With Love, Meghan - criticisms and genuine concern for her mental health

[Lavenderfarmcottage]

I am probably going to be flogged for posting this and chased down the dark laneways of Mumsnet as bystanders yell “Shame Shame Shame”.

I weighed in yesterday about a thread on Meghan and her new Netflix show. I made some criticisms about the trailer and certain cliche’s in the way it was produced. Hypocritical of me to be posting this but I feel guilty and have reflected. I am actually looking forward to watching it on Netflix and my criticisms were pretty minor and not exclusive to her show - it’s a common issue I have.

Meghan has struggled with mental health because of criticism. The reaction to ‘With Love… Meghan’ has been fairly brutal.

I think it would be really good if we refrained from saying anything negative about the series or Meghan Markle. That’s not the point of this thread.

I want to know if you think the criticisms have gone too far. The Princess of Wales is not on the scene and we are protective of her rightly so. That leaves Meghan as media fodder though.

Do you think it’s time Meghan and Harry were given a break ? I do. I think we’ve been far too harsh and the criticisms have gotten out of hand.

I think we also forget the cultural relevance. If we went into the homes or Gwyneth, Julia Roberts etc and I would probably feel the divide too. American culture doesn’t apologise for wealth and hollywoood is highly competitive.

Having a confident demeanour, throwing your head back Julia Roberts style when you laugh and unapologetically selling $$$ vagina products like Gwyneth Paltrow is how it over there. People talk loudly and confidently and are polished and rehearsed especially in the
Competitive world of Hollywood…

Are we all being too hard ?

There couldn't possibly have been any less interaction and empathy.

This with bells on.

😁 no idea what QE2 thought about it!

But it has been widely known for decades that her family nickname was Lilibet, from her younger sister's mispronouncing Elizabeth.

In my completely irrelevant opinion 'Elizabeth' to be shortened to 'Lili' would have been a nice tribute. Or 'Lily' in itself a lovely name - my grandmother's name!

I have long maintained that Meghan is socially inept in many ways and doesn't seem to be able to read the room. This results in many incidences that appear rude...pushing in front of people, staying too long for photos on the red carpet etc and often clothing choices that are v inappropriate to the circumstances.
The lady telling her about her child dying was a classic example..Megan could not see that the women didn't want to sit on the floor and she insisted. It was uncomfortable from the outset.Her interactions were v strange and she didn't seem to know what to do or say even when she was listening. There was a huge pause after the woman said her child had died that was v awkward and finally Meghan mumbled something about being sorry. It was as if she didn't have a clue how to respond so I do wonder whether there is some kind of issue there. This may be why she clings onto Harry like a limpet and seems to rely on him so much. She certainly seems to struggle alone.
Just my thoughts of course but I do think some of the stuff she does is caused by this awkwardness which she is maybe not even aware of and it also stops people from genuinely warming to her because she comes across as being so v strange and rude at times. I certainly think she has zero ability to self reflect so she is probably oblivious to how others perceive her.

Well, Diana was no saint but she could empathise and respond in the moment. Meghan isn't Diana 2.0! No matter how many seals spoke to her...

We don't know what ER II thought.

But the BBC ran a story which said the couple (who had said they had HMQ's support/permission) had not in fact sought her permission.

Harry threatened to sue. BBC said "see you in Court then". NFA

The story is still on the BBC website
Harry and Meghan did not ask Queen to use Lilibet name - Palace source - BBC News

And it's that which has fed the rumours that HMQ did not approve. We don't know that she disapproved - but this fiasco shows that the idea she gave her blessing in advance is false

Gosh I can't believe the poster trying to defend Meghan in the video by saying she was giving "90% of her attention" and she 'couldn't help but be distracted by adorable babies.'

FFS she's not a toddler with a bowl of sweets in front of her, she's a fully grown adult attending an event in a professional capacity. Giving 100% of her attention, even if the topic was relatively dull, is part of the job. Given that the topic was so serious and sad, it's inexcusable that she couldn't give the poor woman her undivided attention for 5 minutes.

I agree with you!

I think H&M were blatantly using her nickname fir their own profit.

But just trying to give them the benefit of the doubt!

I think H&M were blatantly using her nickname fir their own profit.

Oh absolutely, haven’t they acquired the domain “Lilibet’s Closet?”

No Diana fan, but she would have given the woman her full attention.

And the floor thing reeked of privilege, you're more comfortable on a floor, chairs are a novelty for you, so I'll sit on the floor too. Absolute patronising tosh.

When you are any type of public figure you should buy up all domains with your name/name variations to prevent fraudulent use of your name or people /businesses trading on it.

The fact that the late Queen refused to allow a photo of her with Lilibet to be taken speaks volumes.

The Robert Hardman biography of QEII that came out last year includes claims from a courtier that the Queen got very upset, saying they took the only thing that was truly hers, her nickname.

I mean who knows if this is actually true? But it's hardly flattering for anyone involved is it? Not exactly a great name for a child. It's clearly a nickname. I mean they might as well have gone with 'cabbage'. I suspect (could be massively wrong). That Meghan thought it would curry favour, and Harry has the bandwidth of an actual cabbage so didn't know any better to pipe up and say, actually that's a really shite idea 😅

I think that says more about your prejudice actually.

She got on the floor because of the babies and toddlers.

I think she should have stayed seated if she knew there would be women sharing their experiences, but to suggest she thinks South Africans all sit on the floor is your own prejudice.

Of course she knew the women would be sharing their experiences. The group was for women with HIV related bereavements. She would have been briefed by the courtiers about what to expect. She was bloody rude.

She was the 1st person to sit on the floor quite a while before anyone else. In fact she suggested it and hopped down. Everyone remained seated until she whinged she was literally the only person sat on the floor? There were no kids on the floor at that point. I'm pretty sure she was briefed beforehand i.e This lady is going to speak to you about her experiences, she's sat on your left hand side.

The thing with Royal visits is they are micro managed to within an inch of their life. They follow a script. Probably nobody expected for a second she would sit on the floor. It'd have been...
A) you will sit here
B) This person will specifically recount a story to you
C) The brief is XYZ

If M and H were content to live a normal comfortably-off person's life (rather than a billionaire lifestyle), it would have been fairly easy for them to have gone and lived quietly off the money earned from Diana's millions, while Charles would have paid for their security out of his own money if they hadn't pissed him off. They wouldn't even have needed to make a big announcement, just gradually spend more and more time in the US "enjoying time with Doria and Meghan's American friends/family," and then eventually just not come back to the UK and quietly put down permanent roots. Meghan could have returned to some form of acting at some point (voice acting, whatever) and Harry could have found something or other to do.

Princess Mako of Japan is now living quite a normal lifestyle in the US with her husband Kei. The press mostly leave them alone now, because normal middle class people going to the supermarket etc. is not that exciting so interest quickly fades. In fact, she didn't even accept the offer of money which is usually given to princesses when they marry commoners and lose their princess status.

Well time will tell if they do cash in on “Lilibet’s Closet”, shame she wasn’t so forward thinking before she launched American Riviera Orchard before getting the trademark…..

There were toys in the middle of a mat on the floor, with a toddler stood at his mum’s legs and several babies/toddlers in laps.

She says in the video if Archie were there, he’d want to be on the floor with the toys, so she thinks the babies there would like that too.

Yes, it should have even managed better but it looks like she tried to do a kind thing for the babies that went awry.

Archie wasn't there. None of the kids were playing with the toys. There were barely any toys on the floor anyways, and at the end of the interview/session, there was a lone baby laid on the play mat rolling about whilst everyone else was sat in seats for a photo shoot. So I highly believe she gave two shiney shits about any of the kids wanting to play or not?

It's like her baby shower - why was Williams there? They're not mates. Half the folk on her side at her wedding are not mates. I mean it must be literally shit. Feeling you're famous, but you're not quite famous enough to actually be a somebody. And casting off your actual family because they're seeking their own minute in the starlight too... I feel sorry for Meghan tbh she just seems so dying to be someone, whilst getting to the top. And still being a non event.

Exactly!

They are such hypocrites.

Archie wasn't there.

Which part of ‘If Archie was there’ did you not get? No need to state the bleeding obvious,

None of the kids were playing with the toys. There were barely any toys on the floor anyways

There were around 5 babies / toddlers and about 6/7 toys. It’s not unthinkable that Meghan imagined they would want to play with the toys.

So I highly believe she gave two shiney shits about any of the kids wanting to play or not?

Maybe you don’t give two shiny shits but she did.

I’m not even going to respond to your baby shower rant, it’s unhinged.

How does it affect you how they choose to live their life? They may as well be in living in a different galaxy, it’s not worth this level of angst.

Not angst at all. Just explaining why people are entitled to comment on the couple's media offerings if they want to: this couple does not HAVE to put themselves out on public view or pursue this influencer career stuff, it's not a forced choice ("If they don't do something to earn money, how can they survive outside the RF or pay for their security?"). They are doing it because they hope to pursue a certain kind of lifestyle.