Over the next three days, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are scheduled to appear at what may be their final engagements as senior members of the Royal Family.
Today, Meg and Harry will appear at the at the Mountbatten Festival of Music at Royal Albert Hall, where they will hear the Royal Marines Band play a selection of music to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Tomorrow Meg has some kind of activity for International Women's Day - I don't believe a specific engagement has been announced, please correct me if I'm wrong - and on Monday she and Harry will attend a church service for Commonwealth Day.
Putting on their best face
Duchess Meghan and Duke Harry have been putting on their best face recently. In their appearances so far, they have been well-dressed and apparently sober.
Will they be able to keep it up for three more days worth of appearances? And do they have an ulterior motive? Are they looking good so British citizens will be inclined to pay for their security, because they have a deal in the works, or because they want to come back to the Royal Family?
Meanwhile, media coverage since their return has been almost uniformly flattering. Is this at the behest of the palace?
Finally, Meg's court case against the Mail on Sunday is still out there. Will her next trip to the UK be to testify against her father in court? (Harry's phone hacking suit against the Murdoch empire is also ongoing.)
Let's discuss.
Comments
Meghan seems to be a magpie with jewellery - she must have a large room set aside just to keep all the bits she keeps buying. However, what distinguishes royals from others is their fabulous jewellery - some iconic inherited pieces and some received as gifts. Even the Duchess of Windsor had iconic jewellery (and she had nothing inherited or given as 'state' gifts - it was all what her husband had custom made for her). Meghan does not have one piece of iconic jewellery (the engagement ring is, well, designed by Harry and is not so much a design as some expensive diamonds on a band of gold).
Too much red? Of course, but that is because Megsy does not allow herself to not be an expert in anything and everything (after all, she participated in some forgettable minor TV show as the fashion expert - believe it or not!).
Let's be thankful that the dress is not a size or two too small. I don't know how she achieved that because the designer (despite the 'reasonable' price) actually custom makes each piece to perfectly fit the measurements of the customer. Somehow the designer's studio and Meghan connected for those measurements to be taken.
The dress and bag are fine. It's the person wearing the dress and holding the purse that I can't stand.
Agreed. It makes me sick to see him wearing that uniform after their horrible actions.
That red purse does look like a free makeup bag!! I had mentioned above it looked like a 1980’s prom special!! Why would she wear all red, way too bright. She really is clueless!
I haven't found photos of them seated to see if she commanded he hand over his hand to be held.
There do appear to be empty seats either side of them, which is odd. Maybe someone filed those seats after they sat down.
The standing ovation was for Harry - the farewell to him. That Meghan will mistake it as support for her is quite sad.
But nothing takes the cake like her holding Harried's hand in her crotch at the Endeavor awards. Pity the people sitting around them.. where were they supposed to look?
Either way, not what one expects from the Royal military who are meant to defend Queen and country.
Again the clothing wears her. She has no idea how to pull off clothes. Did you see the pic of Sophie in an Orange version of the VB dress? Effortless.
Anyway, his posture is terrible especially in a uniform. The confusion at the enteance. Why were the fo.ks on the sidelines laughing, or trying not to? The hand holding. So undignified.
Maybe they are getting the swan song, the megawatt send off so they have little to complain about as the door hits them on the way out.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/03/07/19/25668276-8086571-Tonight_s_grand_performance_at_the_South_Kensington_venue_marks_-m-13_1583611089305.jpg
Royal Red Swoon//// I say Malibu soon for this duo
https://ca.hellomagazine.com/fashion/royal-style/2019082076716/sophie-wessex-victoria-beckham-orange-dress-back-in-stock/
It appears not. None of the other (retired and serving Royal Marine’s) in the photo have theirs buttoned. ☺️
...It looks like a tote you get for free when you buy $45 worth of Estée Lauder products...
I wondered where I'd seen it before! Only way this could be better is if we find out Rach is hawking "Duchess Red" products for Estée Lauder! Then you get double points and a round of Contemptinis (or other beverages of your choice) on the Nutty House!
Skinny arms and good luck
@Nutty, re the cymbals, no worries if Harry FKAP's batteries run out. Rachel is also skilled at playing the Finger Cymbals.
Prince Andrew hires General Pinochet's former lawyer as he fights FBI Epstein probe
😒🤦♀️
@Swan Song
Great article ! One of my favorite parts:
Then there’s Meghan, who has committed two major sins. The second, reportedly, is attempting to leverage her public platform by trying to get a role in a superhero movie. This last one seems especially egregious. Not only did Meghan get her last voice-over job after her husband cornered Bob Iger at a premiere, but we also shouldn’t forget that her highest-profile movie work to date was a 30-second cameo as Hot FedEx Girl in Horrible Bosses a decade ago.
The author of this story at the very end expresses skepticism that the Harkles will success in the world of celebrity. That was also the point of a recent story in The Guardian which thinks the 4 hour meeting with The Queen and Harry was about the possible return when and if he fails to make his way in the outside world.
Again the favorable press coverage at this time including that of Piers Morgan is because most of these people are professionals and not temper tantrum throwing 12 year olds in adult bodies like the Harkles.
With the coronavirus scaring everyone Hollywood will make a disaster movie. Will there be a part for M?😉
I said "skank". I apologize, and I will stick to "trashy", but just to explain, the two words are used fairly interchangeably up here. One is no more offensive than the other, In fact, "skanky" is often used to describe the omnipresent pot smell that permeates too much of the NW at times. Maybe it was a cross between skunk and stank? IDK, but anyway, I do not want to contribute to the moral decline of Nuttiers, so I'll forgo that one, and sincere apologies.
Why the red? How about this ... The military red of the uniform is quite strong and eye-catching so not in Mms vicinity. No no no. She MUST be the main attraction.
I wonder if bookies take bets on the odds of MM upstaging other royals and the different
ways she does it?
Right now they are not getting any coverage in the US due to the primary and especially rapidly spreading coronavirus.
I think the RF would be shrewd to let them have their Hollywood moment and ride out this storm because ultimately time is on their side.
She really is pulling out all the stops for this pathetic farewell tour.
'SHE'S BEAUTIFUL…INNIT?' Cheeky lad, 16, steals a kiss from Meghan Markle during her school visit to mark International Women’s Day.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11122168/schoolboy-meghan-markle-school-tribute-international-women-day/
Perhaps the Rach cape is a potential superhero costume, for a future movie role she is aiming for!
Comments in the DM, why is someone in uniform hand holding, not a good look and supports Nutty's comment re lack of dignity.
Too bad about the applause...I must admit.
https://pagesix.com/2020/03/07/meghan-markle-prince-harry-throw-fired-staff-emotional-farewell-lunch/
Wrong earrings, they look like faux bijoux and that clutch bag is so tacky.
I am sorry, that woman cannot convince me that she has one genuine bone in her no matter how much effort she makes.
One more point: why does she have to smile so broadly all the time? It is totally unnecessary and unnatural. One word: no class.
“(Harry) looks like one of those little mechanical monkeys that bang their cymbals together until their batteries run down.“
HA!!! Thanks for the laugh. I needed it.
Why did they get a standing ovation??
It was about Women's Day!
'The Duchess had chosen to mark today’s International Women’s Day with a visit to Dagenham, where a group of women machinists at the nearby Ford car factory sparked a famous revolution – not to mention a feature film – with their demands for equal pay.'
Why did they get a standing ovation??
Maybe because they're going away?
Didn't someone say the applause was mainly for Harry?
Air Mail News
https://airmail.news/issues/2020-3-7/disroyal-subjects
“The fact that they’re turning their back on something they do so well to flounder in the shark-infested waters of celebrity is confounding.
***********
Initially, I think Meghan will do just fine, at least until the novelty of a now former royal who will no doubt cling as tightly to the Duchess of Sussex title as hard as she clings to Harry in public, wears thin.
The other sharks will at first give Meghan some room to embarrass herself. But only as a professional courtesy — for a short time.
Then she, like many aging predators, will likely be devoured by her own blatant greed and self-aggrandizing agenda in the bloody waters of fame.
First, to Nutty and and all you nutters, THANK YOU. Thank you for the intelligence here. Thank you for the literacy. Thank you for the civility. I'm not saying this to be polite. Thank you. I'm a refugee from Dlisted, an opening and accepting and loving community just as long as you agree with everything they say -- very much including "everybody who critizies Megan is a racist troll."
Second and just ignore this if anybody beat me to pointing this out, but while the UK press is still being oddly flattering like Nutty noted, it looks like gloves are back off here on the left side of the pond: https://pagesix.com/2020/03/07/meghan-markle-infuriated-camilla-after-upstaging-her-with-instagram-post/
And here she is giving a speech at the school ...
Problem is, I don't like red as a rule, (unless it's a really deep and blue based sort of cherry red) and I can't stand the cape dress trend, and it's hard for me to overcome those two huge biases.
Overall, I think it's much like the previous evening; much better than her usual, and actually more appropriate for the occasion. Earrings are hideously clashy (and I thought her blue clashed with Harry's last night) and totally agree that she did not need red shoes and bag. In all fairness, another reason I hate red is that I never know how to accessorize it; black is boring, nude doesn't seem fancy enough for evening, gold seems like it would be way too flashy, but I think with his uniform that may have been a better choice. Agree that a gold gown might have been better.
I feel bad bagging on her hair all the time, but she's too old to have it hanging down her back like that, and the center part is too severe. Definite improvement over the updo with matching limp clumps one either side, I'll give her that. I honestly don't know how I'd style her hair, but I will say it would be nice if the First Black British Princess would show us some natural hair now and then. I suppose then we'd be talking about her looking messy and unkempt, but the constant stick-straight hair is annoying to me.
https://twitter.com/JulesVincent13/status/1236264731226378240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeednews.com%2Farticle%2Fellievhall%2Fmsnbc-meghan-markle-trailer-trash-victoria-mather
Looking at the Duchess of Cambridge today, she did a funny cut at Meghan by wearing blue clothes. If I was her, William, and Camilla, I would be pissed off that they, the important ones, who carry messages of importance and kindness, are being tarted off the front pages by the HAMS. How about Sophie, who spent her time in Africa for charity, not being acknowledged?
I do not think that standing ovations, m finally looking half-way decent in her red dressi up, and H, in his embarrassing military outfit, like a rat dressed up in The Nutcracker, will get away anymore with these scene stealers. M is doing it to show Hollyweird that she can look good, two times.
When the family is together, William better tell his brother and H’s wife that they are to blend into the farthest background. Frankly, William and Camilla should tell Charles to get with the program. Cut off all but minimum RPOs for Harry. Not one more dime from the Queen or Charles. Zero. Harry needs the RPOs as the royals do not want another Diana, but nothing for his wife or child, until H tells the truth about the birth of Archie.
Let us say that H has only 20 million dollars. He can live on loans, until he has full access of his trust, which was the majority of the money Diana left - very little to William, as he would not need it as King, and almost everything to Harry. With even average returns on investments, Harry’s wealth is probably over $50 million dollars (much more in pounds).
Head on over to Charlatan Duchess To see a picture of Diana rocking a red goddess dress with a flowing cape and a tiara. She looks like $1 million dollars. When you’re 5 foot 10 and slender you can rock a goddess dress. Megs looks like a bit of sad imitation in comparison… In addition to the caplets sleeves I’m sure you’ve noticed the long piece hanging down her back that’s supposed to be like a train. Really so predictable. It fits her decently for once in her life, but once again she’s just copying Diana.
Once she enters the ranks of the hoi polloi, no one will care. Unless she does creepy baby doll things. Like someone said, more of a team show than any real interest.
@ hikari same thoughts!
Interesting that the Camilla article was highlighted on this side of the pond too...too me it suggests the growing confidence of C and C to be more critical of MM.
Jenx, the incredible sulk!!! Ha!
No soldier in uniform is allowed to hold hands with anybody. It is verboten, and would have led Harry, if he wasn’t a faker in uniform, given titles by his grandmother, allowed to wear facial hair for fun (unlike others who must wear their hair for deeply religous reasons) a big demotion. The Queen is no longer in the picture anymore, I am afraid. She allowed this couple to come back for a Cher-like good-bye tour. I may not be British, but I have worked and visited in England, Wales and my beloved Scotland. I know the history of the monarchy better than 99 percent of most of the Queen’s subjects. I can quote most important lines from all Shakespeare plays, and have read all Georgette Yeyer wonderful books. However, it does not make me a native of the beautiful country, nor even fluent in the Queen’s English. I am a bystander, and looking at the debris from Charles allowing his boys free reign, building a disco in his basement, supplied with alcohol and drugs. Charles is to blame for his bringing up the repugnant Harry, who as an adult wore a Nazi uniform and gave Heil Hitler salutes to his Jewish friends at a party. Harry calling the men he worked with sneering, racist names, throughout his twenties. Who is this creature today, wearing a red uniform, with a wife who had butt injections, eye job, nose job, teeth job, and more while in Canada (aka L.A. plastic surgeons, recovering at Oprah’s house). Although M’s butt looked like it was slipping in her red dress, like her rubber belly did while “pregnant” with Archie Bunker.
Forgive me for being indelicate, but he looks like one of those little mechanical monkeys that bang their cymbals together until their batteries run down.> > >
Yesterday, when several posters were writing about alpha & beta males, this brief thought popped up in my mind:
Prince Philip, kinda hot. Little Harry, so not.
Harry is just a big ole doofus.
Let them have their moment of red glory. They desperately need some glam shots to remind people they have a relationship to the RF. As I said yesterday, the pitstain pics which were being repeated so much for several weeks in the press were an embarrassment for her, & she needs to get new images in her stans heads.
So many good comments. I think 99.9% of the posters here are intelligent, well-informed, witty, & have good writing & social skills. I don't ask that any of you think that about me, I'm too old to care, but I was very annoyed when some of the posters here were attacked in an unnecessary way on the other post.
Umbrella had lights shining down? I would not be surprised. Her daddy won awards for lighting on sets, and Smegs spent many days on the MWC set. All smoke and mirrors.
Finding it hard to find the words for this, me."
That's because you've been a real soldier. Harry just likes to dress up & pretend he's one. I think in his own mind he's a huge self-sacrificing hero. Hah!
@Lighthealer Astrid, Hopefully, the Thames Valley police thing is just a random thing. Maybe you have a relative or old friend on the force. If it's related to the Harkles, it sounds like a violation of your civil liberties to me. You have freedom of speech & the right to express an opinion on how your taxes are spent, I'm sure.
She's grimacing while Harry looks shell shocked.
I'm sure it will be made into a meme!
If I knew nothing else about her, I would know she is a sociopath by that smile. Nobody smiles that much. It's creepy.
Wow in pic 24 when they are leaving, MM looks like she is really giving JH what for! Her fangs are showing, evil looking eyes. He just seems to be ignoring her, staring out the window.
i understand the standing ovation and cheers. They were for Harry out of respect because he is a Royal. at least for now. They were probably told to act respectful. Did he deserve it? No. But the audience did their duty.
Harry's face during all this - you can see it is full of emotion. He is realizing everything he is leaving behind. This is all the glory and attention he has received for years (only because he is a member of the RF). He thinks that attention will follow him in a "normal" life but he is wrong. I think he is realizing it.
Harry is getting his ears pinned back
And he doesn't much care
Part of Megsy's problem, in my opinion, is that she really looks best in things that have a more casual and maybe even a slightly masculine vibe, so formal/evening wear is never going to be where she shines. Women like that often do well with an edgy style, but I'm not sure she could pull that off, either, and it's not appropriate for her position.
She desperately needs a stylist who can figure out what looks best on her, and wean her off her addiction to trends. I think a French woman would be best, since the French understand the need to find styles that suit ones body type, and stick with them. Someone a few threads back said that Kate needed a (different?) stylist, too, and I agree.
Onto red outfit: this looked nice overall but I agree the use of too much brash red. Others may disagree but I would have done blood red shoes and bag, just making that same red hue a bit darker and also differentiating herself from the military uniforms. She used to part her hair on the side and looked SOO much better. Why the severe middle part- it's not at all flattering. At least her hair is smooth and not ratty looking today.
The photo of the car ride home brought that back to mind.
https://66.media.tumblr.com/ab8e1921290efe24d947498ea7e0b265/7fca8092567ce623-9e/s1280x1920/6efe99da5cfcde8a1a1906e3bf5d41154163e06f.jpg
Totally agree. Hence, the complete 180 that she suddenly had tidy hair and right fitting clothes.
YIKES at the photo of them in the car. She looks like she's thinking, "Wait, that's it? Are they not paying attention to me anymore?"
Harry actually looks sad and thoughtful, perhaps this is the last time he will wear his uniform?
I just don't think any of this was really necessary, except that they are selfish. They could easily have had loads of money and done very little work without throwing a grenade on the RF. I truly think the Jennifer Meyer incident was the last straw. If MM was told "no, you can't merch and yes we're paying attention," I believe she truly thought by "stepping down" they could technically still merch and no one would call them out on it. But the RF isn't about "bending rules," which MM seems so good at. It is about loyalty, service, legacy, and stewardship, values she seems to know nothing about.
"Lighthealer Astrid said...
@Unknown Thank you for responding. Go after us for what though? Passing an opinion?
--------------------------
I think it might have to do with a case for cyber abuse I guess to go along with her claims of being chased out of the UK for racism."
I think it is to do with my letter, which was never on the Internet, but sent to the Premier's office. I live in Canada so not sure that I have contributed to chasing her out of the UK.
In any event, it is worrying!
That Meg “grimace” photo looks like she sat on thumbtacks and is trying to keep composure in front of the cameras. I’m pretty sure their staff never are petty.
I noticed Meg tried to be good and let JH shake hands and walk first. Too bad she can’t stop with the hand holding and touching. Sometimes she looks like a windmill with those hands of hers. JH should’ve invested in some “klassy” cubic zirconia hand cuffs/chains to keep her hands under control. He would’ve saved himself the existential crisis he’s having now because of Meg’s “privacy” needs.
JH looks so washed out and I can’t explain why but the uniform just doesn’t look right on him. I think it was about time he moved on. If the shoe doesn’t fit...
https://pagesix.com/2020/03/07/meghan-markle-infuriated-camilla-after-upstaging-her-with-instagram-post/
Angering Camilla is not a good idea. That Harkles cash could get cut off real quick.
Meg is a disaster. Totally oblivious, and uncaring.
YES HE DOES and the wee cropped red jacket seems to garish for what he has done by deserting his PEOPLE. How dare he.
Something about how he is drawing that crazy brown wedge or her liner or something, it is pulling her eyes down in an unflattering way, making them look closer together and sad (even when she's smiling).
Many of you disagree w/ me but I find Meghan quite pretty and this eye makeup isn't doing her any favors.
She does look amazing in that red dress and the price point was only 1200 pounds which in my opinion is very reasonable.
It looks like the face of evil. And this was right after their triumphant standing O? They must’ve gotten some major shade comments on the way out.
Markle needs to stop messing with her face. She is just about unrecognizable now from the starlet on Suits Harry fell for less than 4 years ago. I’m wondering if part of her snarly face look is actually because she can’t close her swollen lips comfortably over her gigantic teeth. This woman works so very hard for flattering pictures, and it’s amazing how seldom she actually takes a good one.
Harry has also changed remarkably in three years, and sure not for the better. He is a walking travesty; sad sad sad. Whatever meaning he had in his life is now essentially over. Meg will cast off her Handbag soon because he doesn’t have the same cachet in L.A. as he does in London. This is problematic for Haz, since he’s going to need her for a green card.
In reflecting on Harry’s future, I will echo a comment made by his great great grandfather George V: “That boy will ruin himself in 12 months.“ George was talking about his son David after his ascension. He may as well have been talking about Harry.
I am back thinking she had those implants taken out after all. Huh.
thoughts about center parts - her's looks very smooth in the red cape photos. What I have noticed is that many women with center parts, as they start to age up, that hair just to either side of the part get a certain flatness. What am I thinking? she doesn't do natural hair, does she?
AVSD - wow, thank you for the celt news clip disclosing how they got the umbrella shots. I don't feel irritated that I now know how it was done (like learning how a magician does a trick), I feel irritated with the why it was done - to make themselves look so good after all the past bad behavior moments and the ones about to come (like the Camilla deal).
Jennifer Meyer was the jeweler with Hollywood connections who was stopped merching (by BP) with MM.
Oh boy. The mizzus is NOT pleased . Hazzah looks positively forlorn. Lost. Checked out.
What a contrast to the staged pap pics from the night before. Wish I could put my side by side up here.
You are absolutely right - it's about control. Jealousy is another narcissistic trait; maybe that's a part of the controlling touch, too.
Here is an article on Jennifer Meyer
https://pagesix.com/2019/12/10/jennifer-meyer-must-be-mortified-from-buckingham-rebuke-royal-insider-says/
To begin, the most helpful word in framing an understanding of the narcissist is 'counterintuitive.' The most crucial point is that how the narcissist presents on the surface is entirely different from how the narcissist feels underneath. There are two 'selfs' at work in the mind of the narcissist: their real self, and the fraudulent, fantasy self they try to sell to the public. Severe narcissists have a predatory, score-keeping approach to the social world around them. The narcissist's daily life is spent fighting off potential threats to their ego and proving themselves as superior to everyone around them, and they have little peace of mind as they move through life. To understand why the narcissist can be so mean in interpersonal relationships, you must understand the unique motivations of the narcissist's intra-psychic world or, in lay terms, what goes on inside the mind of a narcissist...
In the mind of the narcissist, the social world includes two strict categories: winners and losers. There is no possible outcome they can conceive of in which everyone gets their needs met. There isn't enough attention and praise for everyone to go around, so according to narcissistic logic, only a few lucky ones will be selected. Because of the way the narcissist was probably humiliated, unnoticed, or subjugated in the past when it mattered most, the narcissist is also motivated by making sure that they are never put down or overlooked again. When the narcissist feels most threatened, it is because someone has said or done something that makes the narcissist feel small, unnoticed, weak, or defective, and the narcissist cannot allow anyone or anything to make him feel like that under any circumstances. The narcissist's thinking goes like this: Any threat to her or his temperamental ego must be identified and erased immediately. If the threat continues, it must be annihilated by any means necessary...
If you put down the narcissist or humiliate them publicly, you will unleash decades-old rage, and the narcissist will not stop until they feel you have been verbally or emotionally decimated. (Keep in mind that what the narcissist perceives as a slight is rarely objective.) People who haven't been in close proximity to a severe narcissist would never believe the animalistic, ugly wrath that spews from the narcissist when they are activated...
At root, severe narcissists are highly abnormal men and women who have a form of mental illness (a personality disorder). The root of the disorder means that the narcissist, by definition, violates basic social rules and social conventions. When triggered, especially, they don't show empathy: They are entitled; they create their own reality from moment to moment; and they don't really care about others' feelings."
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/insight-is-2020/201807/what-makes-some-narcissists-mean-competitive-and-jealous
I agree that the wifey chose red to not be outdone. That dress could showcase statement jewelry if she had any.
Just Meghan won't be able to wear tiaras at all now, unless she bought one from Amazon to wear " around the house" wherever they live.
Wallis Simpson had fabulous jewelry! Her Prince had much better taste in baubles than Harry.
Yes, I have seen this same transformation in my own child - they deteriorate physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Also, the Celt News narrator mentions that Harry looked completely different on his visit to the racing museum. I noticed this, also. It's the same with my child. On the rare occasions we've spent time with her without the narc present, she is a totally different person. When he comes back, she becomes all bound up again.
I know what you mean about the memes & photos, though. Every so often there's a truly clever one, but just the usual leaves me 'meh'. Anyway, glad you said something and I'm glad I saw it.
________________________________
So, back to our regularly scheduled:
Those earrings!? What are those things? They do not highlight her face in any way IMO. IDGI. They look black, but MeghansMirror says they're read (http://www.meghansmirror.com/shop/simone-rocha-crystal-red-earrings/)
And that all white outfit hinting at eternal love? Ugh.
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/style/1252128/meghan-markle-prince-harry-camilla-style-dress-pictures-news
It's March. In the UK. Totally inappropriate get up. Maybe Palm Springs (but still no white shoes), but not London. I guess she was going for the saintly look to offset the fact that she was evilly trying to upstage Camilla.
The Express story said that her wardrobe for the trip has cost £19,077.90.
Also, there's a video here that shows The Power of the Claw. https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/meghan-markle-labelled-controlling-after-21652726
Now I have to go read about her dissing Camilla. If I were living instead of existing, I wouldn't even have to go to work on Monday and would be able to watch the blow-by-blow of Commonwealth Day.
Fellow refugee from dlisted as well and agree that the hive mind over there was too much - no dissent allowed because Racism. I had to stop reading the comments about the Endeavour Awards, they were just too much.
@YankeeDoodle,
Georgette Heyer is brilliant! My great uncle recommended her to me and I was sceptical but her writing is so witty.
I think that the reception last night was quite positive overall. I imagine the Queen may be happy that things are going relatively well. Job done I suppose.
Next stop Westminster Abbey and the family reunion. I think that H & MM will behave and the rest of the family will do the stuff upper lip that MM so dislikes.
All Hail Georgette! Just last night finished reading Convenient Marriage for the umpteenth time, and I am far from my youth! I've got first editions (Barbosa covers!) of most of her Regencies, and buy new paperbacks each time they're republished.
She absolutely ruined me for Jane Austen, even though I know Austen was her inspiration to an extent.
Unlike a lot of others who think HMTQ has lost the plot, I actually think she has put some thought into the last Sussex engagements.
The Albert Hall function allowed Just Harry to dress up like a tin soldier, be surrounded by Armed forced colleagues, and hear stirring military music. There is nothing that would make him feel more sentimental, conflicted and sad about leaving the UK, perhaps making him think twice about leaving.
And the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey on Monday will be a classic RF gathering of the clan, in HM's own (Royal Peculiar) church. So much of Just Harry's life has been spent at services in that Church, and it will bring home to him the loss of family, tradition, and the anchor that gives him stability.
Two important functions that provide a powerful illustration to Just Harry of what he is throwing away.
And the timing is perfect, coming as it does immediately after his hiatus in Canada, where he had a taste of "freedom": two months lying on the couch playing Playstation games, surrounded by empty pizza boxes and beer cans, and bed sheets that haven't been changed in over a month.
Regarding the “standing ovation,” it took place at the beginning of the evening while they were being seated, which suggests either an announcement to “please rise for the Captain General” or else it being done customarily when the ceremonial head of the Marines makes their first appearance. It certainly was not a spontaneous outpouring of love and admiration for two people who did literally nothing but show up for some parties after a two-month absence, and who are departing permanently on Tuesday.
Enjoy! :)
February 27, 2020
In an often crazy world, Meghan Markle provides much needed comic relief
By Andrea Widburg
When word first broke that Meghan Markle had convinced Prince Harry to divorce the royal family, it struck many as a bizarre and sad conclusion to what could have been a great chapter in the family's long history. Then, when Meghan turned out to be greedy and entitled, while Harry was apparently a milquetoast, people turned against the duo. Now, though, with the latest report on Meghan's extraordinarily self-centered worldview, she's becoming a comic figure who must be enjoyed.
It started with Prince Harry, who had grown from being a bit of an ass to being an active-duty soldier to being an empathetic yet sunny member of the royal family, with a special affinity for veterans and children. He'd also been a bit of a bad boy with the women, but then he met the half-black American Meghan Markle and, like many a bad boy before him, reformed for the love of a good woman. (Or at least, she seemed like a good woman.)
The British public loved the idea of a royal breaking the color barrier, and the royal family publicly embraced Meghan. She got the full princess wedding, complete with a dress costing $550,000. Kate Middleton and Prince William apparently welcomed Meghan into their tight little family group.
And then the cracks began to show. Meghan liked to spend money, lots of it — an estimated $1,000,000 on clothes alone by mid-2018. Then, for reasons yet unknown, Meghan and Harry announced last year that they were leaving Kensington, the 265-room home they shared with Kate and Will, to live at Frogmore Cottage, on Windsor Castle grounds. The remodel to meet Meghan's standards cost the British taxpayers $3 million.
Meanwhile, Meghan got pregnant but refused to let the British taxpayers share in the experience (a royal tradition going back to Queen Victoria). They kept both little Archie's birth and christening a secret, which people greatly resented. Considering how much they were paying for Meghan, they thought they should get something in return.
Meghan also disliked the fact that, as a royal, she was supposed to be non-political. As a B-grade Hollywood star, she believed she ought to be woke. That didn't fly:
For a member of the Royal Family to take such an inadvertently political stance is always a bad idea because they are funded by the taxpayers and therefore they have an obligation to remain above the political sphere.
Debate rages about whether Markle, feeling her wings clipped and resenting her royal obligations (despite the massive money and privileges), bullied Harry into leaving the family, or whether Harry, tired of the limitations that came with being a prince, saw Meghan as his way out. Suffice it to say that the two surprised everyone, especially the queen, by announcing that they were heading to North America to go it alone as post-national, post-royal elites (although they assumed they'd have all that royal cachet to fund their new profitable, woke adventures).
When the queen sought to impose limitations, Markle insisted that, no matter what the queen said, she'd keep that royal title of "Duchess of Sussex." Eventually, Markle backed down, but not before whining about how poorly she'd been treated.
All of that was sort of disgusting. Now, though, Meghan has escaped the realms of being icky and burst forth into a new world of such extraordinary selfishness that one can only laugh. The Daily Mail has the latest on Meghan's newest sense of entitlement and ill usage:
con't
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7997417/Duchess-tells-REBECCA-ENGLISH-friends-suffered-domestic-violence.html
‘Yes, well I recently had somebody I know well, whose daughter was married and living in a foreign country. I said to her one day “You’re not looking quite right, what’s wrong?”
‘She said “I have this terrible problem with my daughter. I can’t believe it as I have never experienced anything like this before. She’s got this strange husband who is exercising coercive control which is undermining her confidence, getting rid of her friends, alienating her family. I just don’t know what to do about it”.
Meghan grumbled to her inner circle last week over the Queen banning the couple from using the word 'royal' in their 'branding', later issuing an extraordinary statement appearing to complain the palace was treating them differently to other family members.
'Meghan said that [she and Harry] were left with no choice but to make a public statement,' a friend explained.
'She said if anyone should feel insulted, it should be them. They never intended to capitalize on the word royal, and to insinuate they were somehow abusing their privileges is absurd.'
[snip]
'She said she and Harry will continue to rise above jealousy and pettiness and focus on the good they are creating and on being the best parents to Archie.
'She said she will continue to champion Harry because out of everyone, he has the most integrity and the most loyalty.'
Meghan also believes the Queen was 'under pressure to make those demands about the name change', because Harry is the Queen's 'favorite and others just can't deal with it.'
To hear the most jealous, petty person in the public sphere insist she's above all that is like getting a front-row seat at the best comedy show in town. Wise people, seeking relief from the stress of headlines, will now anxiously await the next clueless gems that drop from Meghan's lips.
I think if their Hollywood deals in the making were going well, Meghan wouldn't be back in London trying to garner media attention. She'd be busy with meetings and planning sessions. Instead there was only that pathetic bit that her camp planted about her wanting to contend for a superhero role. Other celebs are probably laughing at her brazenness and lack of self-awareness. But that's part of being a narcissist, the lack of self-awareness across all settings and situations.
Just woke up to six - six! - pro- Meghan stories on top of the MailOnline.
It’s bizarre.
Harry needs to soak himself in cases of French wine about as much as Meghan a kilo of coke.
Before Meghan, Harry was said to have lived a fairly modest life, especially for a royal. But after Meghan, the money has been going mostly to her and the accoutrements of wealth and status that Meghan craves.
Narcissists are notorious spenders, especially when they’re burning through other people’s money. They move on when their target is broke, but in the case of Meghan and Harry, there is such a supply of cash from the RF, and in Diana’s trust fund, which I think she will get into, that it will be interesting to see what happens to their finances.
They will likely initially make some money purely out of being tarnished former royal novelties, but she can’t act and he can only discuss his dead mother, which isn’t much of a marketable skillset for either of these two. And Meghan is too old to go yachting, unless it’s with men who are in their 80s.
But in the end, their taste for the uber lavish life will likely outpace their income and, if they carry on with the RF as they have, it is likely to also outpace the monetary patience of HM and PC, and one day soon, William.
Money is one of the most common reasons marriages break up, and if the royal financial faucet is turned off, Harry and Meghan’s marriage could be on shaky ground. Tattered titles won’t be very marketable.
You and I live have lived in the same areas, and none of my friends or relatives use that word. I don't why why some do and some don't. Maybe it's a cultural difference? Rural v city? I'm not sure.
Anyway, moving forward, I do agree with you assessment of MM's clothing choices. That white blouse was designed for a much younger woman. Young girls wear puffed sleeves, and a nearly 40 year old woman looks a bit ridiculous wearing them. The skirt didn't work with the blouse at all, and the shoes were very odd to me.
We've gone over the blue dress, but the red dress looked ridiculous alongside Harry's uniform. A complimentary color to Harry's uniform would have been much better.It was too tight, which caused wrinkles at the waist. The shoes and bag were matchy-matchy, and she needed a statement piece of jewelry to break up the neckline. A shorter woman should not be wearing a wide neckline like that. It just makes them look wider and top heavy. The train was a bit much, and the butt pads were showing.
I also wish she would learn to not stand like the guy at the local gas station, with that wide stance. That ruins the look of anything you're wearing, and it looks like she's about to give birth to a baby right there while standing up. She's learned nothing because she doesn't want to. Of course, only MM knows best how to dress and how to purport herself in these circles. She is truly a Kardashian-type at heart.
To me, Harry looked like he was trying to appear happy, but there were some photos of him in which you could see real sadness. It looked to me that he was trying to hold back tears at one point. On the upside, now he can switch from wearing the Nazi uniform to wearing his old military uniforms when going to Hollywood costume parties!
As for the applause, I think it is customary for people to applaud when announced at ceremonial events such as this. I noticed some unhappy or uninterested people around them, so all were not as delighted as reported. They were just on their best behavior.
That photo of them in the car was shocking. MM looked demonic, and Just Harry obviously was ignoring her. All is not as happy as they try to appear to be.
Well, just a couple more days, and we can say goodbye and so long to these two uncouth grifters.
They’ve behaved so badly and built themselves up so high as to the success they plan to achieve that they will have to actually put up or shut up.
It also blunts their narrative of racism by the RF, the media and citizens of the UK and “you just don’t like us” cries of being singled out snd bullied.
It’s hard to whine about racism and being bullied when they throw you a nice goodbye party.
“It’s me, Meghan. See? I think I look good in a red cape! Hire me.”
They aren't going to write anything negative right now with MM's case against them coming up. I wonder if she will drop the case, and if so, of they will counter-sue for expenses, especially attorneys fees. With a case as big as this, that could wipe Harry out financially. Also, isn't about time for MM's father to put out another statement or interview? Remember when he said he would do that once a month until they spoke to him. Maybe the BRF or the MoS asked him not to? He's been silent for quite awhile.
@ HappyDays,
Excellent point! It's hard to cry racism when they've given you an extremely lavish going away party. She was welcomed into the family with an over the top wedding and has now been given a royal send off.
Harry and Meghan will never have it this good again
By
Camilla Long
"You’d be mad not to have loved the extraordinary picture of Meghan and Harry returning triumphantly to London on Thursday. The blue dress, the flashing smiles, the rain that fell, as someone breathed, like “diamonds”. It was indeed “magical” and “glowing” and somehow otherworldly, as if someone had created a poster for a Richard Curtis film: Is it Still Raining? I Hadn’t Noticed.
There couldn’t have been a person in the country who didn’t see that picture and think: why can’t these shallow and self-obsessed people just loosen up and enjoy this? Why reject love and kindness for a life in North America stripped of all this glossy royal branding? You won’t get this level of glamour crying for money at an all-you-can-eat JP Morgan “business attire” event at a hotel in Florida.
It’s weird and sad to think that people could be so unhappy that they’d hate the life they were living so well in that picture. I’d still like to ask them, to their faces, what it was about royal life they despised so much. Was it the free cars or the free bodyguards or the free air travel, or the £2.4m of artisan doorknobs and pre-distressed flagstones at Frogmore Cottage that we flung at them as taxpayers – a sum now to be paid back? Or being showered with money and the support and adoration of the general public?
Even last Thursday people couldn’t stop raving about how beautiful and happy and “in love” they looked, which is hardly the behaviour of media that are “cynical” and a nation that is “racist” – and that’s after they told us to sling it. I don’t think there is anything that either of them could say that would make the average person on the street feel: “Oh, I understand what you went through and why you did it.” The slicked hair, the aggressive dress, the power smiles, the rictus laughter, all angry and fake. Take another look at the pictures and you’ll see she didn’t even want to be there.
Meghan came and saw and took what she wanted, having pretended she cared about British things and British people, which she didn’t. Now she’s scraped Harry’s goolies into a Gucci tote and run off to North America to a situation that suits her – but not anyone else – better and still thinks there should be no backlash against that.
In fact, when you receive anything in life it comes with responsibilities. When we get paid it comes on the understanding that we have done our job properly. If we want to get a pension, it comes as a result of paying national insurance for most of our lives. When you have 24-hour security paid for at vast expense by the taxpayer because you’re royal, you don’t engage in a public slanging match with the Queen or get nasty when she tries to take your titles away, having spent ages pretending that you’re not bothered about the trappings of royal life when you are. It has been awful.
However glossy and glamorous Meghan’s final trolling lap of the country may seem, let us never forget the appalling and destructive and grasping manner in which she left. Let us never forget that she effectively threatened the Queen, hinting that she and Harry could give a television interview in which the royal family would be revealed as “racist and sexist”.
It astonishes me that anyone can forget this simply by looking at a “great” and “iconic” “look of love” photo – what does Harry and Meghan being “in love” have to do with anything anyway? Bonnie and Clyde were in love; so were Fred and Rosemary West. Gushing over pictures and images without questioning motives is lazy, the sort of thinking that allows scandals such as the one involving Harvey Weinstein to happen. We all loved his glorious films and glossy lifestyle with starlets, but didn’t those pictures hide terrible realities? People in power should always be questioned, and none more than cavilling royals.
3. Times Article
Meanwhile, the family they have left looks the weaker and shoddier for it – it is a double disaster. It is as though we’ve been watching in colour and suddenly everything has drained back to black and white again. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, for example, seemed interminably dry and drizzly by comparison, as they conducted another gimpy official visit, to Ireland, last week.
Why do the royals still bother to look surprised at Guinness? Will looking surprised at Guinness be something they are still doing in 40 years? Or will we have finally worked out that no matter how many times Kate manages to break out an emerald pussy-bow blouse or however many times she dresses herself head to toe in green for three days straight or however many times she manages to pin a shamrock on a big dog, it will no longer pass as entertainment?"
Ends.
Maybe that's what the car photos are telling us - that this point is really sinking in. For all we know, Meghan may have intended her sea-of-red triumphalism to provoke people into giving her more material for her victim narrative. Instead they applauded. So now what?
Thanks for the article from the Sunday Times.
Oh snap- the look of love - Bonnie & Clyde had it so did Fred & Rosemary West.I
Interesting take on William & Kate's Ireland visit. Rather harsh.
I did check the definition, just because, and did you know it has many meanings! It's origin in Jamaican English (which may be why it was used to describe the omnipresent smell of pot?). One meaning is "unattractive woman", but it can also be used as a verb to describe dancing to reggae music. (That's from the OE dictionary.) It's also a golf term. Anyway, interesting. It is one of those words that means many different things to each of us, I guess.
I agree re Harry, too: "It looked to me that he was trying to hold back tears at one point."
___________________
So, if anyone thought Rach would be behaving herself, guess again. It appears the release of the pictures wasn't an accident:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/meghan-markles-decision-publish-photos-21648657
and the one about the Queen fearing that she'll never see Archie again... I don't know what to make of that story.
I haven't finished all of today's articles on MoS, but I find them dripping with barely disguised sarcasm, calling it their "farewell tour' and writing comments such as she was wearing a dress that "more than complimented" Harry's uniform. "More than complimented" is not the same as "beautifully complimented."
Try going back and reading them again. If people read between the lines, knowing the background of The Harkle's saga, I think a lot of people will see the sly digs just under the surface.
Of course for every one of those photos there's three of him being a pushover but maybe this is the beginning of Meghan losing her grip on him. We've never seen her grip and pull so hard before as we have in the last day or so and I would just say that (1) there must be a reason why she's having to strengthen her physical hold on him and (2) no one can maintain a grip that strong for long.
@SwampWoman, GoodVibes and YankeeDoodle
All Hail Georgette! Just last night finished reading Convenient Marriage for the umpteenth time, and I am far from my youth! I've got first editions (Barbosa covers!) of most of her Regencies, and buy new paperbacks each time they're republished.
She absolutely ruined me for Jane Austen, even though I know Austen was her inspiration to an extent.
(Apologetically) You see, I fell in love with Georgette Heyer's books before I started having grand romances of my own. After I had the grand romances, somehow I found I was drawn to murder mysteries rather than romance novels. Make of that what you will (grin). I even gave them all to somebody else when I moved and had to pare down my books (but she probably didn't have the wit to understand them). It has been a very long time since I have read them. I think I shall buy Kindle editions from Amazon.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8087095/Prince-Harry-moved-listening-military-anthems-Royal-Albert-Hall-Megxit.html
For reasons unclear, the couple left separately but later arrived arm-in-arm beneath an umbrella at Mansion House for the annual Endeavour Fund Awards ceremony. There was some booing but it was the couple's joyous entrance that made headlines.
Inside, their ebullience was not always so evident. Meghan kept contact with other guests to a minimum while Harry ignored a request for a photograph with a former Coldstream Guard. The soldier said: 'I wanted a picture with them but they got up and did their speeches and were then ushered out by their bodyguards.
'I shook Harry's hand as he was leaving and I said we served in Afghanistan together but then his bodyguard grabbed him to go. I said, "Please can I have a picture", practically begging, and he just smiled and walked off. I was quite surprised.'
The following day, the Duke was at the Silverstone circuit to open a new museum, accompanied by Lewis Hamilton, the Formula 1 world champion. Once again the public turnout was low. Although police had set up barriers, only ten people turned up - and they all appeared to be fans of Hamilton.
I dunno. That claw (tm) looks mighty powerful!
'I haven't finished all of today's articles on MoS, but I find them dripping with barely disguised sarcasm, calling it their "farewell tour' and writing comments such as she was wearing a dress that "more than complimented" Harry's uniform. "More than complimented" is not the same as "beautifully complimented.'
I agree. The headlines and the photographs are fulsome with adoration, but read the article and you find a forest of trees casting shade.
@Longview: Thanks for the Times article.I agree that a 'king to be' will be judged by what lasting legacy he leaves for the country and not the entertainment value he provides, nor even the speeches he makes even if some of them are iconic and on the button (take note Sussexes). Charles is on track with his extensive work in the Duchy of Cornwall and lifelong projects such as the Princes Trust. William and Kate are just starting their work so I think it is too early to judge them.
Apparently, @Swampwoman. I didn't know either. I'm glad you've used it, too. It's quite the versatile word, or so I thought. In fact, my bathroom sink recently stopped up (I manhandled it into submission this morning!), and that's one of the words I'd have used to describe it. Now I wonder how many people I've been offending all this time!
And I've never heard of Georgette Heyer, so now to check Amazon...
@AvaC, agreed re the claw. She's going to need an extension. As you said though, there are several photos where it looks like he's seeing the reality of her.
Bitter, isn’t it?
I also felt the swipe at the Cambridges was unnecessary. Guinness or no Guinness, they were doing exactly what Royals are paid to do, which is represent the UK at home and abroad, and build bridges.
Wow is right!There is no subtlety in that article. The gloves have come off.
There IS a kernel of truth in her observations, but that is how we British like our royals. That's one of the key things Meghan failed to grasp. Excess glamour exhausts us after Diana. We've done that thank you very much and it was a rocky, uncomfortable and ultimately tear-stained ride.
Not to mention the drama. The theatrics. Previously with Diana. Now with Meghan. So tedious, tiring and tacky. If Diana had still been a child, she would have been returned to the nursery until she remembered how to behave in public. So Meghan, bringing more of the same, spending easily as much money as a princess of wales and not even looking good on it, can just be returned to her country. Thanks but no thanks.
Which brings me to a vague memory of the Queen as a little girl, I think out for an evening at the theatre with her grandmother Queen Mary. I forget the details, but little Princess Elizabeth mentioned something about the people waiting to see her outside when she left, and Queen Mary tartly instructed governess Crawfie to return her grandaughter to the Palace out the back way. No showing-off allowed.
'He looks so incredibly sad.
I was trying to put my finger on why I'm so disgusted with her.
She married him for a come up because he's a Prince, she would have never given "H" the time of day if he wasn't who he was. Then she played the Diana card and convinced his dunce ass to leave absolutely everyone and everything he's ever known including his family, country and duties both military and non.
This was supposedly to protect her and Archie from the "media" but they're simultaneously seeking every opportunity to be famous under her terms with his name and the very titles they are turning their backs on. Oh, did you know Meghan does Disney voices? We all do now.
The least she could have done on one night was humble herself and wear something that wasn't set up to outshine him, and act like she gave a damn that he said goodbye to yet another major part of his life. And the least he could do is grow some nuts. Getting a standing ovation due to rank for leaving them on her behalf.
She was positively glowing and beaming with joy while he looked like he was at a funeral and rightly so. It's embarrassing, disrespectful and disgusting.'
https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/meghan-markle-unpopular-opinions-thread-pt-2.2215591/page-3083#post-55522309
@Elle, if you are going to start with Heyer, read FREDERICA first. I've never met anyone who hasn't loved, loved, loved it. If you get Audible audiobooks, they have a fantastic unabridged version of it too. It's a joy. Not a namby-pamby romance, though there is romance, but a whole family and world you can't get enough of. I read somewhere it was as if Heyer was trying to see how many loveable characters you can cram into just one book.
"She was positively glowing and beaming with joy while he looked like he was at a funeral and rightly so. It's embarrassing, disrespectful and disgusting.'"
Sums it up completely.
Re the anecdote about Lilibet and Crawfie, I recently read another story about Princess Margaret, then a child going to the zoo, I believe, With her sister, the Queen Mum and Crawfie. Little Miss announced something to the effect that all the common people would have to curtsy to her. Queen Mum swiftly turned the party around and they returned home.
It's a bit disingenuous of the BRF though, to have rolled out the red carpet to this extent. All this fuss was what Meghan wanted all the time. But Harry is already entering Prince Edward territory. They wouldn't qualify for this if they weren't leaving. So maybe that's an extra twist of the knife by the BRF. To really bring it home, using the only language the Harkles understand.
Yes, after all of this, steady and stable is comforting, and I believe a lot of us crave that normalcy. I'm not sure why Long had to diss the Cambridges, but I'll happily watch Will drink Guinness and Kate wear green on a daily basis! There was nothing technicolor about Rach & H, there was just psychodrama and meanness.
@Nutty, I agree on the comment about the Guinness. That exactly what they were there to do- to promote Ireland's products. They are also probably very familiar with the Guinness family.
@Sandie - thanks so much for the comment from LSA:
"She was positively glowing and beaming with joy while he looked like he was at a funeral and rightly so. It's embarrassing, disrespectful and disgusting.'"
Sums it up completely.
I wouldn't say "glowing". She's gloating that she served up that sh*t sandwhich is and forcing him to eat it.
Given the context of them leaving the RF and this being their last engagement, they are going out with a bang and in style. That photo in the rain was pure Hollywood magic but then she goes and upstages Camilla. Meghan clearly thinks she's the biggest deal in the RF. However, what she's not understanding and will be getting ready to learn is that she is not Diana 2.0 and she won't have that international star power that Diana for many reasons not the least of which: she married a dumb sixth in line Harry and not shrewd and future king William. This visit is a big deal in Britain but it's not a big deal in the US, where they hope to go full Hollywood. Hollywood stars might ant to line up in faux support of them to look woke and on the right side of the race card being played here but Hollywood celebs don't have the clout they used to have and Americans are far more concerned about politics and coronavirus than these minor Hollywood hustlers. People get tired of seeing celebs. Like Clooney, they have their moment but then their star fades and they can't open movies like they used to. What Meghan doesn't realize is how quickly her star capital will fade after she leaves the RF. And her little stick it to the future King's wife isn't going to help her come crawling back after she sees her hopes fade.
I think the RF would be shrewd to let them have their Hollywood moment and ride out this storm because ultimately time is on their side.
March 8, 2020 at 12:50 AM
___________________________
Good one CDAN//// I mean Este you seem very well versed how Hollywood operates. Your Don Henley treatment was the best
Standing ovation at the school as well according to BBC news just now. (Footage just released- it wasn't on the late news last night) - she's spun the attention out even longer
In both cases, both audiences were (more or less) captive. Under orders?
Mind games, bloody mind games.
If they wanted to switch up ever so often and Kate drink Guinness and Will wear green on a daily basis, I'd be down with that as well.
I never click on Daily Fail articles just scan the headlines. Good to hear there is some shade being thrown in the articles.
Well, I'm resigned to ride out this OTT send off. They surely can't complain, but we gave them a even grander welcome with the Wedding - so no, I doubt this will stop their whinging.
I will miss the Duchess Pitstain pics....they were so very apt.
"In both cases, both audiences were (more or less) captive. Under orders?
Mind games, bloody mind games."
Bingo! What group of school children would not be told to stand and applaud when the duke and duchess arrive? Same with a very formal event, especially when their name is called as they enter. Light applause is standard.
Maybe that's what the car photos are telling us - that this point is really sinking in. For all we know, Meghan may have intended her sea-of-red triumphalism to provoke people into giving her more material for her victim narrative. Instead they applauded. So now what?’
I’ve had the exact same thoughts.
She looks perplexed and he looks full of regret. 😉
The standing ovation for him was bizarre and the pro positive coverage and press they’ve received. I wonder though, so many possible reasons, the military are respectful of past endeavours etc., the press think they’ve both done a good job and so reported that.
However, maybe part of the positive press and people publicly treating them well was an act of defiance, let’s face it, it’s soooo much harder for her to say and play the victim-racist card with a reception like this? 🥴
"As the words of Kings and Queens are precious and as a fair sample of an after-dinner colloquy, I shall recall my dialogue with accurate fidelity.
Q. ‘Have you been riding today Mr Greville?’
G. ‘No Madam, I have not.’
Q. ‘It was a fine day.’
G. ‘Yes ma’am a very fine day.’
Q. ‘It was rather cold though.’
G. (like Polonius). ‘It was rather cold, Madam.’
Q. ‘Your sister, Lady Francis Egerton rides, I think, does not She?’
G. ‘She does ride sometimes Madam.’ (A pause when I took the lead through adhering to the same topic.)
G. ‘Has your Majesty been riding today?’
Q. (with animation) ‘O yes, a very long ride.’
G. ‘Has your Majesty a nice horse?’
Q. ‘O, a very nice horse.’
Gracious smile and inclination of head on part of Queen, profound bow on mine".
@JocelynsBellinis yes, gloves off in less than 48 hours and while the transition from Used-to-Be to Wanna-Be happens right on British soil. I wonder if Rach's mean upstage re Camilla sped the process along a bit.
@Swampwoman Agreed! Wills looked great in green in Pakistan!
@AvaC, I'll give it a try! Thanks for the recommendation. I'm not really a romance reader, but this sounds more Pride and Prejudice than The Blind and Buttonless Horseman (<<I googled worst romance novels and that came up lol!)
I didn't know that HMTQ is still giving fashion advice other than color schemes to Kate. Thanks for the info.
It also could be that she wants to make a stark contrast in proper fashion while MM is wearing all the flash. I couldn't wear those dresses, either.
For example here, I don't agree with everyone all the time. But it's kept civil. I tend to skip the star sign posts, they are not for me. But not going to insult, denigrate or bully somebody over believing in them.
Ok back to gossip:
1. Does anyone know whether the Smirkles will actually see other members of the RF? This goodbye tour seems to have been designed in a way of physical avoidance. Which I agree with. Imagine the tension after everything.
2. The standing ovation was forced. If you watch the video on the DM you can clearly see annoyed side eyes and half hearted clapping by those surrounding the Smirkles.
3. The picture of them leaving the RAH afterwards: oh dear. Harry looks....what's the opposite of happy and triumphant?
4. I think after the pretty pictures photo ops have ended, reality will hit them hard. Yes, it seems like they are getting great PR, and yes, she does look more than decent, but people do not forget what brought them there. And it's only a matter of time until they resume digging that giant hole they have started digging a while ago. These 2 don't learn. They're idiots. What they are doing right now is not their normal. Being repulsive, entitled, greedy brats, that's their normal.
Yes I absolutely agree and it is tough to stand and completely unjust to the Cambridges but just keep thinking of that saying "revenge is a dish best served cold". Meghan only thinks one step ahead, whereas the rest of us can do better than that.
What struck me as in such bad taste was her allowing a male kid hug and kiss her onstage. THEN, she wags her finger at him like she's so sexy that she has to chastise him.
I'd hardly call her a role model for kids, either, but this was another unplanned guerrilla visit, an MM specialty. I just wish that the people in charge had told her that they were not prepared to receive her at that time.
'An unplanned guerrilla visit' is a perfect description. I'm usually good at thinking on my feet and hardened by years of working in central London, but yet I was ambushed by an old woman selling sprigs of heather outside John Lewis (yes really) who somehow got £3 out of me via a series of rapid-fire questions like a game. It was over before I realised it. I was stunned. That will be Meghan in old age.
I have no words ...
Love it!!! Yes, let that be the universally approved tactic from now on.
Actually 67 is no age at all now for many fortunate/health-conscious people but it IS a point.
The charge against Charles I was that by `maliciously making war on the…people of England’ he had committed a form of treason – see, for instance,
http://bcw-project.org/church-and-state/the-commonwealth/trial-of-king-charles-i
He was found guilty and accordingly beheaded. Cromwell regarded his execution as a `sad necessity’.
This is why the monarch keeps out of party politics and royals do not make contentious political pronouncements. It also reminds us that there is a precedent for `maliciously making war on the…people of England’.
The neutrality extends to how royals are expected to react when doing the boring stuff– they do not enthuse about a food product when they sample it on factory visits, lest this provokes complaints from the firm’s competitors. The only sign of royal approval to be hoped for is a subsequent order for their products.
A Royal Warrant may be granted after years of providing regular service to the Queen or Prince of Wales. It comes, however, with clear restrictions on how it is to be used – it may not be exploited.
The car photo: this reminds me of those of Charles and Diana which really gave away the state of their marriage. An inadvertent mirroring of Harry’s mother?
The red dress? That took me back to my first date with no.1 husband, a Summer Ball. I realised my newest evening dress (fuchsia-pink) would clash horribly with his mess jacket – I’d seen the latest recruitment ad for the then-WRAC. It a showed a photo of a mess night with RE & QARANC officers (army engineers & nurses). I liked the look of one of the RE Captains – as things turned out, he was Best Man at our wedding – dammit! (the wedding from hell, spoilt by my new SiLs – both raging narcs.
I was watching a repeat of the very first episode of the detective series `A Touch of Frost’ the other night and was struck by something Detective Inspector `Jack’ Frost (played by David Jason) said to his sergeant:
`Greed, my son, is the biggest mistake of the lot.’
Which brings me to the question of `Who is watching us?’
I assume that we are under observation, by friend and foe alike, and hope that what I write may be of service to HM and the Monarchy. I’m freeborn English, as they used to say. We have free speech. I am sure we are not committing what in the 17th century was termed `seditious libel’, punishable by hideous acts of mutilation. Nor is this hate speech or cyberbullying.
We are just trying to work out what is going on, many of us from the viewpoint of people who have themselves suffered at the hands of narcissists , people who display a definite pattern of behaviour which they may not be able to help.
With the coronavirus fears at the moment, is it not a little irresponsible to be hugging/kissing people? How many people has she been in close contact with over the last few days, and now she's potentially passing on who knows what to school children? Or potentially picking up something to take home to Archie? Sorry if I sound a bit alarmist, but we're being told to avoid unnecessary contact with other people to be on the safe side and hugging/kissing isn't what I'd call necessary.
The DM photos, I agree with everyone's comments about the car picture. There were some others that caught my attention too:
I see pain, possibly suppressed panic, in Harry's face around the eyes in this one:
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/03/08/00/25676740-8086571-Harry_waves_goodbye_as_he_and_Meghan_leave_following_their_atten-a-72_1583626616862.jpg
I suppose it could be "trauma" from the camera flashes. He also doesn't look like he's "waving goodbye", he looks more like he's trying to tell someone to back off.
He doesn't look very happy here either:
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/03/07/23/25676784-8086571-image-a-159_1583625407836.jpg
And these two:
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/03/08/00/25676792-8086571-image-m-204_1583625767148.jpg
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/03/07/23/25676790-8086571-image-a-146_1583625154984.jpg
Something appears to be going on between them. The one with him looking at her seems to be he's telling her off for something, but then I look at the other and it seems she's giving him a talking-to through her smile.
Off to catch up on comments now.
Distrust of royal women who don't follow the rules, fail to understand their role and fail to provide the right bolstering, calming image runs bone-deep in our country. Goes back centuries. Think how loved Catherine of Aragon was. She was also a foreigner, but she sewed King Harry's shirts with her own hands and acted as any Tudor wife should until you-know-who came along. Then she became a warrior in her own cause, but the people still loved her because she had paid her dues for over 20 years as a good queen. (I've also loved since a child the fact that Catherine was in charge during a great military triumph at home while Henry was playing soldiers abroad. Henry never had a great military triumph. Hah!!!)
I often think Meghan admires Anne Boleyn and even goes for the sharp, witchy look she must have had. But Anne would wipe the floor with Meghan.
I find it odd that she often reacts to “surprise” events with huge double-takes as she searches for somebody to acknowledge her amazement at what just happened.
That always irritates me when I see people do it, and not just from Meghan. I used to like Tracey Ullman but then I saw her on the One Show and every single time she said something she looked around the audience as if to say "see what I just said?" and now I can't watch any of her comedy without seeing that in my mind's eye.
We've all had embarrassing photos, taken when we're perhaps unawares, but here she is still `on stage' but it appears she can't conceal her inner world of narcissistic rage. Had she wanted to be booed? That would have supported her victim narrative.
Instead, she's had `coals of fire heaped upon her head'.
Have just checked out Proverbs 25 - https://biblehub.com/bsb/proverbs/25.htm
It could have been written with her in mind.
Meghan must spend an inordinate amount of time online shopping for jewellery. I have never known anyone own so much bling.
Interesting to see photos of Diana wearing a similar red cape dress - Meg's inspiration, I suppose. Except that Diana adds a foxy diamond tiara, a showstopping diamond necklace, and cookie-sized diamond earrings.
If the family trusted Meg, they might have let her wear these pieces, or at least one of them. But no one trusts Meg.
I have tried reading Georgette Heyer , but preferred a little more , can't put my finger on it. As far as great romances for me , its found in those Mills & Boons books , way back from the 1960's onwards. Not the 80's. Never from the 90's. These Mills gems are sometimes found in second hand bookshops and charity shops. Sadly they are too old for libraries. I have hundreds of them, purchased in off beat places, lining my floors. Apparently teen schoolgirls regularly buy the 90's secondhand books. One can see where the current generation are getting their romantic thoughts from, that is, the newer superficial , plastic authors. Even the so called Harkles have a plastic romance , I wouldn't even call it such, theirs is a 21st century modern financial transactional paper based relationship. Devoid of romance. What they do between the sheets is perhaps a perk of that transactional setup.
Talking about schools, and ovations, its the norm for any public speaker to get one. Ages ago, school kids were quite placid. Today, its ANY excuse to be LOUD.
I think the Hackles getting the ovation and applause, was actually what they deserved. I have the greatest respect for the Military band. Truest (is that a word) military honour, decorum, even bravery (maybe valour ) , they did that for their Queen and country , not for those two raggedy bones. I am very proud of Britain.
Yes, agree wholeheartedly , these two are here to seal the deal. They will appear sporadically during the twelve month period, to show ,they are part of the family. Each time, will be more glamorous and deceitful than the last. Talk about dying men clutching at straws , and keeping ones head above water. Does anyone know if the Harkles are swimmers ?
Do keep up the wonderful comments Nutty and everyone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hanT5X86f0
I haven't posted for a while due to illness but I feel better now and thought I would put in my five egs.
When I first read about MM upstaging Camilla, I wondered which tabloid had gone "rogue" and printed the photos so I read a couple more posts and found these pics were in the London Evening Standard (LES). This action couldn't have been done with the intent of making more profit as the LES is a free newspaper and is usually distributed only in London and the immediate surrounding areas. Mind you, the LES may have been glad to do MM's bidding as they seem to be great MM fans, going on the content I checked online.
MM knew very well that there was an embargo on the usual tabloids so she went to one that wasn't on the royal rota so there is no way this releasing of the pics was accidental - what a bitch!
I don't know if anyone else has posted about this particular point, I hope you'll forgive me if that is the case.
Do you think maybe she'll just turn up some place where she can expect to find a lot of women on a Sunday?
@Sandie posted a video from the SR Instagram. I have the same reaction. No words. She is surrounded by adoring children and the song accompanying the video? "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine". A triumphant message of victory and perseverance yet again, oh so high school. The woman is an overgrown teenager. No insight. No maturity. No dignity.
Is this real? And if it is, why did this not make news? Imagine if Kate had gifted Sparkles a KNIFE! Oh just imagine....
ouch!
*****
I’m a normal woman. I haven’t broken through any glass ceilings, fought for women’s injustice or survived a traumatic life event. I don’t earn a six-figure salary, sit in a boardroom and I’m not perceived as ‘successful’, necessarily, in terms of work or financial achievements.
I’m a divorced mum-of-two who earns her own money and worries about it constantly. I’m a single parent raising my sons to (hopefully) respect women. I spend a lot of my time very unglamorously emptying dishwashers, cooking, food shopping, cleaning, driving my boys here and there, yelling at them to get off screens and helping them with their homework.
I speak to my sisters every day, my ailing 92-year old dad twice a week. [...] I’m a mother without a mother, having lost mine nearly five years ago and I miss her most days.
How wonderful it would be if International Women’s Day could, for once, highlight the stories of women like me. Ordinary, unremarkable women putting one step in front of the other every day, championing other women in their own small ways through parenting, paying tax, sustaining friendships, earning a living, keeping the family budget together, looking after elderly parents, making sure their children eat healthily, sleep on clean sheets.
It’s wonderful to hear about inspirational women at work who have defied all odds to write a bestselling book or run a multi-million pound business, but these powerful women in their freshly-pressed designer dresses look nothing like me. They will be sitting on panels today, sharing their wisdom and all that they have learnt, yet they are as alien to me, and my life experience, as a man in a sharp suit sitting at the head of a boardroom table.
Many women I know feel the same. Out here, in the real world, is an army of strong, emotionally resilient women doing invisible work without public profiles or letters after their names.
*****
Especially poignant about missing her mother. Many of us long for much missed family members. For Meghan, 'family' seems a dirty word.
They’d never afford Montecito, unless they earn serious money. 🙄 It’s not near where all the Hollywood action is either, doesn’t ole Megsy crave that?🥴
I feel for Kate, Sophie, Camilla and Anne. The stellar job these royal women do shouldn't have been obscured by glittery froth. Shame on the Palace for letting this happen.
Harry's dream of a happy supportive marriage away from limelight is in tatters. His wife will not be his rock, will not care and nurture him and will not "hold his back". He will never get peace and quiet he craves. I suspect he is beginning to see this.
I am still waiting for a single word of gratitude to the nation or even royal family "she never had" from the duo. Looks like it never crossed their minds.
Have they paid back Frogmore renovations yet?
The photo of Diana in that red dress is Photoshop.
Most of the photos taken of Meghan have been heavily filtered or Photoshop, like the crazy one in the car.
William and Harry were left THE SAME AMOUNT of MONEY from Diana. Harry is younger so he got more, INTEREST!
There is a always room for speculation, but this thread is full of disinformation.
Now Georgette Heyer is the best! All her books are digitized so check out your library it's a good way to begin. Frederica, Venetian, The Grand Sophy, Black Sheep and the Toll House are wonderful. One of my favourites is The Unknown Ajax which is laugh out loud funny.