As Never the second release ...

[onehorserace]

Wine, apricot spread and honey. I think we've had all the suggestions for names already ?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14832085/amp/Meghan-Markle-new-products-rose-wine-apricot-spread.html

I firmly agree H&M will continue to try to create drama. The problem is they have no money with which to create drama. In fact, they are losing money for Netflix, Spotify, the other podcaster, etc. Dior issued a press release denying that M was in the running to be a brand ambassador then picked the person who played Catherine in "The Crown" as their new face. The days of lucrative contracts are behind them as H&M are a busted flush.

M would never have considered releasing a twerking video in 2020 when her desired brand positioning was adjacent to heavy hitters like Michelle Obama. In 2025, a mere 5 years later, M has been locked out of power-broker circles and is so desperate to break through US media that she twerked. But her views (42 million) were less than a third of what the top 25 insta reels get (over 125 million). And the mockery was so bad she dug up Bouzy to defend her (Bouzy relentlessly trolled Catherine) and pivoted back to tradwife.

It doesn't matter how much H&M try to position A&L against the Wales kids. A&L are the new Beatrice and Eugenie without any royal patina. Media is about money. Youth sells. 50-year-olds rehashing the same old drama does not.

Estranged "royal" USA cousin drama cannot compete with the hunt for the next Queen Consort. And once G's other half is on scene, well that person will be the next media juggernaut. What is she like? Where is she from? Who are her family & friends? What does she wear? Sadly, all the media misogynists will have a shiny new target. Add C and L's other halves, and that is a media wipeout for California.

IMHO, time and the inevitable generational turning trumps all.

What happens next will come down to money, there was always going to be some form of Netfix disclosure deal but the tone would be defined by the exit. Had the half in/ half out been agreed it would have resulted in favourable disclosure. If somehow they have made enough for expensive education, lifetime security, US style royal weddings and a life of luxury they hopefully will move on from the snide rhetoric. If however they start to run out of money it may result in begging, blackmail or further disclosures. You don't voluntarily have your children titled, call your daughter the Queens nickname and insist on HRH on their passports if you are planning a normal lifestyle for them.

edited cross post with @My2cents1975

This ⬆️

They've burned so many bridges by releasing that twerking video, regarding business ventures or collaborations, what sort of company would want to have their name associated with them now?
I can't see As Ever making them the amount of money they need to keep up their lifestyle, it really only leaves a reality style 'At home with the Sussexes' tv show or another tell all book deal.
What other business opportunities would be open to them ?

I thought the twerkjng video was a bit of an eye roll but why is it seen as such a commercial death knell in itself?

@My2cents1975 you are right that A and L will be the new Beatrice and Eugenie without the royal patina. However even with that patina and with having grown up in the spotlight, there’s not that much public interest in Beatrice and Eugenie. I can see the media hounding A and L when they are adults because that the kind of shit they do. There might be some mild nosiness to see A and L and which parent or grandparent they take after but apart from that, what is there to provoke interest? I can definitely see them being harassed by paparazzi as adults, sadly.

It is possible A&L turn out like David and Sarah.

Princess Margaret loved to be the center of attention and didn't let people forget she was a Princess. By contrast her children have shunned the limelight.

It is possible that A&L will tire of being measured against cousins they don't know in a family drama that started before they were born. As adults, they could retreat from the public gaze and keep a low profile.

I just can’t see how it would work at all. You have to be brought up in those circles to fit in. Go to the right school, go to the right events, mix in the right circles. Most importantly , you have to have actual relationships with the other Royals and grow up knowing how to behave . What to do and not do, etc. A and L don’t know any or the protocols and don’t know the family. They are also not British. It would be enormously stressful for them and very alien. Plus they why would they want to do any of it ? Harry hated being in the circus or so he says and M certainly hated it. The whole idea is a nonsense:

I thought the video was a nice bit of fun between a husband and wife that should have remained private. But once I’d read more about it here I realised it was never intended to be private, that it was very carefully choreographed and always going to be publicised.

Why is it such a commercial death knell in itself? Well, I think a big part of it is just how sleazy and tawdry the whole thing was, what with it being so very carefully choreographed, orchestrated, deliberately made for sale somewhere down the line.

Just what kind of brand with any gumption or self respect behind it would want anything to do with it?

Good points, @Thinlyveiled , but the truth is.... Harry and Meghan loved it. They loved the titles, status, wealth and privilege, having people bowing and curtseying, being called "Your Royal Highness". They thought they could have all of that, plus monetise it and live some sort of celebrity life in California, as wealthy and powerful as the Obamas.

She is definitely more Kardashian than Obama.

Most definitely. Kardashian, but less glamorous and clever.

The twerking video is cheap, no luxury brand will want them as ambassadors. No one will connect twerking pregnant woman with baby daddy gesticulating towards his tool with an aspirational lifestyle.

The twerking video is a parody by themselves of themselves. No one will pay luxury prices to mimic their style.

@KateDelRick ive just seen two of the Kardashians arrive in Venice for the wedding and glamorous didn’t come into it. 🙈

For Harry he is egocentric in his foresight, probably due to others cleaning up his crap. He had planned exactly how he expected the royal family would act and five years later he still has difficulty in grasping their responses and subsequent actions. He seems incapable of placing himself in others shoes. In his mind they should be over it by now. He was the same with the tales of drug use, he is extremely lucky he is a man of privilege to be allowed to stay in the US. He is still continuing down the same line, I'll whinge to the BBC, I'll leak the plans I have for my children (why would they join your estranged family unless getting away from you). From passing Invictus onto Archie, sod what Invictus may want or if it still exists. There is only ever his path, everyone else is just in his orbit.

The twerking video was a desperate attempt to connect with Gen Z. They have realised the older generation are not going to accept her. (bar the squaddies, who have their own agenda) I have seen a few Gen Z PR plants on X, talking about how wonderful MM is. I doubt it will work, she's in the same age group as their parents. My DD is 20 and I doubt she's even heard of her

Agree, I think Gen Z, will be 'it is what it is", nothing to see here. I can't see them having any interest at all.

I thought the video was a nice bit of fun between a husband and wife that should have remained private.

Exactly. I found it gross and vulgar, and I've reflected on this - is that just me being old and prudish? But as you say, if it was a private moment, then - fill your boots! No problem at all, and if those weird gyrations really can help bring on labour, fair enough.

What made it vulgar and gross to me was that it was put out for public consumption. Lots of things are fine in private: intimacy, displays of affection, pet names etc, but once they're put in the public domain they become tacky and embarrassing. I can't see either of them in the same way again - it was like watching people having sex!😣😖🤑

What is the future of Invictus though? The origin of Invictus was because there were so many wounded veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The fighting there is now over and the injured veterans are getting older. How many will keep wanting to come back? I know the government are talking about military preparedness but I can’t see us getting in a major ground war so we are unlikely, thankfully, see wounded veterans in the future on the scale we have seen in the last couple of decades. I can imagine interest dwindling.

But at least they got an invite, the Markles haven’t

I'm not young so again it might be my age, I wouldn't say I'm a prude, but I hate twerking , I've seen it at the Nottingham Hill carnival on YT videos etc and it just looks vile , it's not sexy (unless in private and you like that sort of thing) . It reminds me of a mare in heat backing up to a stallion .

Yeah not sure the twerking rules out influencer type deals where a bit of controversy can drum up website views

Where it may hit them is the quasi-royal roles they have been trying to play - speeches to the UN and faux royal tours etc. They seem eager to have influence on an international, political level - but who is going to take them seriously having seen the twerking/dad dancing.

It reminds me of a mare in heat backing up to a stallion

When you put it like that….

I think that delivery suite video was an attempt to appear cute and relatable. It was just cringe inducing and TBH performative.

William Dad dancing to Taylor Swift with the kids and his mysterious devotion to Aston Villa (for example) is cute and relatable. Sharing private moments that should have stayed private, not so much, it looks classless and desperate.

ETA mysterious as I am a lifelong supporter of a rival team😂

Further ETA on the unlikely day we see Catherine twerking I will think and say exactly the same. Except I think Hell will freeze over first because they actually do want a bit of privacy, instead of just claiming to.

It reminds me of a mare in heat backing up to a stallion

Damn.

I can't now unremember how a rampant Harold got his arse slapped in a field and we all got told about it