Ham pr disasters 38! Ailing king? Or heartless son?

[jeffgoldblum]

Continuing the criticism…still interested, still not bored….

Please forgive my absence, deep and respectful curtsy to @jeffgoldblum, but my public duties prevented me from literary pursuits

I can, however, retrospectively share my public duties with you

Yesterday the Austenites, together with Court Officials, visited a Scandinavian multi-culture centre, and perused the handicrafts made by the people of Sweden

Luncheon also had a Swedish theme and the Austenites were able to choose from a smorgasbord of edible delights

At the end of the visit the Austenites very democratically queued with the local populace and shared greetings but were somewhat surprised at the amount of money required to take their selected items home with them

Later in the day the Austenites attended an inter-generational forum when the very senior and much venerated Austenites asked the Austenlets how they were getting on at school and the Austenites asked the senior Austenites how they are getting on and whether they need transport to the Eye Department of the local hospital next week.

Refreshments of a traditional home-baked tea-time variety were served on bone china. Afterwards the Austenites took a tour of the garden and greeted some villagers who were unaware that an official visit was taking place. Mrs Austen Snr was presented with a pot plant and a jar of lingonberry jam by the younger Austenlet

Todays engagements are "to be announced" but will probably include first aid treatment and mental health support for DH when he attempts to assemble the new Ikea furniture we bought for our DD's bedroom yesterday, if previous experience is anything to go by . . . .

I digress . . . have just seen the video of the Fussexes. Surely this should have been reserved for Christmas with "The Holly and the Ivy" playing in the background . . . . with the Hamlets sweetly singing

"And the running of the deer"

What part of the very clear letter are they - allegedly- taking legal action against ?

I agree with this - I don’t see Harry being that bright or actually believing the monarchy is a bad thing as a concept, he seems to hate the individuals but still sees himself as special due to his lineage, on some level he agrees with it as an idea.

But they are also the sort of people who are easy to manipulate so if he’s got himself a new anti-monarchist adviser /best friend, wouldn’t be surprised they are using him and he doesn’t get it.

Eg suing the King for the letter, threatening to if he takes titles. They couldn’t win, but they could be used to provoke a public debate about what rights the King has, why is he above the law, are we really a democracy ? Do we want to live in a country where the law doesn’t apply equally to everyone? Etc I can see it would be a gift to those who don’t want a monarchy to wind H&M up and let them go.

God knows. I definitely think H is addicted to courtroom drama

Can I just add M’s own words from the OW interview ?

“All the grandeur surrounding this stuff is an attachment I don’t have. I’ve been a waitress, an actress, a princess, a duchess. I’m clear on who I am, independent of that stuff. The most important title I will ever have is ‘Mom’.”

King Charles will just have to settle for wing clipping. Which I think has been fairly successfully done.

Who knows? He's turned victimhood into a personal cottage industry.

God that is so cringy 🙈😆

Did she really say she'd been a Princess?! Jesus..

She's not 'independent of that stuff' if she is clinging on to the titles!

Didn't Charles say to his two sons to not ruin his final years with fighting? Something along those lines? All the Harry drama must be a huge source of stress to Charles.. especially given his health concerns.

Wonder how long it took her to conjure up that spontaneous comment….🤔

Well if they're in Northants that makes sense for them to fly in Birmingham (which I otherwise thought was a weird choice - but then that's probably the airport where Ian Wace likes to park his private jet, since it's convenient for his home).

I'm convinced that all this publicising of their location is to try and provoke some kind of security incident to bolster their claims of needing 24/7 armed police protection. Harry publicising his 'official visits' and now the careless revealing of their location.

Reminiscent of very early days of social media when one might reflect one's interior state via the medium of updating MySpace playing Avril Levine sk8r boi in order to garner attention and/or affirmation from the peer group du jour.

Except now we're all middle aged. (Take note, MM.🇬🇧♥️)

Ah fair enough, happy to be corrected as ever.. 😊

So much in love, she deliberately distanced herself from him after the ANL shitshow

.....and that world was, oh wait, now.

Exactly this. They are goading, trying to engineer a privacy breach so they can take it to RAVEC

its a bit sick tbh

I truly hope they are not endangering their DC with this nonsense.

I mean, if they should be the puppets of the billionaires who don't want us to have a monarchy, and they successfully bring down the institution, then their titles will be gone anyway! They are bloody stupid whichever way you cut it.

Seems like they are being used by the powerful wealthy and consistently building the divide between them and the Royal family. They will be of no use to either of them pretty soon and will be cast adrift again.

The RF successfully managed Edward VIII and the Nazi connections. I would argue that was far trickier in the climate then. I think they can manage some off HAM.

It just shows security is not about security at all - it is about status.

The reason the King can't be prosecuted, as I understand it, is because justice is done in his name. Harry isn't taking on his Dad, he is taking on the establishment. His Dad didn't tell him what not to do, the Head of State did. Harry broke the rules and if he did try to take this to court the only outcome I can see is a tightening of those rules which would leave him in a worse position.

I can't see this as a particularly productive battle for those who want to open debate on the monarchy in general because telling a minor royal that he can't pretend to be a working royal or demand public funds for private endeavours is actually a good thing regardless of whether you want the UK to keep the monarchy.

If there are anti monarchists trying to use Harry I think they need to choose a better stalking horse, someone who isn't being told he can't leverage his parent for status and money. I'd be looking at the peppercorn rentors maybe.

Of course. It was the Baldwin government that saw them off. I'm sure that the Burnham government could sort it out just as effectively.
When Edward knew he would have to abdicate, he requested that he go back to being Prince of Wales and help with duties because he was so popular.
Sound familiar?

Having just read PP's informative posts about HAM staying at Rowdy Manor in Northamptonshire, I wondered why there are stories of M turning up at Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds. Researching this on Google Maps, I found it's only 35 minutes drive away (sorry, geography of this area is not my strong point)

So I suppose she's nicely positioned for regular visits

Whilst I was looking at Soho Farmhouse I came across this gem ~

The club’s foundational philosophy is to gather people with a "creative soul." The membership committee heavily prioritises individuals working in creative industries

There's a lot I could say about M's 'creativity' but I don't think it fits into the categories Soho Farmhouse had in mind . . . .

I would agree except that I fear the world has changed radically since the days of the Abdication Crisis.

We're all less deferential - the people and the press are not willing to tolerate suppression of information about the RF. The nearest we get is the press's agreement to leave the royal children alone until they leave education.

And the advent of social media has just transformed our lives completely. The RF didn't have to contend with all the information and misinformation coming at us from the internet. I should think they only had the UK to worry about too, whereas now you get an international onslaught.

I say this as a constitutional monarchist - I want the RF to survive (happy to see it modernised by William) but I think the institution has a much more difficult job than in the 1930s. I also think that most politicians across the board in the inter-war years would have been broadly supportive of the monarchy whereas that may not be true now.

The news we were given in the 30s was much more controlled and confined to more serious constitutional matters. Now all kinds of stuff is in the public arena and unfortunately the more shallow, fake and manipulative the stories are, the more some people seem to like it.

I hope you're right. I know AB is a socialist and may well be a republican in sympathy but I just hope that he realises that the UK and the world has far more to contend with at the moment in terms of instability and volatility, and that overturning our constitution isn't either a high priority OR a good idea.

Were these lines heard on the video. If so I think it’s just her being careless in her haste to get the other lines in it.