Confessions of a Female Flounder part 2

[foreverblowingbubbless]

I've embarrassed for Meghan saying that her arranging takeaway food on a plate is the same thing as what Figs Heather Hasson has done 😬

@User14March I'm not entirely sure that I would ever swallow wholesale the pronouncements of Harry on any topic (or for that matter, Meghan)

She certainly seemed to have a positive relationship with TM just before she met Harry.

Quite but she’s clearly thrown him under the bus from start of relationship with H re: account in Spare IMO. IMO too he’s painted as unstable, greedy & dimwitted by H. M isn’t angry with him despite his betrayal & then he has a heart attack which causes stress to mount taking Spare account at face value.

Absolutely prepared to be disagreed with on this and I will back down if wrong but did it not come out in one of the biography books the Air NZ flight they booked for him did not exist. Anyway - no point now mulling it over. I am left with given how much praise M had heaped on her father for getting her through school / interviews etc & there does seem to be a strong argument he paid for college etc. I don't see evidence that despite encouragement from his father and grandmother H went out of his way to support his future FIL. Which is a shame - but families eh? 😊

@BasiliskStare I think from the Spare narrative he’s heard & recounted no partner would support any relationship at all. I’d not heard on NZ flight but H seems to totally believe it.

But both Fergie and Diana walked down the aisle with (objectively) overweight fathers who were hardly Milan catwalk material

It was an achievement for Diana's father to be able to walk her down the aisle at all, given that he'd suffered a major stroke.

I think if Thomas had been scrubbed up, given a haircut and put in a good quality, well fitting suit, he'd have been fine. Formal dress can make the plainest men look good.

I can think of a number of reasons she might have done that TBH. I also think that had she made him out to be the Mexico equivalent of Lord Voldemort Harry would have gone along with it.

While we're talking about unstable, greedy and dimwitted a well respected, award winning Hollywood craftsman who spent a lot on his daughter's education and appeared to have a great relationship with her mere months before is not the first to come to mind, even if he was not quite svelte enough to pass muster at a Royal wedding.

Agree but when he was apparently coming it sounded & looked as if M had suggested Bob the tailor down the road in USA which very felt odd/unlikely? A kind of local Moss Bros you’d rock up at re: a last minute knees up or office shindig. Surely she’d want full oversight?

Surely H would have him off to Trumpers & M/H at best poss tailor well in advance?

@User14March - this is what I was referring to re claimed M booked flight for her father - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11622293/Prince-Harry-Spare-Air-New-Zealand-exposes-two-holes-claims-Meghan-Markles-father-Thomas.html

@HonoriaBulstrode - exactly my point - with a nicely cut suit for which I think they even got his measurements and good hair cut TM could have held his own - a little bit of grooming goes a long way - which is why I think H&M could have helped him more. He was out of his depth. But @Uricon2 I reckon he could have been pefectly svelte enough. 👏.

@User14March - Yes the tailor down the road thing is odd. 2 things - if H&M had supported him - he could have said I don't need a suit. 2. If H&M had supported him rather than some phone calls he probably wouldn't have fallen for the let's see you buying a suit farrago. I don't blame him for falling foul of press interest which he had no experience of. I am somewhat critical of H for not using what he could to protect the chap. Especially as Granny was encouraging him to fly out and see him.

It's done now but on this I do feel sorry for Tm. Not perfect but in a very very strange situation.

Doria's (very appropriate) outfit was from Oscar de la Renta, whom Meghan had used and presumably recommended. But it seems no-one did the equivalent for Thomas.

Can one get Savile Row tailoring in the US?

Lol :) @ Voldemort. I agree with you again but have to admit he doesn’t seem this way in various interviews, although undoubtedly very skilled & accomplished, he’s not as articulate or smart as I’d imagined. Possibly I’ve been negatively influenced by the patronising passages in Spare where M would appear to speak to him like a recalcitrant 6 year old. ‘Be on guard…Daddy…about anyone who pretends to be your best friend’ not the best example but gist. Also, sadly perhaps now a broken man.

Agree @BasiliskStare . All TM would have had to do is walk a few yards in a Savile Row morning suit. He'd have been fine. I don't remember anyone mocking Edward VII or Churchill for their avoirdupois (well there is a story about Ed VII once. I don't think it happened again)

TM would have been quiet, the (true) story would have been about his Emmy, renowned lighting director, etc.

Pretty sure between actors , Wall St types , Silicon Valley ( though to be fair they probably don't wear suits 😂) there are very good tailors in the US - but they could have flown him over a month before so he could have stayed somewhere private , become acclimatised , settled in & had a suit fitted. It really wan't that hard ( in the context of a £30m wedding ) it seems to me.

I do wonder if Harry ever thinks nowadays how easily M threw her father under the bus

I thought PLU was Phi Lambda Upsilon!

Doria was in the Netflix reality series and attacked the same Royal Family that provided her hospitality and embraced her daughter. She stood by while her daughter hurled vicious abuse on a global scale on the Royal Family.

Tom won an Emmy for lighting. Unlike the acting awards, where actors backed by studios with more aggressive marketing campaigns tend to win, the technical Emmys showcase genuine skill. Tom is a professional who could interface with diva-level Hollywood talent. Polite UK society would have been a piece of cake.

IMHO, the key problem was that M had reinvented her past. Her mother could be relied upon to uphold the deception. Her father could not. So, he was NFI.

Meghan Markle's Mom, Doria Ragland in New Netflix Show

Out of interest, did Meghan Markle’s parents attend her first wedding?

I’ve said this before but I don’t know how Meghan sleeps at night knowing her father by all accounts is sick, coming towards the end of his life, is poor and living in Thailand adjacent to a 3 lane motorway because he can no longer afford to live in Mexico, surely even if you never wanted to have anything to do with your father ever again because he sold some silly pictures or moaned about you to the press you would at least, as a fabulously wealthy person make sure he lived out his remaining years in some form of comfort? I don’t know how she can be so utterly cruel and heartless.

The lore on this (I'm not vouching for the veracity) is yes. Beach wedding in the Caribbean. They had bags of pot as wedding favours. Thomas Snr filmed the whole affair, but was told by MM to delete it. You can find the odd still picture online.

Her father did I think, not sure about Doria.

Quite, about the ease of under bus throwing ‘Be on guard…Daddy Harry…about anyone who pretends to be your very best friend’…

Oh yes, Meghan wearing a dress almost identical to Catherine's evening dress from her wedding to William!

The Middletons were definitely not accepted as PLU by the wider royal family and especially their courtiers in the first few years of K&W's marriage.

So many stories about how common Carol's roots were, how 'new money' her taste in decorations were, how much she'd influenced the decorations at Anmer Hall with her middle class ways, how she was getting above herself sweeping into the royal residences like she owned them, how the Middleton's were having too much influence and time with the grandkids and not letting Charles have his turn.

It interestingly culminated in a big DM article in August 2016 from 'sources close to Charles' that said the Middleton's were being edged out of attendence at royal events and were not being invited to stay with Charles at Birkhill for the annual Balmoral holiday, implying that the Middleton's had got a bit above themselves and were persona non grata.

Queue the late Queen doing what she did best - showing not telling - and we get less than a month later the 'pap' shots of the Queen driving Carol Middleton and also Kate all over the Balmoral estate - Carol in the front seat chatting away with the Queen, and news that the Middletons were not staying with Charles that year because they'd been invited to stay in the big house with the Queen.

And that's a big clear message to everyone media, courtiers, grumbling family members. The boss gives her stamp of approval - Middleton's are in to stay.

I'm sure they could have managed something similar for Meghan's Dad if she'd wanted them to.

Queue the late Queen doing what she did best - showing not telling - and we get less than a month later the 'pap' shots of the Queen driving Carol Middleton and also Kate all over the Balmoral estate - Carol in the front seat chatting away with the Queen, and news that the Middletons were not staying with Charles that year because they'd been invited to stay in the big house with the Queen.

Good old Queenie. She was a real gem. Thanks @wordler

You’re right but it’s all relative. They’d have def received TM graciously on face value. M revealing alarming & potentially dangerous character flaws in run up though. Not least H/M documenting lying & talking to highest bidder. Maybe she thought he’d bow out gracefully of own accord at first?

Real class.

I firmly agree @wordler The issue was between KC3 and W.

Diana's reckless parentification of W created some genuine issues between father and son. Coupled with the fact that any new mom with a good relationship with her mom wants to be with her own mom versus in-laws, you have a recipe for W&C spending more time at the Middletons than not.

KC3 failed to grasp that briefing about the Middletons to the media further alienated W and drove W further towards the privacy of the Middleton omerta, which upset KC3 further and led to further briefings...and so forth in a downward spiral.

QE2 saw the danger, not only for father and son but for the monarchy. She understood that she was closer to the end of her reign than the beginning and that the realm would have to deal with a relatively unpopular monarch, with a very popular heir which could lead to disaster. Kudos to Catherine and the Middletons for holding the line and refusing to engage with the media thereby enabling QE2 to sweep the board in one move.

If there really isn’t any other context we’re not aware of that’s almost evil. Especially as he looks to have been a better father than most, giving her a wonderful start. H seemingly believes TM has bitten hand that feeds & betrayed M though.