Although I haven't been around much recently, I've enjoyed reading the comments. Recently the group was discussing whether or not the Sussexes would release a Christmas card this year, given what Meg's tragic miscarriage last summer (if you believe the official version of events) or their lack of access to the baby playing the role of Archie (if you don't).
I was struck by Enbrethiliel's suggestion that if the Sussexes do a Christmas card this year, it might include a quote from Kamala Harris.
Birds of a feather
Actually, I'm surprised that Meghan hasn't tried harder to publicly associate herself with Harris.
Both women are biracial, both California natives, both "woke" Democrats. They even have similar hairstyles and fashion preferences. Both are fond of big, airy language with minimal substance, and both are openly ambitious.
In fact, there's quite a bit of chatter suggesting that Joe Biden will have quite a short presidency and quickly resign in favor of Harris, perhaps for health reasons or some connection to his troubled son's business dealings.
Wouldn't Meghan love to be connected with the first female president? Maybe even pose Archie in a "Harris and Harrison" photo to go with has "Arch and Archbishop" Bishop Tutu?
Harris went after Meghan first
Ironically, in the past it has been Harris who has worked hard to associate herself with Markle.
In October 2019, on her official Senate account, Harris commented on Meghan's weepy video statement in South Africa, in which Meg suggested that the Royal Family rarely asked how she was doing.
Harris' Tweet read: "This is incredibly important.
We must remember that it's a sign of strength to show emotion. Meghan, we are with you."
(The boldface is in the original).
In 2019, Harris was running in the Presidential primaries and might have thought she could benefit by associating herself with Meghan. (She eventually dropped out without winning a single delegate.)
Time Magazine brought them together
In June 2020, Harris again used her official Senate account to comment on Meghan's (apparently unrequested) graduation video for students of her alma mater, discussing racial justice.
Harris wrote, using boldface again, "The only wrong thing to say is nothing.
Thank you, Meghan, for this powerful statement."
At the time, Harris was out of the presidential race entirely, although certainly aiming for the vice president job.
Meghan's video bears a Time Magazine watermark, and Harris also has a long association with Time Magazine, a onetime Republican stalwart that has gone ultra-woke after its acquisition by a Silicon Valley billionaire.
Time put Harris on the cover in 2019 - "Her Case: Presidential candidate Kamala Harris fights for a path forward" - and this week there was another cover naming her and Joe Biden, bizarrely, "
Person of the Year." (Are these two individuals somehow just one person? Or was Joe, as President-Elect, not significant enough to get his own Person of the Year cover?)
It's hard to know if the June tweet was Harris supporting Meghan, Harris cementing her relationship with Time Magazine, Harris promoting herself, or all of the above.
The wrong cards
Given Kamala Harris' come-up, there's little doubt that Meghan would now be eager to associate herself with the vice-president elect.
However, as a leader-in-waiting, Harris has little incentive to annoy the Royal Family by publicly linking herself to Meghan.
There don't seem to be any publicly-available photos of the two of them together, and there probably won't be if Harris can help it.
Looks like Meghan's played her cards wrong again - even if she does put a Kamala Harris quote on her 2020 Christmas card.
Comments
You have echoed my thoughts re. The heirs of Grimaldi. Twins are naturally occurring, of course. But they were a whole lot more rare before women started delaying children and then messing about with fertility treatments. I don’t have Charlene’s biography in front of me at the moment but she was in her 30s when her twins were born, and considering the circumstances of her contracted marriage and her very public unhappiness at her wedding, and the fact that she spent her wedding night in a separate hotel from her husband, it seems a bit too much like a happy coincidence for her to conceive twins without any aids whatsoever. I’m getting a Katie Holmes petri dish baby vibe here. Presumably she and Albert had plenty of sex while they were dating, but if she had reached the point by the marriage that she was repulsed by his physical presence, IVF does not seem outlandish. Or at the very least they pumped her full of fertility hormones to make sure she would conceive since that was her entire purpose. Albert must’ve been bummed that instead of two boys, One came out a girl. It’s quite a sordid tale.I hope those children are loved now that they are here. It’s not their fault how they were conceived or that their mother can’t stand Their father. I do not predict a happy life for either of them, sadly. Lord knows Rainier and graces kids are totally screwed up. Charles and Diane his younger son certainly is. Being a royal kid isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Far better to be a normal middle-class child whose parents love each other, even if they have to struggle for money.
she’s super thristy, so she’d do it, and then try to modernize the religion and Monaco grey suits
If he and Charlene separated, he wouldn't remarry. He wouldn't divorce either. He would hang out with the love of his life and not have to worry about producing any more heirs.
The justice in that decision you cited is the one presiding at Markle's trial, isn't it? Justice Warby? Unless there are 2 with the same name.
a news media outlet in Italy which reported some very big scoops in the entertainment industry tweeted that the Harkles are trying to sell a family picture of them with Archie. So far, People magazine has been mentioned prominently in this story.
They are also investigating where they are getting money for their PR, planted news stories and voice coaches, and bots, etc. They also find it strange that so much money is being spent to push their profile.
No other celeb needs to spend their resources this way, this year, that I know of.
I'm sure she tells Harry it's all an 'investment' and you can listen to their spotify trailer to hear how dumb he is...
Grip & Drip are looking forward to playing games via Zoom with the whole Royal fam now that “their relationship has improved and they are on better terms.” Otherwise, the Christmasing Montecito will have “few guests”...Just Archie and Doria on the guest list. No hint of the fosters or Oprah or any other celebrities studded Christmas soirée. But they will have something better… A lovingly prepared meal by accomplished chef Meg, With Harry and Archie helping of course LOL. These two are the dullest pair of woke millionaires ever to exist.
https://stylecaster.com/prince-harry-zoom-queen-elizabeth-prince-philip-christmas/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab&utm_content=algorithm
Human Waste Matters
Megs has come up with a
clevr irrigation/recycling system.
“Soiled Goods”
Alongside Clevr Compost, she is promoting
bespoke sprinklers, 2 for 1...
“The organic way to go”
Subscribe to Audio/Slash/Megs/Potify
The article is a hoot. Of course, they can't say they are having a big to-do given the CA lockdown. But the source is quoted saying the Christmas plan is for "Archie and Doria [Ragland] joining them...” Who talks about their own child "joining them" for Christmas in their own house? One would almost think he doesn't live there. ;-)
The Queen needs to hurry up and give you an OBE.
I feel certain that every day, HM sits in her evening chair and is handed a sheet of natural linen paper upon which your verses haves been neatly typed, in order. She reads one, chortles, and says to Philip, “One simply must share! Turn your aid up, my dear!”
Eek and Meek are clueless. One a self-absorbed bitter-but-willing hostage. One a Machiavellian narcissist. Neither have normal minds.
While all of us would naturally include our child in our emotional and mental image of our personal family unit and concept of home, these two utterly self-absorbed nitwits are a sort of codependent unit of two, quite sick, playing at adult life. They exclude their own child from their framework and have inadvertently turned him into a guest in their home because of their sickness and immaturity (“we are still young, wild and free daring 22 year old kids who break the rules and are going places!”).
This is why I am happy to be certain there is no poor child with them. He lives in fantasy land, much like the woman PR calls mother, Doria. His invisibility and their constant screw-ups in talking about him or forgetting to talk about him, as though Archie is an outlying art project....
Yah, photo baby is living his life with others.
Because George Clooney says Amal made his tiny twins fluent in Italian.
Meghan now lags far behind both Kamala and Amal.....
@Magatha Mistie,
The Queen needs to hurry up and give you an OBE.
I feel certain that every day, HM sits in her evening chair and is handed a sheet of natural linen paper upon which your verses haves been neatly typed, in order. She reads one, chortles, and says to Philip, “One simply must share! Turn your aid up, my dear!”
Hear Hear!!! Magathas poetry is a high point of my day!
@Hikari
Your FC scenario is inspired. The "here's a flat, you wankers" explains so many mysteries.
@AnT
Noel Gallagher is my new hero. I hope the Queen gives him a Knighthood!
George is saying that Amal made his twins fluent in Italian because the first time he told that story, he didn't mention Amal, just that his twins were speaking Italian. All the comments were about the fact that the nanny was obviously Italian. Now, George adds that's it because of Amal.
I think Amal may have plumped up her resumé by saying she speaks Italian. I know a lot of people who can only say 'hello' and 'goodbye' in a language and claim to be fluent in it.
Spotify And The Sussex Podcast Spoof
The Queen needs to hurry up and give you an OBE.
Most definitely! 😆
sadly i think i’m going with LeaM for the blind rather than MM/JH. although i hope JH will ‘wake-up’ soon to the devastation that toxic MM brings to everything she touches.
On Twitter people are comparing Kate's favorable treatment to MM. I think she wants this division so she can further demonstrate she is a victim. It also provides fodder for the court case. "Look, other Royals have friends talk to People magazine!"
She knows the Palace won't comment, which is particularly diabolical.
Morning all! I see Meghan settled with Splash news regarding the pap shoot she planned out. Trying to find out if they had to pay her. Sheeeesh. Meghan must be gloating over her whip smart ways today
A narcissist will intensely blame. YOU didn't help me with the family. YOU are a woman and an outsider and YOU didn't pave the way for me. You get the idea. It's lucky that Kate is a person made of a good strong core to have to battle with Her Meanness. I am sure from time to time Meghan stirs her cauldron and thinks of some story that she can plant that goes along with her goals.
They had to cover some of her legal costs and give her the photos. She only ‘partly’ won and that was probably due to the technicality angle she filed over: Archie.
I can’t wait for the two to get sued themselves for contract in-adherence, and technicalities.
"A roast chicken dinner of the wholesome nutritional variety never occurred either..."
Vanity Fair magazine had an article back in 2012 when William and Kate had been married about a year and one thing it mentioned was that Kate made a roast chicken dinner sometimes for William. I found it after the naughty meaning
I am sure Meghan kept up with Vanity Fair and read this, people have mentioned she was obsessed with the RF. in the engagement interview when she looks a bit uncertainly at Harry as she says "we roasted a chicken" she may be thinking what did that article say, what did Kate make for dinner for William, the brother who I cannot get.
So, roast your fowl this season without fear of innuendo, sometimes a roasted chicken is just a chicken!
My ISP disconnected me. Now they have apologised and sent me a new modem. I have thus spent nine days unaware of anything that has happened in the world save in the town where I live which as it included the capture and charging of our local double murderer and after thirty three years was not really so dull. Naturally I could not read in detail all the comments here but as I skimmed down I was thinking as to how useless The Prince of Wales is and then I saw that Hikari was explaining that his unpopularity stemmed from his divorce. That certainly did not help but I would say he has always been seen as a wet fish. My contemporaries saw him that way - this is a man who has never worn denim jeans. His rants as to architecture no matter what one thinks of brutalism merely seemed fuddy-duddy and now he is just as woke as his youngest son. May we all live in Poundbury but Poundbury is just fake. Even my parents who idolised and based themselves on the Queen and Philip (my Mother said little may father ranted and shouted) and ad nauseam were dismissive and rude about him especially my Mother - even I thought that was going a bit far. We disliked Charles the way we disliked Seb Coe (and rooted for Steve Ovett).
I inherited a colour magazine given away free at the time of the PoW's Investiture as PoW. What jumps out at me is not the sycophacies of the articles nor the way the Astronomer Petrulengro has to choose what will be Charles' big year but without in any way suggesting the death of the Queen (he chose 1994 I seem to recall) but the adverts showing the other side of Great Britain which paid for the hagiography: ads for the double bill of Swedish Nymphos x /How to jeep it up all night also x playing at the Roxy Soho and the ad for the Mayfair Massage Parlour - open till midnight. Gee I wonder whether that is like physiotherapy?
My proposal is that the next monarch should be The Princess Royal (another first for women? - I guess not) who will then after a few years retire in favour of the Cambridges.
Lol, that explains it then. Amal seems like a more skillful Meghan.
And yes, people who pad up pretending fluency or experience are everywhere. It is crazy. Plump, plump, plump that CV with career Botox.
Amal passes herself off as a humanitarian but her very close family are heavily involved in the arms trade.
This élite of society/politics is so hypocritical. No wonder she found it easy to hook George Clooney, Obama's good pal.
Anne would have made an excellent Queen.
Am now off to read Harry Markel about Her Royal Slyness.
No need to be puzzled as I now cross-dress writing as a female. You may call me sister.
I regard the succession rules as so much confetti and Parliament will choose who it really wants. My Father was presented to The Princess Royal and she asked him a tough question which was 'Was the Battle of Arnhem worth it?" (Of course it wasn't as it was as every one knows a bridge too far) but my Father who would have crawled across broken glass for her of course said it most certainly was the right thing to do even though he lost a third of his troop in the battle.
I was just thinking of the falling out between the beautiful and elegant Kate Duchess of Cambridge and the grifter Markle: firstly they were bosom buddies and now they will not speak. Is that not exactly what Oscar Wilde observes about women in Importance of being Ernest. (I dive into my shelter and pull down the hatch).
Pontify is what the dubious duo do. Shout-o-fy. Saying it all out this only Dec 18th
"And yes, people who pad up pretending fluency or experience are everywhere. It is crazy. Plump, plump, plump that CV with career Botox."
Noted are the very shiny faces on the dastardly duo. The sure botox giveaway.
Oh so shiny bright and know it all.
Kind of a let down. Not very exciting or what I think of as: great coffee, I need another cup.
Was reading FF and I will go back and review the parts about leaving the palace for the joys of FC. Will post it as I think it shows their hand about how they viewed themselves in the whole rank blurred lines.
Sorry to hear of the credit card problem. Had someone charge $800 to one of mine at a big box hardware store once.
“Cross-dress writing,” LOL!
He claims the Miscarriage story was put out when it was to deflect criticism on the Duo not being in the Queens weekend photocall announcing her guests this year for Christmas. Every HRH was in attendance except the Duo. They were trying to avoid ‘Snubbed by The Queen’ headlines.
It must be exhausting fighting ghosts of their past all the time.
I wrote some months ago that Magatha should be the new poet laureate - great minds think alike! May I also suggest an OBE for outstanding achievement and service to the Nutties community 😉.
So, I’m guessing Meghan is lactose intolerant.
So, roast your fowl this season without fear of innuendo, sometimes a roasted chicken is just a chicken!
I was one of the late-comers to the sexual meaning of roast chicken. Harry-watchers said they thought they saw a sick/panicked look cross his face momentarily after she blurted that out, like "I can't believe you brought *that* up now." If one subscribed to such facial analysis, the comment could be read as a threat, lest he be having second thoughts about announcing her as his bride to the whole world. Personally I think Hazza looks like a deer in headlights much of the time--comes with the territory if he's spent his life with insufficient intellect to completely keep up with conversations.
We all can surmise that Meg snagged H with sex, and once he'd hit that once she was like an STD that just wouldn't leave him alone. But even if we leave any innuendo out of 'roast chicken' entirely and just read it as a dinner entree, it still doesn't sound legitimate. Megsie once again provides extraneous detail to make her story seem authentic but which really does the reverse. Isn't it more natural, if true, to say "I had cooked a nice dinner and he proposed that night" rather than telling us exactly what she made?
Not forgetting that chef Cory, who she dumped for greener wallets with Harry made his name with a chain of chicken restaurants and his roast chicken seems to be his thing. It's kind of funny/sad that Meg preempted his recipe as her own to demonstrate what an accomplished foodie she is because roast chicken has to be one of the simplest things you can make. If Kate was also on record as having cooked chicken for William, then Meg has plagiarized from two people. There's one thing Meg excels at--she is an inventive and exhaustive plagiarist.
With Megsie's MO--never actually *do* something when you can pretend you did and give yourself credit for it--in mind, sometimes a roast chicken dinner isn't just a roast chicken dinner but rather a figment of her imagination and paid PR. If Meg's compulsion to relentlessly lie about simple food items like chicken and banana bread, one must conclude that she is also lying about significantly larger and more IMPACTFUL items, like--a pregnancy, a baby, a mansion, multimillion dollar media deals; millions of pounds mysteriously disappeared of Duchy funds, etc.
Meg is a liar. The chicken story had several objectives, and mind that this is one of the very first things out of her mouth.
1. To paint herself as a warm, nurturing homemaker/wifey type
2. To establish that she was MOST DEFINITELY cohabitating with Harry in NottCott for weeks prior to the engagement because they are so in Lurve and she DEFINITELY had an in with the Royal family.
3. To make them seem like a normal, wholesome couple of simple tastes, just chillaxin' at home with homemade meals and Netflix. So down to earth!!!
In view of Princess Charlene of Monaco's arrangement in her marriage, I have adopted the view that Meg and Harry were very similar from the off. Ie., they have a wedding and appear publicly as a couple and even get a baby through some means, but do not actually live together or have marital relations. I do not believe Markle was ever allowed through the gates of KP and has always lived separately from Harry. This is all for show, and business. The OTT icky constant PDA is overcompensating for the fact that they don't even like each other.
The roast chicken was a complete front, lie, and clever manipulation. She did it on national television to remind Harry she had all his secrets, but the sexual idea was also enough to distract him from her multi-objective interview of lies. The idea Meghan distracts dim Harry with sex is now out, front and center.
He tried multiple times to speak truth during the interview and was continually spoken over by MM and her agenda. As long as he had a good night that evening with MM getting up to her usual Salad Tossing and Roasting of Chickens, it didn’t really matter anymore that all day he was a little bothered by her behavior and lies.
I have thus spent nine days unaware of anything that has happened in the world . .
Welcome back. I was wondering where you'd gotten to and am glad to hear your modem has been restored.
I was thinking as to how useless The Prince of Wales is and then I saw that Hikari was explaining that his unpopularity stemmed from his divorce. That certainly did not help but I would say he has always been seen as a wet fish.
I was only a small child in the 1970s, when Charles was supposedly having his heyday, but I was assuming that there was a brief window of time when Charles was a somewhat admirable figure. During the Diana years, I too thought him a wet fish, and cold and very unkind and distant to his family. I shared my father's opinion . .(direct quote: "He's an a$$hole.")
Yes, the PoW can be that, but I have come around to accepting that the truth is somewhat more complex, both the situation and the man a lot more multilayered than that. I find myself with greater sympathy for Charles and greater understanding of his deficiencies with the more I have learned about his childhood and young adulthood within the RF. We both have a lot in common, Royalness aside. Like him, I am the eldest of four children. I peg Charles for an INFP on the Myers-Briggs scale, as am I. We are sensitive, artistic souls, more dreamy than practical. Both of us are disappointments to the parental units, mostly on account of being unlike them in temperament or ideas about what is important in life. Charles and I were both raised by pragmatic parents with earthbound concerns and we both a bohemian element to our makeup. My parents favored my younger siblings, and that is certainly true for Charles. We both march to the beat of our drummer in families that aren't interested in different beats, and the parental units tended to be critical and emotionally withholding. So I feel like I understand Charles very well. He's a Boomer and I'm GenX, but I get the whole clashing with the values of one's parents, and wanting different things for myself than they saw as appropriate for me.
Charles really wants to be liked by everyone and that often results in a personality that is liked by almost no one, since it comes off as wishy-washy. He is a flawed man, from flawed parents in a flawed system. I give him credit for courage in prevailing over the bullies at Gordonstoun and from within his own family and doing his best to honor his duty as PoW while still trying to implement some of his own vision at the same time. Charles didn't have a mother really; he had a Queen. Elizabeth was not much of a mother; she's got that in common with her great-great grandmother. And her grandmother. And Philip was impossible to please. My dad was like that . .a bit like God, busy with grave matters elsewhere, awe-inspiring and unapproachable.
I agree that Anne is far better suited temperamentally to be Queen, and it's a shame she cannot be. I think rather than primogeniture, all the kids regardless of birth order should have to audition for their rankings within a Royal family. The firstborn is not automatically the best choice just because of an accident of procreation but as it stands, that's what your constitutional monarchy is stuck with.
My contemporaries saw him that way - this is a man who has never worn denim jeans. His rants as to architecture no matter what one thinks of brutalism merely seemed fuddy-duddy and now he is just as woke as his youngest son. May we all live in Poundbury but Poundbury is just fake. Even my parents who idolised and based themselves on the Queen and Philip (my Mother said little may father ranted and shouted) and ad nauseam were dismissive and rude about him especially my Mother - even I thought that was going a bit far. We disliked Charles the way we disliked Seb Coe (and rooted for Steve Ovett).
I must see that engagement interview again.
In the Manosphere there is often talk of how one can improve oneself and so as to be attractive to the female of the species. (Oh ladies you will need a chastity belt and would be advised to throw away the keys when these men have you in their sights). Undoubtedly if one avoids certain behaviours attractiveness might be more possible of some achievement but I always think that some people just exude attractiveness and some just give women the creeps and there is unfortunately nothing much one can do to alter the way one comes across - in the instant. Who can deny that the more dashing and handsome Andrew had he been the first born would have been beloved of the entire country.
I mentioned Seb Coe. Not bad looking and of course (Americans are fully forgiven for not being aware of his name) one of our Olympic Middle distance Gold medallists, and who has post his running career gone on to greater success such that he is now the tongue twisting Lord Sir Sebastian Coe, yet there was something I am not sure exactly what - smamrmy is not quite the right word, and neither is self-important but it was something like that that my generations were as regards to Coe, indifferent. Steve Ovett - from Brighton, Coe's great rival - equally gifted as a runner and also a middle distance Gold medallist was liked as he seemed to be a normal regular chap. What happened to him after his career ended I have no idea. It is curious the way one can form views of people one has never met and who one only sees playing sport. These days I am a bog fan of Tokoshoryu - and Takakeisho - and Shodai - but certainly NOT Hakuho.
How she stayed up late to ran baths for the tired, back from his shift William and afterwards present him with his perfect meal, roast chicken.
Many articles about Kate as the perfect Supermodel thin fashionable nanny, housekeeper wife frequently mentioned that chicken and also pushing the idea that she had no staff at all. Nevermind the evidence of several household staff attending them in Wales.
Here is one such article from 2012.
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2012/09/kate-middletons-married-life-house-facials
Also helps that she was papped buying a whole chicken at the supermarket soon after her wedding.
Without knowing the innuendo about roast chickens, when Meghan mentioned it in her engagement interview, my first thought was that she copied the idea from Kate because it signals to the world how domesticated Meghan is just like Kate and or those Wales boys really love their roast chickens!!!
After learning about it's urban dictionary meaning, i'm going to say that roast chicken in the Sussex engagement interview was doing triple duty, perhaps even multiple duty seeing how many people interpreted the reference differently.
"Harry and Meghan’s media machine has all the sincerity of a home shopping channel.
A cringeworthy trailer for the duo's podcast on Spotify is only the start as they try to sell their most prized assets – themselves."
I haven't read it yet - it's bedtime now and I only opened up my machine to check `Last day of posting' for 1st Class items - it's Monday.
Night-night.
It's Goodnight from me...
Well, primogeniture certainly kept the kingdom from being split between warring princelings every time the ol' man died (well, that is the way it was supposed to work, anyway). You might get the village idiot occasionally, but I suppose that they figured it was an acceptable alternative to total destruction.
As in, you can lead a horticulture but you can't make her royal.
I think that their channel will be all about horticulture.
As in, you can lead a horticulture but you can't make her royal.
Thanks a golden oldie. As Fairport Convention said. "It all comes 'round again" _and_ "We'll meet on the ledge"._________ All gets recycled
Best of Christmas and new year to all Nutties.....Despite the Covid crap
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9067825/Prince-Albert-Monaco-fight-paternity-claims-love-child.html
Thank you Nutties, very kind,
and very much appreciated.
You’ve made my day 😘
Finger Clickin’ Good
They’re sneaky and they’re sooky
Nefarious and wokey
They’re all together yucky
The Harkles Family
Their acts, repeats, ad nauseum
No-one wants to hear ‘em
They really are extreme
The Harkles Family
However, i think historically strong, capable leaders were a question of character and ability to meet the times they lived in.
The weakness of eldest born as heir shows up when said heir is an idiot, but it can happen to anyone. Look at Empress Marie - Theresa of Austria vs her idiot child Marie Antoinette.
The mind boggles that Marie Antoinette grew up with such a strong, clever, capable mother and nothing was absorbed that could have helped her eventual situation in France despite her mother advising her many, many times.
I tend to contrast her with Katherine of Aragon and her mother, Isabel of Castile. Clearly lessons were absorbed and used when faced with difficulties in England.
@GWAH
Is that Hortense? Nah, she looks pretty relaxed to me...
I stand corrected on the pasta recipe, though I seem to remember Meg also attempted to promote her culinary acumen by boosting a number of Cory’s recipes as her own. I believe it was also publicized that when she moved out of the house she shared with him she also took with her a number of expensive kitchen items that were gifts to them both. Typical.
In regards to my observations on FroggyCott, you seem to imply that I have plagiarized your comments without attribution. Any similarity to your remarks is coincidental. My thoughts on FroggyCott or once I have been formulating since the couple was ostensibly gifted this property that has seem to have had no verifiable work done on it visible to the general public or documented in any form via the media. Most of us here are extremely keen to get to the bottom of FroggyCott gate, But if anybody has to be given credit for influencing my thoughts about this house, it’s Harry Markle, Who has covered this issue extensively.
As much as I love all your satirical verse, I must defend the Addams Family! Gomez and Morticia are a couple truly devoted to each other; Morticia is genuinely attractive and kind-hearted; and their children all undoubtedly exist.
On the other hand, when I re-watched Addams Family Values a few months ago, there was a character who reminded me very much of Meghan. Can anyone guess who it is? ;-)
I think it's Lea Michele for the BG item, too. Your mention of her son's lion costume explains the "lion's share" clue. The Harkles were the first to come to mind, of course, but Mrs. Harry hardly had "principal role on a successful TV series." I suspect the BG editor deliberately inserted those adjectives.
Harry-watchers said they thought they saw a sick/panicked look cross his face momentarily after she blurted that out, like "I can't believe you brought *that* up now." If one subscribed to such facial analysis, the comment could be read as a threat, lest he be having second thoughts about announcing her as his bride to the whole world. Personally I think Hazza looks like a deer in headlights much of the time--comes with the territory if he's spent his life with insufficient intellect to completely keep up with conversations.
For me, the part that stood out the most was Meghan's duper's delight smile after Prince Harry said he proposed "here at our cottage." Watching it again, I also noticed Meghan's hum of approval (the first of many! -- and not to be confused with her hums of disapproval) when Harry said the proposal took place "a few weeks ago." I think the time and location were two of the details they had agreed upon, when they were getting their stories straight before the interview.
But after that point, Meghan turned decided to wing it, asking, "What were we doing? Just roasting chicken and having --" And Harry interrupted with: "Roasting chicken, trying to roast a chicken." (In YouTuber FameVixen's analysis, she interpreted that as Harry revealing Meghan is a crappy cook!) I don't think Meghan liked that very much. Harry can't be her favorite improv partner! Had she known that the roast chicken comment would invite more scrutiny than the time and place of the engagement ever would, she might have sat Harry down longer to make sure he memorized every last detail of the perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned, perfectly plated, perfect in every way dinner.
"William is the one who is being overlooked in this whole saga. Has anyone asked if William is okay? I mean, he lost his brother, his touchstone. And I'm sure they swore some kind of allegiance to one other after Diana's death. And then, going through the affair would have made them very sensitive, depending -- if not codependent -- on one another. So Harry basically hit every trigger William has, and I believe opened William's pandora's box, as well as placing William in great emotional pain."
But her point is that no one asks if William is okay because we know that he's the capable, mature one whom we are all counting on to carry an entire country into the future. That can't be an easy burden for anyone.
I recall Brené Brown's story of being approached by a man after a book signing. I found a transcript to quote here:
For men, shame is not a bunch of competing, conflicting expectations. Shame is one, do not be perceived as what? Weak. I did not interview men for the first four years of my study. It wasn't until a man looked at me after a book signing, and said, "I love what you say about shame. I'm curious why you didn't mention men." And I said, "I don't study men." And he said, "That's convenient."
And I said, "Why?" And he said, "Because you say to reach out, tell our story, be vulnerable. But you see those books you just signed for my wife and my three daughters?" I said, "Yeah." "They'd rather me die on top of my white horse than watch me fall down. When we reach out and be vulnerable, we get the shit beat out of us. And don't tell me it's from the guys and the coaches and the dads. Because the women in my life are harder on me than anyone else."
Imagine having millions of people rather have you die than watch you fall down. Even if it was an honest mistake that you can learn from. Even if it never happens again and you do a better job afterwards. Prince William isn't even wearing the crown yet.
That `perfidious prince' over the water is a treacherous twerp, married to a viper. Sometimes I think they richly deserve each other.
They are on the road to perdition.
'Paparazzi out of the picture after Sussexes settle privacy case
‘This settlement is a signal that unlawful, invasive and intrusive behaviour will not be tolerated’
THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex can no longer be pictured by the paparazzi agency that went on a “reconnaissance inspection” of their Vancouver home, the High Court heard.
A lawyer representing the couple announced they had settled a legal case against Splash News and Picture Agency over pictures it had published of a “private family outing” to a Canadian park in January. A statement read to Mr Justice Nicklin, sitting in the High Court, said the pictures of the Duchess and her son, Archie Mountbatten Windsor, were in breach of their privacy and data protection rights.
The “long lens” photographs showed the Duchess walking their two dogs while carrying Archie in a sling in Horth Hill Regional Park on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.' etc.
'Long lens'? Didn't look like it. And she was smiling throughout... As Splash UK was placed into administration after the claim was issued and served, I hope H&M didn't get a penny in compensation.
I haven'te found the article you mentioned earlier abt the duo and Spotify but I've found one on MM's California-speak.
'Brits just don’t get Meghan Markle’s Californian sincerity
God bless Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. I’m sure they mean well. But if I have to listen to their new podcast, I fear my toes will curl so violently that surgeons will be helpless to straighten them out again. The promotional trailer is painful enough – with its earnest promises to share “stories of hope and compassion from inspirational guests”, and to “bring forward different perspectives and voices that perhaps you haven’t heard before” to help the people of the world “find common ground”.
Listening to it, I began to suspect something. The main reason so many British people struggle to see eye-to eye with Meghan – well, aside from the whole “quitting the Royal family” thing – is the language she uses. Sadly, we just don’t understand her. Because she doesn’t speak English. She speaks Californian.
It’s a curious language, Californian. Essentially, it’s like a hippie version of corporate management-speak: schmaltzy gushing mixed with robotic jargon. It’s the language of people who are perpetually boasting about how “humbled” they are. And there appears to be nothing on earth they aren’t “passionate” and “excited” about, or “empowered” and “inspired” by.'
--------------------
The article is too long to copy & paste here (the link might not work outside the UK)
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-telegraph/20201219/page/24/textview
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2020/12/18/harry-meghans-media-machine-has-sincerity-home-shopping-channel/
I tracked it down by googling `meghan shopping.channel'!
Harry and Meghan’s media machine has all the sincerity of a home shopping channel
A cringeworthy trailer for the duo's podcast on Spotify is only the start as they try to sell their most prized assets – themselves
CELIA WALDEN
18 December 2020 • 4:15pm
Harry and Meghan are 'lucky enough to be unencumbered by shame or self-awareness'
(I've cut the opening words -remind me of a cheesy `learn a foreign language' show.)
… Just when you thought the Sussexes had reached peak cringe, when the simple sight of their names and faces now prompts a mass involuntary toe-curl across the nation and beyond, they release a trailer for their new Spotify podcast series that turns the lesser-known talent of “self-spoofing” into an art form.
In the teaser for the forthcoming series – the latest lucrative deal done over a year of strenuous cash cow-milking that encompasses a reported $100m (£75m) Netflix deal and the peddling of a $27 (£20) vegan chai latte endorsed by Oprah – “Ginge and Cringe” as they’ve been nicknamed on Twitter, explain their intention to “build community through shared experience, narratives and values”. The estimated $30m (£22m) Spotify paid for the series is by the by, you understand. As is the potential $10bn (£7bn) a Newsweek piece this week suggests the pair could ultimately be worth in a decade or less, now that they’ve started attaching their names to products and services.
Because if 2020 has taught us anything, sermonises Meghan in what one body language expert has described as a newly-adopted “presidential and persuasive” voice, it’s the value of “each other’s stories” – and how “interconnected we all are”
That no public person, aside perhaps Kim Kardhashian, has shown a greater disconnect with the general public over the past year has, of course, passed over their titled heads. And as their light “Phil and Holly” banter bounces back and forth in the trailer, and they announce the “holiday special” that will air later this month and be the first in a series that aims to “uplift audiences around the world”, a tinkle of mall music plays out in the background.
That mall music says it all. After all, we’re now in QVC territory, aren’t we? Sorry: HRHVC. And I’m all for QVC. In fact, at one time, I developed something of an obsession for the home shopping channel that hawks gaudy pointless tat to the gullible and lonely hoping to fill a void in their lives. Because the means by which QVC flogs everything from drain de-cloggers to cubic zirconia earrings (all, presumably, to make it onto Meghan and Harry’s market stall, once ethically rebranded) is so patently, fascinatingly cynical.
You see, it’s all about the quasi-meaningful human interaction both QVC and HRHVC provide – about elevating the selling experience to a philosophical, even therapeutic level. So just as the “miracle mop” will improve your life on a deeper level with its self-wringing features, Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentaries, feature films, scripted shows and children’s programming will “inform but also give hope,” the couple told us in a statement back in September – a mere six months after they escaped the vulgar glare of royal life… to open up their own brightly-lit shop window, featuring what appear to be Spitting Image-style mannequins of themselves. Those “huggable hangers” won’t just “double your closet space” but “change your lives” – just as HRHVC’s podcast will, in “bringing forward different perspectives and voices that perhaps you haven’t heard before”, help us all “find our common ground”.
Consumers don’t just crave that money-spending high but the sense that they are doing good – even as they tap in their CVC codes. Which is why creating Archewell’s own-branded awards scheme – most definitely not to rival the Queen’s honours list, Meghan and Harry have stipulated – is all part of the sell. Intended to reward people for their efforts in “charitable service, education, science, literature, racial justice, gender equality, environmental stewardship, youth empowerment, health and mental health” Archewell’s awards will above all champion the couple’s favourite cause: themselves.
Indeed, in an impromptu TV appearance on CNN’s annual program Heroes: An All Star Tribute last Sunday, Meghan made a special point of praising the “quiet heroes” who helped “put food on the table” of the “neighbours who went hungry” during the pandemic. And who could forget the well-aired footage of Meghan and Harry delivering food packages to the Californian poor back in April? Quiet heroism indeed. But full marks for actually having the gumption to honour yourself on national TV.
Gumption has a lot to be said for it, however – especially in the mega-buck world of personal branding – and since they’re lucky enough to be unencumbered by shame or self-awareness, these two should absolutely be allowed to move onwards and upwards and fill their vegan boots. I mean that. So we should look forward to increasingly vulgar HRHVC offshoots: a Megan and Harry-hosted self-help show, perhaps, Has Anyone Asked if You’re OK? in which the lost and vulnerable are nursed back to mental health by these two titans of empathy in a series of inspirational segments (click here to buy now). A Marie Kondo-style docu-series, Raindrops, in which homes (and minds) are ethically made-over, “because if every single one of us cared” as much as the Sussexes do, maybe, just maybe, this planet might have a future. A Royal Bake Off in which every hemp-seed sustainable cupcake is frosted with empowering slogans like the ones the Duchess of Sussex inscribed on the bananas handed out to female sex workers on a royal visit to a Bristol charity last year. “You are special.” “You are brave.” You are writing on fruit with a toxic Sharpie.
But there are two problems with the “let them do their thing” logic. The first is actually more of a linguistic niggle: that ferocious statement put out by Harry back in October last year in which he took particular exception to the “commoditisation” of his wife, and by extension the Sussexes as a couple. I’ll let them work that one out, in between deals.
The second, however, is thornier, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the HRH is going to have to go. You see, this isn’t Duchy Original shortbread they’re hawking, but the coat of arms, the royal seal and title. That’s what Big Tech is doling out the big bucks for, not plain old Meghan and Harry – the likes of them are ten a penny out in LA. And as the faux-meaningful commodities being flogged as part of their brand become more and more embarrassing – Eau de Compassion, anyone? – the real meaning of HRH will get dragged down with it.
The world can still be your oyster if you let those initials go, Mr and Mrs Windsor. It just might mean a slightly smaller pearl.
It's a different article. I may have missed it as I haven't read the whole paper but both article seem to be written in the same vein and both mention 'toe curling' :). Thank you for posting your article.
What? The British people are not interested in listening to the lectures of people who grabbed a lavish welcome and wedding, who took their tax dollar millions, mocked their Queen, mocked their stiff upper lips, mocked little royal children, and say they disliked the country of England? And ran away and bought a mansion on a cushion of UK tax money?
But, this is the world’s most eminent grasping bunt (cheers to Hikari) and her brainless handbag! So:
“Listen to Potify (oh Magatha I love you) or else, we will sue your whole country and every granny in it!”
Haha, they can grift and lie, but the numbers will tell the tale.
I've only read the papers quickly today so didn't look at the H&M articles in depth but you're right about MM's California speak. I'd say MM being a Californian probably 'helps', though. The problem is she's trying too hard, she's too woke and is not sincere.
The article connects with WBBM's at 1.33-136.
Thank you for the Express article. I wonder if their podcasts will generate more interest in the US.
I find it funny she trying to PR herself as an exiled royal with her own court, a young hip California girl, a tragic young mother, and a possible presidential candidate. Maybe she has threefold her staff of marketing people assigned to each persona!
Back to baking I go. I grew the flour in my garden. (Kidding)
I submit another possibility for the Suxxits’ new venture...’PONTIFY’...
Since a disgraced dim bulb Prince who loves his mansions and private jets and top-quality blow and other expensive hobbies, along with the prostitute he brought into his family will pontificate About how the rest of us regular slobs I have to save the planet, watch our carbon footprint, take vacations only in ghetto areas and above all “be KIND’...And buy whatever crappy Tat Meg is Hawking at the moment ...I think PONTIFY would also suit.
I had another look at the engagement interview. This time what struck me was the vagueness from Prince Harry as to how long they had known each other. We are all different but I can tell you exactly when and where I met my most recent heart-throb and indeed the first time I met my first girlfriend and when and where we went out a few times before I was unceremoniously dumped for a creep with a motorbike. I was a pedestrian fifteen and no one asked if I was alright.
By the way: Harry Markle and Crowns and Yankee Wally occasionally are mentioned here but I have not seen reference to the YouTube videos of Andrew Lawrence and his impersonations of Prince Harry. They certainly appeal to me being both funny and very pointed. It may however be an acquired taste as he is very dry.
I am going to check out the YouTube channel of Andrew Lawrence. In return, I can recommend YouTuber According2Taz, a thirty-something married woman from London who does not mince words about Grip & Drip, but she does so in a humorous way. She likes to sport a lot of wacky hairstyles, but otherwise seems like a very grounded and down-to-earth person. Very humorous delivery; she could be a comedienne, because although she edits these vids and has a prepared topic, she seems very free-wheeling and extemporaneous in her talks. It really is like having tea with a friend in her living room. ('Tea' in both senses . . .) Taz is also *legitimately* kind, having recently organized a charity drive on behalf of an senior lady friend she made at their shared public swimming pool. The lady was recently robbed by some toerags and lost a lot of money. Through her channel, Taz solicited donations for the lady, contributing quite a bit herself and was able to present her with a check for all the lost funds plus extra.
I was prepared to like Meghan at the engagement. I was happy that Harry had found someone, and the fact that his choice was unconventional for a Royal bride didn't surprise me. Hazza has always rubbed shoulders with movie business types. Any good feeling I had about Meg evaporated as soon as I found out more about her very dodgy past prior to Harry, and the overall feeling of deception and untrustworthiness and tension that radiates off her. At the engagement photo call, I wondered why a successful movie star worth $5 million dollars and meeting the worldwide press as Harry's bride-to-be chose to dress for this important occasion like the Little Match Girl from California, whose luggage had apparently been lost in transit, forcing her her dress in a bathrobe and some grubby shoes a size too large from the Oxfam cast off pile. Harry looked pretty good, for him, but she looked like she'd just rolled off Hazza and thrown on the first thing to hand before meeting the cameras. I also wondered why they were doing it outside in the drizzly garden at the end of November. It was dreary and looked very cold. The press, who'd probably been camped out there for some time must have been pretty miserable. Their choice of location for this announcement was spun as being SO SPECIAL to the couple because the sunken gardens were loved by the late Princess of Wales. I'm sure Di did like the gardens--in spring and summer, when some of her favorite bluebells might have been in evidence. I doubt she spent much time tramping 'round them in the late-autumn rain, with all the plants dead or bedraggled. So--putting on my trusty HAMS decoder:
H & M say: We chose this spot because it was Harry's mother's favorite place in the whole world, and that makes it just so IMPACTFUL for us.
Real-world meaning: We wanted the State Room at St. James's Palace, like William and Kate got, but the Queen refused, even when Hazza pitched himself on the floor and wailed for the better part of an hour. Meghan was not allowed inside. So we said, 'Fine--we will stand in the rain outside and call you racist bullies later. Thank God Meg's bathrobe coat was absorbent.'
Another “lockdown talent discovery” has been Meggie Foster, whose Tik Tok videos acting as both Harry AND Meghan are incredible- you can see them on her Instagram or her Twitter thread. I think Dan Wootton gave her a first public burst of attention and Piers Morgan did as well....she does Boris, Priti, May, a grew on air show hosts and other UK politicians we love and loathe as well as an hilarious Justin Trudeau. She’ll go far, I think, and should have her own show —- with Andrew Lawrence perhaps! She is a trained actor with amazing range. Basically has created a one-woman ensemble. Very, very clever and intelligent parody work. But truly, her Meghan and Harry spoofs (using real recorded dialogue)is astonishingly funny and her comedic eye for detail is perfect. You must watch her videos.
Apparently Harry Markle is in the process of collecting her blog posts into a book and she has temporarily removed a lot of her previous posts for editing. If you can't find the Frogmore material, it's probably in that batch. She has indeed posted a number of times on the status of the cottage, including screenshots of all the planning permissions stretching back to 2014. It was from her that I learned the property was previously known as Frogmore Cottages after its conversion into 5 separate flats.
I've just had word that a friend's mother has lost her battle with Covid and died early this morning, so I'm sure you'll understand if I decline any further research into this topic for your benefit. Anything I can dig up I'm sure you can too, so good luck.
The reason given is that it will have more impact this way as it's been such a horrible year, with signs that it'll get worse before it's better, and it may be more effective this way.
I do wonder if it's also seen as robbing the Viper of anything she can twist to her advantage before the event? I shall have to work hard to get our lunch on the table by 1 or 1.15pm, without nodding off when we've finished, once the table's cleared. I'm sure it'll be worth the effort..
Interesting.... Last year announced as non exec chairman of Encore Digital Media
Thank you for everything you contribute to this blog. Your posts are one of the few that I never scroll past.
In Finding Freedom (pages 244 to 245)
Apparently there was a lot of speculation that they would leave Nott Cott and move next to William and Kate. Lasting for months but then suddenly, out of the blue with no public warning, they were to be move 22 miles away to Frog Cottage.
Talk of how special this would be and grateful they are for HM, the association of being at Windsor and memories of Frog House + wedding.
Next paragraph is about how HM gives houses to her family and cites different homes and who got what.
next paragraph begins with:
"Frogmore was perfect for Harry and Meghan, given its connection to Windsor-except it wasn't next door to William and Kate and their children."
The rest of the paragraph continues with how this started the whole saga of M and K trying to sort of outdo the other ("Dueling Duchesses") and then the story of press leaking the fitting tears.
Next paragraph is although the book says that the children were not cooperative but that no one had tears according to a source who was there and that the fittings were fine.
Later in the book, going back to moving into Frog Cott, they moved in the first week of April with her due date of April 28th and Easter was the 21st. (p 281) Really? right before the alleged birth?
Commentary: note how the sour note is that they are not next to William and Kate.
Later on (p259) supposedly this happened at a retreat in spring 2019 where the topic was how the various factions between the brothers were not getting along, HM was worried and that "It's not secret, the future of this monarchy relies solely on the four people ... The public popularity only lies with them ... We cannot have them at war."
A couple pages later (262) now the worries are that M will outshine even Diana and how this was/is a danger.
There is a sense that popularity is an important value in the story of this book. They beat the world record holder for fastest first million Instagram followers (the Pope, p 299) and how they overtook William and Kate's numbers (p300).
Thought: I never got the idea that the rankings on the social medial were all that important to William or Kate. To me, they come off as ok nice but that's not the main focus of how and what they live for in their life. They've got big plans and groups they support (even before covid), learning and thinking about how to be king and balance the monarchy in a changing political world. And, their kids. Raising the kids to be able to transition as well. That's where their energies are focused.
So ... to be honest, this topic on how important we are because we did this or that and beat the others - maybe part of the problem is that William and Kate are not engaging anyone over this. And that's infuriating (as it would allow a really nasty see how they pick on me theme).
My condolences @ the loss of your friend's mother. At this time time of year when all is supposed to be merry and bright, loss of a loved one seems much more painful.
Take care of yourself and be there for your friend
@Hikari
So sorry about your friends Mum, big hug X
Please accept my condolences at well. I wish you all the best as you support your friend through this sad time.
Later on (p259) supposedly this happened at a retreat in spring 2019 where the topic was how the various factions between the brothers were not getting along, HM was worried and that "It's not secret, the future of this monarchy relies solely on the four people ... The public popularity only lies with them ... We cannot have them at war."
Wow, the book actually attributes that to Her Majesty?
Given her own actions, if she truly believed the future of the monarchy relies on four people, they would have been: Herself, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George.
@Enbreth - Addams Family
Apologies, I’m mortified 😉
And maybe I was too hasty . . . Gomez and Morticia aren't the only Addams couple. Fester does marry gold-digging Debbie in the second movie, after all!
@Elsbeth1847
Later on (p259) supposedly this happened at a retreat in spring 2019 where the topic was how the various factions between the brothers were not getting along, HM was worried and that "It's not secret, the future of this monarchy relies solely on the four people ... The public popularity only lies with them ... We cannot have them at war."
Wow, the book actually attributes that to Her Majesty?
Given her own actions, if she truly believed the future of the monarchy relies on four people, they would have been: Herself, Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince George.
Thanks. I was reading that paragraph when I got home this evening and was saying to myself "Wait, what? Harry doesn't figure in AT ALL at this point." Whoever wrote that paragraph is either completely clueless or deliberately deceptive.
Help me remember!
Baby Botox - p 246
One of the constant themes was that the palace did not do anything in response to what the duo thought or felt was untrue or false.
So the complaint was that the palace made an announcement that Kate did not have botox when some doctor implied (now deleted post) or hinted that she was a client.
thought: My guess is that the palace is very careful about what and to whom they will allow a member of royalty to associate with publicly (person, group, medical, maker of something like tea, biscuits), really everything. In this case, it is about a potential medical procedure which may not be the look the BRF is trying to achieve to look modern or that the BRF is supportive of this and this doctor for it. And, it is questionable ethics on allowing private patient confidential information out.
Last Christmas pp 313, 314
Not going to Sandringham where they will be around the entire family was not their idea of the holiday they wanted for themselves but felt that others had missed Christmas at different times so there was "ample precedent" for their not being there.
"...the press eviscerated the Sussexes when they made the same choice." The two examples were:
William married in 4/2011, missed in 12/2012 and 12/2016
Zara married in 6/2011 and missed in 12/2017
In both cases it appears that they were visiting the other side of the family (Zara went to Australia where his folks are or he was from).
thought:
I had cousins who married into families where there was a lot of strong family expectations of you will be here for this holiday/birthday/Sunday Dinner/yada (and that will be your life). They were like: Well, duh. You know that going into the marriage that they will be there and expect you to be there as well.
When you look at the dates of the various misses, none were the first year of marriage (so if you are going to rotate, you start from this side first expectation). And, that they were visiting the other side when they missed. Taking off the Canada is not quite the same thing.
Embrethiliel
actually it was a group of couriers at some retreat supposedly trying to "design a system to protect the monarchy". I doubt the queen was there but if it happened, my guess is she had input and she received output from it.
I get the sense (from how much the book of how important, loved, supported by the public they were) that without them, the whole place would just fall to the ground, everything would just grind to a halt, nothing good would happen, the monarchy would have to end (because they aren't there).
But, as we can all see from this year, even in the out of nowhere appearance of covid, not having them around, there is not some sense of the monarchy being cut off at the ankles. No, it's going along just fine without them.
@AnT-Singalong...
Latte Day Saint
She’s got bills
There’s no denyin’
And she’s losing all control
‘Cause the powder
She’s supplyin’
It’s Potifyin’
Thank you. This person is actually a coworker and we aren’t that close, but the news has been a shock to us all that work with her. I met her mom many years ago when I was new at my workplace, and she was a very vivacious person. Even though she had been dealing with ALS and a number of other health conditions for several years, she was still getting out and about and socializing with friends until Covid put a stop to all of that. She contracted the virus at family Thanksgiving from a granddaughter who had been exposed to a positive roommate. But neither of them had symptoms until after the get together. The family was adamant that they were not going to curtail their normal celebrations on account of this situation, a decision I’m sure they will regret for the rest of their lives. Actually today marks three weeks since the lady first started feeling ill. After a week at home being cared for by her older daughter, who is now also sick, she went into the hospital and steadily declined. This is going to devastate her family, so it’s worth taking that under consideration as you make plans for Christmas.
It really puts into sharp relief how incredibly silly, selfish and insignificant the Harkles bids for fame and personal wealth are. In some senses they have benefited from the Covid lockdown‘s in creating a fantasy world where they are relevant figures, but I think the pandemic is only going to hasten their downfall into complete irrelevance. We get lot of entertainment value out of dissecting their shit show But at the moment, it’s difficult to think of to war disturbed and pathetic posers. They both belong in a mental asylum, not littering the Internet in our lives with their desperate bid for attention. I wholeheartedly wish them the karma they deserve in 2021. To say the world would be much better without them in it wouldn’t be overstating the case. I have no use for either of them, except to break up my days with some schadenfreude. My wish in the new year is that Harry Returns to his family and Marcle crawls back into the slime pet she originated from.
Take care everyone, and stay as healthy as you can. We will get through this, but we are in for at least another year of crap. The Harkles have all the relevance of pond scum. I can’t understand why the BRF Allows such egregious fabricated stories to be printed about them by the dozens on the daily. They need to start refuting Meg’s silly buggers stories. They should’ve been doing it for the past two years. Whatever their ultimate plan is, I certainly hope they prevail.
Thoughts for your loss, the coworkers and for this person's family
Thanks for reminding us to be careful and not take chances.
(The last person who tried doing that was Ellen Degeneres. We all know how that worked out.)
Now, this is just my opinion, but their podcast sounds like a total snoozefest. If I didn't know who the Harkles were and had the luxury of assuming that Meghan and Harry were a couple who sincerely believed in showing the "common ground" that we all have with each other, despite our differences . . . I truly would not be interested.
The last three podcasts I listened to were on how to make a good first impression, what an interviewer wants to hear from a job applicant, and where to travel on one's next vacation. Before I commit to listening to someone for half an hour, they'll have to have a great answer to the question: "How can you improve my life?" Archewell Audio just isn't selling itself here.
And whose brilliant idea was it to make the holiday special highlight stories of "pain, loss and uncertainty"? Yes, Virginia, that's exactly what I want to hear about over Christmas. Glibness aside, I do agree that there are many worthwhile stories from 2020; but the people I most want to hear from are those who managed to keep their heads above water. What can they teach us about surviving a crisis? Plus, this close to the end of the year, I don't want to wallow in sentiment. I want to shift my focus to the next year and commit to resolutions to make my life better. And I know I'm not alone in this!
Then there's my sister, who loves podcasts on unsolved crimes and spooky mysteries. Archewell Audio isn't for her, either.
But we're just two people in a market of millions. So what does everyone else think? If you didn't know about the Harkles and their stinky baggage, would you find their podcast, as they describe it in the promo, interesting?
‘Grease’ them bundts Swampie 😘
But, as we can all see from this year, even in the out of nowhere appearance of covid, not having them around, there is not some sense of the monarchy being cut off at the ankles. No, it's going along just fine without them.
The book is less than a year old and it has already aged as badly as unrefrigerated milk.
Only now does the weirdness of the claim really hit me. Had the book been published before we all knew the Harkles would make a break for it, we'd understand the boldness of saying that courtiers believed that the future of the monarchy depended on the Fab Four, with Meghan as the cornerstone. (William? Who's that?) The Palace would never comment on it, even to deny it -- and people could believe or disbelieve it as they pleased. But when Finding Freedom came out, it was several months post-Megxit, when it was quite obvious that the monarchy was not just surviving without them, but thriving! Now there's no need for an official source to deny the claim. Reality itself is doing just that.
Did the authors really believe that if they said BP and KP would flounder without the Harkles, we'd just trust them instead of our own lying eyes? If so, then this is the worst-controlled narrative I've ever seen!
I am from the PNW and it is our "y'all," it is not gendered language.
Just wanted to throw that out there.
It bothered me, too, but I just found it really casual. I felt Prince Harry was trying too hard to be "matey" and relatable.
Meanwhile, Meghan's script got to be much more formal and polished.
And I forgot to say this in my first comment about the promo: Did anyone else notice that Meghan still doesn't say Prince Harry's name? What a narc move. Ever since she reduced him to "H" in the South Africa documentary, I've been waiting to hear her use his entire name again. But it's always just "my husband."
By the way, if she has called him Harry between the South African tour and today, I'll be happy to be corrected!
But they come off as having a really inflated idea of where they fit into the whole picture or that the marriage would change things (ranking, how the different households did things/make decisions - who got to do things and, who didn't).
(see? "you guys...") I've noticed it in my FB posts over the last ten years also - it is just a West Coast colloquialism.
"I am from the PNW and it is our "y'all," it is not gendered language."
I don't object to the term personally but it sounds goofy from Harry. But it does bother lots of people for other reasons. In professional settings I was told more than once (in those awful "sensitivity" workshops everyone had to attend) to never use it. See this link. It's 2 years old but I think in some settings, "you guys" is still offensive today.
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/08/guys-gender-neutral/568231/
Much the same as H/mm started down a bad path with megxit and lost most of their popularity.
Imagine being William/Catherine and no longer having to worry very much about being stabbed in the back. Or having to worry about what mm was going to do to their kids.
W/C seem to have all of a sudden grown up. They found their place, comfortable in their own skin. As hurtful as H's betrayal must have been to them, I think megxit was the best thing that could have happened for W/C.
They no longer have to work around the duo; concerns about how the duo was going to react to anything and everything have evaporated. They no longer have to be concerned with continuing to cover for the invisible baby. No more doe eyes at William, or death glares at Catherine.
In some ways it must have been a huge relief when the duo absconded. The Cambridges can now just be themselves.
I apologise if I have ever used your research unattributed.
I often just post tidbits from other places here and don't get much thanks for it myself, even when it becomes the topic for discussion.
You are the number one Writer for this blog. My prayers love and respect go out for your co-worker and her mother who passed from Covid. Yesterday I spoke (telephone) with a former friend who helped secure all windows for a 2005 hurricane
Also a wintery acknowledgement to all and to AnT a large writer here/ Let it snow let it snow let it snow
Lastly --- for this fun blog ---- I like how Spotify has become Pontify for the two dims in Montecito . This must be the work of the mischief makers at the Tumblr blogs
All their recent moves look like they are trying to lower the PR spend by shifting it onto others. Interestingly, then they can’t control the narrative so much.
Also, There will be people they have to work with that won’t have to sign an NDA.
Senna Podcast
It’s deemed as a restorative
A coffee drink, a purgative
The more you drink
The more you swell
The bank account of ‘Legs’ Markle
`Are you tired? Lacking energy?
Try Sennapods - they'll keep you on the go!'
I reprimanded a little teenaged squirt of a waiter in a Premier Inn restaurant a few years ago for using it to us on one occasion. Husband and I had combined ages at that time of 145yrs.
We'd been to a funeral and then, despite booking a table for a specific time, we'd been kept waiting for half an hour. I was in no mood to be spoken to with undue familiarity.
Admittedly, I do use the term sometimes but try to say it ironically, within inverted commas, so to speak, and then only with people I know well. Back in the day, a colleague solved the gender issue with exclamations such as `Come on, chaps and chapesses!', although to judge from the thespians, I suppose we females should insist we're just `chaps'
@WildBoar
Could be the cause of her irritable vowels?
Cascara running....
Hahaha
Incessant Verbal Salad!!
I did mention Harry using 'you guys' a lot 2 days ago with,vI think, a link to an article. I don't have time to look for it just now but it should be there.
Very good! It could also be a case of IBS (irritable bitch/bunt syndrome)
(Apologies to any Nutties who have real IBS - it's far from a joke.)
Re: Froggie Cottage. What was the timing of breaking the lease for the Coltswold cottage they were renting? I remember they blamed the paps (helicopters etc). but at the time it was thought they could not afford that place and another place they were renting??????
Help me remember!"
I remember this too.
IIRC, their inability to afford two places articles were published before the paps invading their privacy excuse was used.
A sample of inability to pay articles in January 2019
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8230857/meghan-markle-prince-harry-cotswolds-move/
https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/2019011966801/prince-harry-meghan-markle-will-not-keep-country-home-cotswolds/
A sample of paps invading privacy forced them to move articles in May 2019
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/16/harry-meghans-safety-security-seriously-undermined-helicopter/
https://www.countryliving.com/uk/homes-interiors/property/a27490830/prince-harry-meghan-markle-move-out-cotswold-home/
At the time, their critics speculated that the paps story was their excuse to break their lease on the Cotswold home.
Also, initially reporting on the Cotswold home kept emphasising it's proximity to Soho Farmhouse which they apparently visited recently. Soho Farmhouse is on the Great Tew estate as was the home they rented. The estate got lots of mentions too.
Lots of articles during the engagement and the first few months of marriage always included a soho house reference which made it very obvious that they were being sponsored by Soho House.
Their presence on the Great Tew Estate was also used to promote other rentals and or land sales on the estate.
This is one such article subversively advertising land sale on The Great Tew Estate and selling the Soho House connection.
https://observer.com/2020/03/prince-harry-meghan-markle-want-cotswolds-country-home-soho-farmhouse-oxfordshire/
At some point towards the end of the pregnancy their soho house association ended and suddenly soho house promotions within their articles stopped though we continued to hear that they were frequenting Cowarth park for spa and beauty services - this merching started in ernest mid-summer 2019.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7320745/Prince-Harry-joined-Meghan-Markle-50-pedicure-five-star-hotel-spa-barefoot-speech.html
Once they stopped the Soho House association, they moved to the ultra expensive Heckfield Place hotel in Hampshire (a new merching) which move was sold to the public as a babymoon and and somewhere they could rest as waited for Frogmore Cottage to be completed. This merching opportunity was covered across the usual media suspects, but also got a mention in Vogue (British and American), Brides Magazines, Travel and Leisure magazines and other sources that normally do not report on the daily lives or merching of the royals or Meghan.
This was definitely worth it to Meghan to merch because the hotel is super expensive and allegedly their suite cost £10K per night. And it was worth it to the hotel because they received ££££££ worth of free global coverage when the story went to press.
https://www.heckfieldplace.com/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6888797/Meghan-Markle-Prince-Harry-went-33-000-babymoon-Hampshire-hotel-loved-celebrities.html
I'd wager that they stayed at Heckfield for the birth and for months afterwards and is the reason they were able to get to London to have baby and return without anyone tagging them especially the media camped in Windsor hoping to catch them.
I suppose the Harkles are hoping the studio books really popular guests from popular organizations so that those guests and organizations start to inadvertently ‘promote’ the Harkles podcast thus lowering their PR costs.
At this point, Prince Harry and his wife are like PR napalm. I don't think any really successful person wants to get too close to them. Even Oprah's endorsement of Clvr Blends keeps a healthy distance from Meghan's "investment" in the same company. And I'm betting that the Fosters will not show up for that "Christmas soirée."
I also think that they needed to produce ten or so episodes in order to promote themselves to really famous people or to those people's agents. Which means the first guests are probably unknown personalities who have accomplished real good in their communities but whom Meghan wouldn't rub shoulders with if she really had a choice. Either that or inspiring women/minority entrepreneurs, like the CEO of Clvr Blends, who are willing to pay for promotion.
This is actually the biggest project launch they've done since Megxit, which I admit surprises me. My first bet had been that they'd release the holiday special as a trial balloon, learn that there is laughably little interest in them as podcasters, and subsequently "reveal" that they had never intended to produce anything more than that one-off. The public had been misled by the mean, horrible tabloids yet again! But now it seems that they're going to see it through. I'm actually curious now!
W/C seem to have all of a sudden grown up. They found their place, comfortable in their own skin. As hurtful as H's betrayal must have been to them, I think megxit was the best thing that could have happened for W/C.
One thing I grudgingly admit is that Megxit (and everything that came before it) has been a net win for the Cambridges. They really do come across as the better couple -- the two whom you'd rather be in charge and be raising the next person in charge.
But I also wonder how much of this is just correlation. I think Prince William has been steadily growing into his role for years, and would have reached this point even without the external events that seemed to have triggered it. For me, he really came into his own with the Earthshot Prize. HeadsUp always seemed to me to be Catherine's project rather than William's; and although I was happy that he was supporting both his wife and a good cause, he just didn't seem "to fit" where mental health was concerned. Earthshot, on the other hand, is pure William. He has always been passionate about conservation, and now that he is getting to do something really big for it. In a Harkle-less alternate universe, I'd bet he still would have launched Eartshot when he did -- or possibly a year earlier.
I think I'd really love something like "Camilla's Book Club" in which she interviews the authors of her favorite books, Literature professors who are experts on classic novels, librarians all over the UK, and fellow readers with their own recommendations. There could even be an assigned book per month so that listeners could read along. I'd love a holiday special that focuses on children's literature or a spring special that focuses on British folklore and legends. There's so much Camilla and some dedicated producers could do with this idea!
She speaks fluent French (probably with an accent) and gave her first speech in French in 2015.
Albert also speaks fluent French and I wonder if the people claiming otherwise can speak fluent French, and are experts on different French accents. What was this unnamed source? I can speak and understand French but not good enough to make pronouncements about Albert's accent. I also come from a country where most kids grow up being fluent and literate in at least three languages. Perhaps what is not unusual for me is completely inexplicable to most people commenting here.
There are many photographs of her smiling and looking radiantly happy on both her wedding days (civil and religious). Evidence contradicts the story put out by ABC that she cried throughout the ceremony.
There are some photographs when they were front and centre but many more when they are in the background and do not know they are being photographed and Albert and Charlene are showing very affectionate behaviour. (Complain when Meghan and Harry hold hands and give each other adoring looks when representing the Queen in an official capacity but find it proof of an arranged non-marriage when Albert and Charlene do not!)
Albert and Charlene married 10 years after their first meeting. When they were dating she often accompanied him in public. She not only knew the man she was marrying but also knew what her life would be as his wife. Nonetheless, even though she is very active in charity in Southern Africa
(holds numerous positions, gives interviews for local TV and magazines), unlike Meghan, she probably was emotional on her wedding day because she was not only marrying a man but also a country and lifestyle that was completely foreign to that in which she was raised. In reality, she sees a lot of her family (very ordinary folk) but, unlike Meghan, she does not push them in front of cameras and most of the media leave them alone.
Charlene went to Paris before her wedding for a final fitting for her wedding dress. She did not seek shelter at the Embassy. That is complete fake news. You know the completely made up story of William and Rose having an affair? Completely made up and still some people (including the media) not only believe it but have extensively elaborated on the initial lie put out there. Same with the story about Charlene and how she ran away and was forced into the marriage ...
This commentary thread has increasingly become a cesspit of nastiness, rather than the occasional off centre comment but many entertaining comments with most people knowing the difference between verified facts and speculation.
OFF TOPIC
As in the UK, the 'mutant strain' of the coronavirus here is highly infectious (higher viral load and more receptors). The young are sick of restrictions and are partying recklessly but, unlike the first wave, younger people with no comorbidities at all are turning up at clinics and hospitals very ill and are dying. Like Hikari, it has become very real for me as local infections soar and I now personally know someone who has died (not a personal
friend or family). Stay safe every one.
there is no way that Charlene speaks fluent French. I have heard her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d49ndqTtI9o
This is Charlene "speaking" French. She pronounces it like she is speaking Italian. Perhaps she is confused? And Albert says that it's "a big surprise" to hear her speaking French, so I think it's not a daily occurrence....
But I also wonder how much of this is just correlation. I think Prince William has been steadily growing into his role for years, and would have reached this point even without the external events that seemed to have triggered it.
----------------
Yes, I agree with that. A lot of W/C is a factor of their age. A lot of people seem to finally get comfortable in their own skin around 40. Also after they've had a kid or two. Megxit just made it easier for them to grow into their roles without so much stress. Without the duress that the duo would have caused them.
I think H's growing dissatisfaction with his role, his growing unhappiness with William, and his unhappiness with his own life in general was because he saw William starting to shine in his role as future king, leaving H far, far behind as nothing and nobody.
H must have been aware of Earthshot early on. Remember when he was talking to fake Greta and he said something about how he wanted to do something more momentous than giving out silly prizes. Which at the time made no sense.
He just had to get that snarky comment in there in an effort to diminish his brother, cut him down to size. Looking back, that sounds like nothing but jealousy rearing its ugly head. How dare William do something and not give all the credit to
H. How dare William do something 'kingly.'
William being king was always going to be a problem for H, imo. Then along came mm with her ugly whispers, bigging up H. Magnifying his jealousy.
In some countries where there exists more than 1 official language, politicians and other officials often memorise a text in the language they don't speak in order to appear more appealing to the population but even then, people can't be fooled because of intonation, timing and pronunciation.
And we are talking about prepared remarks. For impromptu comments, it is impossible to fake.
Meghan's lies about being fluent in French and/or Spanish, for example, are a good example of this phenomenon.
Since Albert speaks fluent English (gosh, with an American accent so that is not proper or fluent English), it is very likely that their first language in the home is English.
Albert was surprised at what she said, not that she gave that first speech in French in 2015.
https://www.sapeople.com/2015/07/13/south-african-princess-charlene-speech-french-monaco/
Thank yo u so much for your links! I knew it was something like that but wasn't sure if I was remembering correctly. I do remember the boutique hotel they stayed in, rumoured to cost £30.000 for a weekend stay (official excuse was baby moon and/or temporary lodgings while waiting for FC). It is mystifying that they were allowed to publicly take freebies, merch real estate like that. At the time I found it ver off putting for royalty to act as celebrity endorsers. I'm still offended by how much they endorsed while working royals.
@Mel said " Remember when he was talking to fake Greta and he said something about how he wanted to do something more momentous than giving out silly prizes"
Yes, he's really doing that now! LOL. So we've got the Harkles gong show awards and his momentous contribution to society is now.....a podcast!
You can't write fiction this good.
"...I think Prince William has been steadily growing into his role for years, and would have reached this point even without the external events that seemed to have triggered it."
I agree.
I think it's also important to remember that even though he's 38, Will has not been a full-time royal for very long. Up until July 2017, about 3 1/2 years ago, he was working a half-time schedule for the air ambulance company, living in Norfolk, and periodically was accused of being "workshy" for a variety of reasons.
It could be Will has grown in his royal role because the current more visible full-time nature of it required him to grow. On the other hand, it could be that when Will was ready to grow into his royal role he decided to quit the air ambulance job. Which is true really can't be determined IMO although I lean toward the latter. I suppose though there are a few other possibilities:
1. That once William caught wind of who Meghan was and how serious Harry was ("this girl") he realized continuing a less-visible life in Norfolk wasn't going to ultimately benefit him.
2. Philip's retirement in Aug 2017 pushed Will to step up. Either as a request from The Queen, or from Charles, or he just did it on his own.
Of those two, I favor the latter.
But I agree Will definitely has grown. And I don't think it was due to anything H&M did in January 2020 re: Megxit.
Everything you've written about Charlene is the talking points of a very effective PR campaign launched immediately after the honeymoon to quash the horror that we all witnessed around this time.
Also, the Monaco royals are notoriously litigious and because of their royal privilege tend to win their cases on a technicality rather than a denial or correction of the actual story ie our private life is private technicality rather than the details printed in this story are untrue or libel. They also use the EU law that grants the right to forget used by people to scrub their internet histories and biographies in general.
https://gdpr-info.eu/issues/right-to-be-forgotten/
For starters even though Charlene was the official girlfriend who had been publicly dating Albert for approx 10yrs before marriage, he was also very publicly dating other women so Charlene wasn't necessarily being seen as the one and only.
The Nicole Coste relationship complete with baby Alexander ran from 1997 to 2004 and if rumour is to be believed is still ongoing. Nicole Coste revealed her baby in Paris Match in 2004 which was sued by Albert under the aforementioned technicality which resulted in story being pulled.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-monegasque-succession-the-prince-his-son-and-a-deep-silence-in-monaco-236941.html
Photos from the Paris Match story
https://w5p2r8x5.stackpathcdn.com/photos/news/201108/625874304_94322.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ea/c7/99/eac7999df69eff2c3f5e0b8be3994a8b.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cf/62/bf/cf62bf1ad9e0c4fa55a537faa5f8c545.jpg
https://laurencekt.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/jazmin-alexandre.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d2/9a/93/d29a93a0bb80a624ee2410053bee261c.jpg
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/06/30/article-2009911-0CC7192600000578-776_468x286.jpg
https://file1.closermag.fr/var/closermag/storage/images/media/images/closer-v1/le-prince-albert-de-monaco-naomi-campbell-et-nicole-coste/401990-1-fre-FR/Le-prince-Albert-de-Monaco-Naomi-Campbell-et-Nicole-Coste.jpg?alias=width400&size=x100&format=jpeg
Paris Match appealed and finally got their conviction overturned in 2014.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27809247
Charlene allegedly officially met Albert in 2000 and a couple of years later based herself in Monaco whilst she continued to compete professionally and was unveiled as Albert's official girlfriend in 2006.
And Charlene was sufficiently disturbed by the ongoing presence of Nicole that she banned her from the palace in the summer of 2011 after she was installed as official wife.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/monaco/8698153/Prince-Albert-banned-from-seeing-ex-lovers.html
Part 1
The lead up to the wedding was simply awful.
During the week leading upto the wedding is when the stories of Charlene's runaway attempts were written. Albert made her do a papstroll through Monaco to quash the stories. She wept the entire walk whilst Albert alternately put on a jolly face for the people they met and was annoyed by her.
She actually wept during the wedding. Not tears of joy as the PR later tried to paint it. Their wedding was covered in real time like the Cambridge / Sussex weddings and it was pretty clear that she was not crying tears of joy and Albert was annoyed by her tears.
I dislike Laineygossip especially in the turn her blog took over the past 5yrs, but back then she had no idea about royalty and covered both weddings (Cambridge and Monaco) without editorialising and her blog post on the Monaco wedding was pretty much the view of everyone at the time. ( video embedded in link)
https://www.laineygossip.com/Charlene-Wittstock-marries-Prince-Albert-who-faces-paternity-test-re-illegitimate-child-04jul11/20602
https://www.laineygossip.com/Princess-Charlene-looked-out-of-it-on-her-wedding-day/21875
Every paper that reported on the pre-wedding drama said that a new child had been born to Albert the revelation of which had been revealed during this period. Nicole Coste was the rumoured new baby's mother.
Nicole herself helped fan the flames by taking a very deliberate papstroll through Monaco the day before the wedding.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2009911/Look-whos-turned-Mother-Prince-Alberts-illegitimate-son-spotted-strolling-Monaco--day-gets-married.html
The honeymoon was spent in separate hotels in South Africa though later PR put out a statement claiming Albert had business in SA which made it necessary for him to spend his honeymoon in a different hotel 10miles from his bride.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013453/Princess-Charlene-Monaco-spent-honeymoon-10-MILES-away-Prince-Albert.html#:~:text=Princess%20Charlene%20of%20Monaco%20'spent%20honeymoon%20sleeping%2010%20MILES%20away,husband%20Albert'%20in%20different%20hotel&text=Prince%20Albert%20of%20Monaco%20and,apart%2C%20it%20has%20been%20claimed.
In order to kill the story Albert and Charlene launched a heavy PR campaign to showcase their 'happiness'. Interviews with soft outlets were involved, conspiracy theories were mentioned, lawsuits using privacy violation laws were used.
Charlene's miserable face stayed put for a few years because she unfortunately lacquered her face frozen in that expression.
And the rumours refused to go away.
Only once she was pregnant and she had her babies did her expression change, joy and contentment.
And now this drastic hairstyle which is a scream just like that Evard Munch painting of inner turmoil.
1. Everything you have written about Charlene and her relationship with Albert until a few years into the marriage is PR talking points which Monaco pushed to scrub their official. Comparable rewriting history using PR is the Charles and Camilla love story.
2. Albert and the Monaco royals are notoriously litigious and win their lawsuits because they file under privacy laws. The details of media reporting are never explicitly or legally denied. The argument is always a question of 'right to privacy' rather than 'defamation or libel' laws.
3. They also use the EU's right to be forgotten' law to scrub stories so that the only official story is the PR one that you are repeating.
One of the biggest recipients of that law is the information around Charlene's flight from Monaco and other stories around the wedding.
1. I'm old, female, and grew up in a large midwestern US city, and say "you guys." No offense ever meant or taken.
2. I always was favorably disposed to Charlene as I'm a swimmer. I'm sorry to hear all this conspiracy-type stuff (most of which I've heard before, though.) (That's a shallow way to form an opinion, I know, and no pun intended!)
3. As I said in #1, I'm old . . . I remember how Princess Grace and her children were admiringly presented in women's magazines in the early days (fifties and sixties). What a complete fairy tale! And to see how they all turned out, the girls' looks being ruined by sun, smoking, and alcohol being the least of it. How their lives have turned out, though --oy!
Just a minor but important correction.
Charlene did not cry throughout her wedding. She cried at an event immediately afterwards where Monagesques were singing traditional songs and were dressed in traditional costumes. Albert did indeed look annoyed at her.
Another point but not about that wedding:
The very strict European privacy laws were all enacted after French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing pushed a privacy law in France. Allegedly, he did so after stories of him attending swingers' clubs in Paris with his wife. Just to show you who benefits the most from these laws. (He's the one who had his eye on Princess Diana, wrote a racy novel about a similar person, and died recently).
One of the recent pro Charles documentaries mentions that William starts being included in behind the scenes workings of the duchy of Cornwall around this time.
I also noticed that Willuam began to be included in the minutes of meetings made public for the duchy of Lancaster.
We started to hear about him attending the security services HQ.
All of it pushed him to where he is today.
Any misgivings in the excluded Harry were tended to poisonous fruit around the same time which happens to coincide with his meeting Meghan, a woman who sees herself as a victim in all situations whilst maintaining a god complex and we know Harry is easily led. We saw that influence in the infamous Newsweek article from 2016 which got headlines for the wrong reasons - we don't want to be King - instead of the more disquieting - i'm a victim, i will be co-monarch with William, i'm a magical Prince and royalty is magic that my family expends to the masses.
@Acquitaine
Just a minor but important correction.
Charlene did not cry throughout her wedding. She cried at an event immediately afterwards where Monagesques were singing traditional songs and were dressed in traditional costumes. Albert did indeed look annoyed at her."
Thanks for correction, couldn't find the right paragraph to edit my comment to say that she was miserable and then finally gave into her tears at one point during the wedding. Not tears of joy.
"Another point but not about that wedding:
The very strict European privacy laws were all enacted after French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing pushed a privacy law in France."
France's privacy laws - later adopted by EU, have frequently been used by establishment to quash stories about their private behaviour or to sue anyone who dares publish because they win on the technicality rather than content.
It's hard to say if the tears were of joy or of something else. Perhaps she was reminded of something sad or they were tears of relief.
I do feel sorry for her, however. I find Prince Albert repulsive because he seems cold and not very empathetic. Also, he seems to give in to his baser instincts with regard to food and women. He was given so much in terms of looks, prestige, wealth, standing in the world and chooses to be greedy and self-indulgent instead of trying to better himself.
“You all” is of course proper, but I think “You guys” is here to stay.
And the PR was so effective that anyone who claims otherwise from the PR points is a conspiracy theorist.
There is no reason to take my word for it, but in 2010 / 2011 when social media blogs really came into their own without censorship or scrubbed internet, alot of royal watchers watched events as they were reported plus that wedding was aired live so many people saw the lead upto the moment of tears. No one believed they were tears of joy and said as much especially given Albert's in the moment annoyed reaction to the tears.
These days the remaining cropped video of the moment is out of context and the few places that still have it eg Lainey's blog are completely discredited by their biased reporting in other areas.
After that, I heard more about Albert and Charlene from my then division VP, a well born French man with deep ties in the worlds of business, entertainment, and fashion. He traveled extensively and was a brilliant storyteller and gossip. He would on Fridays start our four-person management meetings with the latest gossip from all over. When he brought in top shooters for an ad campaign and we sat through day long production and travel meetings, more gossip from these glossy photographers (a few attend events for film or the Cannes Lions).
Next, a curator I worked with, also French, spent a year in Monaco on a special private project.
Finally, a friend with a home In Antibes hears the latest from close friends there, one of whom has a brother in ....security.
(All this is entirely apart from the man I know in Italy — I consider his story to be a lot more out there, but possible.)
What I hear over the years is therefore just 100% hearsay from people who were in the room, or were told by someone in another room. It may all be nonsense and lies. I wasn’t there. But it is always the same things, across years, from sources who don’t know each other and come from all different walks of life and professions and touch points—— and because of that, I think there may be a grain of truth.
So, in my mind, from all this, I have these points as framework:
1. Albert is uncouth, not hygienic, not smart. He has a petulant, smug, juvenile turn of mind. He likes fun sports, fast cars. Other things bore him.
2. He likes being in a bevy of party or yacht girls as an adult for show and being worshipped, but is weirdly asexual with them. His true bonds are with the few women he meets privately.
3. He was a dull student, antisocial, gross personal habits that repelled girls. Perhaps that changed with age. Girls avoided him, even with his title — he was considered an unattractive man with Neanderthal habits.
4. Everyone views Caroline as the smarter more businesslike one now she is past her wild youth, and wish she has the role not her brother. She and staff cover for him when he goes off and plays.
5. Charlene is not very smart, is lazy except when I comes to sports she likes, does not speak French fluently or even basically unless with a long practiced short speech given with earbuds and teleprompter.
6. She is rarely happy, more bitter or secluded, and seems privately somewhat disconnected from the children; all say IVF, by order of Albert.
7. They have a “negative” relationship. In other words, less than zero.
8. He has a woman he actually loves currently in the U.K. She has a swimming adjacent slightly younger male friend in SA.
9. She thought she would be allowed to leave when the children turned three. (I don’t know their age, sorry.)
10. There were long minor drug rumors about her a few years ago, in the vein of self medicatingto get through the day.
11. Caroline and Stephanie loathe her and are angry with their brother for being an idiot. One of Caroline’s children pitied Charlene.
12. The pre-wedding attempt to flee did happen. What were considered homesick jitters at the time (she is considered very immature and unstable for chasing him hard to Monaco, then spending every day since weeping for home) are now viewed as deeper instability.
13. For some reason he won’t give her a divorce.
I have to admit that I'm the one who tipped Lainey off to the entire Charlene and Albert drama as I used to read Lainey's column until it became obvious that she is toxic and extremely envious of white women, especially Catherine Cambridge. There was a lot more in European papers and magazines about Charlene's attempted dash to the exit than in the North American English speaking media.
Lainey wasn't into royalty at the time except to make snide remarks at the beautiful DoC and her more conservative wardrobe choices.
Lainey favours mixed prints and cookey hair styles, not to mention her botoxed and bleached skin.
I once ran into Philippe Junot in the street. He wasn't particularly handsome or charismatic. I was with friends and I am the only one who recognised him. He just looked like a rich, very tanned Frenchman who was delighted to have been recognised.
I love that you recognized Philippe, and that he was delighted to be noted!
True enough with regard to the Vatican.i suppose they used all their holy credit up with Caroline and Stephanie.
(Caroline is still married to wandering, bizarre Ernst too, isn’t she? I know he is still battling with his son Ernst-August, who he gave the properties to, and who took over chairmanship of a foundation when his father was booted off...).
....Maybe Charlene fits right in.
also wonder if the court case documenting ‘ a papping’ helps her MOS case at all. the mos lawyers should contact the photographer for more info.
This is the closest I have gotten to a podcast.
Off topic: as for Charleen, I hope she doesn’t kill her self. I worry deeply about her state of mind. I like her new haircut and if she did it to keep her ogre off of her, then more power to her.
His HRH elevates her above the HSH of her siblings and ranking is all in the royal club.
Meghan and Prince Harry choose World Central Kitchen as their first foundation partnership. But they shy duo refuse to say how much money they will donate. I suppose if it is £15 a month, Mayhew might feel slighted.
*. *
@Magatha Mistie
“Cause the powder she’s supplying
It’s potifying”
LOL! I love your most recent poetry which I just caught up with (doing holiday baking this weekend!) and will hum your song lyrics all week as they are now in my head. ❤️ I truly don’t know how you do it, but am so glad that you do!
There used to be a blog called B.R.G tumblr (blog not tumblr) that ran until 2013 that had so much information on European royals, covered the Monaco royals in detail. Had loads of rare pictures of royals in general especially Caroline with her husbands and Diana and Charles in the few months they had a real, affectionate marriage.
I especially miss updated Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor even if that blog is still up.
Thank you about the explanation for Caroline’s unending marriage. Ernst is such an unhinged boor, I don’t know how she does it.
People poopoo the so called conspiracy theories but one has to be very naive to think that the real machinations behind the scenes by the powers that be aren't hidden from us.
For example, Caroline's husband Ernst is a very bad alcoholic who peed on the outside of the tents during one visit to Oktoberfest in Munich.
Princess Grace became an alcoholic in order to cope with Rainier's indifference and womanising.
Stefanie was the one driving during that accident that killed her mother, but everyone agreed to cover it up and say that it was Princess Grace who was driving the Range Rover. That is part of the reason she has acted up so much and why her siblings keep saying "poor Stefanie. She has suffered so much".
"Despite reported tensions following Prince Harry's exit of the royal family, the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Sussex have exchanged gifts for their families this year in signs of a Christmas 'truce.'
Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, have sent gifts to Prince William, 38, and his family after a shopping trip to an exclusive boutique near Santa Barbara, The Sun has reported.
Meghan Markle allegedly added a personal touch by using her calligraphy skills to write messages Harry's niece and nephews - Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five and Prince Louis, two.
Royal biographer Andrew Morton, who wrote Diana: Her True Story, claimed: 'Harry has sent presents to William and Kate and the calligraphy has been done by Meghan.'
He added that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, both 38, also sent a present to Prince Harry, Meghan and their 17-month-old son, Archie.
Kensington Palace declined to comment."
-----------------------
I'm sure the Cambridge children will be delighted to read a no doubt 'uplifting' message from MM. I don't think George could decipher her handwriting with those flourishes. Complete waste of time.
A Defunct Company Agrees Not To Take Any Photos Of The Sussexes ~ Not A Win.
If you love rare Diana photos and video, the blog 'Princess Diana's palace' is still up though the lady who ran it stopped updating it in 2016. The matching youtube channel 'iloveprincessdiana' is also still up.
On that blog is video of Lady C doing promotion for her Diana book in 1991 on the Sally Jesse Raphael show revealing Diana's secrets and getting booed by the audience who are all convinced she's making it all up.
The funny thing is that they bring on Andrew Morton and James Whitaker to debunk her 'lies' to applause from audience and the show host.
6mths later, Andrew Morton publishes Diana her true story which repeats and confirms everything in Lady C's book.
A precursor to 2020's reception of Lady C's book on Meghan vs Finding Freedom!!
I would like to believe William & Kate sent them:
A signed copy of Lady Colin Campbell’s book
A silver-framed photo of M’s yacht date with “Uncle Yvshenko”
A frozen chicken
And a storage bag for the doll.
✨🎄✨
I just brought up the reaction to my contributions to show that this reaction to your stuff isn't personal. I realise that not everyone here is rushing to share their ideas and insights.
@Acquitaine,
I think that we were all much more naive back in the 1990's. I look back on my own reaction to Diana's death and I remember thinking how hard done by she had been. But, after meeting people like her in real life, I understand the situation much better.
Also, society is evolving, for better and for worse, and with so much more of the Royal mystique exposed, we are beginning to understand them for the people they are, flaws and all.
And yet... it seems an eon since we saw that lovely photo of HM and the 3 in direct line stirring the pudding and we experienced the fury of one whose nose was, metaphorically at least, put out of joint at not being included.
I bet the Viper is now steaming at not being given a clue what HM is going to say, lest she tries to outdo it. Camilla has made a speech about Silverline, a charity to help lonely elderly people have some human contact, over the phone at least. I wonder how news of Pantoland went down in LA? Presumably MM isn't getting advance notice of Royal engagements now. That must irk her.
The idea that the source of the problem may be with Soho House is intriguing - especially the suggestion of `sponsorship'. I recall Harry Markle saying as much early on but it's difficult to see past Markus Anderson. Let's hope that somebody, representing the country's interests, is keeping a close eye on that organisation.
I know! Relieving himself on that pavilion AND then, outside a hospital too.....and using brass knuckles in bar fights.....and dating a low-end “model” or hooker while married to Caroline.....plus he looked like a German version of Boris! Yeeeesh. I know he was said to be mega-rich and titled but......yah, noooo.
Then again, didn’t Caroline start secretly seeing while he was married to one of her closest friends? Or had Princess Chantal divorced him by then? She made her own bed.
Real Housewives of Monaco, basically.
A path in the woods isn't one of them.
There are also of course many other imports that I dislike and they all come from America. Gotten grates; we fill in not fill out and news is not breaking - I look forward to moderately matured news.
When I was state side I became accustomed to the use of the term 'women' and not abandoning the term on my return, I was and in the nicest possible way upbraided by a shorthand-typist who in addressing her fellow type-writer enthusiasts said 'we ain't women is we, we is gells'. Quite!
Well, I've seen a shot of a phone screen (dug up by Yankee Wally?) apparently showing a message that the sender would be `at the gate of the Bear Path at 3pm' or wtte, IIRC. It was implied that this had been posted by a photographer and appeared in a piece about the `Dead-Frog Archie walk'.
Disclaimer:
I apologise in advance if I have misattributed anything in this or any other post - I'm only human and do my best. Also I'm not using anything for commercial purposes - if I do upset someone inadvertently, and they care about it, I shall be happy to apologise and put the record straight if they raise the matter with me themselves.
Thank you.
Exactly!
`Women' still grates with me, in certain contexts, because I was brought up to believe that `woman/women' was something of an insult, referring to those who were no better that they ought to be. Rather like the old joke distinction between a diplomat and a lady.
@Girl with a Hat: In 2017 during the Diana revival in memory of her death, i re-read the Morton Book for the first time in over 20yrs.
I was struck by the obvious mental and emotional illness displayed throughout the book. Something i had not noticed at all 20yrs earlier or in subsequent re-tellings. It was also very apparent in the tapes.
I definitely didn't believe Charles's PR that she was mentally or emotionally unwell though i went off her after the Panorama interview.
It says alot for how much society has progressed on the subject of mental wellbeing, mental illness and emotional illness. How to recognise it, how to manage it and how to treat it. Most importantly awareness of the spectrum that it can be and that it isn't something to hide.
Given the attitude 20yrs+ ago, i can understand why Diana resisted all help for her illness, and it's a black mark against Charles that he used it against her for PR points.
I still think she was a manipulative person, but after re-reading her book i have sympathy that she never got treatment for her illness and simply managed the best she could.
It's been hinted several times that Harry has similar illness as her which explains why they all tread carefully around him. 20yrs+ ago they'd have cut him off or locked him up without hesitation.
Back in college in Massachusetts during the late 70s, a very outgoing and funny Jewish girl in my dorm sang in the 5 College Choir with Prince Albert. She said he was quiet and shy but was a good guy, and she would tease him about being “the most boring prince I’ve ever known.” Albert would laugh and make a gentle retort. There was quite a stir when Albert graduated from Amherst, because his entire family attended the ceremony. Princess Caroline was closely scrutinized by her brother’s classmates; one reportedly remarked that “there are a hundred girls in the (Connecticut) Valley that are more beautiful than Caroline.” She reportedly had a “big ass”. Not very charitable.
In 2019 a woman named Brisa Trinchero became the new CEO of the Princess Grace Foundation. Brisa is the daughter of my twin sister’s best friend in Oregon. She graduated from Whitman College in Washington and went on to win 2 Tony awards as a Broadway producer; she was one of only 100 investors in the smash hit Hamilton. Over the past year Brisa has gotten to know the Monaco royal family fairly well, especially Prince Albert, Princess Charlene and their twins, Gabriella and Jacques. She says they are a lovely family and that she truly enjoys working closely with Albert.
Anyway, just a detail.
Yellowsnow ‘P’ark
They’re streaming of a faux Christmas
Just like the ones Meg never had
Where the snows for sniffing
And Archies missing
Let’s hear Dumb-bell and his Ho
Ho Ho Ho!
but if you don't believe me,
Prince Albert II is said to not speak perfect French in fact. He stammers and searches for words and supposedly it has to do with how afraid he was of Rainier as a child. Albert speaks American accented English, interesting because Caroline speaks English with a vague European accent, sometimes her accent sounds British to me, sometimes French.
https://www.datalounge.com/thread/13055862-what-are-monaco-s-royals-really-like
Yes the photog intimating that "someone" let them know where and when sounds familiar. It was speculated later that Grip had to sue the pap so to get payment because if they outright paid her it would look like she did it on purpose (really?). I'm sure Harry was NOT pleased and believes she had nothing to do with it.
So only "Archie" made if off limits? Because there was no lawsuit about the First Nations' women's visit, picking up yoga friend at airport, the receiving of a native whale tail gold necklace, harry picking up sandwiches, food deliveries (what, 2 or 3 total) in LA, planting flowers at a school where they know no one and none of the kids would know them or Diana, or......
What no lawsuit about the pub shot (with Archie) or walking down the private jet steps with Archie, or...
Yes, he does search for words a bit but not like someone who hasn't mastered a language and his accent is French. French was my first language and I lived in France for a long time so I think I know. Not sure info from datalounge is reliable. Never mind! :)
Yellowsnow ‘P’ark! I don't know how you do it but well done! I must say that Megsy is such a rich source of inspiration 😆
Yaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Yahhhhh!
Yellowsnow P’ark!
“Where the snow’s for sniffing
And Archie’s missing...””
Yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I love it! Oh I wish someone would record this! Now I have a new one to warble this week! Thank you.
Thank you for your alternative view of Prince Albert. My coworker attended college with him at the same time your friend was making her memories. Perhaps both views can co-exist, coming from different interactions at different times by different people; it is nice to know he had friends there.
As to the successful woman managing the Foundation, since she is interested in theatre and the foundation supports the theatre, and she manages it and its funds, she is wise to find her benefactor family charming and lovely.
“Albert speaks American accented English, interesting because Caroline speaks English with a vague European accent, sometimes her accent sounds British to me, sometimes French.”
Princess Caroline speaks English with a British accent because she attended a Catholic boarding school, St. Mary’s in (Ascot) England.
The fact that Prince Albert adopted his American mother’s accent is no surprise. I recall reading once that he possessed Princess Grace’s “American soul.”
@An T
Yes, certainly different views of Prince Albert can co-exist. As for Brisa Trinchero, she is a very grounded, unpretentious woman from a very close family. Her remarks about Albert to her mother (and shared with my sister) were sincere, I believe. But I get your point about her professional obligation to never speak ill of her employer (to anyone).
Our Met. office is very fond of issuing `yellow' Snow Warnings - that is, it's likely to be moderately bad.
I'm still expecting them to continue with the `mountaineers' dictum' - `Never Eat Yellow Snow'
Considering they haven’t yet donated any money whatsoever, it seems likely.