is what they do. It goes in cycles.

Except we'd never know, Not2identifying

It's true Harry might claim they're struggling to afford whatever, but then he claims a lot of things, and since the story changes according to what's currently convenient there's no relying on any of it

I think we would notice if they ran out of money, there would be clues. Selling up downsizing, returning to live on a Royal estate, increasingly desperate commercial jobs. We noticed when Fergie ran out of money!

And I’m sure they wouldn’t want to swap with many Mumsnetters either..

I don't know about that, as far as I know Moehringer wrote the entire thing.

True! But we know H & M ate fond of cherry picking (e.g. their half in half out original plan). I bet they'd sometimes lime our anonymity, or at least Harry would!

With Diana's death there was an 'easy' narrative of innocent girl being lured into marriage and cheated on. I don't think it was that straightforward, but it was easy to spun her as a victim.

I think that is trickier with Harry. He has made all sorts of vague accusations, with much detail or evidence, so his claim to victimhood is a bit tarnished. Plus he has come after the tabloids that sanctified his mother! So I think less likely that they would have an interest in whipping up public hysteria.

Anyway, I very much hope we never get to find out.

I think Harry would sometimes like the anonymity of his ultra rich, non royal friends. And when he chooses the profile and benefits of being in the RF.

I don't think he wants the anonymity of us plebs!

I think it's fair to say that some people do lap up press narratives, but that's the same everywhere.

To be honest, it's often people who lap up press narratives themselves that cry foul when it applies to them.

For example, when Meghan uncritically absorbed the "Princess Kate" narrative from the press to compare her (unfavourably) to herself.

And he said he'd squirrelled away his Diana money for his children. I'm not happy to fund his security Full Stop, but if even more so if he's broke because he gave his wealth to his kids.

This is one of the other issue - financially he can’t keep up with his ultra rich friends. A few tens of millions, even a hundred million seems unimaginable to most of us but when your friends have hundreds of millions/billions, you are spending millions every year on security and private jets, and future income looks decidedly shaky, you might not feel quite so wealthy.

On the other hand, I am surprised if he has good relationships with many of his ultra rich friends as they tend to prize discretion….

Rhaidimiddim

And he said he'd squirrelled away his Diana money for his children.

My suspicion is that he thought that made him look like a wonderful father and that people would admire him for it.
And, of course, money from the sainted Diana isn't your ordinary filthy lucre to be frittered away on everyday life.
It's more like that other Harry's magical money from his dear, dead parents which stayed stored at Gringotts.

I think it's more nuanced than that. Diana was by no means universally popular in the UK when she died. A lot of people didn't like her attacks on the Royal Family, and thought she'd given as good as she'd got from Charles, in terms of her affairs. Her disordered personality, manifested by suicide baiting, tantrums and stalking her exes, were also fairly well known.

It's only when she died that the hagiographers really got to work, driven in part I think because the press barons felt guilty and were terrified of having press freedom curtailed. I'm also not sure that the fabled 'mass outpouring of public grief' was entirely organic either. Human beings are hardwired to follow the herd - that's how we managed to claw our way to the top of the evolutionary ladder. So I think most of us woke that Sunday to the news of her death and were shocked but emotionally sanguine. But after 12 hours of funeral music on all radio stations, weeping celebs in TV studios, and panning shots of flowers outside Buck House, and we collectively became a nation of nervous wrecks. Which in turn burnished the 'Saint Diana' narrative - gosh, look how adored she was!

I also think there was a big element of tacit public understanding that the last thing William and Harry needed was any public criticism of their mother so we'd better all say she was a saint instead. Which I think reflects quite well on the moral calibre we had as a nation back then. We didn't want to make anything worse for the boys.

Harry, I have always said, because I've worked with people who've interviewed/filmed/photographed the RF and I've been told - he has always been erratic and self-pitying with a serious anger problem. That's why Chelsy ended things, she tried to help him initially but he made it clear he just wanted to stew in his own self pity and she, quite reasonably decided she didn't want to spend her life stewarding an angry man-child. This part of his personality was covered up brilliantly by the Palace PR but if anyone else here has, like me, spent time on ARRSE, the Mumsnet for Army vets, there used to be a number of threads on there back in the day posted on by guys who'd trained or served with him and they painted quite a different picture.

Meghan, I believe deliberately encouraged Harry to lean into his sense of self-pity and resentment and somehow managed to convince him (maybe she herself actually believed it, maybe not) that the source of all his problems was the evil 'men in grey' at Buck and Ken Houses. And that they would be much happier making their own money in Cali.

Whether Harry feels that Meghan's promises have borne fruition, I do not know.

I think Harry's position with regard to his inheritance probably stems back to when he thought he'd be spending his life as a working royal with his every whim catered and paid for by someone else.
His future children would be unlikely to be full time working royals but would also be very high profile and might struggle to make meaningful careers for themselves so he planned to keep his inheritance to set them up for life.
At the time he did the Oprah interview, (which is when I heard him make the comments about his inheritance from Diana), he probably still had whiplash for the speed at which his life and future had completely changed so was struggling to come to terms with the fact that he and Meghan were now responsible for their own financial futures and his DC would have to be responsible for theirs.
His changing situation is entirely his and Meghan's doing and he certainly has more than enough money now to fund several generations but I'm sure anybody who's had a massive change in circumstances will understand that it takes a while to get your head around your new situation and come to terms with a different future to the one you always planned.

The bee's without gloves is particularly ridiculous

I know sod all about bee keeping, but thought it looked a bit odd - because even though she was scraping off the honey (no actual bees in sight) she was wearing rings set with stones. Surely you’d take those off before doing something that gloopy?

he certainly has more than enough money now to fund several generations

That rather depends on your expectations and rate of spend. His children would do well to assume they will need careers of their own.

@WarmingClothesontheRadiator very true and although they've earned an absolute fortune already, it could be that they don't earn any more significant income in the future. They've exhausted the royal gossip income stream so Meghan's lifestyle show could be their last roll of the dice to make their billions.
They live an eye wateringly expensive lifestyle and hopefully have another 40/50 years to go so might not have significant capital to pass on to their DC in the future.
This is all relative of course, they will still have money beyond most people's wildest dreams!

That’s the last thing he would want it to be recognised

A quick google suggested he had £60million. Even if we are generous and round that up to £100million, his security at Montecito is estimated at £2million per year so would eat up £80million of that alone over the course of 40 years. No wonder he wants the UK taxpayer to pick up the tab. A return trip to London on a private jet is around £300K. Running costs of his home must be several hundred thousands per year including staff. That is before you consider costs like exclusive schooling, designer clothes, fancy holidays, expensive hobbies, eating out…. And as you say, unless things change, it seems unlikely they will continue to bring in anything like the sums they have to date.

Well only if you were that stupid to leave the money sitting in a bank account doing nothing. No doubt there will be morey invested making a good return given the amounts that will be. So the money will go further, don't think mayone needs to worry about them running out of it.

Agree entirely but the Diana inheritance must have dropped from the same magic money tree as the Frogmore 'repayment' because I'm pretty sure he credited it as being a big factor in enabling him to purchase the money pit.