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

Particularly in terms of how your younger, estranged, son wants to participate.

I also can't see, if King Charles is talking his own funeral arrangement, him leaking it to the press that H&M will be at the heart of it and that he's got plans for the whole family.

I mean, if he was leaking funeral details to the press (and I can't see why he would anyway) it would be more along the lines of him wanting a "slimmed down" and "like to be buried in X place" not talking about how involved an estranged family member will be.

And by all reports him and Harry haven't talked much for years, so I can't see any conversation they have, focusing round PC funeral:

"Hi Pa, long time no talk. How are you?"
"I've got the Pope coming to see me in twenty minutes, Harry, so I can't talk for long. I'm fine, but wanted to check you'll be up to coming to my funeral."
"As long as my whole family gets parts to play."
"Anything you like, dear boy. Make sure you stand in front of William with a tall hat on. Must revenge Anne's plume somehow!"

Sounds like wishing on the part of Harry that he will be seen as having an important part to play and his family too.

Reading that article about Harry talking in New York, Meghan amuses me but Harry makes my skin crawl. He's a slimy hypocrite.

Well with the exception of Phillipa these were all really popular names in the 1980s. James was a top 1 or 2 boys name and the rest were top 30 or so.

He just looks like a sweaty mess.

Absolutely. What a vile man.

Thansk @TheAutumnCrow for the Telegraph share.

I am certain that Harry (and Meghan and the kids, if of course she wants to come) will be at Charles' funeral. He is his son and I can't see William trying to exclude him from a proper part in this, especially against his father's wishes. What happens then is of course another story and if there isn't a proper "making up" of all parties while Charles is still alive, I don't think it likely to happen afterwards.

I'm sure there are occasions where in the immediate wake of bereavement people fall on each other's necks and determine to let bygones be bygones, but that hasn't been my experience of death at all, quite the opposite.

Montecito manifesting.

Oh my god, Harry has just said that Meghan was "the most trolled person in the world" 🙄
That nonsense again. How do they get away with all these lies? It's all about the victimhood, isn't it?

So desperate, isn’t he - look how royally relevant I am - I’m going to be invited to my father’s funeral.

Erm - even having to say this reveals how extremely irrelevant you are, Harry 🤦‍♀️

It's total crassness to be wrangling over the funeral arrangements for someone who alive and working. But very sick to be doing it through the media via the Telegraph.

So they are really not concerned about Charles - but more how they can manoeuvre their way back into the royal family to help their brand.

H&M seem to go in for a lot of "aspirational PR" - they leak what they want to happen to a friendly news outlet in the hope that it manifests an invitation. Then when they don't get invited they make up a bullshit excuse

We have seen it with the Oscars, winning an Emmy, the Obama party, Meghan not at the Coronation ... in fact didn't they announce a few days ago that they couldn't attend the Bezos' wedding because they were not invited too busy. 😂😂😂

The thing is, Harry walking next to William at Charles' funeral is nothing. It's what happens at funerals all over the world every day. The children of the deceased are the most important mourners after the partner. If Harry thinks this gives him status he is deluded, again.

I'm sure William and Camilla will act appropriately, Harry and his family will take their places when mourning Charles and it will have no effect on his status in the institution at all.

It is Harry who thinks his genetics make him special, no one else does.

Just like when the Queen died

I expect strict protocol will be followed on state occasions, just as there is a strict order of precedence for e.g. ambassadors. It doesn't matter which country is in or out of favour, the order of precedence is followed to.prevent international incidents. The same regarding the RF on state occasions, they get slotted into the relevant place no matter what the interpersonal situation, and they smile politely.

In private I assume they please themselves and choose who they socialise with.

Exactly. Ironically, for all his complaints about not being protected by the RF, he will be relying on that protection when he takes his place at Charles’ funeral. because under no other circumstances could he rely on being tolerated, let alone welcome, as part of the royal party.

I would imagine protocol and order of precedence will be observed. William will be King.

Ghana, wasn't it?
We don't seem to have heard anything else about it and I wondered why

I suspect there's been some diplomatic manoeuvring behind the scenes. Ghana is a Commonwealth country. I'm sure words can be dropped in the right ears.

The protocol for state funerals will override any family fallouts, so Harry will definitely be included as he's Charles' son . I wonder if Harry realises this or will he think he's been given a starring role just because he's special.

I haven't posted before but read all these threads, I find them highly enjoyable 😄.
Bit off topic but I was at Hillsborough Castle today, which is the Royal residence in Northern Ireland.
In the drawing room, which was the QM favourite room, there are family photos out. They only one of H&M is an engagement photo. There was 5 or 6 of W&C or their children. I don't know if they were put there by the housekeepers, rather than a royal, but it is still used by the RF. Edward was there on Monday hosting a garden party and dinner for the DofE organisation.
There was a lovely photo of the King and Louis cuddling up together and laughing.

Think I might have asked this before but if Harry brings his children to their grandfather’s funeral, will he get their faces pixelated or covered up with Disney emojis?
Or will they use the occasion for the ‘big reveal, of the kids and effectively hijack the whole event?

Charles seems to enjoy a cuddle!

You may well be right, HonoriaBulstrode - in fact a PP suggested (it might have been you?) that the same would explain the absence of the Heads of State when they visited Nigeria and Colombia

Of course Colombia isn't in the Commonwealth, but if there's a choice of allying with those who enjoy real influence or fawning over H&M I'd expect them to come a very poor second

IMHO, politics soaks up over 80% of the US attention span. Every day there is a new Trump tweet which then drives the media cycle. Tweets about tariff have businesses trying to manage supply chain uncertainty. Tweets about the Middle East have people wondering if nuclear war is imminent. The opposition is protesting, and the incumbent's supporters are counter-protesting, and all media coverage is solidly dominated by politics.

Celebrities like the Kardashians or Orlando Bloom who attended the Bezos-Sanchez nuptials are part of the top tier of American glitterati chasing the leftover 20% of the USA attention span. Add in the big names that did not attend like Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and then layer in the other tiers of celebrityhood, i.e. the B, C, D to Z listers trying to make it in the entertainment industry and you have a sizeable cohort all chasing 20% of US attention span.

Furthermore, all of them are also competing against each other for Disney / Netflix / HBO / Amazon / Spotify production dollars to fund their projects. If Netflix contracts with Leonardo DiCaprio for a $30 million dollar project, then that $30 million is no longer available for anyone else. Entertainment is a zero-sum game.

H&M desperation is evidenced by the fact that they are briefing far-off events (reconciliation at 2027 Invictus) and uncertain events (KC3's eventual funeral), to create a perceived connection to a family that has grey rocked them. As the royal patina fades, as projects fail, as they are ghosted from the Met Gala / Oscars / Tonys / Society weddings on both sides of the Atlantic...the future for the pair looks ever bleaker.