Tina Brown on Harry/Meghan

[MsAmerica]

Tina Brown Thinks the Über-Rich Have It Coming
By Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Lulu Garcia-Navarro: One of your other specialties is the royal family. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are trying to make their own way in the world. They’ve had a rocky time being entrepreneurs. Do you think they have anything to offer anymore?

Tina Brown: It’s very sad what’s happened to them. I have never seen anybody in professional life make as many mistakes as Meghan has, and unfortunately Harry is not the brightest bulb, either. He thought that Meghan would be his guide in the big wide world beyond Buckingham Palace, and it turns out that Meghan makes one terrible professional decision after another. And now they’re pariahs everywhere, it seems, which is a very difficult situation for them because America was supposed to be the place that paid the bills.

What is sad is that Harry’s very good at being a prince. He’s charming, he’s upbeat, he’s attractive, he makes people happy when he walks into a room, he’s very good with young people. You could send him around the world and he’s always going to be welcomed and appealing. And I think he has realized too late that he was born to be a prince. And now he’s essentially just some guy doing P.R. gigs while Meghan tries out her latest cooking idea or whatever.

It looks more and more as if Harry’s best decision would be to find a way to come back to England. I’d like to see a way for him to make amends with his family, but it gets harder and harder as the years go by. I think that William is going to be the decider of that, and I think William has a very tough view of the whole situation, which is that the betrayal of Harry is not something that can be remedied.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/magazine/tina-brown-interview.html

There’s normally a Karen thrown in there for good measure

In taking the suggestion that people are "haters" as a good faith belief: it's something different to that, it's more like an appalled fascination. Many people who take an interest in all this were genuinely good-willed towards the couple from the start, I know I felt that way.

I don't keep up with what celebrities or royals are up to, but there is something so uniquely interesting in how H&M (attempt to) conduct themselves in the world, the messaging that seldom stands alone but always requires some reframing and clarification, the dodgy versions of 'truth", the certainty about their significance and impact, all framed by this apparent determination that the image will be reshaped to how they want it to be.

I can't think of anyone else who so endlessly describes themselves as they want to be seen, "I danced and put in on Insta to show that I am fun! This, this is me being authentic. We went to xyz as we're always doing good! I do so much for friends to show I care. We are the greatest love story ever known," etc etc. If you really are these things, you don't need to say it yourself, as other people say it about you.

The wide-eyed, hand-clasping delight; the rehearsed sounding sentences that just get 'dropped-in' to interviews, "we love being outside with our chickens! and funnily enough, we actually got married outside," (I paraphrase here...). The Regina Phalange routine in interviews of recent months.

Actually, the ways in which they try to control the messaging about themselves and create an image is closer to how politicians operate in their comms (and also usually fail), maybe that's why it's more interesting, and also why it goes so wrong.

Meghan and Harry's problem is they keep trying new things, rather than tweak on old things to make them more effective. Threw me things aren't usually well thought through and so people comment on them.

When As Ever was launched I for one was optimistic that Meghan had found something that played to her attention and would be a success. But then she inflated everything into being a female founder, rather than having just begun a small start up and the products didn't really live up to the hype.

If they keep launching things that are not well thought through and then dropping them a year later they are going to attract comment and it won't be very positive. Contrast As Ever, African Parks, Sentebele, 40x40, Archwell and the Parent online platform with Invictus, a well established, well thought out charity, and you can see where they are going wrong.

If they want people to stop criticising them they need to think things through and plan properly before they launch.

Those are good points, @MrsLeonFarrell , but I think they are unrealistic if they believe that they can avoid criticism. They seem very thin skinned, but they want to be celebrities, they want attention and publicity, so that's just what's going to happen.
I thought the hostess series was actually a good move for Meghan, I suspect the Trad Wife role is more where she is at, and that might be something to develop more.

I agree it is unrealistic to expect no criticism. It's impossible to please everyone. However they could cut down the criticism they receive by thinking things through and waiting until they are ready to launch things.

I agree that the hosting/trad wife is a good fit for Meghan. It's an extension of The Tig in some ways (never actually read that) and seems a natural, organic, pivot for her. I think it would be more successful if she produced items that were more in tune with where she lives rather than her current output of sub par English traditional foods.

... there is something so uniquely interesting in how H&M (attempt to) conduct themselves in the world, the messaging that seldom stands alone but always requires some reframing and clarification, the dodgy versions of 'truth", the certainty about their significance and impact, all framed by this apparent determination that the image will be reshaped to how they want it to be.

I can't think of anyone else who so endlessly describes themselves as they want to be seen, "I danced and put in on Insta to show that I am fun! This, this is me being authentic. We went to xyz as we're always doing good! I do so much for friends to show I care. We are the greatest love story ever known," etc etc. If you really are these things, you don't need to say it yourself, as other people say it about you

Superbly put, @LauraIpsum, especially about the fascination in watching someone get this quite so wrong

We all get make mistakes, but the extent of their unwilligness to learn or to accept responsibility for anything at all is pretty rare, and all the more unfortunate becxause it didn't need to be like this

In a nutshell, your last paragraph, @Puzzledandpissedoff 👍

I just find how they try and gaslight the general public, fascinating.

From a psychological perspective, I also find their behaviour really interesting/bizarre.

I don't hate them. When they left, I thought well done to you two, get out of the madness that is the BRF. But the carry on after!

Great post @LauraIpsum particularly this paragraph

I can't think of anyone else who so endlessly describes themselves as they want to be seen, "I danced and put in on Insta to show that I am fun! This, this is me being authentic. We went to xyz as we're always doing good! I do so much for friends to show I care. We are the greatest love story ever known," etc etc. If you really are these things, you don't need to say it yourself, as other people say it about you.

Yes, when you think about the figures people have a generally good impression of, it's quite possibly PR that creates that good impression, but the PR is never from the horse's mouth.

Take Keanu Reeves. People generally seem to respect him as a professional, as someone who is charitable, someone who respects women etc.

But I've literally never seen a piece where Keanu is talking about what a great person Keanu is.

Brilliant example @TheNinkyNonkyIsATardis

Take Keanu Reeves. People generally seem to respect him as a professional, as someone who is charitable, someone who respects women etc. But I've literally never seen a piece where Keanu is talking about what a great person Keanu is

I love Keanu . There I’ve said it

Part of the reason Keanu is so respected is precisely because he doesn’t live a showy life, doesn’t promote himself, is generous with his own money and respects others. He can also laugh at himself. He is basically the antithesis of Meghan.

Everyone love keanu !

In general, I distrust anyone who goes around describing themselves. They are very seldom people I want to know.

Don't tell me what you're like.
a) it's weird and self-obsessed
b) I'm probably not interested
c) I'm capable of forming my own opinion, if/when I actually know you.

I often wonder about this one. Is it implying that Harry and Meghan are taking advantage of the inside of people’s heads, rather in the manner of squatters? That they are colonising the brains of those who offer critique?

How terribly post-modern.

Well said, NormaMajor, and considering the sad losses he's experienced his behaviour's all the more admirable

To be fair, it wouldn't be the first place they've lived rent free.

😂😂

😂😂

🤣

The royal family, when you think about it, seems to be full of squatter-hoppers.

I see Prince Edward is now in the news for paying a laughably low rent.

That's odd. So he was paying market rent but then decided not to? How? Did he throw his toys out of the pram because Andrew got his mansion for free? Neither of them are really paying anything. Not from work. Its handouts from his brother via us. So what is he doing with the money he was paying in rent?

Odd story. He bought the lease originally and was paying £90k rent to the estate. Is that not market value? Perhaps because he and Sophie are working royals they get a discount?
I don't know.