Let's say a time-space portal has opened up and the Diana of August 24, 1997, is able to step through it and meet Duchess Meghan.
They meet up at the Harbour Gym in Chelsea, always one of Diana's favorites, and repair to the juice bar in the spa for a chat.
Diana is the same kind-hearted but flakey, obsessive, and occasionally manipulative woman she was before her death, and she has been following Meghan and Harry's recent adventures from the other side.
What do they say to each other? Specific lines of dialogue encouraged.
They meet up at the Harbour Gym in Chelsea, always one of Diana's favorites, and repair to the juice bar in the spa for a chat.
Diana is the same kind-hearted but flakey, obsessive, and occasionally manipulative woman she was before her death, and she has been following Meghan and Harry's recent adventures from the other side.
What do they say to each other? Specific lines of dialogue encouraged.
Comments
Both being clever opportunists in their own way the English media would have gone mental. There certainly would have been three in the Sussex marriage.
Me-Gain arrives at the highest paying photo op, oops, I mean public appearance.
I should think Princess Diana would have pushed his studies, directed his career choices and he would likely have excelled to his best abilities and had a healthy self esteem and felt loved, positive and fulfilled.
I think to a large extent Harry has been left to his own devices without much guidance from the BRF and certainly not the unconditional love and guidance he would have had with his mother.
I think Princess Diana was fair with both boys and promoted equality, unity and love between the brothers, something that the RF never necessarily did.
There is no way that Princess Diana would have stood by and allowed this current state of affairs to develop as it has, with the snarky snide comments and division from PH & MM
I personally think MM has a chronic case of narcissism and Harry has a passive aggressive personality, which is the cause of the current problems.
Who knows maybe Diana could have maneuvered this in a more positive direction?
Meanwhile since Princess Diana's death Harry has basically been left alone to his own devices, stewing and rotting while William is being groomed with full attention to be the future King.
I am sure had Princess Diana been alive, she would have seen through Ms Markle and would have steered Harry well clear of her.
And i do not believe for a nano second Princess Diana would have had 2 minutes to spare for Ms Markle, especially with the situation concerning her father and family.
I'm sure Princess Diana and Harry's immediate family would have met with Mr Markle & Doria well before the wedding took place, which would be an incredibly normal protocol with any family...Royal or not
She (D) has mythic cult status of this perfect person who was always loving, warm, kind and greeted everyone as a friend. I don't see that happening here though. I think we would then see a restrained Mama Bear letting loose about what was happening to HER kids.
Whether or not it would evolve into who do you think you are trying to take my mantle as you are me 2.0? would be a not sure. I think a lot might depend on how the above was received and responded to. My best guess is that MM doesn't have a lot of practice in the art of a good apology (to begin with and then it wasn't the expected response by D, a more of under fire doesn't make it easy to come off as more genuine than normal).
Diana certainly had her disagreements with the RF but I could she her moving heaven and earth to get them to take action. And, stomping her feet, NOW!
Diana removes the Claw, turns to Harry and says, "Come darling, let's have a little talk." And Diana and Harry leave Meghan standing by herself.
Diana would also have passed along some of her own negative traits to Harry however, IMO.
William was her confidante but Harry was her favorite, I have always thought. Diana went overboard trying to spoil Harry & give him acclaim alongside future-king William.
The Windsors , especially the Queen Mum, paid less attention to Harry than William, it has been documented as a longstanding behavior pattern.
Diana had her neuroses, too, including borderline personality disorder IMO. She could be shrewish, paranoid and passive aggressive/manipulative at times so I think Harry would have seen this and perhaps picked it up.
Meghan’s similar qualities are no doubt familiar to him from Diana. People are often drawn to others who show the same qualities as their family of origin. We tend to define “love” by however love relationships in family were displayed and seen.
So Diana would have made short work of Sparkles but also reinforced those qualities she shared with Sparkles, keeping Harry still drawn to those traits.
I think Diana was a great mum and charity patron as her works with AIDS, children’s, land mine and do many great causes & organizations demonstrates.
Diana genuinely cared about people rather acting a part. Everyone has great strengths and weaknesses. Her negative traits I don’t see as wiping out all the good Diana did in her lifetime. I simply note it as one area in which Megs may feel “familiar” and attractive to Harry and why.
Diana would probably be appalled by MMs behavior.
If Diana hadn't perished in the MVA, would she have had her happily ever after? I would like to think that she would have found her own version of prince charming, been happy, produced more non-heir-to-the-throne children since she loved being a mother, maybe a beloved baby sister for the boys. I like to think that she and Charles and Camilla could have been amicable. (That is what I would like to think, but only if she got good psychiatric care and meds.)
A person can only get by on good looks for so long, then it comes down to good heart and good character. I think Diana had a very compassionate heart and she (mostly) tried to do the right thing.
I also think in time that she, Charles and Camilla would have been amicable. With Diana, Harry would have had a better teenage life. He still would have gone onto the Marines but I think she would have pushed education too. She would have have had a hand in their relationships also. Which makes me wonder about Kate. I love Kate and she is perfect for William. But would Diana have approved in the beginning? I don’t know. So many things could have been different if she were still with us. Good and bad.
But the scenario put to us. If 36 year old Diana ran into 38 year old Meghan at the juice bar. Diana was always weary of people and she liked to have the power over people. Meghan is an A type personality that would have rubbed Diana the wrong way and from the onset she would have banished her back to Canada. Megs would have had her one time dalliance with a prince and would be back on the hunt again.
Now, if she had lived a full life - Harry would not be with MM. Probably never even crossed paths with her.
"Have you Darling, you must bring her around for tea. Soon." Diana reaches for her engagement book and looks consideringly at the next week of meetings, quickly reaching a decision regarding which one could be shifted. "Thursday is open, I will see you then, love you darling." Diana hangs up the phone ignoring the sound of her son saying 'But Mum..."
Scene break to two days later, during which Diana has firmed up the information that everyone concerned had been gathering over the last few months.
Harry and Meghan enter the room to find Diana waiting for them, the tea table beautifully decorated and stocked with inviting refreshments. Meghan immediately begins gushing over Diana, Harry has not been able to get a word in edgewise, and the claw has been employed to good effect the entire time. Diana has taken this all in as she calmly sips her tea.
"Harry darling, you should take a walk and allow your young woman and I to get acquainted. Go on now, shoo!" Harry walks away, doing as he was bid by Diana.
Diana leads Meghan to her sitting room, retrieves a thick sheaf of papers from a side table and sits down in a large wing backed chair while gesturing Meghan into a much smaller chair across the room from her. Meghan begins to burble out more nonsensical drivel, only to be cut off by a Princess Diana who was suddenly all business.
"You may have thought that you could scoop up a royal prince for yourself, but you've scooped the wrong one." Diana said, leaning forward slightly and glaring directly into the actress' eyes. "No," she said, holding her hand up, "you will remain silent. My dear, you are quite simply in over your head. Did you think that we wouldn't learn all your tawdry little secrets? You may have thought you could manipulate the press into doing what you needed it to, but let me tell you, you little twat, I was successfully manipulating them while you were still in nappies. So let me tell you what is going to happen. You are going to gently and nicely explain to Harry that you can't marry him within the next week, and you are going to make sure that you do not in any way suggest that the break up is his fault. If you do not do as you are told," Diana said, holding up the stack of papers, "every single one of your tawdry little secrets will slowly be released to the papers and examined in excruciating detail until you comply."
Megan stared at the woman she had revered. Her plan was foolproof, how could this happen? She was Meghan Markle, the smartest woman in the world.
Diana smiled a cold little smile at the conniving woman across from her, certain that her message had been delivered. Amateur.
So there you go. I don't think Meghan would have ever gotten her foot in the door if Diana was still alive. Perhaps an East Coast American who was accustomed to polite society and charity work would have been welcomed, but not a snippy little gold digger like Meghan.
All the celebrities coming out for MMs defense would pale in comparison to the coup Diana would pull. And we would definitely see a lot of eye rolls, death stares, publicly made jibes and scarfing from her whenever MM would be around.
Infact, going by how crazy things are turning out to be, and what with the "Emotional pilgrimage" MM plans to make to Diana's memorial, I'm inclined to think that the ghost of Diana might just actually rise from the dead, and go see a journalist or at least appear in their dream and do a spill all !!
Urghhh...!
Makes it seem like she plans to walk barefoot up a mountain, thorns and bristles strewn upslope while the mountain is on fire and poor devote Meghan braves the hellfire, tears streaming down her face singing Hallelujah in her sweet melodious voice, all the while balancing a single candle white candle in the palm of her hand, it's flame flickering in the wind. Like she would climb all the way, swim through the lake, then throw herself down at the bust of Diana and the heavens would open up and shower lilies and roses, and of course forget-me-nots, down upon her.
The headline paints a weird image in your mind. Also... Has she already decided that it will be emotional, and she is going to cry?? Does she have a speech prepared? Has she prepared and coached Harry already? Are they going to talk emotionally about all the bullying they have been subjected to and how all they can now do is find respite and solace at feet of Diana's memorial because the world is against them??? What does it even mean? And why oh why would anyone ever let them do it?!
Diana would dump the flowers and cupcakes in the garbage, fix her limpid blue eyes on Meghan, and say, "What in the hell do you think you're doing, and who the f*** do you think you are? Get out - now - and never come near my boys again!"
Diana would then fade away and disappear, and Meghan would get up and walk out, so shocked that she would forget and leave Archieficial in his pram in the corner.
And the hair extensions, made of top notch silken organic vegan hair from the mane and tail voluntarily donated by Harry's favorite polo pony.
Also ... wouldn't it be totally awesome if/when MM makes her emotional pilgrimage to Diana's grave and Lady Di l, lurking behind some bushes, starts pelting over ripe bananas and woke cupcakes at her. She was known to be quite the prankster.
Plus, who's to say that she hasn't already come back as her her own version of poltergeist Peeves, a la Harry Potter, and gets the kicks out of haunting Frogmore.
It could also explain the horrible ratty hair, over use of bronzer, ill fitting clothes, wrong bump sizes, wobbly bumps, unexplained weight gain on a diet of kale smoothies and oxygen alone, the Panama hat that doesn't fit anymore, the hole in Harry's brown shoes etc etc etc
Since Diana hasn’t aged past that day in August 1997 she is still young and stunningly beautiful so when Harry and the Bride of Frankenstein arrive, MeGain is taken aback. She despises any women who are prettier than she is but this is Harry’s mum Saint Diana. She’s willing to make an exception and immediately reaches out with The Claw to enfold her MIL in a bear hug. D stiffens and backs away but it’s too late-there is already bronzer on her collar.
Diana was to-the-manor-born so she politely shows M to a straight-back chair as she seats herself in an overstuffed chair while the maid brinks in the tea trolley. She has chosen a Chanel suit with a ruffled blouse for this interview. Although her skirt is a stylish but modest length, she instinctively crosses her legs at the ankle and her body forms a pleasing ‘S’ shape. She is smiling but somehow it doesn’t reach her eyes. Meg is unaware or uncaring that her too short skirt and crossed knees are allowing a view of her knickers. At least she isn’t going commando today! Since she has been able to see all the earthly goings on and a lengthy conversation with Lord Geidt the previous evening D has a clear view of how to handle this situation. Her baby boy is miserable and a mum’s job is to fix it. M is still looking up through her eyelashes and babbling inane word salad as she alternately claps and flutters her hands. Her beady little rodent eyes are assessing and you can almost hear the gears of her mind turning. She knows she’s got this. She’s irresistible and insanely smart. She ALWAYS gets her way.
The ladies get acquainted over tea and M complains how difficult it has been to get her hourglass figure back after giving birth to Archie. By the end of the afternoon they have a plan to do a month long whirlwind humanitarian tour. Time to pack.
Mr Al Fayed has put his personal jet at their disposal and Diana and MeGain are off to Africa. They visit some AIDS hospitals and an Ebola recovery center. It’s hard, heartbreaking work. Meg HATES it. Where are the parties? Where are the formal dinners that she can amaze the other guests with her woke feminist wit? Diana introduces M to a diamond magnate and a gold mine owner. As they travel and enjoy the hospitality of every leading family along the way M has had the opportunity to meet so many wealthy single men. A few of them even have multiple wives. D introduces M to a Saudi prince and his four sons. Finally she has an opportunity to wear a slinky evening gown! The men are all winking to each other so they must approve she thinks. D and the father share a look and a nod.
Alas, all good times must come to an end. It’s time to return to London and Harry and Archie. An assistant comes to escort Diana and MeGain to their plane and D knocks on M’s door. There’s no answer. After another knock she opens the door. The room is empty. No Meg, no luggage. She’s gone. Mission accomplished.
The two women meet in the juice bar. Diana holds out her manicured hand for a handshake, but Meghan responds with an enthusiastic bear hug.
MM:
Omigod, I love you. and I love everything about you. You are so impactful. You are so kind. I love your fashion, and I love your charities, and I just think you’re so grass roots.
DIANA:
That’s lovely dear. It seems you’ve got a bit of the wrong end of the stick though, haven’t you? For the first, the idea with the fashion is that its British. You show the work of British designers.
MM:
Oh sure, of course. I just feel I can be both. And because I’m both, and very international, I like to wear designers from other places too, like Givenchy, which is French, which is also European.
DIANA:
Yes that’s all very well and good, but it is the British designers you need to promote now, dear. You are in the British Royal Family now. The French royals had their heads chopped off some time ago, and we don’t want that for ourselves, do we?
Now about the charities.
MM:
I know, right? I’m promoting British designers through the charities. Like, with Smartworks, I have them wearing a special capsule collection from Marks and Spencer. That’s British, right?
DIANA:
Yes it is, dear, but you must remember that the charities are about the people you serve, not yourself. You need to think first about how you can help them. There should be a bit more of them and a bit less of you, don’t you think?
MM:
Oh, definitely. Definitely, yes. Did you like my issue of Vogue? I didn’t want to be boastful and put myself on the cover, so I put, like, people involved with charities on the cover.
DIANA:
Yes, well. I was on the cover myself a few times. Mario Testino and all. Using your persona to bring attention to charities isn't all bad - it worked with the land mines.
Now, let’s talk about Harry.
MM:
Oh yeah, Harry’s so great. I mean, I have to move him along sometimes. I mean, I have to tell him what to do. But when I do tell him, he’s like, great at it. People really love him, grass roots people and all. You should join us for yoga.
DIANA:
Yes, about that. Harry’s a little fragile, you know. He doesn’t have a clear role, like Wills, you know. You need to help him create that role, encourage him to do the things he’s good at. Like the military charities, for example. He enjoys those very much and they like him. Why has he not been doing as many of those?
MM:
Well, yeah, he does some. Like he does some Invictus stuff, and I help him. I even made the speech at the Australian Invictus Games for him. But you know, now that he’s a dad, I’d really like him to be doing more non-violent stuff. Like environmentalism. That’s so important right now.
DIANA:
Yes, about that. My first advice to you about that is, don’t trust Elton John about anything. He’s unreliable and I hate that bloody song he sang at my funeral.
Pity George Michael’s not around any longer, he was a nice man.
MM:
(angrily, with finger raised) George Michael engaged in blatant cultural appropriation. He sang soul music, but he had no African or African-American heritage. His style was blatantly stolen for the original artists. He should have been ashamed of himself.
DIANA:
Well, if you’re worried about things stolen from other people, you might not want to be part of the British Royal Family.
Now, about this baby…..
I was thinking a "modern" bespoke version of this hair shirt worn by the penitent:
"A garment of rough cloth made from goats' hair and worn in the form of a shirt or as a girdle around the loins, by way of mortification and penance."
Her visit to the retired actors’ Home in Winter, wearing that black and white, too-tight summer dress. Darker fall and winter shades at Louis’ christening, TTC 2019, etc.
Designers would be sending her clothing to be coming out and she’d wear them to generate interest in the outfit with some help from Meghan’s Mirror.
If she wasn’t keeping the outfits but returning or selling the clothes, that also explains why her outfits are not tailored to her frame.
Designers would be sending her sample sizes she wouldn’t be able to tailor if she had to return the pieces to them.
Remember the Polynesian your red dress with hanging price tag?
I do think she is merching as hard as she can, selling some items but having to return others.
Nice one, @Nutty! Thanks for the laugh. ;)
Honestly, I can't imagine Diana taking any sort of meeting with MM to begin with. If Diana were on the scene I don't think MM would have been on Harry's radar. At least not on dry land.
In reality, Diana was an astute judge of character as is William, she would have pegged MM instantly. She also despised people using her name and position for personal gain.
Maybe it would go like this:
Harry: “mummy I’ve met someone I think you’ll really like, she’s clever, beautiful, and charming. Men love her. She idolizes you and wants to be just like you and together we want to be global humanitarians”
Diana: “Quite. I’ve seen the tapes. Get rid of her - now. Oh, and have Paul check the jewellry and count the silver before she leaves.”
Here's the only photo I could find with her in it... https://cdn.evoke.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/15225737/prince-louis-christening-portrait-696x502.jpg I don't think the dress is a horrible choice. It's almost a neutral color in the setting. She doesn't blend into the decor and doesn't clash with the other women, but does stand out. The photo may be better, because she isn't wearing off-white. Would have been best to wear a more neutral color, perhaps a lighter more taupe green.
Clueless, merching, or purposeful?
This is true. Diana's lineage goes back 20 generations... all British aristocrats. Charles's goes back at most 5 on the QE2 side until you run into foreigners.
Meghan(gushing and clawing): "So so happy to meet you. We have SO much in commom!"
Diana:(regally, softly)"You really mustn't."
The histrionic Megs going to Diana's grave story is nothing but smoke screen distraction from the fact that they are not at Balmoral as they are on top of granny and PP's shit list.
The York girls are also missing.
Rumors now that Bea will get married in Italy. Good excuse to keep the party small and not have the British taxpayers on the hook for it. Edo and his family are loaded, let them pay. Oops Meg, your invite got lost in the mail.
“And You must be Meghan” then turning to Harry saying “and you son have much explaining to do”.
https://twitter.com/youallknowme999/status/1165461844498083840
@ThisLittlePetal
So that post, among other things, refers to thislittlepetal, sl whom some people think is Megs
I've also screenshotted it for posterity.
"Blissful Mom
💕
Happy Home
🏡
Loving Wife
💍
Organic food
🥗
Animal lover
🐕
Perfect life
😘
Is it really Megs? Who knows.
I'm also not convinced of the Epstein connection, although it certainly isn't impossible.
But I do believe it's likely that Meg claimed she was pregnant, which would account for the rushed wedding (pushing Eugenie's out of the way) and the sour faces on the Royal Family in the pews.
"I know you idolise Diana, the worst mistake she ever made was thinking her friends were her friends & would have her back. Instead they backstabbed her & she paid for it with her life. If she was alive, she would have hated you & would be open about it."
She's also an actress, and actresses generally like to stand out from the crowd. Wearing a different color draws attention and creates commentary, which Meghan loves.
If she's able to merch and bring in some money too, so much the better.
What about Samantha Cohen or Heather Wong?
He is famously known to be quite passive and has been accused of being a softy. But we do know he is very image conscious, is stubborn about what he wants, and for someone in his position of power it would be surprising for him to be so unbothered. So...**wink and smirk**
PS: I'm talking about Charles.
The 'Saint Diana, People's Princess' narrative is powerful, and by dying so young and still at the height of her beauty and vitality, it is a narrative that will never be extinguished. I will stop short of calling it a 'myth', because Diana did have a compassionate heart for the sick and disenfranchised, and I think she personally did greater good to destigmatize AIDS than all the doctors' statements could ever have done. She had a heart for her boys as big as the ocean, and had a real gift for connecting with people. She was a generous friend, but could be a very vindictive enemy if she perceived herself to be crossed, and was not above manipulating the media to her own ends.
In the last couple of years of her life, commencing with the 1995 Panorama interview with Martin Bashir, she was engaged in setting herself up as the People's Princess with her own separate 'court' in popular opinion. That interview was her shot across the bow of her former marriage family, with the pronouncement that she didn't think Charles would ever be King (the subtext being, he didn't deserve to be). She was embracing her new life as 'former Royal turned global celebrity' and running with a fast crowd, including her new beau Dodi Fayed, who was a movie producer, scion of the Harrods dynasty and as such had connections with tons of celebrities.
Diana had a particular attachment to Muslim men; before Dodi, indeed, before being officially divorced, she was pursuing Dr. Hasnat Khan--who was married. Her pursuit of him could be labeled 'stalking' according to some biographers, even when Dr. Khan had severed the relationship. Then she took up with Dodi. If Meghan fancies herself 'the new Diana', I think Diana proposed to style herself as 'the new Jackie Onassis' with Dodi, a moneyed foreigner with a yacht as her Ari, the man who could keep a former Royal in the luxurious style to which she had become accustomed, and her offered her the privacy provided by great wealth. I think we all remember well those long-range pictures of Diana, just weeks before she died, aboard Dodi's yacht. She looked happy and as healthy and fit as she'd ever been . . . but it's more than a little ironic, isn't it, that the Princess of Wales essentially became the yacht girl of a multimillionaire Muslim playboy?
The question remains, if she had married Dodi, if being a Muslim wife would have impinged on her globetrotting celebrity charity work and rubbing shoulders with celebrities. Perhaps not; Dodi was not an observant Muslim, but I'm sure his father would have insisted on a traditional Islamic wedding and Diana's conversion to the faith
of Allah. This was giving BP fits.
Diana really blossomed and came into her own as a solo figure, and she was very active during that last year. Even if one acknowledges her problems, her untimely death was a great loss to the world, and to her boys most of all. I would like to think that if Diana were still here, a glamorous 58 now (same as Lord G., though he is not as glamorous lol), that Harry might have settled into himself more easily and certainly wouldn't have endured the mental anguish losing his mother at 12 caused. I think he probably would have buckled down to the Army and stayed in as a career, as a means of making her proud. But his jealousy of his brother and impulsivity, spoiled antics and intellectual troubles would have remained, since he dealt with those as a child.
Would Diana have liked Megs and thought her a suitable bride for her younger favored son? Maybe--if Meghan's PR had matched the reality. Megs looked really good on paper, or the virtual equivalent. Diana was always captivated by celebrities, and that included American ones. We all remember her dance with John Travolta at the White House in 1985. But Megs is NOT what she portrayed herself as, and her sham is transparent; Diana would have seen through her immediately. I think a word from his mother in Harry's ear would have achieved what William's could not--get him to reevaluate the relationship, if it had ever gotten that far.
I don't think Diana would have been opposed to Harry's marrying an actress; even a divorcee. But for as enamored as she was with Hollywood stars (which Megs resolutely was not), she would have wanted Harry to choose a woman who would elevate his status within the Royal family, I think. Someone who could join him in his charity work, authentically, not just lip-service. Someone who would have integrated more seamlessly and would have gotten William and his wife on-side. Diana herself may have been out of the Family, but she would have known that it was in Harry's best interests to stay in, and command respect from within by being a valuable contributing member, along with his wife. Dodi, for all his other failings, was a British citizen, and Diana would have wanted Harry to choose a British girl. I think she would have warmed to Cressida, for example.
What might have been . . . .Unfortunately we, and Harry, and the BRF, are stuck with 'What Is'.
I doubt that 'Diana as Movie Star' would have happened, but she was a bigger star than all but a handful of celebrities just by being herself. I could envision her as a correspondent on a lifestyle-type show. Diana had a natural charisma that she'd polished as she matured. Were she still around in living color, Smegs' pathetic, pitiful attempts to emulate her style would never have gotten off the ground.
I agree wholeheartedly with you that Diana could have, and should have, set her sights higher than Dodi Fayed . . but she was keeping company with him and ultimately it cost her her life. We all regret, and none more so than William and Harry, that their mom didn't have better taste in companions.
Those rumors were swirling about an engagement at the time of her death; had she survived her trip to Paris, she may well have come back engaged to her 'Onassis'. She might not ultimately have accepted him as a husband, but I was pretty aghast that she'd ever accepted him as a boyfriend. He had something she found attractive, and I'd wager that it was mostly his money. The Fayed fortune could keep her in better style than her allowance from the RF. And then there was the show business connection, with Dodi. If Di truly had her sights on a foray into show business, Dodi knew people. As you may recall, Dodi dated Brooke Shields prior to her marriage to Andre Agassi. Now *that* was a pairing I found bizarre in the extreme, since Brooke was so very young at the time. Personally I thought Dodi seemed repulsive, but he must have had a certain charisma in person. The RF's concern over Diana and Dodi was quite serious.
I guess it suited Diana to keep her ex-husband's family guessing about her intentions with Dodi, along with Dr. Khan . . . a man who was known to abuse cocaine, along with being from a patriarchal culture were sexual jealousy could have homicidal consequences would have been a terrible match for Diana.
I admire Diana for many things, but can also look clear-eyed at her faults, among which were a penchant for continual romantic dramas around herself which were in keeping with an adolescent girl. Despite being a mature woman of 36 and a mother, the fact is that Diana was auctioned off in marriage to the RF before she was practically out of the egg. Engaged at 19, married at 20, a mother before she was 21 . . . she hadn't had a chance to live a life before she became a handmaiden and brood mare for the Crown. Perhaps if she had, her mental age might have progressed beyond the high school stage when it came to her cravings for soap operatic romantic dramas.
Charles had his spectacular failings, as we all know, but I no longer believe that he could have saved Diana from her most self-destructive impulses even if he had been completely faithful and devoted to her. Diana was never in love with Charles so much as she was with the fantasy of an ideal romantic love and with herself as a Princess. Any man would have failed to measure up to that. That does not exonerate Charles for his behavior towards her, but even if he'd had eyes only for her, she would have managed to find her situation lacking and would have sought attention elsewhere. She and Meghan had that in common--the need for regular injections of all-consuming adoration from others. This wore Charles out, in the end, long before The End.
Diana may not have married Dodi, but at the time of her death she was *already* involved in a relationship that reflected badly on her judgement and was already of concern to the RF. If, as someone suggested, 15 year old William was so aggravated by the relationship that he was arguing with his mother about it--symptomatic, I'd say, of the dysfunctional dynamic Diana had with her eldest son--putting him, at 15, into the role of the adult scolding a wayward teenaged daughter over her romantic relationship--that's whack, isn't it? Points to Diana being a bit infantile, at least in this area; playing off one man against another to create sexual jealousy all around herself is not the action of a mature person. . her relationship with Dodi was therefore already making things difficult for her boys. They were aboard the party yacht that summer before the accident, and while they may have enjoyed their time there, don't we think that the boys, and particularly William would have been grilled re. the status/progress of Diana's relationship with her boyfriend when the boys got back home?
Diana may well have accepted a ring from Dodi just to spite the Royal family and perhaps even gone through with a marriage. All of this is moot speculation now. What we do have as a cold fact is that Diana's association with Dodi and being with him that night is what got her killed. It was on Dodi's orders, no doubt screamed from the back seat in a cocaine-fueled paranoiac rage that an impaired employee drove too recklessly and drove them all to their deaths. It would have been far better for Diana to never have gotten involved with Dodi in the first place, but of course we can only say this with the benefit of hindsight which she never got.
Regardless of Diana’s flaws, we all lost greatly when she didn’t buckle up that night in Paris.
Her son’s more than anyone else.
Which has led us to Megdusa.
Yes, I know it does . . . but honor killings are a very specific type of gender-related violence that tend to occur predominantly in Muslim families and other cultures on the sub-Continent. We may as well be honest and admit that stereotypes spring from kernels of truth.
Not that the al Fayeds would have been my idea of an ultra-conservative Muslim family. Both Muhammad and Dodi were Westernized, at least as far as their business practices/partners went. Other stereotypes that often prove to be truisms: 1. Parents usually much more conservative/religiously observant than their children, particularly if he is an immigrant, as Muhammad was. The senior Fayed had his own reasons for being as wary of a match between his son and Diana as the RF would have been. And 2. Men from rigidly patriarchal cultures very often tend to rediscover their commitment to their roots/become ultra conservative once they are married and facing the prospect of becoming fathers. The elders are willing to allow their bachelors some leeway in their behavior, but once they become family men, a lot of pressure is applied to them to uphold the traditions of their culture.
If anyone was resistant to this pressure, I think Dodi would have been . . he loved the Western lifestyle too much, and I think his father somewhat despaired of him.
The sad truth is that entering into any love relationship or frankly just walking down the street as a woman could have homicidal consequences . . .not just dating a Muslim man. Dodi seemed to be a candidate for a lot of rage and jealousy, though, considering that he was hitting the cocaine pretty hard and had a giant ego and also seemed more into the relationship with Diana than she was with him. For her part, she seemed to enjoy men competing over her, or creating an atmosphere where she created an atmosphere of jealousy in order to feel more desirable. I could see this being a recipe for disaster had the Di-Dodi relationship continued. Diana was in her own way very strong-willed and after a decade and a half of being subjugated to the Royal family was enjoying her freedom as a free agent. I think this would have made problems with Dodi, who for all that he was highly Westernized and a largely non-observant Muslim would have had the cultural conditioning that women, particularly wives, were to be submissive and decorative. Diana'd had enough of that in her first marriage.
How I wish she'd gotten the chance to determine her own future going forward. If she'd been wearing her seat belt, she might have survived that accident with only minor injuries. The fallout from that seemingly insignificant decision is still devastating to contemplate. Which is why Smeaghan's plan to exploit the anniversary of that tragic day to make an 'emotional pilgrimage' to Diana's grave for her own PR aggrandizement turns my stomach. If she had a sincere bone in her body, she'd go in secret, privately, providing that Harry was willing to take her.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ThisLittlePetal
I have my doubts it's legit but still entertaining reading all the same.
I always thought that Diana and Dodi was a bearding relationship. He got to look like a playboy with a princess and she knew it would irk the royals. Not because he was Muslim, but because he was a flashy, playboy type. I do not think being pictured on his yacht made her a "yacht girl."
Also wanted to point out when Diana was doing her anti-landmine campaign, at the time (before the ban), the UK had been a major producer and developer of landmines, and British Aerospace holds 12 landmine patents. These companies did not like Diana highlighting that the UK was listed as one of the main sources for landmines found in the ground worldwide.
One can visit the "temple" to her memory but an actual visit to the island where she is buried is a full stop no to the general public. I don't know if any of her family have visited the island or not. If they have, I suspect it was a private thing where they didn't want to share the pain with outsiders (certainly understandable).
As a side note, I have some difficulty with the term of temple to her memory given that there was a fair amount of Diana worship even when she was alive. I just wish they had used another term. Memorial?
And I agree that anything long-term with Dodi would have been a disaster. It's such a shame, isn't it, to have entered into this relationship partly to thumb her nose at the royal family.
Her first negative press happened in early 1981. She had a "do you know who I am" moment with a shop girl over the writing of a cheque. It was in one of the papers but there is no record of it on line. It's stuck in my brain because of her attitude. I moved to the UK to get married and my future spouse was great in giving me an intro to British life. You couldn't write a cheque without a supporting cheque card (especially if it was a Eurocheque). She didn't have the card and was very vocal about it. She had the Coutts cheque book but no card and wanted those jumpers.
Back then in the UK, people married at a much younger age than they do know. I was 20 and my groom 21. My family all considered me old, lol. In my husband's circle I was the oldest bride.
Also bear in mind, Diana's dating pool was limited. She was never going to marry a plumber or a mechanic. Women of her social class dated Cavalry officers (Household was the preferred first choice, Blues & Royals, etc.)
Shortly before her death the papers had turned on her. The Express and Mail were quite nasty. There was a certain fear that she would marry Dodi. Certainly his Dad, the then owner of Harrods, was pushing the story. But after her death several of her close friends were adamant that it would never have happened.
History changes with the telling over the years. Diana was no saint, ask Will Carling's wife.
Rumours of the rift were there for sometime, and then the official foundation split happened. There rumours of them being exiled to Africa and then out of the blue their Africa tour was announced.
There were rumours that they weren't staying at KP, and then turns out they were living at Cotswold. The Vogue thing, their own Foundation, them celebrating her birthday "low-key" and privately away from family and friends (yes, it turned out to be at Ibiza, but at least it was away from family and friends). The rumoured tie-up with Oprah which was later confirmed. The Gayle king interview, which wasn't all that great but it did come out, with the weepy friend n all... There are so many more examples... Which makes me feel that they might have planned something around Diana's death anniversary. In the end it will turn out to be something gimmicky and tacky, and mainly for the social media optics. It's hardly likely that they would organise a charity concert or something on her death anniversary!
Also makes me wonder if their ultimate sympathy tactic would be to reveal, with specific details, what actually happened with the Archie situation, and why they hid the baby's birth for months, why they fudged his birth date, and what his actual name is. (I for one, refuse to believe that they actually named him that! It's the most ridiculous name for a Royal baby)
"... the trappings of royalty suddenly reappeared: the jets, the yachts, the bodyguards, and the happy disregard for the cost of anything. The Princess might have been forgiven a wonderful feeling of déjà vu. Such accessories were her meat and drink, her natural habitat, her entitlement – but only, I sensed, if she were able to suppress memories of the days when they had also been earned. [...] Here was all the fun of being royal, with no suggestion that it must be paid for with a visit to an old folks’ home in Frinton. Sooner or later, though, the bill – whatever it was going to be – would be presented. The gods of royal decorum, or the expectations of her devoted public, would surely not be mocked. There was a palpable anticipation, a dread even, among amateur and professional royal-watchers alike that the Princess was leading us inexorably to a confrontation with her new persona. She herself, heading for the Fayed yacht, promised a boatload of pressmen that they would soon get a big surprise. It never arrived. Repayment for her late ration of happiness – and I feared it could only have been in the form of a tightening downward spiral – was never demanded. Instead, all her debts were cleared in an instant in a Parisian underpass. "
I am almost the same age as Diana. I remember scanning the newspaper hoardings that summer of ' 97, on my morning commute. Of her frolicking on Dodi's yacht and hinting at another surprise for everyone. I kept thinking "Oh no, what's she going to do next?" She seemed like such a loose cannon. We all thought that. And now her son Harry is drifting into the same world.
Also, Diana may have been 'thick' but she was pretty shrewd. She would have seen through Meghan in a nanosecond, and sent her on her way.
As much as I enjoy dishing about conspiracy theories relating to the Monstrous Markle and her Addled Prince, what these two numbskulls get up to is, while aggravating, more or less harmless. It spills a lot of ink in the tabloids and certainly gives us tons of fodder for rollicking discussions, but those two are basically harmless. Fauxchie may or may not be a real baby, but as much as I detest the Markle, I don't think she's guilty of murder. At least, not yet. Only the murder of dreams and friendships and reputations, but not people.
The conspiracy theory that the British Royal Family had Diana assassinated percolates to this day, kept alive by Mr. al Fayed, who would much rather be able to lay the blame for the tragedy at the feet of the wealthiest and whitest family in the Kingdom, if not the world, rather than accept that his own son's recklessless and poor judgement killed three people, including himself. I can understand his obsession, as a grieving father. But as provocative it is to contemplate, I do not believe this theory is supported by the evidence.
Patricia Cornwell is, as you point out, an author of *fiction*. Her stock in trade is creating implausible scenarios and dramatizing them so as to seem plausible. I used to enjoy her Kay Scarpetta books very much and read the first 10 or 12 before they took a dive off the cliff in quality. It was around this time that Ms. Cornwell took an excursion into non-fiction, turning out a cookbook and an investigative foray into the real identity of Jack the Ripper. This book is unread by me but leading experts in the field of Ripperology dismiss her conclusions as bunk.
Ms. Cornwell is foremost, a novelist. Novelists drive a narrative in order to sell books and make money. Her former career, as the chief medical examiner of Virginia, a job she later gave to her created heroine, means that she is (or was, years ago) tops in her field of forensic medicine--on humans. Forensic crime scene investigation relating to vehicular accidents is another highly specialized field, and I wouldn't expect that her grounding in human anatomy, as impressive and extensive as it is would qualify Ms. Cornwell to pronounce with authority about such things as tread marks, acceleration patterns, crush velocities of 1994 Mercedes Benzes and the like. Her conclusion that 'someone at the direction of the Royal family set off a flash-bang in the tunnel' for the purposes of murdering Diana sounds like the most rampant speculative fiction to me, but it sure makes for a titillating read.
On 27 July 2007, Baker, following representations for the lawyers of the interested parties, issued a list of issues likely to be raised at the inquest, many of which had been dealt with in great detail by Operation Paget:
Whether driver error on the part of Henri Paul caused or contributed to the cause of the collision
Whether Henri Paul's ability to drive was impaired through drink or drugs
Whether a Fiat Uno or any other vehicle caused or contributed to the collision
Whether the actions of the Paparazzi caused or contributed to the cause of the collision
Whether the road/tunnel layout and construction were inherently dangerous and, if so, whether this contributed to the collision
Whether any bright/flashing lights contributed to or caused the collision and, if so, their source
Whose decision it was that the Princess of Wales and Dodi Al Fayed should leave from the rear entrance to the Ritz and that Henri Paul should drive the vehicle
Henri Paul's movements between 7 and 10 pm on 30 August 1997
The explanation for the money in Henri Paul's possession on 30 August 1997 and in his bank account
Whether Andanson was in Paris on the night of the collision
Whether Diana's life would have been saved if she had reached hospital sooner or if her medical treatment had been different
Whether Diana was pregnant
Whether Diana and Dodi Al Fayed were about to announce their engagement
Whether and, if so in what circumstances, the Princess of Wales feared for her life
The circumstances relating to the purchase of the ring
The circumstances in which Diana's body was embalmed
Whether the evidence of Tomlinson throws any light on the collision
Whether the British or any other security services had any involvement in the collision
Whether there was anything sinister about (i) the Cherruault burglary or (ii) the disturbance at the Big Pictures agency
Whether correspondence belonging to the Princess of Wales (including some from Prince Philip) has disappeared, and if so the circumstances.[102]
#6 on this list is the 'bright, flashing light'.
Lord Justice Baker concluded that there was not a shred of evidence pointing to the Duke of Edinburgh or any other agent within the Royal family as having arranged this accident-on-purpose for the aim of killing Diana.
Philip has gotten up to a lot of shenanigans during his 72-year marriage to the Queen, mostly of the sexual infidelity/boys will be boys variety. His animosity toward his daughter-in-law was well known. But murder? I just can't go there. Diana was a loose cannon and she was a worrisome thorn in the side of BP, but would PP have made the Queen complicit in the homicide of their grandsons' mother? Not to mention killing 2 other people in the car with her, and it might have been 3 . . or more. Trevor Rees-Jones survived with debilitating injuries that forced his retirement on disability . . . many other innocent people in the tunnel could have been killed in a pile up collision. How could PP or anyone in on the plot have known as a certainty that Diana's car would take that route into the tunnel? And there was no certainty either that the occupants of the car wouldn't survive to give witness statements. Too risky and slapdash for a murder plot. Why not rig the car to explode as soon as they got in, if 100% fatalities were the aim?
Henri Paul was an employee of a volatile man, afraid of losing his position, and that fear drove him to get behind the wheel when he was heavily intoxicated (I believe he was also on antidepressant medication which would have amplified the effect of the alcohol) and then be bullied further into driving at an unsafe speed for the conditions. The poor man is dead and beyond further rebuke, but like the feckless captain of the Titanic, Capt. Smith, the blame ultimately rests with the one in the driver's seat. Had he refused to drive, or had he refused to go above a sedate speed so as to deliver his cargo safely, he might have been without a job in the morning but he and two other people would have been alive.
If the BRF, with the aid of the security services had really wanted to take Diana out, I can think of any number of other scenarios which would have been more effective and private without being a danger to the general public. A misadventure with pills and alcohol in the bathtub arranged to look like a suicide for example. A skiing accident.
It was a terrible day and the aftermath lingers . . I'm not sure anyone old enough to have known and loved Diana and watched her boys grow up from babies has completely recovered from the shock. 22 years seems like just yesterday at times. If I feel badly still, I can only imagine what it's been like for William and Harry.
I'm English and remember Diana's death very well. In fact I was one of the few people who was awake for it (it all unfolded at about 3am-6am) as I was working in a nightclub at the time and still up.
People forget how Diana was viewed as the weird mass outpouring of 'grief' (I would call it collective hysteria) after her death is the accepted version of things.
As I remember it, Diana's popularity was fading before her death. Yes people still liked her, but her constant courting of publicity, her 'poor me' schtick and cavorting around in general, living the high life whilst claiming everything was terrible (sound familiar?) was most definitely starting to grate.
As such, I really don't know what Diana would make of MM. If she had continued on her trajectory then I think you could argue that she was starting to go down the celeb/PR path that MM has started on immediately. Thirty years on, they might have more in common than you think...
As for going through a time portal, I think it could be argued that Diana might see an alliance with MM as beneficial to her as it would keep her relevant and in the news. Food for thought...
One thing I would say (more as a devil's advocate) is that I wonder whether Diana would be so quick to dismiss MM. As you say, it's possible they have quite a bit in common. Diana was addicted to being in the Press, and MM would have made her relevant and given her a bump if Diana was seen to side with her. I'm not sure it's quite as cut and dried as people are making out.
/Grown man isn't going to take advice from anybody. If he were taking advice from friends and family, he wouldn't be ditching his responsibilities.
Here is link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWfrsXG3Ask
I share your cynicism. She was on a bad road after the divorce; I was just shocked the bad road ended so abruptly. I thought we were in for years of Princess Margaret style antics.
I don't think the man existed who could have made Diana happy for very long. The ability to be content with one's situation and love what you have is intrinsic. Diana didn't have it; she was always looking to other people to 'give' her happiness and penalized them when they failed. Meghan is also not capable of contentment. The markers she chases for ephemeral feelings of adulation and worth are meaningless.
Losing Diana so suddenly and traumatically the way they did profoundly damaged her boys, but I do wonder how much Diana would have been available to her sons going forward from 1997. William was on the cusp of manhood; Harry still needed her for a few more years, but both of them were away at school for 2/3rds of the year. School vacations would have been shared with whoever their mother was dating at the time, as that last school holiday was shared with Dodi aboard the Fayed yacht . . . if she'd moved to some other country and become a glamorous expatriate, her sons would have barely seen her. It's not like she was invited to the Royal family get-togethers. She was better off than Fergie, owing to her global superstardom, but as far as the Palace was concerned, they were the same, the cast-off Wives of Windsor.
"Archie" is Prince George's call sign with the RPOs, I believe, and "Harrison" is Meghan's favorite line of home linens as produced by Soho House. It's right there in their catalogue. Any resemblance to Harry's name + son was coincidental. It's so transparent on the part of the Suxxits, it's pretty funny.
https://skippyv20.tumblr.com/post/187312891099/prince-harry-wasnt-wearing-his-wedding-ring-at#notes
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9809004/prince-harry-meghan-markle-roast-pub/
After the other photos with some amount of photoshop, I lean towards hokey unless I see real action video of them I guess. Those bridges are a little burned from my perspective. But that's just me. (and, I'm willing to admit when I've been wrong in life).
https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/i-dont-really-want-it-prince-harrys-sad-royal-confession/news-story/f99ca492eac92283fa182f9927a429a6
I never made the connection that Di's life after the royal family is exactly the life that Harry wants for himself with similar pitfalls. Thanks for the post:)
Sunday lunch is a really popular time at most pubs all around the UK and I imagine would be a fairly noisy time with all the tables full, lots of families in. Not to mention the unfamiliar clink and clatter of cutlery and plates, the sounds of many voices, food smells . . and yet the little blighter never stirs from his 'cot'.
Brit speak for 'infant carrier' I suppose, though a cot really sounds unwieldy to be taking to the pub.
Once the child known as Archie reaches the toddler stage, they aren't going to be able to keep claiming that he's as good as gold in public places and sleeps through everything. Buffoons.
Whoops, Meghan's unfamiliarity with British terms trips her up again!!
This is so typical Narc--she really believes that she's so much smarter than the rest of us dolts reading that she is *totally* convincing us. Meg, dear, try using a proofreader . . can't Harry read it and correct your Brit-malapropisms before you fire them off to your American sycophantic magazines? Please, give us some credit for brain cells out here.
So, Brit readers, out of curiosity, what do you call 'a car seat'? The infant models adapt as a carrier for when parents want to dine out with their infant.
Meg is despicable but I also question her grasp on sanity. These are not the actions of someone whose bolts are all screwed tight.
Harry, man, you've really muffed this up, haven't you? When did you start to get glimmers that Smeggie was barking mad? Really, I've dealt with a lot of insane people in my time (I work in public services; it's kind of a job requirement) . . and in my experience, people that are that far off the plumb as your wife is cannot hide it successfully for more than a few minutes at the most. A conversation of any duration apart from superficial pleasantries will catch them out. Also, they can't make appropriate eye contact--they either stare intensely and unblinking like a snake, or their eyes dart all over the place. Don't tell me you didn't notice any of this? Even granting that you guys didn't spend a whole lot of time engaged in conversation . . .even in bed could you not tell that she was not right in the head?
I really and truly wonder what the Royal Family has been dealing with for 34 years with Harry . . he doesn't seem all there, either.
"English vs. American Parents" --hilarious! If only Megs and Harry were as cute as this couple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh3_yMLEW1A
@wizardwench Thanks for the info. I went and read that. Caught in the lie again. That child is not 3 months old. If he is, then he's the biggest 3 month old I've ever seen. My BFF is 6 ft tall and her husband is 6"5" - even their kids weren't that big at 3 months old. Mind you their 5 year old is my height now and I'm 5'6".
Rather! The usage of 'fanny' is pretty interesting as well.
Maggie Gyllenhaal was in England filming 'Nanny McPhee' and related the story of the time she sent the crew into hysterics when she announced she had to go to the make-up trailer for a 'touch-up'.
In America, women touch up their lipstick. In England, mashers touch you up on the Tube, so a touch-up is nothing one wants, usually.
I had heard most of these Britisms before on account of watching/reading a lot of Brit TV/literature. But I confess that 'baby grow' and 'hundreds & thousands' were new to me. Both wordier than their American counterparts.
Grizzly imparts a completely different mental image to an American. My English friend tells me (rather wistfully) that there are no bears in Britain apart from literary ones like Winnie the Pooh and Paddington. Foxes and pissed-off hedgehogs is about as scary as the wildlife gets. So whenever I find a really good Internet meme of bears invading people's houses or cars or a random business establishment, I make sure to pass it on!
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/carrycothttps://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=EC056BDD638D1E824DB885AC33557097452F36CE&thid=OIP._pVNdHkENNl6zYsRACg3PQHaHa&exph=1200&expw=1200&q=carrycot&selectedindex=1&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6
But who knows with those two. My friends used to bring their carrycots everywhere (and back in the day they were also used as a type of carseat/restraint)
I was also I little puzzled by the 'baby was in a cot' thing. Then I thought maybe it was a carrier. Which made me ask as to why a British patron, a regular at the pub, would call it a cot and not a pram/carrier.
This story has all the elements of the Cambridge flight story - the royals being out in public doing normal stuff. The royals going unnoticed by other people. The royals spending modest amounts like regualar people, The child being so quiet and angelic. Noone bothering them as they go about their day but an anonymous person leaking the story. They were out with at least one other person, may be their PA.
The only thing missing is the actual photographs, but that's probably because it didn't happen. Or maybe not quite the same way as they put out..... Maybe it was take away? Maybe it was an old outing? Maybe they just pass by the public do many times and MM dreams of being able to eat their like normal people without being bothered by the plebs?
In any case, since this doesn't actually drive home a message,like the Cambridge's taking a commercial early morning flight, this story would be soon forgotten. It wouldn't do them much good or bad.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1171155/Meghan-Markle-news-latest-Suits-baby-Prince-Harry-royal-today
We have heard of the spposed Harry-Oprah-Apple documentary that's being made, maybe she will bring out a series of those, starring, directing, producing, screenwriting, editing, narrating, styling, catering, everythinging in said series. After all , acc to the above article " Harry thinks she is one of the finest actresses, and he would hate for her talent to go to waste." **Biggest eyelroll ever**
You are assuming that the supposed movie will be a genuine documentary on Africa/tribal women/charities etc. Oh love! of course not. Have you learnt nothing g from the smartworks drama? This will be about Meghan's charity. Meghan's love for food. Meghan's approachability. Meghan's take on Africa. Meghan's spin on African recipes. Meghan's fashion advice to African tribal women. She will speak in American. And SHE will obviously dub over for the women. This movie is about Meghan using all her talents after all, so they don't go to waste.
She will also laugh and clap hysterically at anything that is said to her by anyone.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9809004/prince-harry-meghan-markle-roast-pub/#
Here's the menu for the Rose & Crown. Despite being in the country, the establishment caters to the wealthy Berkshire residents with gourmet versions of traditional pub food. There is NO typical 'roast dinner' (vague, this) or 'fish and chips' on this menu.
At or around the 15 pound price point this fictitious article insists they spent, there are: "Chicken spinach and mushroom wellington with mashed potatoes, cider-glazed vegetables and herb jus"; "Pork sirloin steak with apple-thyme salad, hand-cut chips and pepper corn sauce" and for Harry: "Cod fish cake with curried mussels sauce & parmesan mixed leaf salad."
She doesn't even do her most rudimentary homework. There's no typically English roast or chippie food here. This is an upscale gastropub. It looks darling. The owners deny vehemently that the Sussexes have ever darkened their doors. But a positive fallout of all MM's lies is some nice PR for the business. I'm guessing the R&C is not on Farkle's payroll because otherwise they would have gushed all about their visit and how calm Archie was throughout.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9809004/prince-harry-meghan-markle-roast-pub/#
You make it sound delicious; I'd give it a try. Anything with 'pastry' in the title, and I'm there.
There's some kind of roast beef dish for two, at the 'bargain' price of 54.99, not including Harry's 'couple of pints". That's nearly US$70 for the entree alone, for lunch. I know the current exchange rate because I had to send a wire transfer to the UK last week and it's currently more than $1.26 to the pound. If H. and M. were attempting to illustrate how 'regular Joe' they are, having a roast Sunday lunch down at their local . . . I don't know of too many regular people who wouldn't flinch at a lunch tab of $75+ for two, unless it was an anniversary or special birthday. Also, Megs couldn't get her fibs straight because some sugar outlets report that they shared a roast; others say that Harry opted for fish & chips. All the major American and British magazines and tabloids are happily repeating whichever version of this story they got, verbatim, some adding the detail that between bites of roast beef and sips of water, Smegs cradled her infant son throughout the meal . . maybe she put the entire carry cot on her lap then, because an equal number of 'articles' say that Archie slept in a cot beside them for the entire meal.
I feel like we are all engaged in a global game of Punk'd, with Smegs as Ashton Kutcher. I see that I have been very very naive; prior to Smegs, I knew that tabloids would print anything as fact . . any given female celebrity was 'Pregnant with Twins!' one week and the next week would be on the brink of divorce with the incipient twins never mentioned . . .but until Smegs came down the pike, I felt that I could trust major, well-established mainstream media to be concerned about only reporting the facts which could be established. The pub has flat out denied they ever set foot in the place (Smegs doubles down by also printing--'They had been there before'--and still the Internet is awash with varying versions of how much Harry enjoyed his brewskis and red meat. Or fish and chips. Everybody's united on the fiction that Haz consumed two pints of beer while Virtue-Signalling and Pregnant with Baby #2!!! Earth momma sipped water and cradled the inert Fauxchie.
I see now how people are driven to insanity when they cannot trust their own experience of reality. If I wind up in a rubber room, Smegs put me there.
I do not count the dodgy private jet photos as an actual 'sighting' as such.
Preach and Leech are headhunting their critics
Fergie, Diana and Kate have all been subjected to constant criticism in the press
Waity Katie, Duchess of Pork and BPD Diana, to name a few
Can you little mind understand that?
And I would not want to see it shut down over something someone wrote which was illegal.
That kind of what I call restraint in commenting where there isn't this sense of I NEED TO TELL YOU WHAT I REALLY THINK OF YOU, snark, profanity, (any and everything is acceptable to write) is really welcome. I'd hate to see this blog become that.
thank you (I'll step off the soap box and go back to fixing dinner)
FFS Meggy is repugnant and as for the other, I am so sorry for all those young women, but this is not the place to discuss a pending criminal case
I can see a rather worrying way in which the Andrew story is being carefully framed though. All the stories reference the photo he had taken with the then 17 years old blonde girl and the fact that it is alleged he had sex with her on 3 different occasions. The narrative being pushed is that this one person and this (one?) occasion is all there is. So if this blonde girl turns out to be slightly unreliable then poof-it all is a terrible lie.
But we all know that he hung around Epstein a hell of a lot and would have certainly either witnessed or taken part in numerous other things. This case is following the same pattern as our other numerous paedophile scandals here in the UK. In the absence of firm proof, just say that you were totally unaware of what was happening, even if it pushes credibility to the limit, even though the only way to not know would have been to walk around blindfolded and with ear plugs. Andrew and all the other Establishment pedophiles could walk down a street with buildings on fire on all sides and their defence for not doing anything would be 'I had no idea that the buildings were on fire.' Maddening to see it unfold with the same sorts of denials as before.
They cannot distinguish between social climbing and more serious allegations so they cannot understand the different treatment she gets as opposed to Andrew. One is gossip, and the other, well, we're not sure what that's going to turn out to be.
They don't understand social grace and human affection. For example, one of her biggest fans, Lainey Lee, wrote a book which was humiliating to her own mother, and thought of it as a joke. Is this person going to understand that creating tension with your sister-in-law isn't going to go down well in the family?
They don't understand what makes a person special and think that if you want something, people should give it to you. If they don't, it's because they are bullies/racists. So they don't get that we don't recognise her as the second incarnation of Diana, and it must be because we are all racist.
They are also the kind of people who don't care if a dress is beautifully fitted, just as long as it's expensive. That's what class is all about to them.
It is difficult to determine how many there are because it's obvious so many of stans are actually bots that she's paid for, but obviously some of them are real people. The problem with this kind of devotion is that it doesn't take a whole lot of tweaking of the fantasy for that house of cards to tumble. Believe it or not, many fans deserted the Harry Potter fandom when it was obvious that Harry Potter was fated for Ginny Weasley as a partner. If you were somewhat conscious and had read the books, you would think this is a no brainer. But the fantasy trumps all. So when Meghan's plays the racist card against the BRF (as she's doing--that perhaps is the only subtle shade that she's able to pull off with any degree of success), then her fans will swallow this hook, line, and sinker, even if the rest of us hold her in contempt because she's a liar and a sociopath. Oh, not, it's because she's black that we hate her. Not. Being bi-racial didn't work for her in her acting days because to be a bi-racial actress in Hollywood might actually hinder your chances of success (unless you're someone like Halle Barry or Kerry Washington, who are flat-out gorgeous AND decent actors), which is why she consistently identified herself as Caucasian and populated her friends' groups with other Caucasians. Now, seeing herself as Diana 2.0, and ostracized from the BRF, all of a sudden she's identifying quite loudly as bi-racial. And I would imagine her stans are, by and large, women of color. In a very racist world, she got the golden ring (literally).
I can see how that would be attractive to many WOC because the barriers to success in western society are formidable Across all segments of society they are discriminated against. She's wearing a 100,000 pound dress. OMG. She's wearing a 800-pound pair of shoes. She's amassed tens of thousand of pounds worth of jewelry. That none of it might be real or it's borrowed finery doesn't really matter. She's made it and that is all that matters to them. She's had to fight and scrape (like many WOC) in a massively unfair world and she's won. They can identify with her. In their fantasy world, the other stuff doesn't matter.
The problem that I see for her when or if she returns to the U.S. is that this card will no longer be legitimate. All of her other cards didn't work. She's a mediocre actress and she's old (by Hollywood standards). All of her machinations that have played well in the British press are because she's IN Britain. She will need to come up with a new schtick, and that might keep her in the U.K. because I don't see her games working here. She needs the dynamic of trying to show up the Cambs, who are groomed to the nines ALWAYS, appearing at royal events looking like she just tumbled out of bed, etc. She won't have any foils if she returns home. I do hope the BRF expose her lies (especially about the baby, which I find heinous in the extreme) if for no other reason than to prove that such deep-seated manipulation of the media is evil and destructive.