H and M - an American dynasty as an offshoot from the British Royal Family

[mids2019]

Thinking long term about H and Me lives and their children's lives where is the funding going to come from and is there a serious risk of the funding drying up? I especially think of the children who I would expect would go to a private US school and ultimately will be US citizens perhaps pursuing US jobs. There is huge competition for celebrity status in the US and no nobility as such so how do they for in? Does the link to the RF quickly become an irrelevance ?

The link to the RF is their selling point. It's who they are. That's their income source and their source of fame. It's also been the way that they have made money, albeit in a very negative way, by pedalling a victim narrative, with the TV interviews, magazines and book, but that's not really a long term solution.
Harry has inheritances, and I suspect investments. Spare and the hawking of it made $$$$. Meghan is now separating her brand and wisely trying to be positive with the cookery/lifestyle programme. We shall see.
I find the whole thing quite fascinating.

I just wonder how the children are going to fit into US society?Yes, there is the wealth and with shrewd financial management there is no reason for them to have to work but there is no real l class system for them to slot into. The US doesn't do titles (at least royal ones obviously). In terms of US society there are many many millionaire and many celebrities so there is a lot of competition for attention.

Maybe the kids will be something like a royal family in exile but I doubt it. I think there may be some deliberate fading into obscurity for this branch of the family leading a privileged though confused life flicking between Suits and Wolf Hall on Netflix.

They've decided to style their children Prince and Princess, which is their right (in spite of the claims made on Oprah that titles were skin colour dependent), which is a very deliberate choice. Particularly with the daughter, Princess Lilibet Diana, which is such a distinctive name. So I do think that there is some future planning there, to make sure that the children's link is abundantly clear.

I imagine they'll have enough to get by whatever happens, I doubt anyone in the US will be overly fussed by either the childrens royal status or their parents 'fame', but maybe that'll be good for them growing up. Charles will leave Harry something when he passes despite their issues i bet, and they'll probably be some grifting left for Meghan to do. It's a shame as when they moved to the US if they'd have been themselves and released stuff they were passionate about people would probably have been more interested.

Won't having titles in the US just be faintly ridiculous? Even the president is simply.referred to as Mr..President. Having titles in a society that universally rejected monarchy on the 18th century just seems an opportunity for mockery. The reality is they won't be treated as royalty in a country without royalty?

I suppose if they do want to explore their royal links they could come over to the UK and visit some of our palaces, many of which are open to the public.

The children might choose to live in the UK in order to learn about their British heritage and the country. They might even choose to be a working part of the RF here in two or three decades. Or just get nice jobs in the US and live as wealthy, private, Americans. Who knows? At least they will have options.

It'll open doors. They're connected to Diana, and to the UK monarchy. It'll be a useful connection for the future.

They should have had their titles removed and Harry should have been removed from the line of succession even if it takes an act of parliament. Instead we have this ridiculous fiasco of bargain basement royals.

Their overseas tours are definitely quasi royal. The activities, inspecting troops, having the UK national anthem played, the photos with children, dancing etc is a clear sign that they're marketing themselves as royalty. No doubt.

I agree about the line of succession as he has made it quite clear what he thinks about the RF set up, but no to removing the titles. That would be childish and a tit-for-tat reaction which would, legitimately, give H&M something to dine out on and to hold against his family for ever. As to the children growing up with titles, I imagine Princess Lilibet Diana will want to be known as Lily or Betty or whatever once she has a say in it though a title might be handy for the odd bit of queue jumping.

Whatever she calls herself, her given name and title is Princess Lilibet Diana. That's distinctive for a reason.

So maybe the kids move back to the UK?. I wonder if in 20 years time they could become something like a working royal but I suspect that William s children certainly will have a much higher profile.

is moving back to the UK feasible? You still have security costs and press intrusion to consider and would there be an element of reintegration into British upper class society perhaps with schooling/university considerations?

personally from a PR point of view the kids will be essentially wealthy US citizens mixing with other wealth Americans and maybe in time downplay their connection to the RF.

There's not "press intrusion" in the UK. The Sussexes lived very privately when in the UK and were never papped. The only images of Archie were ones they released. The only pap pictures have been subsequent to their move to Canada/USA . They choose to feed information to various sources. These are not people who wish to lead a private or low key life. What Archie and Lilibet choose may be different.

They are not the only members a of royal family to live in America, although they, or rather the British royal family, are the most famous.

The Danish 'spare' and his two younger children live in Washington. Princess Madelaine of Sweden lived in Florida with her family, although they've recently returned to Stockholm. The now King Felipe of Spain studied at Harvard. The former Princess Mako of Japan lives in New York. There are numerous members of various Gulf royal families all over the United States. I'm sure there are other examples too.

I don't believe there will be much interest in these children growing up. Yes, they are 'royal' but their royalty is somewhat abstract. They aren't going to be seen at royal events or with other royals. They'll be the children of C list celebrities with an increasingly vague royal link.

It may be that Lilibet and Archie do become very private in time. It will be a curious existence in a way and I wonder what Harry's feelings about his children 's relative obscurity in public life will be (as well as Meghan's).

They could send the children back to boarding school in the to try to give them some British life.

I agree that the Princess and Prince titles are ridiculous. Princess of where? The awful country?

I do think the kids, as they grow into teens and young adults will want to be part of the RF public image. It is a very unique heritage to have and will be even more intriguing for them due to being so far removed from it. I could even see them going to boarding school in UK when they hit their teens. If it's true that H&M, H in particular, want to come in from the cold, their kids are probably their only ticket to that now.

Hopefully there won't be another generation of resentment, jealousy and anger, that will be a difficult thing for Harry and Meghan to instill in their kids, Spare, Oprah and Netflix are now a huge part of Harry and Meghan's legacy, even more than their Royal titles, and that will be a complex legacy for their kids to navigate.

Interesting point about the other monarchies and I guess the US is a natural see It again for many who aren't in immediate line to succession. Living in the US may mean that the royal status is drowned out being is a system where elite status is a little more.open.

Living in obscurity is the very opposite of what Harry and Meghan want! However, it's a good point that the children may choose differently. Interesting points, @IcedPurple about the other royals in the USA.

@Thedom I think that's a really good point about the legacy M&H have created. It's a difficult one to get past.

Boarding school in the UK?

Won't that look obvious to the British public (who fiance the RF to an extent ) that H and M are looking for an 'in' and they are willing to ship their children to the UK to start that process?

Would it be H and M having decided against being working royals will actively push their children back into this roles? Can it be done? Fascinating..

It must be very strange growing up with the knowledge that you are the grandchildren of an actual reigning King, but have never met him. And knowing that your parents chose to give you royal titles from a family they have kept you away from, and have publicly maligned.

I wonder if at some point the children will resent their parents cutting them off from their unique heritage?

I wonder that too, @IcedPurple . Plus all the stuff that has been said, all the accusations made.

Lots of people are fascinated by Harry and Megan and their general tawdry errors. How they managed to turn pure gold into PR disaster after disaster. Personally, I love to read about how awful they are.

So they will stay firmly in the public eye. But unrestrained by duty they have demonstrated themselves to be entitled, brattish, lacking in actual skills, and extremely self-regarding. There is no reason to imagine their children will be any different.

We don’t mind them being in the papers, but there is no way that after this we want any of them representing us on the world stage.

I could see Harry thinking UK Boarding school would be a possibility - known as good schools, a link to him/his past and possibly meeting up with old school friends who send their children to the same school. The link to the ‘Old Boys’ can be strong.

But I strongly doubt Meghan would consider it. There is nothing in it for her, and the children would be further away from her. IMO she wants to use the links they have to forge their life in the US. She has no interest in the people of the UK, or in her children or Harry getting closer to them.

I think it will be interesting when the kids are old enough to make their own decisions. At the time of choosing a university? Or a gap year? Or a secondment year from uni? At one of those times, isn’t life in the UK going to look pretty good? Especially when you know that your Grandfather is the King of that country. Or Uncle, or cousin. That’s a lot of name dropping, doors opening etc and would be heady stuff for an 18, 19, 20 year old.