Sentebale #5

[glitterturd]

As I finished the last one.

There is something fishy about that house. The evidence lies chiefly in the form of the kitchen. No one moving into a new house whether it be a studio flat or a Montecito mansion tolerates a dated dark wood 1980s kitchen. There is always some sort of give in the budget to give it a makeover. Hell - you can just get replacement doors!

The renovations to Frogmore Cottage were immediate and costly (albeit on someone else’s dollar) yet Meghan is whatevs about a kitchen that’s not good enough to feature in her show?

My spider sense says they do not own that house.

Was coming on to say exactly the same @MaturingCheeseball either they don’t really own the house or they are so strapped for cash they can’t even afford a Debbie MaGee kitchen magic makeover.

They're probably never in the kitchen 😂

The glimpses we’ve had of Meghan’s historic style from her kitchen in Frogmore Cottage and her rented house in Toronto don’t seem to mesh at all with the Montecito house’s kitchen, I agree. They have at least painted other rooms in the property (you can see from the estate agent photos versus later footage of them), so they have definitely made some decorative changes. I agree, I cannot understand why she hasn’t refurbished the kitchen. It’s so dark and heavy.

(You can play “One of these things is not like the others…” with the photos below).

Or they are too cheap to fork out their own money to change it. I have always thought one of the things that pissed them off during M’s short time as a working royal was the media comments about the cost of the renovations to Frogmore. I believe they are so entitled they couldn’t believe the British taxpayers had any rights to comment.

I think the kitchen is nice.

That beamed kitchen is dark and dull. Many Americans tend to be quite conservative in their tastes. When we were buying our house in the USA and had to sit through the hours of specifications it's interesting the difference in tastes between Europeans and Americans. This isn't to do with kitchens 😂 but Americans love glass front doors whereas Europeans prefer solid front doors . Traditionally they also like dark wooden kitchens.

Hate to mention it, but is this particular kitchen definitely theirs?

I mean, practically everything else has been shot on someone else's property, so why not this?

That beamed kitchen is dark and dull.

Maybe Meghan thinks the beams make it look generically "historical".
They could play "Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament" there and guests could curtsey extravagantly to her, calling her "your Maaaajesty".

Or they are too cheap to fork out their own money to change it

I've said it before but that kitchen is the definition of a dog's dinner.

Oh, to have that £2.5m makeover pot once again 😐

Also “Oxford educated”. Receiving a qualification conferred by the University of Oxford is not the same as being a graduate of Oxford University. I realise people do massage their CVS all the time and I’m sure SC is a very bright and capable woman but these exaggerations bother me.

Edited to note
@Words quote from earlier re the honorary PhD seems to have detached from my post.

The kitchen is dark and really dated - the table and chairs with the blue cushions look like something out of a charity shop, TBH DD recently got much nicer chairs from the charity shop for her first flat.

And are those plastic laminated placemats ... 😯

This is definitely not where Meghan does her "cooking at home with the kids" instagram posts. Does she rent the place where she filmed the series for her insta photoshoots?

Makes me wonder if Meghan actually doesn't cook at all usually so the kitchen and dining space is for the Montecito Mansion staff?

That kitchen is horrible, so gloomy and dark! My so much smaller 27 year old kitchen eclipses it!!

https://www.cairchicago.org/blog/muslim-womens-coalition-responds-to-archewell-foundations-public-withdrawal-of-support-reaffirms-commitment-to-justice-and-human-rights

This is not looking good for them is it, I know it's nothing to do with this topic, but it kind of is in a way.

That thought had crossed my mind 😂

I am utterly aghast!

The toxicity of the Sussex Squad will backfire badly on H&M especially in light of their comments about the evils of social media trolling and their Parent's Network initiative on cyberbullying.

It seems that H&M cannot grasp the fact that each individual attacked by the Sussex Squad has their own social network of family and friends. Due to anger over how "their person" was vilified by the SS, family and friends of the targeted individual, many of whom are well connected, will be highly antagonistic to any charity or business initiatives associated with H&M.

Top quality trustees and charity partners are always in high demand, and they will avoid the Sussex drama, adversely impacting H&M's ability to operate in the charitable world.

Surely there is some way to check whether they own the house? Public records in California ? I agree the kitchen is horrible.

You have made a very good point there about the impression being created by fans and its effect on supporters.

The toxicity of the Sussex Squad will backfire badly on H&M especially in light of their comments about the evils of social media trolling and their Parent's Network initiative on cyberbullying.

I think so too.

I do remember making a post, a good while back now, saying that it won’t be the media, or the RF or the royalist/ monarchists that bring about the downfall of these two (and it will happen), it will be their own toxic supporters.

Neither the couple or their supporters seem to be able to see past the end of their noses so are plodding on oblivious.

It's a Tuscan kitchen. They are starting to come back:

https://www.bhg.com/kitchen/styles/tuscan-kitchens/

They were big in the early 2000's. She may be stuck in her 20's.

I think it just looks dated. And also it's not Italy. What works.in one context. The style will.always work but the colour gives it an old fashioned look.

I think a Tuscan or French style kitchen is lovely in a relaxed evolved way.

But hers is so dark.

Also it's incongruous with her 'vibe'. It would suit Camilla, or Anne or Sophie or Jamie Oliver or Nigella types.
People who value tradition and homliness above style and image.

It just doesn't fit with her beige curated Cali wife image she's selling.

Dunno. I don't know what the US REIT disclosure rules are. In the UK, all shareholders must be publicly disclosed but Russian/Arab billionaires often get around that by holding their stake via an intermediary. You can usually find the underlying owner if you dig enough, though. All those huge empty penthouse apartments in Mayfair. Have you seen them? It's eerie, like the Marie Celeste. The British taxpayer benefits not one iota (well, apart from the property lawyers).

In the US? No idea. But the purpose of a REIT structure - apart from tax efficiency of course - is to enable a property portfolio to be held by multiple investors, so I wouldn't be surprised if H&M are not the only shareholders.

I think it's a primarily tax wheeze though. H&M seem to be quite fond of tax wheezes.

I do remember making a post, a good while back now, saying that it won’t be the media, or the RF or the royalist/ monarchists that bring about the downfall of these two (and it will happen), it will be their own toxic supporters

Stick with the toxicity in general and I'll agree, @My2cents1975

As Lunde correctly said, skilled people of quality are always in demand and most really don't need this kind of thing, which could well explain why H&M no longer appear to have any decent PR staff and the big opportunities are drying up, leaving them scrabbling with ever less prestigious ones

The whole thing's just a complete mess, and while in theory they have the money to escape the hole they've made for themselves I'm not sure they have the mentality

Slight derail but Jason Knauf is the new CEO of Earthshot .
Easy seeing who William believes in the KP bullying saga !