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

@FromThePrismOfJammyTodger
“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?”

Because she doesn’t take advice ? She’s a Duchess remember!

The problem is that Harry can't differentiate between the role and the person . If William was treated differently it was because of his role not because he was loved anymore than Harry

William's wedding venue was appropriate for a future king it was never about William the person getting better than Harry

My point is she's hustling.
He's not.

And hustling is not a bad thing, in the American context it is often admired.
Always looking for the next opportunity or step up.

She does seem to have an extraordinary resilience to just keep hustling. Like someone mentioned earlier: similar to Trump.

Whether she can pull it off is another matter. She certainly seems to have everything against her including her own previous decisions, but sometimes those who just won't give up and who keep on hustling win against the odds.

She did hustle herself a prince. That's pretty good hustling.

@StrawberryWasp but I don't think she is seen as hustling anymore, it is seen as grifting. And that isn't celebrated anywhere.

"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."

She wasn't gifted Harry she hustled for him.

That was pretty successful hustling.

And this is clearly born out by them both who thought the world loved them and not their roles/position.

Harry could have married anyone and the crowds at the wedding would have been the same. Had Harry been Harriet the crowds would have been the same

What since the Vanity fair article came out called American hustle? A few weeks ago?
They were quite clearly being called hustlers.

My point is she's the hustler and it's not necessarily always viewed as a bad thing.

The only reason the monarchy still exist financially is due to the line of succession. Charles has to seperate the role of a father and the role of the monarch as did previous monarch who basically made the two duchy trust funds to guarantee the line of succession and to stop a monarch or heir being reckless. It what Harry seems to finds extremely difficult but any other system would have depleted their wealth generations ago.

I almost wish you hadn't posted that, Thedom; weird is the word and it's hard to un-see
Difficult to avoid wondering who painted it and what the brief was ....

In general I agree, the American dream is built on a work hard ethic, and you are right. Her goal was to social climb and she got almost to the top. Pre marriage she was successful in her endeavours.

But it has changed, is it the air of desperation, the lack of insight/planning/skill which means the VF article looked down on them for hustling?

Hustling is an interesting word anyway, to cheat, swindle, jostle I don't see it as a compliment in the VF article.

I didn't say she was gifted Harry, though. I said she's been gifted work opportunities (through marriage) that nobody in her position of inexperience would be gifted. That's not even hustling or grifting. That's having a golden goose plopping golden egg after golden egg into your lap. She could make some fine omelettes with them if she had the talent, but all she seems to do is drop them on the floor and smash them.

Good points 👍

I agree with this.

Let's be honest, if a bunch of mumsnetters could see the writing on the wall back in 2020, of course Oprah and her advisers could. She doesn't need to worry about her journalistic integrity, she'll have earned millions from that interview.

I'm not convinced Oprah did it for the money, she's a billionaire after all. I do think Oprah thought she was going to be part of a huge expose of the RF, much of which would have been centred around racism

I agree @NotaRealHousewife I thought the Oprah interview was poorly researched and clearly had an agenda.

Yes all those fake "UK Press" headlines were a give away.

Just on the topic of RF money being tied up in land - this isn't really relevant but I think funny

She's been gifted opportunities because she hustled for Harry.

I agree she has misplayed this opportunity spectacularly but she is still hustling.

Most would have given up in shame by now.

Those who have no shame and just keep hustling can eventually earn some admiration for persistence.

Harry on the other hand has had everything gifted and has never needed to hustle.

His financial contributions going forward seem to depend on non contributory roles in exchange for his titled status.

I'm just trying to give meghan her due: she's a shameless hustler who persists. That is not nothing.

Well, there's the cult thing....

I don't agree that she's hustling.

Prior to her marriage yes, and good for her I guess.

But now she seems to think she's owed a lavish life simply by being a Duchess. She's done very little for NF in the nearly 5 years they've had a contract. Spotiy dropped them due to failure to produce. I think this influencer thing is desperation, and I think she knows it. All the lucrative gigs she and Harry scored were in their first year post royal, and there's been very little since.

I think she thought her hustling days were over when she bagged a prince, and if she'd had any sense, they would have been. But she hasn't shown much by way of work ethic or hustle since she became a Duchess.

Farmers, like anyone else, can put lands or other assets in trust. The tax rules then change, as they aren't personal assets. Whether it is financially beneficial (there are admin costs to trusts) depends on the size of the assets. Tax is still payable, but organised differently.

Plus, of course, control goes to the trustees, not the original owner, who can be ousted.

But the same tax and trust rules apply to people with a family farm that apply to e.g. the Duke of wherever

"in any way"?

Tastless, yes, and OTT but not unfounded.

The Sussex Squad are a cult, who target a specific family with small children, and also anyone who their perceive as having crossed MM's interests.

She could have gone to live quietly with the wealth and status she's achieved in bagging a prince.

But she hasn't. She wants to use this status for more. The next step. That's hustling.

She wanted to use it to become Hollywood A list celebrities.

She's now using it to build her own brand. She using the platform Harry gave her to further herself. That's hustling.

She may not be succeeding. But that's a different argument. She's trying.

Anyway you may not think she's hustling but Vanity Fair very recently labelled them as Hustlers so they're obviously seen that way by many people.

I don't understand your logic.

You say she hustled for Harry. Well that's a matter of opinion and one for the historians when the truth comes out it it hasn't already.

But once she got Harry, no hustle was required. She was a duchess in the most famous family in history, and then a duchess who "fled" because she was the "victim of "racism and jealousy" and had a story to tell and the world at her feet begging for her to spill. No hustle required. The Penguin, Netflix and Spotify deals weren't a result of hustling. They were a result of those companies desperate to cash in on this couple and beg them to spill out their story for money. They signed contracts, and everything that the couple has produced under these contracts are not hustles, they are just business. Bad business, granted, but not hustles.

The things that I would call hustles are Meghan's side activities. The faux royal tours, the merching of unsold clothing from the previous seasons of little known labels, and the carpark pap walks. And, to an extent, some the "humanitarian work" that has amounted to nothing more than photo opportunities. But all these activities have done is cheapen her to the point of derision. This hustling is not even remotely admirable and has not been remotely successful, and half the time has got peoples' backs up as inauthentic, staged and manipulative. Instead of which, she could have been spending her time honing her podcasting skills in her state of the art studio built for her by Spotify under that lucrative, pukka contractual deal, in order to secure a further series and even greater legitimacy and status as a sage with something interesting to say. Or coming up with some decent ideas for Netflix to produce a hit series, or writing a book people will actually buy under one of her other, pukka, business contacts with Penguin.

The "hustle" is only admirable when you have nothing and you are climbing the greasy pole with determination. When you have married (arguably) one of the most privileged men on the planet, then continuing to "hustle" just makes you look classless.

She could have gone to live quietly with the wealth and status she's achieved in bagging a prince.
But she hasn't. She wants to use this status for more. The next step. That's hustling.

I don't believe doing a show about putting flowers in ice cubes is 'more' than living a quiet dignified life.

And I don't think this is the 'next step' at all. In fact I reckon it's a massive step backwards. And I think Meghan, even with her great lack of self awareness, knows this. It's desperation, because everything else has failed.

She's now using it to build her own brand. She using the platform Harry gave her to further herself. That's hustling.

But she had her own modestly successful brand before she met Harry.

And 5 years ago they were all about how they were going to be globe trotting philanthropic superstars, lending their 'voice' to serious causes. They were simply too good, too progressive, too outspoken, for royal life.

So how is a lifestyle brand, which doesn't even have a trademark or even any products, the result of 'hustling'?

If she'd wanted to do a revamp of The Tig she could have done this 5 years ago. She's not 'furthering' herself. She's going backwards.