As Ever #2 Whatever

[PrettyFlyforaMaiTai]

I noticed the old thread is almost full so thought we could start a new one to carry on the discussion about the rebrand and merching.

Are you an ‘As Ever’ or ‘Whatever’?

link to the old thread: www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_royal_family/5277002-as-ever

That’s is interesting @FromThePrismOfJammyTodger

They’re clearly a very complicated couple. Each bring their issues to the relationship, and who knows, maybe it works perfectly for them. Every pan has a lid, after all.

They both have complex families, they both have a victim mentality. Maybe the ‘us against the world’ narrative is at the heart of the self-sabotage. They have to have something to rail against, something to band together against. Success and universal acclaim would be alien. Where do you put your anger and frustration then?

I see a lot of it about, they’re just doing it on a world stage. It’s sad, really.

Agreed.

I see it said often that the reason they are subjecting themselves to this embarrassing, desperate debacle with Meghan's various attempts at success is because they need money. I know the costs of the grandiose lifestyle that they feel is so essential must be vast, but even so.. they are already very wealthy. And Charles absolutely is bankrolling them in some respects. Massive amounts of Harrys captial/inheritance havent been touched I'm sure. I have no idea how much Harry stands to inherit from Charles when he dies but it must be an enormous sum.

Harry won't inherit anything when Charles dies. The monarch always leaves everything to the next monarch to avoid paying inheritance tax.

I suspect that what Charles, the late Queen have done is to establish trusts for their children and grand children.

Thirded.

Thedom, that picture of Meghan and Harry walking in wellies with their dogs was fanart created after this footage was featured in their Netflix documentary.

But yes, it is so very similar to the paparazzi photos published of Kate and William walking their dog Lupo when they were living in Angelsey. Either it’s a complete coincidence, or was deliberately staged to be similar for Netflix. Given how pristine Meghan’s wellies look in the picture below, I will hazard a guess that she doesn't often wear them for dog walks in the countryside, so the clothes at least may have been deliberately chosen.

I'm going to add my fourthed re the comparison of Meghan to Manson in any way. It isn't OK.

Goodness, I had no idea about that. Presumably his trust fund will be enormous though, Charles's wealth is vast and he only has two children - one of which will already be inheriting everything anyway.

Possibly. I don't think the public have ever been told about what monarchs have left to their wider family, by which I mean not the heir. We know the Queen Mother left trust funds but nothing about what her husband left as far as I know.

I keep thinking about the 'American Hustle' Vanity Fair article. And how with each of these videos, rebands etc she really is hustling.

And how there is something quite admirable about that.

I think this is particularly a quality admired in America. And what we in the UK think of as distasteful self promotion is admirable go getting to a US audience.

They need money and she's working hard to get it for them.

Unlike Harry who is basically making no contribution and appears to have no paying job. He just wants adulation at Invictus while she at is hustling to make them some money.

The kids have got to eat 😁.

I personally find her saccharine empty & fake but I can see how her hustling could be viewed as admirable.

While Harry is just a useless limpit who needs supporting now.

Adding. Whilst he may be left a sub that is larger by my standards I doubt it will be vast. A lot of the wealth in families, aristocratic or royal lies in land and stocks rather than cash. There are probably not vast sums that can be left to an individual. I would expect Charles to leave trusts for his grandchildren if he can, particularly those outside the succession.

Unlike Harry who is basically making no contribution and appears to have no paying job. He just wants adulation at Invictus while she at is hustling to make them some money.

I disagree with this - Harry is Chimpo at BetterUp, which will be a paid position. His other roles (Aspen Institute) may also be paid. Spare would have earned him many millions. And their Netflix documentary was successful because it told the story of his family.

I think Harry is the one that has been behind their biggest successes. That balance is likely to tip now though as that rich seam has presumably now been mined out.

Just had a look at Benita Litt - she is an image consultant . No surprise there was an eminence grise lurking round the wedding…

Actually just happened across a Sun article from 2020 detailing all the Sussex’s close allies: Hillary Clinton, the Obamas, the Clooneys… dear oh dear.

Harry won't inherit anything when Charles dies. The monarch always leaves everything to the next monarch to avoid paying inheritance tax.

So farmers can't but the RF can?

I have no idea of the amounts left to them, but isn't it possible that the money was put in trust with the financial plan he would still be a royal?

So minimal housing, security and travel costs?

I know a pp said that he probably just has security on the perimeter fence, but I don't believe that.
He really thinks he is at risk, and I've seen other accounts that his security is 2-3 million a year.

Thats interesting, so I suspect the similarity had previously been pointed out then! which makes it even weirder she would put it on that vision board knowing everything on that board would be scrutinised.

Most of Charles wealth is the Duchy which cannot be passed to Harry, I cannot see Balmoral or Sandringham being risked so that too will be William's. Charles like the Queen sees the owning of private collections as acts of custodians so they too will be passed to William. If you look at the children and grandchildren of the Queen the main inheritance is a life of grace and favour if it is wanted. Charles is asset rich I'm not sure he is particularly cash rich in the terms of the mega wealthy. Princess Anne is going to fall foul of the farmer's inheritance tax changes

Most of those are in the past. What is he currently doing to bring in money for his family? What is his plan to provide for his family in the future? They apparently need money he has no plan.

He has no job or purpose. Except maybe Betterup? which seems a made up kind of job is that going to be his contribution?

Yes he sold his families privacy for money but you can really only do that once.

They need a plan for the future. What is Harry going to do to contribute?
What is he doing now? Apart from holding the camera for her?

She at least is hustling. Trying to build her own brand and establish something.
(whether she'll be successful is a different conversation but she's certainly putting herself out there.)

He's looking increasingly like a useless passenger.

I keep thinking: what does he actually do every day?

That's why Trust arrangements will have been put in place to support Harry and his family. I would be interested to hear if they're happy to accept the money, and for their children to be beneficiaries. I suspect it's a resounding "yes".

I agree - that is shocking .

I’m sure Harry won’t be gifted a property. Well, I’m not sure but I hope not! Maybe he’ll get something like the Queen Mother’s Scottish castle, which I presume is still privately owned by the rf.

I’ve always hated the Prodigal Son story. Outrageous! I am steaming for the schmuck who stayed at home and did the right thing. But parents throughout history never fail to forgive, nay reward, their most problematic child.

Unlike Harry who is basically making no contribution and appears to have no paying job. He just wants adulation at Invictus while she at is hustling to make them some money.

Harry pulls in a reputed $1m per year of his CHIMPO role at better up. He's the one who has had the most commercial success with Spare, bringing in a reputed $9m. He's the one with the big inheritance that is their cushion, and the royal title that is the only thing that makes anyone interested in the Sussexes. I can't stand the bloke, I think he's a useless waste of space whose feeds off the grief of others and has monetised his issues with his family to a distasteful degree. But you can't actually say he has not made a contribution.

Harry is pretty much doing what he's always done - riding the coattails of his birth circumstance, but in much reduced circumstances, and in the place Meghan wants to be and which is effectively her territory. And he's a self confessed mess of a human being.

Meghan is the one who has had opportunities fall into her lap that she could never have dreamed of getting pre-Harry, and is thus the one who has the most to prove. She's the one with the big claims about her character, intentions and motives - humanitarianism, philanthropy, cooking and crafting earth mom, with the drive, relatability and "nothing she can't do" personality that her stans (like Omid Scobie) claim made the RF jealous of her. Plus she's the one with 20+ years (much more if you count her childhood where she claims she grew up on the set of Married With Children) experience in the industry she wants to court - entertainment. She's the one who has had massive deals with Netflix, Spotify and Penguin Random House fall into her lap through no more effort on her part than making an advantageous marriage. She's the one who keeps failing to live up to her own hype.

If she's hustling to make a living, it's no worse than the hustles she performed pre-marriage; and at least she now can hustle on a much grander platform with far, far greater rewards than she could have ever dreamed of, with far greater resources (like Spotify building her her own studio at home, while other newby podcasters set up a mic and a ring light in their bedroom) and help at her fingertips (numerous highly paid assistants and lawyers). The question is, with all the massive resources she has, with all the massive opportunities she's been gifted - that no other woman in her position of being (in her own right) a nobody with zero experience in these chosen avenues would have been gifted - why does she keep getting is so cack-handedly wrong?

Harry himself said that he wanted Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s but wasn’t allowed . William suggested Tetbury ( I think) but Harry dismissed that idea .
Another example of wanting what William had .,

I cannot see Balmoral or Sandringham being risked so that too will be William's.

Yes @Vespanest. I believe George VI had to buy Sandringham and Balmoral from Edward VIII when the latter abdicated (having apparently also caused mayhem with the staff at said establishments)

I think this is a part of it.

One of my closest friends has severe mental health issues that have blighted her life for decades (we are both now 51). She married a man with severe mental health issues and they feed off each other in a terribly unhealthy way. I asked her what on earth she was doing with him before she got married and she said 'we are both broken. maybe together we will be whole'.

It was a car crash. For the sale of our own sanity most of their friends and family have had to withdraw. But I get the same sort of vibe from Harry and Meghan.

Yes, he said in Spare that they wanted St Paul's Cathedral or Westminster Abbey.
After having claimed that a small, intimate ceremony in Africa would suit him best.