When she was being introduced to the world as Harry's new girlfriend, Duchess Meghan was frequently described as "highly intelligent", "whip-smart" and even "the smartest member of the Royal Family."
In the wake of yesterday's release of photos of the Harkles dining at a pub - photos that were supposedly taken in August but included metadata showing they were taken on September 17 - does it still make sense to call Meghan "smart"?
UPDATE: Apparently I misunderstood the metadata situation. The metadata was stripped from the photo, suggesting that the photos were not taken during the August Bank Holiday as advertised. However, they did not have metadata suggesting they were taken September 17. My apologies.
As some of the comments have pointed out, Bank Holiday weekends tend to be very busy times for pubs. In addition to the missing metadata, it's suspicious that there are no other people dining.
Also, what's with the very blurry images? Even an old-fashioned Nokia candy bar phone takes clearer images that this.
Finally, it's also suspicious that Archificial was reportedly quiet throughout the two-hour meal: "Not a single peep outta the little guy - even when Mom changed his nappy (that's what they call diapers)" according to the TMZ article.
A sleeping baby might have been totally silent for two hours, but an alert one?
And was Meg changing Archificial's diaper right on the dinner table? One hopes not.
In the wake of yesterday's release of photos of the Harkles dining at a pub - photos that were supposedly taken in August but included metadata showing they were taken on September 17 - does it still make sense to call Meghan "smart"?
UPDATE: Apparently I misunderstood the metadata situation. The metadata was stripped from the photo, suggesting that the photos were not taken during the August Bank Holiday as advertised. However, they did not have metadata suggesting they were taken September 17. My apologies.
As some of the comments have pointed out, Bank Holiday weekends tend to be very busy times for pubs. In addition to the missing metadata, it's suspicious that there are no other people dining.
Also, what's with the very blurry images? Even an old-fashioned Nokia candy bar phone takes clearer images that this.
Finally, it's also suspicious that Archificial was reportedly quiet throughout the two-hour meal: "Not a single peep outta the little guy - even when Mom changed his nappy (that's what they call diapers)" according to the TMZ article.
A sleeping baby might have been totally silent for two hours, but an alert one?
And was Meg changing Archificial's diaper right on the dinner table? One hopes not.
Comments
What's he going to eat until Misha Noonoo's society wedding is over?
One doesn't need to be "whip-smart" to take down an entire kingdom, one just needs to be stupid enough...
Her photos on the way to church with a grinning Andrew shortly after Jeffrey Epstein's expiration haven't helped either.
Bottom line, you can't blame Meg for everything.
I hate to bring up that stupid Nazi outfit. Just because I know people are going to be like, "OMG why are you still bringing that high up?"
But I really thought that was the point in which Harry lost his "Eligible Bachelor" title. Nobody seemed to be willing to marry him.
So imagine my surprise when he, not only found a bride, but he was marrying someone biracial (half-PoC).
How do you look your non-white parent in the eye? Like I said on the other thread: marrying into a royal family in itself is an un-woke pursuit and if you were so "woke" would you be hanging around people like Harry in the first place?
Yet the people who question her motivations are the ones who get labelled racists?
I'm confused.
Is *my* logic the one that's flawed?
In the beginning for a moment I believed the marriage was a PR move from his side to restore his reputation (since his first public move was to defend her against racist attacks).
Also, taking public funding from a traditional institution to fund a Hollywood lifestyle isn't "modernising".
I CANNOT wrap my head around anything that's happening.
*AT which ffs
Is Epstein really dead?
I'll shut up now.
Prince Philip and HM are big fans of military history and HM has been known to ask for historical documents and artifacts to discuss them with Sophie Wessex.
Kate has read up a lot on early childhood development and has involved William in this project so that they could be better parents.
They don't need to brag about it though.
I guess you could sell Loch Ness footage, have your 5-15 minutes, and be done with it.
But is anyone really getting off of the thought that, "oh look at all the suckers who believe the crop circles I made were made by aliens."
The pixillated Archie face was also just too much.
Kate seems to me of average intelligence, and the same is true of William. They do their jobs well - both as royals and as parents - which is what really counts, IMO.
This tweet was posted at 08:41am day of by an anonymous guard who sounded to me like he was scared to death and afraid of being doxed who claimed to be a guard on duty that night who a) spoke to the tower guard who witnessed them leaving and said no doctors or ambulances arrived at all, b) they do not do transfers on weekends (this was Sunday) and c) no one logged in or out, no cars, no doctors, no medics. This guard who tweeted, not his buddy guard in the tower, also said he spoke with the medics on duty at the jail and none of them were called to rush to Epstein's aid, and none of them logged in or out of the block to see any inmate.
I was shocked when I tried to post this tweet everywhere I could think of and it just would not post. In two places where I post a lot without any trouble, the middle of the post (the screen shot itself) was removed making my comment look rather silly without it. I sort of freaked out because while I'm used to being banned (I post a lot about the law and how it is not what we think it is, with citations galore and tptb don't like it), but I've never, in all my years doing this (got AOL the day it came out) had my posts actually edited in the middle by someone censoring me, they either post or don't.
The guards were fired I believe either later that day, or the next day, according to "the news" and I've been sitting on this screen shot ever since. Yes, it's also saved to a few disks, now in different locations, just in case. Here is what it reads verbatim, without the identifying info:
"Not saying anything after this pls do not try to dox me but last night after 0415 count they took him medical in a wheelchair front cuffed but not 1 triage nurse says they spoke to him. Next thing we know a trip van shows up? We do not do releases on the weekends unless a judge orders it. Next thing we know, he's put in a single man cell and hangs himself? Here's the thing, the trip van did NOT sign in and we did not record the plate number and a guy in a green dress military outfit was in the back of the van according to the tower guy who let him thru the gate. You guys i am shaking right now but i think they switched him out."
Real or not, it speaks volumes that it wouldn't post because if it were fake, they'd want it out, right? And real or not, I think it needs to be considered because nothing is what it seems, and the whole world (on the news) is a stage. I'll shut up now, too! Cheers~
If you need to tell me just how smart/kind/wonderful humanitarian you are, so I clearly must have somehow missed that when you did it in front of me. ... and now my spidey sense is ringing fog horn alarm bells.
I will say that there can be all kinds of intelligence people can exhibit. There is mental like word problems in math, your working field knowledge, street smart, others and people smart.
I always felt sad that Diana said she was not particularly smart or when others put themselves down in this manner. I want to shake them and say: Ah, but you have other gifts, other ways of being sharp as a tack. Those other people you are comparing yourself too don't have some of the gifts you do, that you are smart about.
I don't blame her for being social climber, at some point we all are, me, for example, entered university in different country obviously with a goal staying here, it's kinda climbing too. But the circus she's doing after marriage, it's so false, attention seeking and probably illegal, if they will launch their foundation like it is right now, for taking money in their pocket and not working for charities, it just awakens feeling for justice in people, we all just wait here for punishment for her. Even if you are a social climber, you still play by the rules (like Kate), she doesn't, and that's pushes people negative towards her.
'According to EA Harry and mm are in Italy. Where's Archie? Who will feed him? Will he order pizza?'
Curiouser and curiouser - have to get this in, too - Epstein is a 33rd degree mason and they are sworn by blood oath to protect their brothers no matter what, with no reservations whatsoever, no questions or qualms, even against murder charges. Lastly, he was more dangerous dead than alive, due to his blackmail schemes in his safes and in the crypts at his island, and I think that's why only his address book, not his accounting, nor his date book nor receipts, nor damning photos, nor dna evidence, was published, to subvert and distract, but not to expose anyone for any crimes (pedos) specifically. And that's why no one else has been arrested - he's protected and the information he has is just too damning. So far off topic, sorry!
I am just baffled that this and the christening data hasn't been bought up by the media. There is absolutely no way they don't know about it if we, Joe Public, have figured it out. By ignoring these blatant lies and the proof to back it up, M&H are basically being given a pass. It's beyond insulting.
Personally, I don't think she's as smart as she thinks she is; she's not unintelligent, it's her hubris that is her downfall. How she thought this would work is beyond me. Unless she knew it would be figured out and this is just another f*%king giant middle finger to the UK and CW. A bit of "What are you gonna do about it, huh? Clearly no one cares enough about your opinion to stop me!" *Evil villian cackle*
Knobheads, the pair of 'em.
As to the intelligence level: the intelligent thing would have been to avoid and suppress any such PR/reports in the beginning as much as possible: To gain from the start, even by increments, is far better than to loose ground with every step due to inflated expectations. MHO only, of course.
Meghan? I don't think she's stupid, but nor do I think she's anywhere near as clever as she thinks she is. An intelligent person would know how to play the long game and choose her battles carefully. What she does have is hustle, which is not the same thing at all, especially as she seems totally unaware that while hustle is a useful characteristic in an aspiring actress, it's entirely inappropriate for a member of the royal family. A truly intelligent person would be able to make that distinction.
But I agree with the person above who said that it's not so much a lack of intelligence as an excess of hubris. She is a narcissist, and narcissists just don't know when to stop.
I haven't a clue about 'metadata' but someone on the last thread said that the Sep 17th dates on the photos simply refer to when they were uploaded by TMZ, not the date they were taken. So they may have been taken in August. Or may not. Metadata aside, I think it's obvious they're a set-up in any case.
I was glad to see the goofy "Kate helped Meghan" story was limited in its circulation, as it really appears MM's PR is going after her with a baseball bat. I'm just speculating, of course. *Munching cookies, minding my own business*
She made this all so much more difficult than it had to be.
That said, setting up photos to "confirm" an August pub incident that almost everyone had forgotten, including me, was kind of an own goal.
If they'd really wanted to show what down-to-Earth, hands-on parents they were, why not set up another 'sighting'? A park or whatever. Something that was happening now, not nearly a month ago.
Please and thank you.
If you share or upload the image, that information is still there unless you go out of your way to delete it.
It seems odd that someone would manipulate it to a date other than the date on which the photo was supposedly taken, however.
If you have a 'Valentine's Day engagement photo' that was really taken February 18, wouldn't you be inclined to manipulate the data to say February 14? Can't see a reason to do it the other way 'round.
What is more interesting to me is her current state of mind. She seems to be imploding before our eyes. Is she just discarding many years of carefully controlling her body image for her career because she doesn't have to anymore? Or is she having some sort of breakdown? Her disheveled, denim-clad recent appearances don't jibe with how she presented herself pre-wedding & shortly thereafter. Is she trying to undo the couture-grabbing image she was getting post-marriage. Diana, her role model, often appeared in jeans & gym garb, but she always looked like a million bucks. Megs, not so much.
I don't even think the Sussexes should be going, and many online commenters from South Africa itself have said that this is not a good time for a high-profile visit.
I would imagine that if she wrote this well at age 18, a college admissions officer would have been impressed. I'm not sure she would have needed special advantages for her ethnic background, although she may have received some anyway.
I agree with you that her current state of mind is interesting. She sees herself as bullied; we see her as making flub after flub after flub. No matter which side you're on, it can't be very much fun to live through. Particularly if there really is no Archificial. That would be a lot of stress.
Agreed. She's probably average, but has drunk waay too much koolaid and believes her own lies. Someone with average intelligence + common sense/being in touch with reality would be further ahead simply because she would recognize that things aren't going well and would *ask for help* in repairing them.
An average person would never have come up with the Archificial scenario (doll or surrogate) simply because it would be too complicated and the problems would be self-evident.
And yes, IQ points aren't the same as intelligence. For people in the US, think of Penny vs Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory. As much as the show mocks Penny for being "dumb," Sheldon is so stuck in his head/own little world that he has problems functioning in the real world.
Apparently Will and Kate attended Misha's last wedding and sided with the groom in the divorce, so they will not be there.
the authorised the leak to TMZ to get back at the British media that would have loved to publish them or that the person who took the pics is obviously too angry with the British media's treatment of Meghan that they had to sell it to TMZ.
Her brain didn't let her understand that leaking photos to TMZ is Kardashian level trashy. She also forgot that the pub owner had initially denied that Meghan and Harry came. So how does this make sense? By leaking the pics, H and M have made the pub owner a liar and how can people trust a business owner who publicly lies?
but that doesn't mean that the special file has that metadata attached to it.
I saw something like www.tmz.com/Meghan_picture/Sept_18_2019
that doesn't mean the photo was taken on Sept 18, 2019.
The metadata would be embedded into the photo itself and I haven't seen that anywhere.
Charles obtained diplomas at Oxford in two majors. He was the first in his family to do so, but only because they are usually tutored privately.
The Queen and Prince Philip are enthusiasts about military history and do know their current events better than most people, especially those of 93.
Intelligent though? Able to bring something to the table when discussing important topics? No. Never. All she is able to do is to re-arrange the words spoken by someone else and claim them for her own. Without someone to directly cadge from, she simply parrots intelligent-sounding (in her mind) Oprahisms* and meaningless phraseology in an effort to come across as a scholar.
*Harry (ghost-written by MM?) used the term "speak your truth" in the #sussexroyal instagram post for Gareth Thomas the other day. For what its worth, that term gives me an eye tic.
I have to say that she is making it very difficult for any PR company, however.
The worst social climber I've know in my life was a woman who when I asked, "shouldn't we just announce the job opening publicly?" (We were struggling to find someone to fill in a job role.)
She replied, " No, I don't want any social climber applying for the job."
Clearly she didn't understand the difference between "social mobility" (the basic human right) and "social climbing" (and act that involves stepping on people's faces to get higher on the social ladder).
And she lacked self-awareness (another sign of lack of intelligence).
Social climbing pretty much only requires enough ambition and shamelessness.
Most of us would feel uncomfortable in situations where we might feel we don't belong, these people just plough through. It looked like hard work (though in would not call it smart work, no pin intended WTF LOL).
I mean one time I attended a closed lecture (an INTERNAL lecture for Dutch embassy staff only) in Dutch because I had received an invite by mistake & I was absolutely MORTIFIED. It was sooooooo uncomfortable!!!!! It's pretty insane to me that anyone would voluntarily put themselves in that situation (like party-crashers).
I noticed she lacked self-control, also not a sign of intelligence (like she just couldn't help herself sometimes, and inserted herself in official photos by making herself visible through a mirror in the shoot... Clever? Maybe).
It was pretty amazing, though, how she would just brazenly insert herself into situations. I remember when she stalked my circles, I was very confused. I went from never having seen this person before in 2016 to seeing her with pretty much everyone I knew in photos of every venue I frequented (on Instagram).
For example, she if she saw a supervisor who oversaw last year's work pay us a visit, she would be the first to walk up to him and introduce herself (LinkedIn style).
Maybe she was a little overconfident too because she used to "talk big" like one time I remember she said she was certain the French embassy would defend us (I kid you not). She had these delusions of grandeur...
She was "smart" enough to use mutual friends to get to her target (and let the target get entangled in a situation before she herself, who would have been seen as suspicious, finally appeared in a "work opportunity" she created to bring us together). Very manipulative.
She knew to man the drinking water because she was stalking an individual whose illness required them to drink water often. That's how manipulative and willing to take advantage of situations she was. She knew how to charm people and come off like a professional in any industry she wormed herself into.
The way I used to describe her was, "she could gain entry into an alumni association for a school she never attended."
That's how ambitious she was.
I mean, I'm of average intelligence and could've thought up a plan to worm myself into circles I don't belong, who to approach, how to secure my position.
I think most people of average intelligence are smart enough concoct a social climbing plan and do the research to get there.
The question is, are they willing to and are they shameless/thick-skinned enough to go through with it.
I don't think they are great intellects, but some of them aren't as stupid as everyone seems to assume. Meghan would not be head and shoulders above them, intellectually. She may have been exposed to different ideas and environments, but it's to her discredit that she cannot appreciate the difference between theirs and hers.
https://pagesix.com/2019/09/18/meghan-markle-and-prince-harry-expected-in-italy-at-misha-nonoos-wedding/
When it comes to intelligence and bring smart, I know lots of men and women, mostly physicians, who are highly intelligent and whip smart professionally, but their lives outside of their practices are in varying degrees of messiness.
Why? Because a person can be incredibly intelligent in terms of academic performance, but have low IQs for everyday common sense and emotional intelligence. Even if a person isn’t an academically high achiever, these and other types of intelligence can help a person go a very long way in life.
I don’t think Meghan is especially academically smart. If she had been a standout student in high school or a cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude graduate from Northwestern, she would have trumpeted it to the world for the rest of her life. Believe me. We’d all know about it.
She also would have probably been awarded scholarship money for college based on academic performance alone, but adding in that she likely listed herself as a minority on her college applications, it would have made her eligible for scholarships aimed exclusively at minorities. We’ve never heard any bragging from her or about her being an academically outstanding student. She was homecoming queen in high school, so that tells me more that she was primarily interested in being at the top of the social ladder even then. Academics were likely a distant second place.
I think she has a high degree of social intelligence, which allows her to read people very well so she knows which charming facade to put on to get what she wants. It helped her network up the social food chain into Harry’s circle in London and quickly down the aisle.
HOWEVER, even though she’s at the top of the heap right this moment, she is handicapped by her profound narcissistic personality disorder, which always takes over and spoils the party.
Her narcissism and its arrogance is her fatal flaw that is the best candidate to doom her marriage to Harry and sink any public or celebrity popularity she currently has. I think her marriage will fail not so much that Harry will wake up from Meghan’s very thorough brainwashing of him, because he might remain under her spell for decades as Edward did under Wallis.
I think the fatal flaw that is already coming into play that has the power to split them are flaunting the rules and protocols of the RF and public opinion, which she, along with Harry’s tacit cooperation, are pushing to the limit.
The monarch and the other royals must eventually take this outrageous behavior, which will only worsen due to her NPD, into account when sizing up the behavior of the Sussexes.
If this behavior maintains the trajectory it is currently on, it will become a case of the self-preservation of a 1,000 year-old monarchy that is a bedrock institution of Britain vs. Meghan and Harry.
I think the self-preservation of the RF will win, even if it results in the distasteful action of taking their titles, allowances and other privileges, which would mean they are removed from the RF. Harry would be sacrificed for the preservation of the monarchy.
If that happens, Meghan would be gone faster than a super yacht departing from Google Camp in Italy.
MM dosnt seem excessively intelligent to me, shes average. PH seems average as well but never seemed to apply himself or want to excell at anyhting except drinking/ partying.
Probably at the top somewhere...
I left the situation but before I left, she'd managed to become a producer at a theatre group which she had ZERO involvement with prior (most people start off as a volunteer for ticketing/ushering). I'm not even sure she ever was an audience member.
She’s probably brown-nosed her way up to board member level now.
People like that treat other humans like trash. Like she spilled all her old (university) friends’ secrets to me one day in an attempt to “bond” with me—even though we’d only known each other for a couple of months. Does that sound like a trustworthy person?
I agree with Elle that “confidence does not equal competence” because one time this woman tried to “direct” a film but actually the cinematographer ended up doing all the directing work and she just stood there in the corner watching the love scenes being filmed like a proper creep.
She only dates people who are younger and easier to manipulate.
And she would follow people on social media and base her interactions with what she saw on your social media (I’m assuming it’s harder to devise a strategy if you’re trying to wiggle yourself into the life of someone who isn’t on social media or as famous as Diana's sons).
That’s why I don’t believe Meghan’s claims that she “didn’t know much about Harry.” Looooooolololilolololllllll... LIES! (Meghan please you probably knew *exactly* how much he had stashed in his trust fund!)
And I should add that, when she said she was certain the French embassy would “defend us”, I wasn’t referring to a PR fluff statement. She was talking about the French embassy using their resources/legal department to lawyer us up.... UUUUHM... Like, why would a foreign mission risk bilateral relations with its receiving state to defend a group of artists who aren’t even French nationals?
The delusion was SO STRONG with that one.
I can’t tell whether it’s arrogance or just plain stupidity. Probably a combo of both.
Social climbers will call you up and be like, "OMG did you get invited to XYZ event this year? But why didn't we get inviteeeeeeed?!" Cringe.
One last thing: When the upper-middle class say they dislike "social climbers", it's not always based on snobbery (because let's be real, only the upper-upper class have a reason for that). When they say they dislike "social climbers", it's usually because they've been burned too many times. Nobody likes being used and then discarded like trash... It's a dehumanising.
That being said, at the same time, I'd say the worst social climbers are also from the upper-middle class. They just cannibalise each other to the top. LOL. It's pretty amusing.
We are assuming that she would be out on charges of foundation fraud or the baby drama or for breaking up the family or her thirst for excessive PR or media manipulation etc etc etc... But maybe her endgame is to stir up as much controversy she can about herself just so she can be in the news. And that she is doing quite well.
For all the reasons that we don't like her and see through her, she has a plausible excuse. Her favorite excuse would be racism, sexism,j on others part, being bullied and no matter how much we call her on this BS, if she takes this defence then it's a win win for her.
I doubt her intelligence, if any one of us here in this forum we're to get into a debate with her on a general knowledge question, law, medicine, phsycology topics she probably may not be able to her own. What she might be able.to de is to ramble on and on... Remember the first Fab Four event they all did together, it was about mental health and she blah blahed about her letter to Hillary and feminism ..? Everyone else was too polite to tell her to get back on track... And that's her superpower, her word salads and bulldozing attitude. That would take her far.
I
being very pessimistic today, had a lousy day, so the world seems bleak to me today. But I DO I feel her end game is actually different. Some of us have a sneaking suspicion of it, and she might just be able to get there on her smarts alone.
Like others here, I believe she's cunning -- certainly enough so to claw her way into circles where she could meet and seduce Harry. Since becoming "princess," she seems to have become a tad delusional. She's made so many obvious mistakes, put so many lies out there, and then there's the whole Fauxrchie matter. Why all the lies and cover-ups and screaming about privacy if she was actually pregnant, gave birth, and is now mothering her and Harry's child? This is not how intelligent (or even smart) people behave. It's how scammers, grifters, and climbers behave.
She probably paid TMZ to run the pub photos as a reaction to the pub's denial that they visited. Can't have people exposing her lies, can she? I downloaded the photos not long after they were put up, and ran them through several detectors. It's not just the file names. The time and date info seems to indicate that the photos were actually taken on 17 September. The photos themselves are dodgy in so many ways, as others have discussed.
IMO, if the rumours of substance abuse are true, it's possible that her mental acuity and intellect have been affected. Long-term drug and alcohol abuse can wreak havoc on one's mind. I had a close family member, who after decades of abusing multiple substances in large quantities, eventually became severely mentally ill and died from advanced liver disease. Not saying Murky is there (and hopefully she never goes that far), but we could be seeing the early stages of substance abuse effects, along with whatever personality disorders she already had going.
I"ll post if if I see a photo on twitter.
Lets also bring up the blurry nature of all these photos - in this age of iphones with multiple lens and technological innovations having these photos all blurry are more suspicious to me. It is also a incredibly stupid thing to do as it lends to people wanting to go indepth and examine the images.
In Tactical plans, I have learnt to always make plans for things that happen three + steps ahead - not the immediate problem. I dont know if they just dont understand what is happening or don't care. Surely they have to understand how bad this latest trip is looking??
This indicates that maybe they are doing this on purpose?
I could split hairs and say that hustiling/grifting is a talent and not intelligence, but there's still an element of watching, waiting, analyzing, predicting and manipulation that does take some modicum of intelligence, even if it's a person in survival mode. My aunt is dumb as a box of rocks, but she survived WWII as a child in Germany, crafty as all get out. She survived the horrific Russian Occupation of Konigsberg and got her family food and became an expert at trading and talking people into goods and services. She survived East Germany and got into a black market trading with the Soviets to where everyone came to her when they needed something. She was smart enough to figure out the system and profit from it. However, after the wall collapsed, she was ostracized. Everyone called her "Red Lore (pronounced Laura)" and she lost all her friends. She never recovered from that and now lives alone in a seaside town after the death of her husband, continuously longing for the "glory days." It's sad. That survival instinct, that's also it's own form of intelligence, but once it's all gone to pot, what does a person have left?.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - Albert Einstein
Meghan’s “quantity over quality” work history makes her a poor fit for royal life. Just like her so-called acting career, her royal “workload” shows her ability to pump out numerous things at a frantic, almost manic pace — but nothing of substance. While taking far more credit than she should, the results of her efforts have consistently fallen short.
I think we are just witnessing her pad her resume for the future, whatever that may hold. To the undiscerning eye, on paper it looks like she is a powerhouse. In reality, she’s an eyesore with a knack for underdelivering. Sure, she’s guest-edited Vogue, but it was a disaster from the cover to the writing to the sales. Yes, she’s curated a capsule collection, but it’s a glorified Pinterest board. And that’s just the recent fashion stuff.
Does it take intelligence to pull this off? Yes, if it is done successfully. And have her projects and endeavors been successful? Not really. The truly intelligent and intuitive see right through her. And many others will be step in to clean up her messes, which will require way more intelligence than she could ever dream of.
It seems that initially when planning for her work profile in the BRF they might have consulted her about her interests, and the cookbook was possibly designed to be a soft landing for her. It backfired later because it probably gave the idea to Megster that she could slap her name in to things and claim complete ownership of the project (in the name of shining the light).
Her over use of the term "shining the light" is, in my opinion, very telling. That term was probably used by one of the advisors while explaining to her the way she is supposed to be working, and she latched on to it and now uses it so rampantly that it's lost it's mojo.
She is smart in the way that she is completely self absorbed and extremely self centered. She also has a compulsive need to micro manage, which probably comes from a place of deep insecurity - she wants to be better than those she is now associating with. It's part of her mental makeup, so no amount of logic would make her behave otherwise.
While this hustling go getter attitude may have initially worked for her in the BRF (they may have given her a wide berth because she was new and needed to learn the ropes, so they listened to her and let do as she wanted). It soon became annoying and is now turning into an inconvenience.
As smart as she may be , she is not a team player, and that's her biggest weakness. Someone in this thread quoted Einstein. I'd say M thinks SHE IS A FISH THAT CAN VERY WELL CLIMP A TREE. Self grandiosity complex.
and there is an article on Charlatan Duchess about the possible purchase of a New York Apt when she went there for the baby shower. That Amal Clooney and Serena are buying until she can "buy them out" after the divorce. It appears to be from Womans Day from March of this year. Very strange
Apparently, TMZ stripped the data? @Ozmanda is that possible on this type of file?
I’ve been somewhat perplexed with seeing the word ‘salad’ multiple times on this blog. The urban meaning has either not made it across the pond, or not made its way to my part of the UK. The only time I’ve heard the ‘salad’ term used (and not meaning the stuff you toss in dressing) 😳is by The Queen herself....when during her Guildhall speech for her silver jubilee celebration, she referred to her ‘salad days’. I’m sure she wasn’t referring to anything saucy or fruity lol 😂 ....she simply meant during her young and inexperienced years as Queen.
Her word salad is recognized for what it is. Just because people are nodding silently with RBFs set to WTF on the dial, it doesn't mean that anyone is impressed. Many have outright disdain for her now. My *guess* is that a lot of those people who have to nod and go along now are actually quite contemptuous of her.
As a journalist, it's quite embarassing to me that I got this wrong!
Gee, if I keep making fundamental mistakes like this, maybe I'll get a chance to work for the New York Times.
"If this behavior maintains the trajectory it is currently on, it will become a case of the self-preservation of a 1,000 year-old monarchy that is a bedrock institution of Britain vs. Meghan and Harry."
*THIS* is why I believe it ends so badly and, if markle were intelligent rather than just cunning, she would understand just how badly it ends...
About Philip, I read ages ago that he is a more talented painter than Charles (silly to put it that way but so much has been made of Charles' love of painting and aesthetic sensibilities as a way of distancing himself from his parents). He also spends hours in the library of whichever house he finds himself in, and particularly loves history, memoirs, political biographies, military history etc. That he could write sensitive, thoughtful letters to Diana during times of crisis was illuminating. He is a man of his time. Some aspects of his character grate against modern sensibilities, but we shouldn't dismiss him. I think many of us are slowly coming to agreement that what we are witnessing now is what happens when Philip is no longer on watch.
It is so ticky-tacky.
Off topic, but does anyone follow Celt News on YT? She's good and, from the things she says, she has inside info. Her latest video on 18th September says HM was given ALL the details about Meghan and Harry, and exactly what they have been doing, during a meeting HM had last month with Christopher Geidt. Celt News believes HM may invite Thomas Markle to BP. Celt also says (well it appears on screen as a message) that William has ordered an investigation into the missing money from the Royal Foundation.
Justin Trudeau's leaked video from the freaking '90s had sharper quality.
It's like it's 2004 and I'm watching "Mean Girls" again.
Ava C, you need to elaborate on this tea. ☝🏼
Was it a grades curve?
Was it a very curvy curve?
So now this small-time 'designer' is the 'best friend' du jour. What happened to Serena? Or Jessica? Or Priyanka? Or Madame Clooney?
Who's going to be next month's 'best friend' I wonder? Is betting open yet?
But yes, I'm ashamed to admit I bought the Meghan intelligence hype at first. I have a great respect for street-smart people and I thought she was one of those. I couldn't wait for her to get going once she joined the royal family. That's why I get so frustrated when people accuse her critics of being racist.
I think one of the things that made come out with my views on her, when I'd never gone online before, is the manipulation and deceit that fuelled her entry into the BRF. Anger has more power when you know they played with your own mind just a little. 'They' being acting agencies, PR agencies, perhaps Soho House (someone please investigate) and of course Princess Meghan herself.
Also her MLP account, holy moly, if that is her, and it appears to be, she is really really a wack job.
Meghan was in an increasingly precarious position, an ageing actress who couldn't act, whose looks wouldn't last much longer, surrounded by younger and actually beautiful competition. If I was her, I'd have grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Read all there was to read about the BRF and how the UK is governed, even just a definitive shortened history would be something. Be polite, gracious, welcome any help from palace staff (and we know they were keen to help), make sure my clothes were from UK firms, that they wouldn't crease and would fit properly, find a good hairdresser and manicurist and these things alone would go a long way to fitting in. Everyone wanted it to work (apart from Prince Andrew and he has other things to think about).
Most of all, be sure I could face being married to Harry in the long-term, otherwise leave him alone. As others did. I may not admire him now, but he had a tough childhood emotionally, even before Diana's death. He needs someone straightforward and probably not that bright. Someone jolly. A Fergie Mark II who'd be content to stay in the country and live on respectable money.
I think she is of average, or slightly above average in what we would call quantifiable intelligence. I do think, however, that she is amazing, flabbergasting, really. Anyone with any sort of intelligence would realize that marrying into the BRF is no cakewalk. We all saw aristocratic & suitable Diana tragically implode. Megs, however, apparently thinks it will be an easy task for her to use the BRF to help her morph into some sort of combination of Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah Winfrey & Mother Teresa who can coin money through SM. Maybe she's right, & she will, but she'll have to do it in the US. She's at least smart enough to know that. She's aiming all of her ammo at the US, with it's gnat-like attention span & huge consumer base. We're the country that made the inventors of things like Pet Rocks, Mood Rings, & Shower Mikes very rich, after all. I think one of the things that irritates me about her, & why I launched my rant above, is that the way she's doing it reminds me of the US college admissions process, in all of its sordid glory. Kids learn how to game the system & tick the boxes, position themselves into exactly what admissions officers supposedly want to see. After passing that hurdle, they'll know how to market themselves to employers. hopefully. Useful skill, but a corrupting process. America has always been great at selling the 'sizzle,' but maybe is not so great at creating things that people want to treasure & keep forever, like the monarchy tries to be. Megs makes a big show of hugging, banana stuff, etc., but she can't hide the real contempt she has for others. It's sad that anyone would be taken in by someone like her, but we are. Hope this is coherent. Haven't finished my first cup of coffee.
I’d add that Murky is a liar, and to be a good and successful liar, you need to have a very good memory, Murky does not appear to possess the latter; the lies will come back to haunt her for a very long time. If they aren’t already.
Welcome to our clubhouse . . . I don't think I've seen you here before?
I was offline yesterday; off sick and I haven't figured out how to post from my phone. I do however enjoy all the excellent commentary. We have a very diverse and intelligent group of commentators here and I often laugh out loud when reading. As Sheldon Cooper liked to say . . . "Bazinga!!"
Every now and then, a comment pops out as especially astute or hilarious, and I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed this one of yours:
>>>>To the undiscerning eye, on paper it looks like she is a powerhouse. In reality, she’s an eyesore with a knack for underdelivering.<<<<
You have hit the nail exactly on the head: She is Duchess Eyesore! A Duchess in her own sight and an eyesore in everyone else's.
You win Hikari's Post of the Day award. Your prize is a virtual Starbucks drink of your choice and a virtual case of your favorite salad dressing. Congratulations! :)
What you won't see is the kind of candid snaps the pub photos were, or purported to be. No British media outlet, not even The Sun, would touch them.
Apparantly there will be no official greeting on thier arrival in Cape Town, the reason supposedly being that the PM is out of the country. But surely someone else, such as the FM or certainly the British ambassador, would be sent to receive them in that case? Also, Meghan won't be accompanying Harry on his trip to Botswana but will stay in Cape Town, where most of her engagements will be private 'to avoid distracting from Harry's work'? Eh? Has there ever been a royal tour like this before? Genuine question as I'm not that sure what the norm is for such events. It all sounds rather odd. You'd wonder why Meghan is going at all, especially as we're told the baby will be firmly under wraps.
We have to be careful about so many people as they really aren't the way they are represented in the media. The biggest example of that nowadays is Meghan Markle.
Just want to say that Megs has always seemed obsessed with luxury brands. I think there's a video of teen Megs cruising Rodeo Drive. (How sad is it that I even know that?) My guess is that there are posters here who know a thing or two about marketing things, people, places, etc.. Megs strikes me as someone who always wants to have the coolest & most expensive goodies. What millennials who've been maxing out their credit cards on the hottest & priciest brands don't realize, is that the reason some of those brands are so prized & expensive, is that supposedly they're well made & will last forever. Grannies used to hand down their aged Hermes & Louis Vuitton stuff to their granddaughters. Nowadays, we use & discard stuff. People are cottoning on to the environmental costs of our disposable culture, & there's something of an anti-globalization thing going on, so don't know if Megs can factor all of this rapid change into her merching ambitions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Missionary_Position:_Mother_Teresa_in_Theory_and_Practice
The closest I've got to working out the Queen is reading accounts by people like Margaret Rhodes, the Queen's cousin. And thinking of her like a straightforward, stalwart countrywoman who could have had a lovely life if not for the abdication. And I admire her dedication to her father's memory. The Queen is traditionally loyal, steadfast and true. But in '97 it was resoundingly obvious that she lacked intuition when it comes to reading the public mood. As we all know.
I went down to Kensington Palace out of curiosity, soon after Diana died. It wasn't yet the huge sea of flowers but enough time had gone by for people to be getting very restive about the lack of a flag at half-mast. I spent all afternoon walking around, also going to St James' Palace and Buckingham Palace, and wherever I walked, feelings were running high. It showed how quickly the public mood can change. Of course in the end the Queen responded, but only just in time and only because she was forced to. Christopher Andersen's book on William and Kate describes:
'Watching the Queen’s speech from the Middletons’ country estate in the tiny Berkshire parish of Bucklebury, Kate and her parents were unmoved—as were so many other British families. “We were all pretty fed up with the way the Royal Family was acting,” Kate’s grandmother Dorothy Goldsmith later recalled to a friend. Kate was no exception. “She didn’t sound terribly sincere to me,” she said at the time. “It’s too little, too late.” Even those close to the Queen were surprised by her inability to grasp the magnitude of the tragedy.'
We're in a similar time now, without the tragedy, where people are restive and resentful that nothing is being done. The Queen was properly educated about the British constitution, but seems to be lacking in emotional intelligence. I'm in my 50s and find modern culture bewildering at times, so goodness knows what the Queen thinks. Meghan must be totally alien to her. It feels as if even a face-to-face meeting between the Queen and Meghan would fail to make progress. Like asking two panes of glass to have a cuddle. So what's to do? Seems like the only way forward is for the Queen's advisors to step up and find a traditionally English way of dealing with the problem. Covert and ruthless.
Much of what she did and tried to do came from her true belief that God's love was with us all and would be with us until we remove from this world unto the next. The pain we endure in the end shows our devotion to God, etc. Whether you agree or not is immaterial, that was her belief and why she did what she did. Her attempts to help those less fortunate was not out of a sense of greed or malice. As I said, no one man or woman is perfect. She should still be commended for all of the good she did do.
But on another subject about people not being as they seem in the press, have you seen the stories about the Queen being a speed demon when she drives? This is what that twit Cameron revealed recently. LOL I am going to chuckle about that all day.
My mother tongue is French so I am always interested in seeing how well people learn the language and retain it. I have seen in various countries that people are exposed to French in school, but rarely retain it, and even after many years of French courses, they cannot hold a basic conversation in the language. Granted it is a difficult language to learn, especially the grammar and spelling. Speaking can be much easier.
As for Spanish, although it's a far easier language than French, I haven't met too many white Americans who are fluent, or even many who have a basic skills in the language. Something which has always intrigued me, considering how easy it is to learn.
Meghan supposedly spent some time in Argentina working for the American embassy but this was a short stint of a few months, and not enough for her to become fluent in the language (Aside: it's been rumoured that she cut short her internship at the embassy to run off to Spain with a rich, older man).
So what do you think? Is she lying about her foreign language skills as well as everything else?
It's funny that you could go to a lot of cities in Europe and find a craftsman to make you some handmade luggage, shoes, leather goods, etc and these have all gone by the wayside because of Hermes, Vuiton, and places that spent a lot on their branding in Asia and to hip hop artists.
It is prevalent in academia in which grandiose speeches are given with meaningless newly-invented words from a doctoral thesis about how all the children will now reach academic greatness with these simple steps that the instructor, with their 20 plus years of experience, were too hopelessly obtuse to recognize. If someone takes the time to go through and analyze the actual content, there isn't any. Often what is being said is "We hope this will work. We haven't actually done the research or even know if it is valid. If it doesn't elevate students to new levels of greatness, it's all your fault, and you will be replaced ASAP so that we do not look bad".
However, once she achieved the ultimate goal, the RF, her ego triumphed over that intuitive intelligence. She was so proud of herself, and playing by the rules which got her to where she was, that she didn't realize she needed a whole new set of rules. She needed to learn from Kate, not kneecap her. Her insecurity and ego have completely inhibited her and the only thing that will undo it is to eat crow. Maybe she only even needs to privately do it to the people who she attacked. But it can't happen until she's humble enough to realize she's erred, and since a big part of the pseudo-humanitarian identity she's crafted for herself is playing the victim, I don't think she really can take a long look in the mirror.
I spent some years with the British expat community in another country. It wasn't a group I wanted to really belong to because they were so insular. There were people who had lived there for decades and only had rudimentary knowledge of the language. They were kind of forced into staying in their own community and not really engaging into the society around them.
I guess this can be said of a lot of people in a lot of situations.
However, it sure seems like this 'tour' is more like a visit to the naughty corner than an official Royal tour. With no official delegation greeting, no state banquet & an agenda of H. and M.'s own devising, it could be argued that they are NOT being sent as representatives of the Queen. It's more like, 'Please take my problem children off my hands for a little while.' The brevity of the tour (10 days) is probably the absolute length of time that a foreign nation can be pressed into tolerating them. So much for the 'months' long' African working sojourn.
But, yes, it is extremely puzzling for me. It couldn't be an accident.
I already replied to a comment above, but Meghan's intelligence seems to be a hungry intuitive type of smart. She learned to read people on her father's sets, and how to be false in a subservient way to get gigs. When I look at her eyes in past pictures, such as at her wedding to Trevor or on one of those game shows, I see an "all-in" manipulative intelligence. She knows what's required of her and she's delivering, but she's keen for much more and has screened part of herself away.
As for landing Harry, perhaps that took a very special intelligence, but it also seems to be a case of knowing SoHo was the scene to work, and that wasn't hidden knowledge. She was in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people. Truth is, while I find that whole scene gross, I think a lot of people in that scene would have been better members of the RF than Meghan. Her thirst and ego have squashed her ability to read the public, but that wouldn't have been a problem if she'd just married any other millionaire. She got extraordinarily lucky.
And given that South Africa is currently in the grip of xenophobic violence, it seems like a very poor time to visit. They should cancel.
I agree with most of you. She is cunning, not intelligent.
This is something that I will probably not be able to overcome at my age and it is sad. I think Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, and Panama would be such lovely places in which to retire to a small farm and raise a few livestock and some tropical fruit. (Then again, their version of Spanish is much different than the Spanish taught in school.)
https://twitter.com/wizkid101UK/status/1175083448396124165
Politics is another fine use of the words strung together in stream of consciousness format. I like to read transcripts after. Amazing what isn't said and what doesn't even make sense. I stop there. But I do find that it doesn't even have to be buzzwords, it just has to be sound. Sad, really.
It's funny to me that markle thinks working it with the younger thans is the way to go. Markle isn't aging well (see tungsten-toughie-could-suck-the-paint-off-a-Harley above). Add to that, her targeted demographic is going to age as well, so either they "grow" together (hard for me to imagine markle wanting to embrace her age and not-the-hot-girl-anymore status) or she stays with the original demographic and tries to appeal (yeah, no, bad idea). I personally believe her Best By date is hell and gone from today.
As for the DM sidebar, recently there was a markle story (probably fashion week) and beside that there was a strategically placed piece on vaginal steaming. That was not an accident. I was foolish not to screenshot it. Obviously, someone at the DM feels that no one could benefit more from a vaginal steaming than frau markle. I concur.
"Hey y'all, let's par-ley-view the Frahn-says since we're here and all!". No kidding.
Back to Murky, I think her Spanish is probably extremely limited, she did have some truly ridiculous things and claims on her CV, from what I remember when I saw it.
It's hard to escape from a narc, and will be harder for him because of he's royal. The RF can help by cutting off the narc supply she gets from being a duchess (plus the perks, money, power, etc). Narcs need a constant supply; when it gets cut off, they go off in search of a new source (usually sooner rather than later). The more Harry branches out on his own, the better for him.
For people with NPD, lies just roll off their tongues without a thought. If they are later confronted by someone about it, they will just deny it or blame it on ‘you misunderstood me’ or some other excuse. In a one-on-one situation, such as between Meghan and Harry, narcs also possess the ability to make twist reality to make their victim question themselves to the point where the victim starts to think THEY are the one who is in the wrong. It is a way of distorting reality that makes the victim question their memory, or sanity in some cases. It is known as narcissistic gaslighting.
Meghan likely uses gaslighting with Harry in private, but she can’t do that with her public lies that can be proved to be false statements. This will likely contribute to her downfall.
Seriously, what does Meghan REALLY think she is going to do in Capetown by herself, sans Harry? Nobody wants to see her on her own, but apparently people can be paid to pretend.
But if the couple were to experience at first hand some perilous emotional situations owing to the current state of affairs over there, some negative reactions, a touch of fear over the unrest they may potentially see, that may serve to force some perspective on themselves and what they are doing. Well, Harry, mostly. While he is colluding with his toxic bride on some level, I still believe that he's reachable. Her, I have completely written off as being mallable to any sort of change in her behavior or personal growth. She will continue on her current trajectory with all the lies and self-aggrandizement and spending until she is stopped, one way or another. The Queen has no doubt gotten wind of MM's plan to charge for appearances and has therefore withdrawn all backing of this fiasco as a Crown-supported tour/state visit. BP has probably informed local dignitaries in SA that if they were to suddenly discover 'urgent state business' taking them away from meeting the Harkles, such absences would be understood and actively encouraged by Her Majesty.
The notion that the Harkles on their own would warrant a state banquet is laughable. At least Charles was with them for the South Pacific tour. Any state dinners put on were for him, not for 'expectant Princess Bride Meghan' though she is no doubt confused on this point.
If nobody agrees to pay to see her and her agenda is as empty as a fairground after Labor Day, wouldn't that just be funny. I guess there would be nothing for her to do then (since she won't have to worry about 'feed time') but sit around the pool painting her toenails and posting pics on her 'secret' Instagram.
Wonder if they are flying commercial? If HM wants to be serious, she should withdraw use of any Royal planes.
What does Megs have against color? Charlatan Duchess has an interesting article/progression of photos about the symbology of color within the RF, and how each royal bride has had her signature color. For Diana and Kate, blue. Fergie was associated with red (her engagement ring was a ruby); and Smirkle wanted emerald green to be hers. She wore it often during the engagement. Her wax figure at Toussads is wearing the emerald green shift dress. But then came the flap over the emerald tiara, which Megs was denied. HM in essence denied her the entire color emerald green forevermore, at least in her mind, because she's only worn it twice since then. The longer the marriage goes, the drabber and blander her color palette gets, back to the 'monochrome' thing she likes so much. Someone must have once told her she looked good in black, but nothing really could be further from the truth. She looks good (well, better) in jewel tones, but color also is riskier in terms of matching/accessorizing it right. Black is 'safe', and apparently MM thinks that black automatically makes her sophisticated, but she doesn't know how to wear clothes and she's as sophisticated as a symphony of bodily gases.
No, this is not correct. And there were state dinners, which I too find surprising but there you have it.
"Wonder if they are flying commercial?"
Of course not! Don't you remember Haz telling us that the only way to secure his family's safety is to fly privately? Provided someone else is paying that is. But I guess we'll never find the answer to your question as conveniently, there will be no formal reception for them on arrival. There wasn't in Australia either, but their arrival - they flew commercial - was televised. We've been told that won't happen this time.
All most odd.
Of course her fanz will rehash the old 'Oh but she's a wealthy woman! How do you know she didn't pay for it herself?" All I know is that she certainly wasn't wearing 14K couture gowns before she got with Prince Dimwit. I'm betting it was another merching opportunity.
I'm with @hildarumpole, Their getting a tad boring. So boring that I don't even click on the articles anymore, not even for comments. I'm just reading here and maybe TCD for when the truth finally comes out (mainly the baby). If they get back from Africa and then all of a sudden he appears and they're ready to share him with the world, then I think they scooped one up while there.
How is it possible to spend $14K on a dress and still look dumpy? She did and she does IMO. I wonder if she tries this OT thing knowing that these are mostly people who'd never have spoken to her pre-Harry unless it was to ask her to bring them a cocktail and then go down to one of the yacht bedrooms to wait.
Also, seems the Dumbartons were "missing out on dinner with A-list stars who partied ahead of the three-day wedding of their matchmaker Misha". Were they perhaps the couple not invited in the CDAN blind?