PR disasters thread 29

[BigWillyLittleTodger]

It’s a September return to Salty Island!

Well , personally I don't think KC will give them royal roles , but if a King can give something within his gift ( I'm not counting money in this ) , surely the next King can take it away, because it's within his?

Yes, but if they have been popping in and out unnoticed then they don't need security, do they?

I cannot believe M would leave the children here and return to the UK if there was a divorce.

That would surely be unthinkable for nearly all mothers. So although I don't like how she operates I can't imagine she'd do something so awful.

Edited: as I realised saintly Diana didn't actually see much of her children post divorce combined with boarding school, so it's not that unprecedented.

While he could, if Harry is popular and hard working, he probably won’t. Charles apparently always had a fraught relationship with Andrew, but it took the scandals and the public turning against Andrew for Charles to act. Don’t think William would want to do anything that would make him look petty. (If harry isn’t popular and doesn’t put the work in, I can’t see it still being an issue when William becomes king)

I fear you are right. I will say that the reverse culture shock is in some ways worse than the initial move, partly because it's so difficult to explain. Everyone thinks that you've come home and you'll snap back to normal but you've spent years adjusting to a new culture, learning a new language and ways of interacting with people. It's familiar but uncomfortable, like an old jumper that you remember wearing but now doesn't fit properly anymore.

I'll stop derailing now but I really hope H&M know what they're doing and that Archie and Lilibet have a smooth transition to their new schools and life in the UK.

Back on topic. It feels like this must be connected to the ANL results doesn't it? I just don't understand how else we've gone from 'security is insufficient and there's no way Meghan and the children can be seen in London' and 'Meghan was humiliated by restrictions and is done with the RF' to 'we're all moving back to the UK' in a few weeks. I wonder if we'll see tomorrow that ANL have been awarded indemnity costs.

I agree. But she was obviously very unhappy in the UK, whether or not the "almost driven to suicide" was complete bollocks. I can't understand her motivation for wanting A and L sent to schools that will be full of the kind of aristocracy (the non Hollywood kind) that she loathes.

Honestly, I can fully understand H wanting to return to the UK. Meghan's motivation baffles me. It's a humiliation for her, whatever positive spin may be put on it.

But Harry is no longer popular and definitely isn't hard working.

It’s a last minute, reactionary decision which Megs n Harry are well known for.

Nothing about their situation has changed here, on the racist salty island that they had to flee. If anything, it’s got worse.
They've got the same security package (no 24/7 armed security), press that they’ve pissed off by trying to suing them into extinction and a family that they sold out for silver. Everything about their situation now……will be x 100 times harder than it was then.

Then, the press had some sort of deference for the pair. They are now a complete joke the world over.

This is yet another completely stupid decision by the pair….and their kids will be paying for it.

Just imagine going to school here on a rainy day in February and kids joking about your dad’s frozen penis! No one cares for them in America, they weren’t special. I doubt the kids at school cared that they were royals….it means nothing. Here, it’s different and that will be tough on the kids at school and there’s no way that kids that have been brought up in Cali, will adjust to the weather here.

FWIW I'm a lifelong Calif resident who just went through a legal separation & whose DC1 is going through a messy divorce. The financial laws are the same for both.

There is no '10 year payout' per se. It does give one party more leverage to ask for spousal support and a larger settlement but it's not automatic. A lot of it depends on the 'requesters' own financial state and their ability to 'maintain the lifestyle they've been accustomed to'. If M's 'lifestyle' wouldn't take a deep nosedive as a result of the divorce then she probably wouldn't get support or a larger settlement. If her lifestyle has been financed in large by Harry's income/assets and she wouldn't be able to maintain a similar lifestyle on her own, then she probably would be. How much depends on their relative finances. Another thing that plays into it is the date of separation. M would have to 'begin living separately' after May 19 2028. She'd have to be able to establish that she and H were 'living together at the same residence' so it's not likely she'd be spending the majority of her time in the US or Portugal prior to that date.

As far as settlements, we're a community property state for anything accrued during the marriage. Assets owned prior to the marriage generally remain the persons sole and separate property assuming that the spouse's name was never added and no community property funds were added to them. Inheritances, no matter when received, are the recipients sole and separate property under the same rules. Income directly reinvested is also not community property.

So, the inheritances received from Diana, QEtQM, and HMtQ, would probably NOT be considered community property under CA law as long as M's name was never added to them and/or funds accrued after the marriage were not added to them. Chances are those funds were tied up tight in trusts. Whether they were released to H at some point, who knows. But even if they were and he moved them into non-trust accounts, as long as M's name wasn't added they should be excluded. Of course, there can be exceptions but a court would have to decide that on an asset by asset basis.

From what I know of UK law (learnt from MN threads) it's quite possible that M would be better off divorcing under UK law, especially wrt to inheritances. I also have a feeling they probably had an iron-clad prenup (or a postnup). Either kind is valid under California law and would be considered as binding in the event of divorce even if drawn up in the UK, as long as it met CA law requirements. I know that pre/post-nups may be considered in UK divorce, but they aren't legally binding.

I've heard they aren't selling Montecito*. If they don't M (or H) could possibly claim residency in CA for a divorce, should that be 'more favorable'.

*I've snooped on some of the more popular US property sites but so far haven't seen anything that I can pinpoint as theirs. Not knowing the street it's on is a definite hindrance lol.

Thus endeth the lecture on CA law for today. The issues I mentioned actually came into play in my separation and are currently in play my DC1's divorce.

It sounds like most mother's nightmare but Meg is mercenary. She has proven that. If she sees it more financially viable, she can merch off the fact that her children are Royal

That’s why I said “if” ! The palace may well go into a full scale pro-Sussex spin now. Remember how hated Camila was, and Charles after Diana’s death. And no, it wasn’t all “good works for charity”, it was positive story after positive story planted, effort to suck up to journalists until they wrote nice articles. It wouldn’t be quick to rehabilitate Harry’s reputation, but it would be possible.

Off topic but I remember you and your posts on mn fondly @AcrossthePond55, I’m so sorry to hear things are not going well for you and your family.💐

They could rehabilitate H with the tiresome cheeky Chappy crap but Meg seems to be utterly loathed, somewhat unfairly as H is every bit as bad

I cannot believe M would leave the children here and return to the UK if there was a divorce.

Doria disappeared for a long time when she was a child.

I don't understand how they'll be financially better off returning to the UK?
They still need to make money and cover their lifestyle.

Hobnobbing about visiting charities being royal adjacent and having your own rival 'court' isn't going to pay your bills.

They can pretend to be working royals all they like. But how does it benefit them?
Beyond soothing their egos?

Yes apparently, but she hadn't declared motherhood her superpower.

@jeffgoldblum Thank you so much. I think my separation from DH (after 38 years) is a tale that truly shows that we never know where life may take us and that even the most (apparently) rock solid marriage can develop fatal cracks.

They’ve said it themselves in people, that Meg will be operating from international bases. So she can’t be in the UK all the time to see the kids to school.

Meg would be completely miserable here. I don’t understand why she would return to a place/situation that made her suicidal. Why would Harry do that to his wife?

So the compromise must be she will spend some time here and abroad.

IMHO, there are winners and losers.

Losers
HaM - going back home after you've nuked bridges is certainly bold
Hamlets - American accents in a posh British school. And your Dad has overshared about his todger and Elizabeth Arden cream. Oh dear!
KC3 - enabling has created self-inflicted drama
W&C - targeted in PR push across the board. stress is especially not good for C.
RF - whyever would they trust that HaM aren't gathering new materials for Megxit 2.0
Fellow Parents in Hamlet schools - whyever would they trust that HaM aren't gathering new materials for Megxit 2.0

UK government - time needed to address big issues wasted on HaM nonsense.
US Paps - lost a steady customer
HaM loyalists - WHAAAAAAAAT!!!!...they went back to salty isle!!!!!!
UK - a new set of howls demanding security will rage from Lands' End to John O' Groats. And an apology? For what? It was the British press, I tell you!!!

Winners
USA - self-deportation of f*ing grifters. a great way to celebrate 250!
Media/Social media - drama llamas back in the house. more content for more clicks
UK Paps - gained a steady customer

If what people reported is accurate (and I believe they're supposed to be H and M's unofficial pr outlet?), then that sounds very much like a conscious uncoupling....

You have to laugh at the 'international bases'. They never disappoint with the delusions of grandeur!

As I've said before, I don't believe they own a home in Portugal, though they might get to visit Jack Brooksbank's development as part of a promotional deal. If they're keeping the house in Montecito, I reckon that means Meghan will spend a lot of time there. They're not at the level of wealth to be able to afford maintenance for several luxury properties.

I do think they could be 'soft launching' a separation.

It’s not unheard of for a woman to do this. I know a few families where this happened.

Meg will be looking for those Hunter wellies in garage I suspect. Wonder what her new look will be?……she can’t get away with full cream outfits in the countryside over here.

Urgh, I get vibes that Harry is going to go back to his hooray Henry years. All the years of therapy and California sunshine….cant undo the Neanderthal that he is.

I feel they burned a lot of bridges in the USA with Spotify, Netflix etc so they're simply running away. A new country is a new start and they're not bogged down by failures and rumours. It's also harder to pursue them legally regarding any contractual obligations they may have failed to fulfil.

It's no different to people who run dodgy business ventures into the ground in the UK and then move to Dubai to start over.

There was a thread running the other day about women who leave the kids. It’s not that uncommon