I find it fascinating

[CaraVirra]

I’m trying to understand something, and I’m asking this in good faith.

After looking into the Meghan and Harry situation, I’m genuinely confused about the level of hostility directed at them by the British public… especially when that hostility extends to their children.

I’ve read widely and tried to identify what concrete harm Harry and Meghan have actually done to the British public, and I’m struggling to find a clear answer.

The turning point people seem to cite most often is Harry’s book. But even there, it’s a personal account of his experiences inside an institution. If anyone has a reason to be angry about that, it would logically be the royal family… not the public.

So I’m left with a question I can’t quite resolve:

Why is the public so angry on behalf of an institution that hasn’t asked them to be?

Is this a cultural expectation around loyalty to the monarchy? A reaction to breaking tradition? A media-driven narrative that hardened into public sentiment?

I’m not here to defend or attack anyone. I’m genuinely interested in understanding the reasoning from people who feel strongly about this, because from the outside looking in, the intensity of the reaction doesn’t seem proportionate to any identifiable public harm.

If you’re willing to explain your perspective without defaulting to insults or assumptions, I’d appreciate the conversation.

I haven’t read anything or come across them on my feeds for a long, long time. I also don’t know anyone who has a strong opinion about them either way.

What's interesting is, those that actively and vocally dislike the couple intensely, hadn't even read his book!
There was a hell of a lot more to it than the daily mail cherry picked sausages etc. it was quite interesting in places, quite boring in other places. Yes I read it because I would not be so presumptuous to comment on it without reading it unlike a lot of people.
I wonder what some people used to do before Meghan came on the scene because it's a full time job for some, to disparage them day in day out!

Yes, they're irritating, yes they should shut up sometimes, but they are making a living thousands of miles away, they can just get on with it as far as I'm concerned. I admire Harry making a break from his dysfunctional family, I hope he sets a precedent for other young royals should they want to do it. Sadly, I think not given the full force of the media and the punch bag this couple are.

Hating Harry & Meghan has become a multi-million pound business, a lot of people have made a lot of money from them

Most people don't care or are more shocked by Andrew who has done far far more damage to the monarchy than Harry and Meghan ever has, some royal historians say. And I agree.

I think it’s like anything these days. Nothing is ever grey, everything is either black or white and the press sensationalise everything and everything is made out to be a massive drama.

So it is mainly just the press stirring up a small minority of people into a froth about them.

I read the book , in fact it was discussed at our book club .
I recall a lot of complaints , story about losing his virginity , frozen penis etc but what struck everyone in our book club was his complete lack of interest in his Royal heritage.

I don’t know anyone that talks about Meghan and Harry irl. I only see them talked about on this board, mostly by the same few posters. As a pp said, don’t let a minority on SM convince you that the whole of the UK feel hostile towards them. People don’t give them much thought at all.

It wasn't a book about his royal heritage. It was a book about his upbringing, his army career and more.
The only bits that are focussed on is what the press picked up to wind everyone up with! And it worked.

Most people aren't interested, it's just that those that loathe the couple are very vocal especially on here lol

It wasn't a book about his royal heritage. It was a book about his upbringing

isn't that literally what his upbringing was?! What else could it have been except for Royal heritage?

That is an interesting observation from the book group though. I haven't read the book, but if he really gives no thought to the monarchy or how it has affected his upbringing, that goes some way to explaining why he is so easily able to cut ties with his family. He sounds very disconnected. A classic trauma response.

At the point of Megxit, I was a COO. I commented at the time on the various strategic and operational errors I felt they were making, whilst (I believe) stating that they were perfectly entitled to leave, and that they must have had a difficult time.

Since then they have continued to compound on those operational errors, and shown some rather nasty behaviour to boot.

I'm still professionally interested, but also there's few other public figures outside of Trump etc all who provide this continuous parade of weird self-promotion and shoddy behaviour.

I've pushed back in the past about the children, especially those cheap AI parodies of them. I don't like comments about how well they're cared for because however much it's directed at the parents, it's still about the children. However, they should also keep their kids private 100%. I was used by my lifestyle-journalist mum, pre internet, and that's bad enough compared to their platform.

Of course it talked about his life as a young royal within his upbringing. It did not go into royal heritage from centuries ago though.

They are very vocal.

In the last couple of weeks there has been more talk about other members of the Royal Family and the board has been much more interesting. I usually see all the threads are from the same obsessives talking about Meghan and Harry and retreat back to other boards or off mumsnet altogether. I’ve been reading here much more lately so I hope the diversity in threads continues.

Totally this.

I think most people’s interest these days is limited to watching a car wreck, mixed with resentment about how they are still milking the immensely privilege they have thanks to a not very bright man having been born a prince.

I find it fascinating that the op has started yet another thread about H&M. surely they could have just asked on one of the many threads.
this one is already going the way they all do.

@CallThatASalad I Agree its been nice to see different topics and posters. sadly most of the time its the same group posting to the point they think they own the topic.

I see you're still using AI.

What I’m struggling with is the assumption that everything Harry says must therefore be a lie.

I haven't said that, though he hasn't done himself many favours in this regard, starting with a provable lie in Spare regarding the Queen Mother's death, as well as his ridiculous comment about 'his truth'
Whatever the cause, my memory is my memory, it does what it does, gathers and curates as it sees fit, and there’s just as much truth in what I remember and how I remember it as there is in so-called objective facts.

When you then consider:
-UK Press headlines in Oprah were doctored to make them worse (such that those clips couldn't be shown in UK)
-Netflix Harry&Meghan: Pictures of crowds waiting for them were actually pictures of crowds at a Harry Potter premiere; pictures from an intrusive photographer of Harry were actually pictures of him with a previous girlfriend
-Court: both have been censured by judges for lying (one to court, one in pre-court documents)
you'll forgive me if I check other sources when Harry says something.

I think that was OPs intention all along. 🙄🙄🙄

I'm not really interested in them, but I think the hostility is because Harry had the temerity to leave and Meghan facilitated that. I think some people who love the RF can't accept that anyone in his position wouldn't want to be in it, and also it casts doubt on their own support of the RF. Therefore H&M must be wrong in everything, especially M.

Did you really read the book?

You say "he didn't slag anyone off"... where to start?

What do you think of the way he described the Matron at his prep school?

I actually wasn’t interested in them until my new feed was flood with them, then I gained some basic curiosity. I clicked on articles… read them… will and Kate (all positive news) harry and Meghan (mostly negative, and one or two neutral.) then I read the comments which were all overwhelmingly negative.

We love a soap opera and a pantomime baddy. H&M are managing to create that narrative and everyone is enjoying the show. Its fun to shout booo when ever they come on stage. At the end of the show we will all clap and congratulate them on a great performance at curtain call. I think that is what the newspapers are enjoying as it sells papers.

For the men in grey suits. Some of the things they have said have the potential to have a real, direct negative effect on the UK. Currently, weather you agree with it or not, The Royal Family represent the UK and 'news' surrounding them is sold worldwide. Not everyone, but many people will associate the characteristics of the Royal Family with the nation as a whole. They drink tea out of fancy cups and eat tiny crustless sandwiches, so do we all. They have funny posh accents, massively associated with the UK, They are racist bullies, so are we all. The image of the Royal family is cultivated and protected, not just for the Royal family but for the image it portrays of the nation as a whole. There is no point in the Royal family if they are not projecting the image we would like people to have of the UK. H&M can do some very real soft damage by screwing up that image, not just for their near relations, but for the nation.

So there is a mix of British humor enjoying their pantomime performance, anything to sell a story and keep the newspapers alive, and damage control where 'their truth' diverges from the image cultivated and portrayed in the 'royal truth'

Personally, if I met them I am sure I would think they were ok people. But I think of them as a bit of a pair of plonkers as they seem to have a very short sighted narrow vision and understanding of the their surroundings meaning they make mistake after mistake and leave themselves open to criticism.

Didn’t he just mention she was disabled? I don’t recall him making fun of her.

Short sighted how? And what are you comparing their short sightedness too?

My copy is out on loan. Others may be able to provide word-for-word, but he writes about the matrons at Ludgrove - saying he had a crush on some of them, and goes on to describe Pat in much less flattering terms.

Pat “wasn’t hot”; she was “small, mousy, frazzled” with her hair in her eyes. Harry and his classmates mocked her stiff knees and crooked spine, which forced her to go down stairs backwards.

No. He mocked her.
I don't particularly blame them for leaving, but it did seem rash and ill-thought-out. As for the line about "collaborating with the Queen"

@CaraVirra they appear to act very much in the moment. They have an idea they go for it, without necessarily doing the proper market research or planning. A thought pops into their heads, they say it out loud without thinking about the consequences. Someone hurts them, they respond publicly.

All these things, on such a public platform leave themselves vulnerable. Its not that they are bad people, or that they shouldn't be allowed to do all these things, but any mistakes are out there for all to see, any changes of heart etc. Their openness and willing to take risks to do all the things they want to do should be admirable. But they are not normal people they are high profile celebrities so they need to be a bit more candid in order to protect themselves. Should the world be like that, maybe not. But it is, and they are fools to think that they can play to their rules and win when everyone else is playing a different way.

Actually, from what I understand, their first steps were to handle this privately within the family, then through silence, and then by leaving the country. When that still wasn’t deemed sufficient, they went public.

I think many people assume elite privilege means image should outweigh whatever a person is experiencing. But no one outside that family can know for certain what the truth was in private… and Harry was born into a system where restraint, silence, and compliance were hammered in from childhood. It seems unlikely those traditions would be broken without something significant occurring.

I could have. But why can’t I just start a thread of what I’m curious about? I’m not a fan or hater of any member of the British royal family. I was merely interested in the negative bias against Harry and Meghan.