As ever#4 - As usual

[Words]

New thread!

I suspect the board game thing is because Louis has mentioned playing cards and games with his grandparents. She always has to make sure she’s keeping up.

This is where she will buy all her bland interiors.

As I say, an expensive NEXT home

https://rh.com/us/en

what on earth has Lily playing a board game got to do with it?

Might it be related to the Wales’ children filmed playing games with their Middleton grandparents last summer?

She also says- ‘when Aunties come to celebrate and play’ in ref to Serena.

Yes, because Lily has no real Aunties that she sees because youre estranged from both sides.

@AtIusvue ir’s not her house?

Is Serena an enduring friend? Seems that way.

It's good that Serena is an enduring friends, everyone needs friends. The board game does seem like a copy but then Richard Osman said that there is nothing original under the sun.

I don't like the sneak peeks of the children because I think it will embolden the paparazzi to try and get shots and that is scary for children. But they are not my children and it isn't my decision.

I can't see how she is going to make money with the whole thing but again not my problem.

Well yes, exactly.

Wonder why it's not Serena's daughters she is playing with ? Serena presents her kids faces on her instagram, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Strange there is no glimpse, so far, of the kids with their grandmother in any of the instagram promotional snippets..

Well, refusing to share lip balm is not, as I'd always previously thought, a very sensible hygiene precaution. It's actually a highly aggressive act of structural oppression and institutionalised racism. It's true, Martin Luther King said so! Probably. Possibly. Perhaps.

Re the 2 million followers, I'd reckon about 30% are bots, being conservative and favourable to Meghan. That's fairly normal for a mid-level celeb who can't command high numbers organically. The hope will be that over time, organic numbers come in through signal boosting from other mid-level influencers, and the bots can be quietly retired. Maintaining that high a proportion of bots can get expensive.

H&M's stance on social media is another example of my argument that their brand is hopelessly diluted and confused. On the one hand, Harry angrily inveighed against social media in the netflix doc, explaining how social media users are the new paps and had driven Meghan to suicidality from their racist, misogynistic abuse. And the Parents' Network, which was presented to the world as a support group for parents whose children had died by suicide after online bullying, was actually, when you scratched the surface, a campaign group for stronger controls on social media (which is problematic in itself because it's ethically extremely sus to 'leverage' bereaved and vulnerable parents in this way).

So on the one hand, social media is a horrible social evil. OK, we've got that.

But then on the other hand, Meghan is using social media - and using all the tired old sales tricks (bots, signal boosting, bait and switch with post-and-delete) as her main avenue of revenue.

What should H&M fans conclude? That social media is evil, but only sometimes? That it's only certain platforms that are evil and not others?

That social media is evil except when Meghan's using it, and everyone is saying nice things about her?

I think it's evil unless you're in vehement support of Harry and Meghan.

This is another point that makes me fear for those children.

They might well have 'aunties' (and uncles) at various points - but with Meghan's track record, are these people likely to be permanent fixtures in the children's lives? If the children become attached to someone and then Meghan ditches them, that's going to be hard.

Aside from having M & H as parents my biggest concern for A and L is the lack of relatives on either side. And it's a double whammy because not only do they lack family - and this will become a problem when they go to school and start mixing with other children and asking 'Mommy, why don't I have a Grandpop?' or similar. But also - what explanations can the parents give them about this? Those explanations in themselves are bound to be damaging, aren't they? How do you tell a child that both his grandfathers (and uncles, aunts and cousins) are such awful people (racists etc) that they've had to be cut off? I don't think this can be done without fall-out for the children's emotional health.

And when they're older surely resentment will kick in about being denied access to their relations. They'll start to question their parents behaviour in cutting them off from their extended family.

I don't see good things in my crystal ball.

Perhaps she is including and using the kids as some type of SM armour / shield, to try to minimise negative comments, however they have already exposed the kids to comments about how they look, even though there are no front facial images yet (other than the Gloria Steinem photo).

Remember that Catherine didn’t include Meghan in a shopping trip .
Bad Catherine.

I don't like the sneak peeks of the children because I think it will embolden the paparazzi to try and get shots and that is scary for children. But they are not my children and it isn't my decision.

The days when 'paparazzi' hung around looking for shots of celebrity children are gone, if only because there just isn't that much money in it. I don't think there is huge interest in Archie and Lili.

To me, this thing of showing 'sneak peeks' of backs of heads or random limbs is just a way of having your cake and eating it, so to speak. Meghan can say she maintains her children's privacy because we don't see their faces, yet she is clearly using them for promotion. Like so much of what they do, it's hypocritical.

What is that book Archie and Lily Candy land?

I get that insta is carefully curated, but that's just it, there are things you want to show that just appear to be in shot, rather casual, not stood up awkwardly, demanding to be looked at.

Also learnt today that beekeeping suits are only white when they haven't been worn- pollen, been dust etc marks them with brown stains.

I suspect M is desperate to show photos of the children as she knows that would garner lots of views and positivity.
I also suspect that is Harry's absolute no and would be the breaking point for him.
I can't see Lilly's golden hair down to her bottom though. Looks light brown / mousy colour to me.

I think you're right, but we have facial images from released film and photos, so we know what they look like, even if it's not quite up to date.
Just more of their hypocrisy.

What about her "blue, blue eyes"?
That child's name was very deliberate, and not the choice of parents who want their daughter to be low profile.

What is that book Archie and Lily Candy land?

Candyland is a popular American board game for children. I think the “book” is just a personalised, more stylish, box for the game.

That makes sense, so just propped up to remind us of the kids names.

I think it’s Meghan saying - look Serena’s still my friend even if she didn’t post about my jam or appear on my show

Back to rolling pins... I have a mahoosive silicone one from the time I attempted to use fondant icing on a 12 inch cake (never again). My husband refers to it as either a hardcore bedroom aid or a good weapon for the zombie apocalypse. It has considerable heft!

Regarding the video, I can't see anything new on Instagram? Am I being daft? (entirely possible)

I do wonder if Meghan will continue to repeat her proctor and gamble speech as it appears that Meghan also knows how to sell home and kitchen related lifestyle goods. There was some social media backlash about Meghans lack of specifically black women on the show. A big part of Meghans social media problems is the lifting of her videos. There is no problem not following her on instagram or viewing her posts when they will appear immediately on X from the love fest posters to the over critical mocking posters. I guarantee her PR want more followers but with the comments off there is no point in following

Oh, that P&G story will be wheeled out, have no fear. That's very central to her identity.

I do not understand, how Harry, who has lamented that his childhood was paraded for the press for PR purposes, allows Meghan to regularly show their kids on Instagram, for the purpose of building her lifestyle brand.

He is acquiescing to his children, their childhood, their private time and memories, being used as a tool to generate money for Meghans business.

Within 12 months, those kids faces will be shown. Over the years they will then be shown regularly. Then they will be actively involved in the videos. Then they will build their own profile.

He has sold out his kids. Disgusting.