I came here to write about yesterday's announcement from the Sussexes that they are expecting a second child.
Having done a bit of background reading about what's been said, however, I cannot do much better than today's piece in the Spectator UK by Joanna Williams, The stage-managed world of Harry and Meghan.
Williams notes that the announcement has very interesting timing, just a few days after Meghan's surprise victory in her case against the Daily Mail.
"I’m confused. Am I allowed to congratulate the Duke and Duchess of Sussex or not? Should I feel guilty about poring over the details of their latest announcement? Am I somehow breaching their privacy when I read that their pregnancy photo was taken remotely, via an iPad, by a friend? Because Harry and Meghan are all about privacy, no?....Congratulations Harry and Meghan. I really hope someone asks the Duchess of Sussex if she is OK this time around. But please, spare us the birth story details. And if you must share every intimate moment, just don’t complain when the public expects to know more."
Toronto Paper Returns
And there was also a comment from longtime Twitter troll Toronto Paper1, who may or may not have inside information about the Sussexes:
Darling, another moon bump show? Still haven't learned about the sizes? At least this time you probably will get the baby legally although he won't have a title, but neither will you for much longer.
Taking a photo by remote iPad
Finally, what's with the bizarre fiction that the black-and-white (of course) pregnancy photo was taken remotely via an iPad by a friend thousands of miles away, supposedly during a relaxed video chat.
Photographer Missan Harriman supposedly
noted that Meghan and Harry were 'so comfortable chatting and being in the moment that they were not fully aware that he was shooting a piece of history', in the words of British Vogue (as quoted in the Daily Mail)
Could anyone possibly be so gullible enough to believe this is true? First of all, they're quite well dressed for a video chat with a friend - if, in fact, Harriman is actually a friend. Nice of them to match the tone of Meghan's dress with Harry's shirt for a totally casual video chat.
Secondly, the picture is very well-composed, with the lovely "tree of life" in the background. When you're doing a video chat with a friend, do you generally make room in the frame for a giant tree of life? As the Daily Mail helpfully points out, the tree takes up 2/3 of the picture.
And the picture is composed very nicely, with its fork right in the center of the shot...almost like a professional photographer would frame it, intentionally.
The Sussexes' favorite photo tropes
Finally, the image repeats several of the Sussexes' favorite tropes, for example the laughing! laughing! laughing! while we are looking at each other because we are so! incredibly! happy!
There's the bare feet sticking straight towards the camera - last seen in the first, strange, Archie photo. There's the inevitable Meg bump-fondling.
And there's Harry slightly above Meg, as seen again and again and again on their @SussexRoyal Instagram. Is Meg trying to make the point that she does not, in fact, dominate her husband, as so many people believe?
What I think really happened
My guess: Harriman was sent by British Vogue to California to do a photo session.
But that wasn't something the Sussexes wanted to publicize given the ongoing COVID lockdowns - particularly since California governor Gavin Newsom now faces a recall based on his own flaunting of the COVID rules. So this ridiculous fiction of a remote-controlled iPad was invented.
More plausible would have been a story that the Sussexes did it themselves with a self-timed camera at home, but I suppose Harriman wanted the credit (and the income) from the shot.
How silly they are.
Comments
The idea that a sniveling Netflix hack like Lacey, who earns his takeaway pizza as an “historian” for the not-really-accurate series The Crown.....
I get my kicks on Route 66 BUT this is where I get my daily laughs.
"New CDAN blind - don't know if it's posted yet - i'll come back in a while & look and if it is i'll delete this
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2021
Blind Item #7
The alliterate one is ticked off she has to be at the same level as the pedophile Prince's kids. It must really tick her off that she has to curtsy to them if her husband isn't with her."
Enty needs to educate himself about the royals because he frequently gets the details wrong.
The York sisters are blood Princes. That means Meghan has always been below them without Harry's presence.
Lots of information now being published.
from BG: It must really tick her off that she has to curtsy to them if her husband isn't with her."
Frankly, Grip couldn't perform a decent curtsey to HM at her own wedding. Diana, Fergie, and especially Eugenie did the most deep, respectful, and frankly downright beautiful curtseys at their weddings.
Grip did a slight dip (at best). Or it was possibly a body shift do to gas.....
Wow, that is a major turn of events in the last day.
I think the loss to Harry will be very deep and (my guess) he didn't think she would do that to him. In FF, there are at least two places where the commentary is about how his grandmother was with/understood him. I just don't think he really thought she would put duty to her country over her family but rather that the specialness of the relationship would grant him deus ex machina.
It would bind him to his wife because now it really is the two of them against all the vindictiveness, racism, petty you are lesser rank than X that allegedly was thrown toward her is now against him. I think it will allow them to justify releasing their idea of the kraken. I think it will come in drips and drabs depending on who they are talking with (or paying them). And it will be petty (complaining while surrounded by people living in poverty), silly (that happiness is a guarantee instead of the right to pursue it) and so on. But that kind of vindictiveness really won't help them long term. What do they do for an encore? When William moves up, which brother will most movers and shakers want to hang with now, when William moves up one step and then to the thrown?
The comment about service tossed back? wow (that took huevos). Um, when you think about all the examples of how the BRF have long demonstrated "service" (decades), how William and family have brought things into the new century in the time of covid being a game changer for how to stay in touch with people, his upcoming planet/ecology thing on Discover+ and then you look to compare the other side. What have they done that is close to comparable? nothing. Nothing they've done is sustained. It's all one shot, come in, take some photos and then leave. No follow up or continued help. That isn't how the BRF does service.
I like Lizzie's comment about not in haste (Lacey) and for bringing up how the real reason has been a moving target.
HM is quite careful in her word choice (unlike someone who posted something about service as if the BRF haven't been doing it correctly all along and needed an American to show them how to do it). That push back comment I think of as like a trigger for an avalanche or series of avalanches that will limit many choices for them in the future. We may or may not be able to see the avalanche but it will be there (and I hear William can hold grudges - and there are good reasons/times when holding the grudge is a wise thing).
I think Piers Morgan needs to be in THAT room. Sparks will fly.
Do you think they are making multiple deals without checking to see if there's a conflict with other deals? You know O has been wrangling for them ever since the relationship went public. Sounds like she made contact with M before the wedding to start the whole process. Maybe H&M got impatient and made the deal with Netflix when H's mental health documentary got delayed.
Might be a war brewing between Netflix & the Big O and those 2 in the middle.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1400227/Royal-Family-news-Queen-latest-prince-harry-decision-meghan-markle
Oooooh YES! How did I miss him! Yes, well done, add Piers to Oprah’s room! Epic.
Mark Dolan slammed Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's conduct and called for the couple to be stripped of their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles. The talkRADIO host also labelled the couple's decision to do an interview with Oprah Winfrey as disloyal in the extreme.
There's a video and it's funny! 😄
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1400217/Prince-Harry-news-Duke-of-Sussex-Cambridge-Prince-William-latest-Royal-Family-update-vn
Royal fury at Harry and Meghan's 'horribly disrespectful' parting shot: Palace shock at couple's churlish insult after losing patronages - as it's revealed how Queen told her grandson 'you work for the monarchy, the monarchy doesn't work for you'.
What a slap across the face! Well deserved. We might hear the rage and the screams this side of the pond. I haven't read it yet, will do now.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9280035/Royal-fury-Harry-Meghans-horribly-disrespectful-parting-shot.html
I hope Charles has cut them off financially.
Honestly, I think if you asked anyone on this planet, in exchange for showing up at a senior living center for a few hours or meeting with the children of the armed services, etc. etc., you get paid handsomely plus free glorious housing, free access to the best medical services, office budget, first-class travel budget, food budgets, clothing budgets, access to jewellery galore, and a fun romantic title of nobility, no, actually three titles, shiny military regalia and on and on and on, would you be OK? Mostly, everyone is just going to look at them and think they are complete MORONS. Well, they are MORONS, and I mean that in the medical sense.
Sorry I don't remember it was a couple of years ago; I stopped doing it and threw the bottle away when it was gone. It was from my salon so not a drugstore brand. Your salon should know of a good one.
Yes scrunch as you blow with the diffuser attached to the blow dryer. I scrunched and dried while bending over for more volume on top. I've also had my stylist do it before and it really came out great. That's preferred for an special occasion. Don't know what they do different but it's worth it.
Good luck!
I think that's exactly what The Harkles are doing, making deals with one company while not telling them of their deals with other companies. Who will want to hire them or work with them after that? They have no qualms about taking whatever deals that they can get.
Unfortunately, if it's not in their contact that they can't work with the competition (conflict of interest), they have Markled those companies, including Netflix.
@natalier,
I think it's WWIII in The Harkle household most of the time now. Both of them are hot heads who can't control their tendencies toward anger and lashing out. Today's response to HMTQ shows how childish and spiteful they really are. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in Mudslide Manor today. I'm guessing that MM isn't laying so perfectly on the grass, head in Harry's lap, while Harry lovingly holds her head.
Today in Mudslide Manor probably looks more like this:
https://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/tag/explosion/
Takeaways:
1. Pre-wedding, possibly pre-engagement fertility treatments were done resulting in multiple viable embryos. The only country that makes sense for this is Canada, when all of these clandestine visits to a fertility clinic could’ve happened during one of Harry’s transatlantic booty call visits to Toronto. Gender selection was employed and Archie is definitely the DNA Match to Harkles. BG sideswipes the issue of gestational carrier, but with the focus on DNA and no mention of Meg actually being the one implanted, surrogacy is likely.
2. Many of us interpreted the smirk of Duper’s Delight during the wedding vows As presaging something exactly like this. Apparently there were buns in the oven, or at least on ice before the wedding. Just not in Megan as such. One failed round Pre-wedding is suggested, necessitating a second visit a month or two after the wedding. This one took and was the pregnancy that was announced so ostentatiously at ease wedding.
3. All of this was set into motion Before Meg moved to England and got engaged. So H created life with a woman he was not even engaged to, who had been his Soho playmate four about a year. How stupid is he? Is this elaborate plan to make him a father to be read as proof that he knew it wasn’t going to happen any other way? Marital relations or perhaps never intended to be part of this deal. Maybe they’ve never had sex at all, and Marcus actually arranged male companionship, Using it for blackmail to force the wedding. But if Harry’s future children already existed even before the engagement...Was that willingly undertaken or some form of blackmail as well?
4. Some of Meg’s cohorts knew the plan, of course. I’m thinking that number includes Doria, Marcus and Jessica Mulroney. Doria has never once made a peep about being passed over for the baby shower or in any other respect speaking about her first and only grandchild. There will be no comment on this new baby either, because D is well paid and probably Being blackmailed as well for her silence and complicity and using her name and image when convenient. I highly doubt she’s ever darkened the doors of mudslide mansion. But H told no one On his side. Of course I can believe this—It will have been drummed into him Since puberty that royal princess have to be careful about who they choose to have children with. The question is whether he told anyone like Granny That Meg was already pregnant and therefore she had to approve the wedding.
BG is not “proof” of course, but in my experience is with the site, they don’t post blinds unless they have proof that they are assertions are true. I’m going to have to Bug O’s interview—I need to see just how big of an ass the Harkles make of themselves, and if Oprah can force them to admit to anything they’ve been hiding. It would be a supreme act of vengeance against the Queen If Meg just spills everything. Her narc rage must be extreme. And if the titles are all to be revoked anyway, scorched earth will be her policy… So satisfying to just watch everything burn, including her own future. Much depends on how much of this interview has already been taped. If it’s in the can, there’s going to be some edits necessary, or filming another segment to explain what has happened today. I imagine O is really mad, feel taken advantage of, and she could retaliate bye refusing to play softball, or maybe refusing to air this interview at all. Oprah is as big an Narc a Smeg, But she is much more sophisticated and has been at it 30 years longer. She is the supreme queen of her own sphere. She could ruin Smeg’s in Montecito and everywhere else in this country, so at this point Oprah is a more dangerous enemy than the Queen. A few words from her in the right ears and no one will work with the Duo of Hazards.
This is, as they say—gettin’ good.
Thanks for the info. My hairdresser can do a scrunchy hairstyle for me, but even with a ton of hairspray, it goes straight after about 30 minutes. Guess I'm doomed to have flat hair for life, unless I get out the rollers and mousse. Unfortunately, after COVID, I've lost about 1/4 of my hair (and still losing some, but not as bad), and I needed every strand. I'm just babying it along with fewer washings, good gentle shampoo and letting it dry naturally. No products.
Now, back to our regular programming...
That story in the DM re: her bitchy 'I always get the last word in' zinger she lobbed at HM is explosive.
Here's hoping it seriously bites her on her entitled ass...
In my culture, one of the worst things a person can do is disrespect an elder. They disrespected both his grandparents. What the hell is wrong with that man to allow that???
Whoa, I hope they are burned toast.
Thanks for the link!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9280015/Queen-no-plans-strip-Harry-Meghan-royal-titles.html
However, I personally felt that the Sussexes should have gotten massive endorsement deals from huge corporations by now. Covid-19 notwithstanding, people were still getting endorsement deals, so I don't know why they haven't gotten any yet.
I don't regard their Netflix and Spotify deals because they don't have the expertise and unlike the Obamas, they have not hired experts to produce good content. Those deals are basically first look deals. They probably just paid them a token sign on fees for rights of first refusal for their content and the amount won't exceed 2m which I believe they would have spent on their court cases by now.
I may be wrong but I don't feel their insult of the queen will hinder companies or celebrities in the US from wanting to work with them. That's my thinking because so far, the US media is firmly in support of them.
One more vote for a second surrogacy, this time in the US under California law. No adoption will be necessary and the gestational carrier will have no parental rights. Did Flower ask Uncle Elton and David who they used, twice?
Also, I am on your page regarding the toddler known as "Archie." Either he/she or it does not exist or the surrogate did not allow an adoption in an easy straightforward way or at all. It is certainly possible that the surrogate and HMTQ came to some agreement regarding the raising of the child and funding. Certainly, if the surrogate agreed to transfer custody to anyone, it would be HMTQ; however, I am sure the surrogate mandated a court appointed guardian ad litem for Archie for at least eighteen years and that the two nitwits have no real access to him.
Lastly, "has been" Oprah, has waited around for three years to interview the wrong horse. She picked the MORONS, the "table scraps", the because that is all she could get.
Another thing I do that's very easy, when my hair is freshly washed: while still slightly damp I run a good amount of mousse in it, pull it upwards then twirl it into a strand and wind it around into a little top knot. Then I pin with bobby pins. I sleep with it and in the morning I have fresh bouncy curls. I touch up with a flat iron. My hair is quite thin now too and I have also lost hair due to Covid and use gentle products for my aging hair.
I also will do a semi part to the side, then tease it on both sides of the part, spray it with lots of spray then comb it neatly so it doesn't look like a nest. I promise if done right it doesn't look like a woman's version of a comb over lol. It gives the illusion of fuller hair.
Don't give up!
Sorry Nutties, off topic.
Back on topic but Jocelyn if you need more help with those tips let me know.
Oooh that looks like good tea. I'm going to read it now. Thanks for the link.
Can't wait to see what LCC has to say about this latest. BTW I love your avi-it's really cute :)
You're welcome. Yes, I too am hoping this will bite her on her 'entitled arse'. She needs to be brought down a peg or two. I hope the walls of Mudslide Manor are sound proofed or the neighbours won't be able to sleep tonight. Let's see what the next two weeks and the O interview bring. 🍿 at the ready.
And Meghan has serviced nearly as many as McDonald's.
This was published on 14 Feb:
Oprah Winfrey denies planning a 'tell-all' interview with Harry and Meghan amid fears the Sussexes could 'sound off' about racism and sexism on US TV
Is this the article you meant? I missed it!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7885011/Oprah-Winfrey-denies-planning-tell-interview-Harry-Meghan.html
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/14105551/meghan-and-harry-secret-stay-at-oprahs-mansion/
🤣🤣🤣👏👏👏👏👏
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9279967/The-Queen-breaking-point-worst-lie-ahead-writes-RICHARD-KAY.html
I imagine O is really mad, feel taken advantage of, and she could retaliate bye refusing to play softball, or maybe refusing to air this interview at all. Oprah is as big an Narc a Smeg, But she is much more sophisticated and has been at it 30 years longer. She is the supreme queen of her own sphere. She could ruin Smeg’s in Montecito and everywhere else in this country, so at this point Oprah is a more dangerous enemy than the Queen. A few words from her in the right ears and no one will work with the Duo of Hazards.
They make unforced errors destroying relationships behind them. Seems idiotic. When all their bridges have been burned, they can't proceed.
The repercussions of removing the titles is the problem. When Charles & Di divorced, they removed her HRH and people went nuts stating it was out of spite. Although Brits may not go nuts about it, a lot of other people would and it could appear spiteful.
This article is really good.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9280035/Royal-fury-Harry-Meghans-horribly-disrespectful-parting-shot.html
I wonder what O is thinking now - reading all the reactions. I hope she is having 2nd thoughts. I am presuming the show is already taped but they could make some changes/adjustments.
Too bad it won't be a live show, without editing. Now that one I would watch !!!
What by the way does the expression 'Service is universal' mean? I have no idea. It is English Jim but not as we know it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9280015/Queen-no-plans-strip-Harry-Meghan-royal-titles.html
A few things popped in my head. IF the blind is true, or mostly so, then six embryos to start. One miscarriage (that we know of), one "Archie" (I truly believe via surrogacy as Grip was too vain back then to risk her "perfect" body), and one for the current sprog-to-be. That leaves three. What to do with the others?
AND
IF blind is true then the embryos predate the actual wedding. That means, technically, they were conceived out of wedlock .
Curious as to people's opinions about an out of wed lock heir?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-9280053/ROBERT-HARDMAN-Harry-Meghan-enter-royal-wilderness-HRH-go.html
If she took the dukedom away again, he would revert to being HRH Prince Henry of Wales and the Duchess would become HRH Princess Henry of Wales.
Out in California, where the Sussexes are building their new life, it might be considered much grander to be a prince and princess anyway.
The most sugars live in the uUnited States so it is to be expected. But they are mostly teenagers.
"And Meghan has serviced nearly as many as McDonald's."
Thanks for the laugh of the day!
IF blind is true then the embryos predate the actual wedding. That means, technically, they were conceived out of wedlock .
Curious as to people's opinions about an out of wed lock heir?
That would appear to make them bastards and therefore not heirs but I'm not an expert.
@Musty Syphone,
I wonder how many of the positive comments are bots or "fans" using multiple names.
Stop it, she’s not pregnant nor did she have a miscarriage, save your sympathy for the surrogate.
5:14 AM · Feb 17, 2021·Twitter for iPad
If a reporter who is in the Royal Rota let this tweet remain on his twitter feed, it shows how little esteem is left for the Harkles in the UK.
I surmise, guess, speculate, whatever, that Megs is trying to pull off another bogus pregnancy. If there is a baby on the way, I think it's via surrogacy. The 'pregnancy announcement' photo looks laughably bogus. For one thing, we haven't seen Harry smiling at his wife when he is in the same place with her, since forever. Yes, occasionally he's smiled while in public with her, but it's been in response to an audience, not her. His telling her off in the 2019 TOC is more the norm in his public interactions with her. In the zooms, videos, etc. of the past year, Hairy has looked gloomy & resentful, while Megs has done her best doting wife Nancy Reagan imitation.
Hairy's hair looks suspiciously lush in the photo, & Megs' Photoshopping efforts have been highlighted on other websites. In the court documents which have been posted online, poor Thomas Markle pleaded with Megs to post some 'fake' photos of Thomas & the Harkles together so that they looked like a happy family. He knows she's done it in the past. So Megs has previous on this. Megs is almost unrecognizable in the photo, & could be almost anybody. Whether the bump looks realistic, I'll let others decide.
I can't remember the name of the photographer who was given credit for the photo, & I doubt many others will either. I will point out, however, that print media has been going through a very, very rough time recently, & the days of the legendary Conde Nast expense accounts have been over for some time, & that guy ain't no Richard Avedon, so would he be willing to accommodate Megs' shenanigans? My guess is, hell yes. That photo is a product of Megs ever active imagination, in my opinion. I welcome pushback & refutation. I could be completely wrong.
I don't really care what Oprah does, says, asks.I tried to watch her show once or twice decades aqo, & thought there were more fun ways to kill my brain cells. CBS may have scheduled this interview because they know they won't be able to compete with the NBA Allstar game on that night. I am interested in how, or if, the RF can weather this mess.
@JennS
The most sugars live in the uUnited States so it is to be expected. But they are mostly teenagers.
I don't think they have that many legitimate fans. I'd expect a lot of those to be paid.
Exactly my thoughts. Possibly an "out" for the gray men?
@Jocelyn'sBellinis
Agreed about bots and fans with multiple accounts. Also Grip is known to have multiple accounts so perhaps she's been very very busy today.
Oprah may be in a real pickle here. Wonder if they fibbed to her? Last thing Oprah's rep needs right now is a loss.
Like, they were there and they know better. So these childish little digs are just mobster-like threats to keep in line.
Or just plain childish and mean.
The fact that H allows it shows a new lack of depth to his already cavernous character.
O can edit or delete
O has high paid lawyers to go at it
If Harkles give O any static.
An interview delayed
Is an interview denied
Here is justified
Megs take all lies, spin
You will never win
Against the biggest O
In Montecito
@Maneki
Sorry about the post that was from January regarding Oprah and a MM interview. I will delete it. Appreciate your pointing that out.
@Lavendar Lady. Thanks. I had a little easy-to-use avitar program on my phone.
I would really love to know what the York sisters did to the Sussexes because they seem as negatively obsessed with them as they are with the Cambridges. They name checked them in court docs, in their megxit statement and now in their behind the scenes Megxit re-negotiations. They repeatedly try to upstage Eugenie in particular. What did they do to the Sussexes?
It may be as simple as that she hates and fears every female family member that Harry was close to. They are a danger to her. They may make him see her for what she is.
"We can all live a life of service. Service is universal."
Well, Meghan and Harry, nobody wants your service, based on past experience of what you consider service. The Brits don't want you, the Canadians don't want you, and the US doesn't want you, either. I think we've made that abundantly clear.
@ Jocelyn’sBellinis: Meghan’s idea of service us showing up in a designer outfit ranging from $3000 to $98,000 to swan around long enough to get her photo taken and then quickly leaving so to not breathe the same air as the regular people she so obviously disdains.
It is likely that because there were no Oscars, no Met Ball, and no Emmys last year, she was thrown into a deep depression. No year-long Hollywood coronation for a woman whose talent couldn’t fill a thimble, and before Harry, a woman who wouldn’t be allowed to take out the trash for the A-listers she plans to command once the pandemic ends.
"IF blind is true then the embryos predate the actual wedding. That means, technically, they were conceived out of wedlock .
Curious as to people's opinions about an out of wed lock heir?
That would appear to make them bastards and therefore not heirs but I'm not an expert."
It's not the conception time that matters, it's the delivery. That's why people get married while visibly pregnant and baby is duly declared legitimate.
legitimacy requires that delivery occurs whilst genetic parents are "in legitimate marriage" to each other and baby is 'of the body' of the wife in the marriage.
Anecdotally, as the legitimacy criteria excludes DNA testing, there are many children in aristocratic families who are cuckoos in the nest ie best not DNA test them, but everyone pretends they do, and no one will risk claiming otherwise especially if it causes scandal and worse, disinheritance. I
"Curious as to people's opinions about an out of wed lock heir?"
There is no such thing as an 'out of wedlock' heir. Out of wedlock means you are illegitimate in law and automatically barred from inheritance, entailed wealth and no line of succession.
Legitimacy is judged at delivery NOT conception.
Since DNA is not tested, embryos may be created from donor eggs or sperm and will be accepted as legitimate if they are delivered 'of the body' and 'in legitimate marriage'
Of course if a DNA test later proves that child legitimately delivered is not infact the genetic material of either parent then that child is automatically illegitimate in law and shut out from inheritance, entailed wealth and line of succession.
For this reason many aristocratic families tend to be very reluctant to DNA test their offspring which means cuckoos in the nest get away with it.
Rumours may abound, but nothing changes if no one DNA tests the child eg Diana is rumoured to be the offspring of one Jimmy Goldsmith due to the uncanny resemblance between her and the Goldsmith children. Plus her mother is rumoured to have had a fling with him around the time of Diana's conception. The truth is that Jimmy Goldsmith' wife, Lady Annabel is a distant cousin of Diana which explains the resemblance.
Then there is the infamous rumour about Harry not being Charles's son. Time has disproven that rumour as he is a ginger Teck / Mountbatten.
Why doth Murky Madam hate the York cousins so much? Let’s count the ways in which they and particularly Eugenie earn Narc wrath:
They are both considerably younger then Madam. Eugenie is nearly a decade younger, b. 1990.
They are blood princesses from birth, and therefore outrank Meg forever. She probably purposely avoided them for two years so she wouldn’t have to curtsy to them.
It is a known fact that Harry used to be close to his cousins, particularly Eugenie. H and E Are both second borns to more glamorous siblings who got the bulk of attention growing up. B is two years closer to H in age But his family position to Eugenie is similar, And E looks like good fun at a party. Of course she is now a happily married new mother who has worked in an art gallery for years and is light years more mature than the ginger tosser, even though she’s six years younger.
Meg can’t have H Being close to anyone besides her, especially rival females, be they relatives or exes Or just pals like Adele. I would suppose that E, Being closest to H, Might have said something to him along the lines of “are you sure?“—We know how well that ended for William. Also the faces of disbelief from the York women at the wedding Were damn hilarious. I would bet 1 million Netflix dollars that Meg has excessively poured over every frame of her wedding and has memorized the faces the audience was making throughout the torture. Surprised Elton He was still in the circle after the face he pulled which was epic when the minister was talking.
Emerald tiara.
I can’t get away from a distinct feeling that Smirk brazenly insults Andrews daughters to needle him because she can. He is disgraced, he’s only the spare, and even before Epstein, his feud with Charles was legendary. That feud led to Andrew's daughters being removed from A public role in the family or having security paid for by the crown. Smirkle was rubbing it in, and also possibly getting back in Andrew for a prior acquaintance from a yachting party that may or may not have been intimate. I have no proof, just a feeling. Andrew certainly displayed hostility to her from Day one. It always felt a tad more personal then Meg out ranking his daughters in the working ranks. If Meg had been a genuine person, she might have made great friends with B and Eugénie...But that was never to be.
"There is plenty of time for Oprah to bail on these two birdbrains"
I actually feel sorry for Oprah. She's got a toxic dud on her hands.
Won't be the first time she's invested or uplifted a dud. And i'm sure in her quest for more gold she'll do it again with another dud.
Don't forget that in addition to what you said, she was finding freebies whenever and wherever she could. I'm still pi**ed off that the Canadian jeweler just give her a piece of jewelry. For just showing up.
MM is so unbothered by getting all of the freebies that she can, that she didn't even bother to hide the price tag.
I don't feel at all sorry for Oprah. She is an opportunist.
Remember when she tried to rehabilitate Lindsey Lohan? That didn't last long.
Thanks for the clarification . I was hoping it might be a loop hole to get rid of Grip's hold on the RF. But alas, what you said makes sense
I blame her for unleashing Dr. Phil on the world. He has done so much damage IMO. (And, of course, he is responsible for his actions. But without Oprah...)
Guess the wedding, trips, cloths, free lodging, £30.000 "baby moon", etc etc etc etc are things she was entitled to for existing, not as payment for "work"....????
There was an old bit of gossip on Radar Online saying MM froze her eggs before marriage to H. A few Canadian fertility doctors ran with it eagerly to promote their practices and saying perhaps she was even at one of their “egg freezing parties” — and the doctor said that when ten eggs are frozen, 50% to 60% may be viable later for use, depending on the mother’s age at the time.
I found this on a few sites, including a Canadian one called eggwhisperer.medium.com
Note, though: eggs, not embryos.
At this point, if this happened, and even if there were eventually embryos created on another trip, do you really think Harry is checking to see if those are really her genetic material, or his? I don’t. Rumors of his lack of swimmers abound.
So much of her life is pure fudge at this point, I suppose I remain amazed that people look at any large milky baby and assume it is theirs, because it has a nose and some hair and strabismus. Or, like this is the 1600s and we trust soothsayers with witching wands for DNA facts.
I think there is no Archie, but if there is, and he is birthday video Archie, he could be anyone’s son, from Harry’s double to Markus, to a guy in a fertility catalog, to a friend of Misha, or Doria. Her eggs, or someone else’s? Do we really think Messica and Markus couldn’t help pull off a cuckoo? Easy peasy. Who mentioned mobsters earlier? They are right. These are like mobsters, not just friends.
Meghan knows that Harry fears her too much to ask directly, or to try to find out. He may even get off on the lies as much as she does.
My guess is that Markle thinks is the most special woman on earth and the planet’s future queen. And, that she feels England owed her a billion dollars and a soft chair for tossing Hsrry’s salad. So, nothing so far given to this madwoman has come close to paying what she thinks she is owed.
A plain snotty kid with a mean streak grows up into a set of dentures and wigs, straps on her too-large dirty borrowed heels and heads overseas to get all the money. She doesn’t get it, sees she won’t, and so she leaves, vowing to destroy them for having more than she ever will.
She can’t bear that they didn’t grow up in lower middle class LA, in discount clothes eating spaghetti hoops from a can, trying to keep up with richer private school kids. She can’t bear that they have a huge measure of history, traditions, bearing and meaning she wlacks. She grew up with a velvet painting of nude Doria the weedy social worker travel agent, on the wall. Her in-laws grew up with the Old Masters, and skimtrips to Switzerland.
They know who they are. She on the other hand slid in and out of identities and relationships, mimicking and faking, as narcissists do. She arrived in the UK with empty hands, and left with a tiny fraction of what she thinks she is worth in her foggy head.
So she is going to make them pay and pay and pay, in cash or tears or loss of peace of mind while she kicks and spits and stalks and hisses. Markle will always want more. Oprah is about to feel the grip of her new, angry succubus.
That's all I got. I won't watch, too cringe-worthy.
They know who they are. She on the other hand slid in and out of identities and relationships, mimicking and faking, as narcissists do. She arrived in the UK with empty hands, and left with a tiny fraction of what she thinks she is worth in her foggy head.
So she is going to make them pay and pay and pay, in cash or tears or loss of peace of mind while she kicks and spits and stalks and hisses. Markle will always want more. Oprah is about to feel the grip of her new, angry succubus.
Sounds rather, er, crazy to me. I'm not sure why anybody would want to grow up in a palace where they were scrutinized minutely for flaws and there is no such thing as privacy. Give me a middle-class upbringing any day of the week.
It also remind me of something Drip said, and I'm paraphrasing here:
Why shouldn't one profit from compassion?
(I took this to mean why shouldn't I be paid to do "charity" work or why shouldn't I be paid for "public Service"---although Grip has apparently been paid for "pubic service"........). Sorry, I'm tired and I couldn't resist ;)
The rage-induced reply that "service is universal" is an absolute echo of their repky to the Megxit loss of the use of SUSSEX ROYAL when MM said the Queen didnt own the word "Royal".
In my opinion, the big losers in this are Invictus and Sentabale. Both are private patronages and inextricably linked with Harry. And we have seen how much Harry does for them. He has ignored Sentabale amd blown off the Invictus Games because of his Netflix deal.
But they are stuck with him unless they initiate a severance. I believe both have recently made supportive comments, but H is now a liability. His infamy and shenanigans reflect badly on anyone associated with him, whether it is an individual or an organization.
Oprah is Markled. No matter what juicy tidbits are revealed in her interview, her audience will wonder what Smegs has withheld for Netflix.
Also IMO Robert Lacey is a craphole.
Thanks for the laughs, and the bill ant insights. @AnT: You are on FIRE tonight!! Go, girl, go!
Sure, Rache is jealous of the York sisters being blood princesses and they had serious friction about wedding dates, tiaras, and baby announcements, but there has to be more. I can think of at least two things though. One, the Sussexes are mad that the York sisters locked them out of their social circles. The relationships Bea and Eugenie have with celebs and other blue bloods come off as genuine. Two, the Sussexes know the York sisters are replacing them.
I'm sure I'm missing lots to the full story but l do feel the true reason the Sussexes are so mad is because the Oprah interview was launching their campaign to have a royal court in the U.S. The BRF destroyed it all in one swoop.
"@JennS
The most sugars live in the uUnited States so it is to be expected. But they are mostly teenagers."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@MustySyphone I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this assessment. American teenagers do not know who Prince Harry is let alone the obscure actress he married. The Sussexes are old enough to be parents of teenagers. They are not on the radar of the youngest Gen Z-ers at all. I second @Swampwoman's opinion that they are bots or Meghan herself.
From my experience, people most invested in the Sussexes tend to be older. Following the royals is pretty rare in the U.S. We have the regular royal watchers, Diana fans, and Kate fans. The youngest are late Gen X and older Millenials who had Prince William as their celeb crush and then got brainwashed by BRF PR into transferring those feelings to Harry.
I was just thinking that they are going to announce something major on Oprah's interview. They won't waste those audience numbers.
@Jocelyn'sBellinis The Sussexes' reaction does look like they were making a big announcement in their Oprah interview. I think it's setting up court in the U.S. They want to campaign for government funded protections and charity work sanctioned by the BRF in the U.S. Their stance is: look how much more we can do by fundraising in the U.S. Why curtail us when our platform can extend beyond the U.K.?Personally, I believe the Sussexes have hit the ceiling trying to hustle in the private sector and want to brainwash Americans that their type of charity is public service. The BRF's statement draws the line that Sussex charity work is for-profit only definitely not public service. Hence the rage.
Sorry to have been too subtle.
I was talking about racial characteristics, the survival of West African features in my mother's family.
When Kate got pregnant with Louis, it occurred to me that they must’ve planned for at least three kids - simply to avoid the “spare” from ending up like Harry (or Margaret). It can get quite lonely, I suppose, to be the only sibling of a future Monarch, so it’s better to have company in that regard.
Of course, sibling company did not stop Andrew from becoming a royal mess. So there goes my theory lol.
Regarding the royal patronages that have been revoked, i wonder what happened behind the scenes. The patronages’ PR statements was timed to follow the Queen’s statement. I imagine someone from the RF (or household) actually spoke to the patronages and perhaps even apologized for the Sussexes’ behavior, before lining up the PR releases. This is an example of the amount of awkwardness and embarrassment the Harkles have put the royal family through. The RF is all about tradition, reputation, manners, etc, and British society as well is very particular about good manners and respect for the elderly (a significant cultural difference between Britain and America), and to have to deal with the sheer disrespect, ill manners and blatant audacity of the Harkles must be so embarrassing for all the Brits involved.
So far, the Queen has reacted admirably (publicly at least, lol! Oh to be a fly on the wall in side the palace...!). But there have been time’s when it looked like the public would turn against the monarchy because of her lack of action. I hope she continues to stay firm, though it so sad that this is the shit she has to deal with at this stage of her extraordinary reign. Doesn’t Harry realize his grandma is the longest reigning monarch in British history?! It’s all so sad and so...unnecessary.
I got to wonder if Prince Philip said, "Cabbage. It's time to release the Kraken. To make the point sharp enough that even ginger can feel this, I will "rest" in the hospital. Cabbage, when you release Kraken, make announcement that I will have to stay longer in hospital on same day."
Best time watching CBS news today was when they were sugary talking about O & mm. And they interrupted that story to Biden speech & never brought back the harkles. They are squirming and trying to salvage these incoming sussex missiles. I remember last year they were trying to merch phantom child for the right price. I think to People. Mega may have O do the reveal.
Invictus I think has been delayed until 2022. By then the harkles will be ghosted by not just the family, future businesses or established real humanitarian's.
I think there's no way now to get mega on that billionaire rocket ride after that vicious reply to HM. So close.
Think of the Kent brothers - sons of the `Old' Duke of Kent who died in the War. We now have the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent (plus his wife, Princess Michael of Kent).
Without the Ducal title, the Sussexes would be formally `Prince and Princess Henry of Wales'. No way would they call themselves Mr & Mrs Mountbatten-Windsor.
Nor would she be content to be `Princess Henry of Wales - she's be calling herself `Meghan, Princess of Wales, probably preceded by the definite article, the nearest she can get in style to Diana, may even try picking up `Diana' as an extra forename.
It'd be an even worse situation than staying as `Duchess of Sussex' but, Boy! wouldn't she love it.
Best for us to let it be known that some of us think of her as the Duchess of Sucksex.
Oh, interesting next target.
She might wear skims, but she ain't no Kim.
Maybe she could love bomb Kanye into supporting her presidential run on the Birthday Party ticket. She would be the presidential candidate, Kanye would have to settle for the VP position.
I think it's possible Archie might show a few more African traits as he hits puberty; many of my friends are biracial ( mainly Japanese and white, but I think it would hold true regardless of the mix) and their kids didn't look remotely Asian until they got to be teenagers, when their hair darkened. My friends married blue-eyed blondes for the most part, and the kids all were blonde as kids with blue or green eyes. Their eyes were vaguely almond shaped, but for some reason you didn't really notice it until their hair darkened.
But again, I really don't think Rache has 50% African DNA to start with, and I think he already looks a bit like Thomas, so he likely doesn't have much African in him at all.
As for not showing him more often, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the one thing Ginge has put his foot down about. Of course I also wouldn't be surprised if they don't have custody, or even that he doesn't exist. (Though him not existing seems like a lot to pull off!)
Do we have any contingency plans for the blog if Lilibet eventually cuts them off so completely that they no longer get any press? I don't comment much, but I would miss you wonderful people if we didn't have the Harkles to ponder!
How about him as a husband? Has he got sufficient moolah?
re Prince Philip - I can certainly imagine him pressing the button for the detonation of Whinge and Ginge.
The link to LSA doesn't work for me (you have to log in) but the BBC news have photos of newspaper front pages today:
BBC News - Newspaper headlines: Sussexes lose royal roles, and lockdown exit plan
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-56134372
@WBBM
Might she target Kanye when he becomes available, or even before?
---------
I don't think so. Kanye is not white, she's only been associated with white men. Although, on second thought, she may not be able to be too fussy...
...but l do feel the true reason the Sussexes are so mad is because the Oprah interview was launching their campaign to have a royal court in the U.S. The BRF destroyed it all in one swoop.
Her Majesty might not legally be able to say: "Off with her head!" and have it happen but ... she sure is good about being able to lop off people at the knees.
(which brings back visual memories of Monty Python: "It's only a flesh wound.")
The cry from America when the titles are removed will be racism. America is sadly for historical reasons and through general wokeness and in a way that does not happen in Britain (at least it never used to) obsessed with race. zzzzzz America is going to destroy the world with its puritanical wokeness of which Race is a component part. Sending our religious dissidents to Massachussettes was thus ultimately a disaster. The Ozzies, Kiwis and other British Colonialists never caused any problems. America: a country which took the half-formed thoughts of the anti-Roman Catholic French enlightenment as a blueprint for their future. Sheeesh - did they not see what happened to those French aristocrats.
Every time I see WBBM's avatar I think, 'there she is again, once more about to attempt an ascent of the north face of the Eiger. You go girl'. I am impressed; that snow does look very cold.
August Philip Hawke Brooksbank
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9281213/Princess-Eugenie-husband-Jack-named-son-August-Philip-Hawke-Brooksbank.html
I admire her greatly for her thrift, commonsense, incredulity at the Union Jack-draped fools who queue in the cold to catch a glimpse of the RF at church on Christmas day, and her support of unfashionable charities like Citizens Advice Bureau, which she visits in person in unglamorous locations like Aberdeen and Coatbridge, destinations we won't be seeing on the Travelyst website under the "must see/places to visit" tab.
What will Omid do once Prince Harry is no longer Prince Harry - I.e not in line of succession? He’s a Royal reporter, no? Very funny.
I can see Charles being immensely embarrassed that his son has been led astray to WokeVille, USA and wants to keep privileges for him. But honestly, why didn’t Charles tell his loser son to man up and take responsibility. That would have gone a long way for Harry. If Harry knew he was also displeasing his father. Instead Charles being supportive of the duo has not HELPED Harry make any clear proactive and productive future decisions.
I imagine William can reinstate Harry when he reigns after manner years of rehab. They can’t have Harry in line anymore in case Charles becomes king soon. Conflict of interest for the politically ambitious duo.
Good luck without the titles. Lol.
I looked at the photo of Eugenie with her baby and was struck by how much she looks like her father.
@WBBM
Might she target Kanye when he becomes available, or even before?
---------
I don't think so. Kanye is not white, she's only been associated with white men. Although, on second thought, she may not be able to be too fussy...
Can you imagine her being stepmother to Kim and Kanye's kids? I think there's only room for one princess in Megs' family.
Thanks @abbyh for Eugenie's baby pic. He is so precious. My heart has melted into a pool of goo. I'm sure they have help but Eugenie and Jack look exhausted. I also find it funny that our little August Philip Hawke Brooksbank is less bundled up outside in the middle of winter than Archie Harrison was inside a palace in the middle of May. The differences are hard not unsee.
LOL @Swampwoman about Kanye and the Kardashians. I'm not a fan but I cannot help commenting that the Kardashians come off as actually motherly and family-oriented when I compare them to Rache. That is saying something, isn't it?
The difference then between baby Brockbank's arrival with added photograph and that of Archie the doll reveals and without stating exactly what it is that is implausible about the Markle pregnancy. August is not a name is it. I thought it was a month. Girls however are named after certain months.
And if not, is that damage control from the Harkles' end (because they'd stand to lose more) or from Oprah's end (because she has realized how terrible an association with them would be)? Whether it's the Harkles letting Oprah down or Oprah letting the Harkles down, it looks very, very bad for them.
I confess that I'm slightly disappointed. I had been looking forward to Lady C's comments on it!
August is probably short for Augustus. While rare, I’ve heard of this name. I think Mark Zuckerberg’s kids are Maximus and Augustus. I could be wrong (he has a thing for the Roman Empire- hence his haircut). Is Hawke after Ethan Hawke? :)
I’ve been reading a lot this week. It looks like Meghan and Harry are backtracking aGaIn- no surprise. Apparently, the entire world and all of us here took their statement out of Context! Silly us! We need MH around permanently to tell us what to think. We all get it so wrong so often. Sheesh! LOL
Further investigations have revealed it is Charles who is preventing the total takedown of Meghan (and Harry). Apparently he is still very fond of Meghan. But he’s not in charge, thank god. Look at what the Queen did to her favorite son. She doesn’t care who is who in the family.
Step out of line and off with their head (...sort of).
Why does Charles favor Meghan? Did she charm him? Father she never had? Is it guilt over William vs Harry. Is it to spite Camilla for Diana? So many questions. He must feel like backing them gives him some power in the firm.
Granny must see what will happen if MH are allowed to stay in the line. Total chaos.
As for Jack and Eugenie, they went ancient Roman Emperor naming their little boy as opposed to fake Greek like the Sussexes.
"August is not a name is it. I thought it was a month. Girls however are named after certain months."
August as a name comes from latin word ( and name) Augustus meaning consecrated or venerable.
The Romans tended to call themselves Augustus. We remember many famous Roman Emperors and Generals called Augustus eg Ceasar Augustus (nee Gaia Octavian), the first Roman Emperor
These days August / Augustus is an old fashioned name. Like Albert. I think of it as a grandpa name.
In modern times, i tend to find it used alot by Germans or people with German origins. Not sure why it's so popular with them.
We do have the horrid Prince Ernest August of Hanover (husband of Caroline of Monaco) and all his male descendants and ancestors who all seem to be called August / Augustus.
Personally i prefer August to Augustus which sounds like a roman general captured in marble at just the right vainglorious moment.
Augustus has been used by the BRF since the Hanoverians popped across 300yrs ago. In many generations afterwards there was a child named Augustus. Prince Albert seems to be the last British royal thus named though he did saddle his descendants with Albert so it could have been worse for the newest August.
"Ha! I never realized how many months of the year are girls names: March, April, May, June..."
I feel a song coming on.....the seasons song from the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Was my favourite musical as a child and this song in particular.
https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/20210220106980/princess-eugenie-royal-baby-name-meaning/
August - Latin for "great" and used as a title for Roman emperors and the name of the baby's 5x Great Grandfather, Queen Victoria's husband: Prince Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel
Philip - Baby's Great-Grandfather, Duke of Edinburgh
Hawke - Jack's ancestor and baby's 5x Great Grandfather, Rev. Edward Hawke Brooksbank.
But the truth is more interesting. Though there's still a modern streak in their choosing the "coolest" names from both 5x great-grandfathers. They went with the English version of one Prince Albert's middle names and Reverend Brooksbank's adventurous-sounding second name.
I doubt Nutmeg had much African DNA to pass along to a child. Doria strikes me as having at least one non-African grandparent, and Our Meg clearly took more after the Markle side anyway.
I have read and believe it. That the average for African Americans in the US is 25% European genetics. Doria looks about 25-30% white. Thomas Markle is of 100% white German extraction from Pennsylvania. Ben Franklin used to worry about all the German settlement there. As far as I know the largest contributors to "white blood" in America are Germans then Irish. Though English settlers were the first and dominated politically. We would be nowhere if we were not an English colony.
Anyways... Thomas and Doria producing La Megs. I estimate she is 25% African. Megs is sly as far as getting more sun to look darker if needed/ Using bronzers as needed. Using skin whiteners as needed. We can all see that she is brutally straightening her hair these days. Or perhaps she has learned some better-gentler ways since their big Hollywood decamping.
Summation is that our ever amazing La Megs is an inter-racial crossover chameleon who can play her race card well. Maybe even a shape shifter that Nutties cannot figure out. (Just having fun here)
Love the names they gave him. They covered every base since who knows what a child will grow up to be like?
August for toff cred at school, or if he grows up literary, or horsey, or gets tossed a title by William.
Philip to honor her grandfather of course, and nice for business. Say, banking. Or military. Or med school!
And Hawke! Ski slopes hottie! Olympic snowboarding wild man! Entertainment! Dating! Tatler100! Tequila sales!
Well done. Of course I secretly hope she found out one of these was baby #2’s secret chosen name. Hawke Harkle! (I am listening to my friend’s wise mother and laying my coins on the table for an exalted second son for the Harkles as Megs thinks she IS Diana and will try it replicate the William+Harry tableau but with #2 winning this time).
Awww. But now Megsy and Hsrried will have to switch back to their other baby name:
King Henry Charles Trev Mountfuton-Swindsor, ruling brother to Master Snarchie of the Waves. 🏄🏼♂️
Butcher Cumberland was William Augustus - not a very happy association. I just hope Wee Krankie doesn't notice.
This 2020 wannabe A++ lister who had to settle for a consolation prize is splitting with his significant other. This is a huge deal. This will be quite the divorce.
Dare we hope?
Andrew Lawrence's latest is hilarious.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzcd5FKXlOA
Cant blame him
Regarding your comment at 4:41 am,
I don’t think most of us would want the royal life and are happy enough with normal lives we built ourselves. I know one or two who dream have having royal muscle to expand their lifetime of good works with a royal-size engine of on-site food relief packers. But there are also lots of wannabes and hustlers just like our Megsy, who dream of jewelry, cash, designer handbags, versus service, and who don’t fathom the demands or awfulness of life under a microscope. That said, my understanding through their friend was the Swedish royals were very happy, relatively down to earth and whistle-while-they work types. Our retired mad-wealthy industrialist friend had an inventor’s streak and engineer’s skills an created a sort of archetype experiences for house heating, farming, humane animal husbandry and new versions of tractors. His Swedish wife always said when the royals came to stay, they were fascinated and would roll up their sleeves and get outside with him to work, learn and build and learn. That would be the nicest version of a royal life, in my opinion.
@Disgusted, Tunbridge Wells,
Thanks for the article, will read. Scary, isn’t it. 🙁
@MustySyphone, 10:51 am:
Sounds like the gunger one is either paraphrasing lessons from someone in a wig, or he has truly shady friends. Or he us that much of a creep. Charity creeps are everywhere, unfortunately, as we know. Just Harry may be just one more ethics-free milker of compassions.
As much as it would make my year, I doubt it.
The A++ wannabe lister is male . . So, Harry. But Dimwit was already on the A++ list==above it, though too thick to realize that being a Royal born is better than Hollywood. Harry wanted lots of money to indulge his hobbies, never have to work, and have a bigger house than William--but did he actually want to be SEEN on red carpets as much as Meghan? Doubt it. Let the lad do all the blow he wants and beat polo ponies and he's pretty happy. Endless luxury holidays, that's what Harry likes. Megsie loves a flashbulb. She wanted them to be Brangelina 2.0 for doing sod-all but having titles.
And what would Harry's consolation prize be? Granny's taken everything he wanted, unless the consolation prize is continued funding for life from Pa. He'll get that anyway, because his family knows that he is not capable of self-support. Being Meg's *itch would be the only dubious 'prize' on offer.
And if a divorce were really imminent, meaning Harry would nearly certainly come crawling back home, Granny mightn't have been so finite with those military titles. If CDAN has any real tea on a Sussex marriage, BP certainly does, and that might have informed HM's statement just past. Emphasized a continuing role for the *Duke* only in some manner.
There is that tantalizing screenshot of a communique from this fall (November 2020) on KP stationery that includes HRH the Duke of Sussex on the letterhead with C. and W. But if they knew 4 months ago that Harry would be returning, I would expect his language toward Granny to be more conciliatory.
What other celebrity union could this be? Bieber was already on the A-list. Nick Jonas? Not Colin Jost of SNL? (Married to ScarJo last year). Not that I care terribly much.
And if a di
Ha! Your observation that the Queen will lop them off at the knees since she can’t harvest their heads anymore Is genius. 👏
Though evidently BP had no idea about Sussex embryos already out in the wombs of the world pre-marriage, so it seems possible to keep them in the dark. Or they are awfully damn good at pretending not to know things. Like, where Archie actually came from and if the Queen has met him.
You forgot January, as in January Jones :)
I don’t think most of us would want the royal life and are happy enough with normal lives we built ourselves.
Even though Royal life seems glamorous on the outside, especially for the women, the 'glamorous' parts we are shown are very highly curated PR pieces. The beautiful clothes, exotic trips, facades of castles, tiara-dripping banquets, William and Catherine getting an ovation at the BAFTAS. Behind the scenes, I imagine it's constant stress to always appear glamorous, serene and unruffled, with one's person impeccable at all times. Petty infighting and jockeying for favor amongst the royal households, the constant low hum (or more overt) of snideness and criticism toward the 'married-in commoners', or even the Royal siblings themselves. Constant toxic negativity from haters to counterbalance the adoring crowds. A lifetime of smiling, shaking hands, accepting flowers and making inane chatter, attending the same round of codified events year after year . . time marches on and soon one is criticized for looking 'tired'--older, frumpier, whatever. And above all, not being able to choose your own destiny and projects with autonomy. Even if you get permission to do something dear to your heart, how many rounds of committee does the decision have to go through first?
I would like to have the Royals' money and influence, and the freedom to apply those how I wish to. I don't care about jewels or gowns or castles. A couple of nice, regular homes would be plenty--one for snowbirding and one for summer. But I would want to be the Captain of my own ship, just with the resources to really do something meaningful that wasn't just PR.
They have to start generating money via Archewell because it is clear they are not making any money with Spotify or Netflix. Announcing their "service" via other charities' social media accounts doesn't really get the word out beyond People magazine readers. That would explain their tantrum at the Queen's message.
On another note, notice how pink little August Philip Hawke is after a week compared to "Archie", who looked jaundiced at his "2 day or is it 2 weeks" photo op!
From a declassified Jan 9, 1970 presidential memo to Kissinger, about showing Prince Charles around US parks to improve US-Brit relations: “Annenberg tells me he (PC) is the real gem of the family, and makes an enormously favorable impression wherever he goes.”
I was doing a test photo shoot for a project in some years ago and for a hospital charity link reason with the company hiring us, we were on location in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A cold late spring day in a drab park. At the edge of the park was a shabby diner. The publicity woman with us casually mentioned she had been a reporter in St Paul and found out Kissinger had off record meetings with Russians and others in that shabby diner by the depressing park. She said you can tell, if the diner is closed midweek, and Cadillacs are on the side street.
Wow! So Charles is coming to America to directly compete with Archewell?! Or is to funnel money too archewell??? Surely it would look terrible. I’m astonished that the Trust is coming to America, but I’m also not surprised because I imagine Charles assumed it would have gone better this year with Harry and Meghan. Maybe it’s a defensive move so donors can legitimately give to a Royal associated charity.
They are out. What more clarification do they need?
The BlindGossip item is more of the same. Meghan and her team keep tipping off the Gossip Columns because they have no base elsewhere. They are sadly misdirected. The titles will go. It’s not like we’ve hit the deadline yet anyway.
I bet they told Harry he can keep the title and succession only if he divorces the crazy lady.
Totally agree with you regarding royal life. A lot of corporate or political jobs also have tremendous public-facing stress too, especially today, but with royal life your family is your work is your home too, and it probably never ends. No break from staff eyes, or phone calls. No wonder William found a haven in the world of the Middletons. The air may have saved him. While Harry beelined to Hollywood with a hustler.
As a fellow worker bee putting food on the table and helping a relative get through a tough spot, I know what you are saying, definitely. But because a great great uncle of mine existing in a cushy royal capacity had to rush the hell out of town when things went south for Nicholas and Alexandra, and because someone far back on my father’s side slid off to Austria with a some paintings, chairs, and handful of grape vine shoots when France was eating cake, I am not one to see royal life as a guaranteed cushy thing, even today, Nothing in life is certain. So have skills.
Re: the new Royal baby, he's adorable and presented as normal people do, not a load of BS for clicks.
I went to school with a boy named Augustine. He is forever called Gus which I think is a cool name.
I was just thinking about having the opportunity to trade places today or even 10 years ago with one of the BRF. Plenty of assets and money squirreled away, no real financial security worries, etc. They'd likely never find themselves worrying about having a place inside to sleep at night.
Lol. Maybe I could call Weird Stuff I Happened to See When I Left the House
I never met the late Mr. Annenberg, but a cousin of his used to live down the street from me. One of my best friends was on the board of a local charity with him, & used to regularly lock horns with him. My friend was part of that first cohort of women who had gone to Ivy League business schools, & was quite opinionated. It was not a happy relationship.
Another Annenberg cousin hired the nanny my husband & I had in the UK. She threw the nanny out on the streets when the nanny was inadvertently exposed to the measles at the home of another nanny friend. I can understand why the woman wouldn't want her baby to be exposed to the measles but wasn't happy with the way she treated my former nanny, who stayed with us until she could get another job. She never did come down with the measles. The Annenbergs are very successful in business & philanthropy, but I'm not sure I would give much credence to Walter Annenberg's enthusiasm for Charles.
Believe me, I completely understand that aspect of it. Maybe we could be the smart ones and go in, quietly enjoy, no fuss, while sewing rings into the lining of our coats and keeping an eye on the news and the staff’s vital street gossip! We’d have it all, but, we’d be prepared.
Maybe our ancestors enjoyed a smoke and a brandy together at the Tsar’s some evenings! I love it! And royals bring us together here 100 years later! I can hear it now: “Eh, Sasha, so can you believe what a nut that Alexandra is? And that dirty creep she’s always with! Mark my words, Nickie should never have married her! How are the horses? Which are the fastest, eh? Asking for a friend.”
The Prince's Trust expanding into America has nothing to do with the Harkles whatsoever, and they are not connected to it in any way. (I have posted the links to the website.)
Lionel Ritchie is the global ambassador for The Prince's Trust and has a background of supporting disadvantaged youth in America. (He does real work rather than spend all his energy on PR for self promotion.) He probably took on the role with the understanding that the Trust would expand into America amd offer opportunities for disadvantaged youth there.
I have no doubt that Meghan would want to use the Trust as yet another platform for her self promotion (she is a philanthropist - a global philanthropist - LOL!). But, if you look at the website, the people running the Trust internationally and locally in America are not the sort who would have time for the narcssistic grifter and her handbag husband walking two steps behind her.
Prince Charles has no formal role in the Trust at all, but as founder he does support it - unlike the Harkles, he knows people with deep pockets who will donate and he knows how to use exclusive and very classy dinner parties to woo the right people.
That is a fascinating story of connections and events! And so lovely of you to rescue that poor nanny. Her fate was almost Dickensian.
Those little degrees of separation from history or events that slip into our lives, one must be alert to them. It is very Forrest Gump, isn’t it? That’s why I never found that movie’s event stream impossible to imagine. Stuff happens! A Boston friend has a theory that some of us are magnets for things of this nature? I wonder sometimes.
Samantha Markle book review concludes as Shakespearean tragedy/farce.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWbyOSYsaCc
For example, here is the website for the American Friends of the Royal Foundation. It's a 501(c)(3) and has existed since 2011.
https://royalfoundation.com/american-friends-2/
I'm sure some American charities have branches overseas too.
Also re Annenberg ❤️Charles: maybe a bit of the ol’ “philanthropists in the Carnegie club” smelling fresh naive money, lol.
I wonder if H&M were well aware of it and had planned on being the US Rep's. I just went to the website reading about it.
The Empty Gesture Followed By A Sussex Strop
Jack and Eugenie’s baby is adorable. I wish them nothing but happiness— they seem like a lovely down to earth couple and Jack seems to be a great catch.
What a shame about Samantha’s book... so no tea at all in it?
Another poster said that the Harkles may have a big announcement on the Oprah show and that is what got me speculating about what that announcement could be...
It’s spot on that the Harkles are upset that they don’t look like a genuine Charity (they aren’t registered at all). BP publicly calling them out is so important. Imagine the lawsuits, if people assume Archewell is Royal.
I think Oprah’s special is to announce an Archewell thing. Probably. Or Baby #2’s IMG modeling contract and cover of Vogue. Depends on how power drunk Megs feels in front of Oprah.
Anyone understand why Harry tried to rush the Megxit deal early this year? In time for Oprah....?
Those little degrees of separation from history or events that slip into our lives, one must be alert to them. It is very Forrest Gump, isn’t it? That’s why I never found that movie’s event stream impossible to imagine. Stuff happens! A Boston friend has a theory that some of us are magnets for things of this nature? I wonder sometimes.
My grandparents certainly were! A biopic of my grandmother, in particular, would double as an outline of national history, starting from World War II. My cousins and I joke that she was an amazing social climber . . . but perhaps she was so successful because she was indeed a "magnet" for powerful movers and shakers.
Now that everyone in that generation has passed away and those of their children who inherited the "magnet gene" have since emigrated, my extended family is as ordinary as you please. Sometimes I feel a little disappointed that we're so boring; sometimes I'm grateful that we don't have larger-than-life drama any longer.
I’ll have to watch Lady C’s videos. See what her thoughts have been lately.
The idea I'm tossing about is that TPTUSA was originally developed for the Sussexes by the ever-understanding Prince Charles. But when the BRF got wind of the Oprah interview (and who knows what else) and decided to nix the Sussexes, it was too late to abandon the charity itself. So TPTUSA is going forward as planned, just with Lionel Ritchie as its public face.
Thanks for the update on Lady C's second video on the Samantha book.
Meghan is being backed into a bit of a corner, and narcissists do not do well in that situation. They lash out. Harry isn’t running their marriage in any meaningful way, so Meghan will make the decisions, which I believe will drive them off a cliff. I think her narcissism will lead her to show the depth of her caustic, toxic, and downright mean and fake nature that dwells in her core.
Through thinly-veiled passive-aggressive narcissistic behaviors, my bets are Meghan will continue to take pot shots and make public digs at the Queen and anything British.
To put it into one thought, Meghan will continue to bite the hand that feeds her until she chews it off.
QUESTION:
This interesting comment appears in the comments section of the DM article headlined: What the royal statements say... and what they REALLY mean: How 'deeply disappointed' Queen's announcement and Harry and Meghan's 'rude' response reveal two 'VERY different attitudes to a life of service'
——————-
THE DM COMMENT: Just a thought. Is there anything that would prevent the Queen from removing the Duke and Duchess titles and after Meghan shows her true nature by promptly leaving Harry because he is no longer useful, the Queen could, at a later time, return the dukedom to Harry and his second wife?
———
I’m wondering if this scenario is a possibility. Removing the Sussex titles would flush Meghan out to reveal her true motive for marrying Harry. As with narcissists who play her game, she would most likely quickly leave Harry to move on and attach herself to another man. As the Blind Gossip blind item from yesterday says, the Sussex title is of paramount importance to Meghan. It is everything. Without it, Harry is of little use to Meghan. With the right settlement, she would also leave the kids too because they, like Harry, are just objects to be used.
It is highly unlikely that after a split that Harry would stay in California. His roots are in the UK. He would probably return to the UK or at least leave California especially if he has the kids. He would also save a lot on taxes.
Although William and the rest of the royal family could never trust him in important matters, if Harry was contrite enough and own this massive, destructive mistake, I think he would be allowed back, but would have to work his way back into good graces with the royal family and the public, perhaps by concentrating his work in Africa.
I do not think Harry should ever regain his military titles. Being in the military in the honorable positions he held means that his mates in the military could trust him to stand for them and not some two-bit harpy. That kind of trust is likely gone forever.
By permanently losing the military titles, Harry also needs to learn that actions have consequences. He turned his back on a memorial event to attend the Lion King premiere to pander to a Disney exec to get voiceover work for his manipulative wife with limited talent.
Back to my question that the DM comment raises. Is there anything that would prevent the reigning monarch from removing the Sussex dukedom now and restoring it or perhaps another dukedom at a future time? I am guessing it has never happened in the past, but is there anything concrete that would prevent this turn of events from happening?
Re The Prince's Trust-I guess I always thought the Prince's Trust was more of a UK/Commonwealth-focused thing? Kind of surprised they are opening a unit in the US unless it is to augment fundraising efforts?
"The idea I'm tossing about is that TPTUSA was originally developed for the Sussexes by the ever-understanding Prince Charles. But when the BRF got wind of the Oprah interview (and who knows what else) and decided to nix the Sussexes, it was too late to abandon the charity itself. So TPTUSA is going forward as planned, just with Lionel Ritchie as its public face."
According to Charity Navigator, the American branch of the Prince's Trust gained tax-exempt status from the IRS in 2019. Even if it was approved at lightning speed by the IRS, some lead time would have been needed. So if that date is correct, I don't see how it could have been set up with Harry in mind. Plus, both he and William told Charles years ago they weren't interested in the Trust.
I think this may be a matter of seeing cause simply because events seem to occur close together in time.
Thanks for the clarification. I'm still confused about why the charity would have an American branch, but at least it's not Harkle related!
You're welcome. :)
Tatty glad to hear that is over and you are ok.came through it.
Article also states King Edward hospital's website said visitors will only be considered in 'exceptional circumstances' which is worrying!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
Pleased to meet you! It is absolutely possible our ancestors met, I would like to believe they did! We clearly inherited our royal investigative skills from them. My great aunt mentioned both Imperial Guard and Horse Master roles. After escaping, he joined his brother, who’d founded and ran a metal factory and engineering shops in Poland, along with some sort of business in Denmark and the UK, with his father-in-law. It is really a small world.
Hazarding a guess:
Perhaps because the Trust works hard to help young people acquire a good education, and then, to place these promising young people in good jobs in solid companies, an eventual US connection made sense.
More links to student business opportunities, in more companies, be it internships or jobs. A nice way to get good fits all around?
Hoping that the hospital visit bloc is no bad omen
Edward and Sophie visited the DoE on another occasion DoE was hospitalised .
Charlles and his fsther have been vaccinated .Perhaps this is why the visit was allowed.
Chris Ship
@chrisshipitv
Prince Charles has visited his father at King Edward VII hospital. We have asked why he went all the way from Highgrove in Gloucestershire to central London. We are told no further update on Duke of Edinburgh’s health
"Perhaps because the Trust works hard to help young people acquire a good education, and then, to place these promising young people in good jobs in solid companies, an eventual US connection made sense.
More links to student business opportunities, in more companies, be it internships or jobs. A nice way to get good fits all around?"
Could be. I don't know that there will be huge monetary contributions from the US but I guess it's a matter of it adding up plus, as you say, other potential advantages of a US base.
As I posted earlier, the Royal Foundation has had an American branch (American Friends of the Royal Foundation) since 2011. From the AF website:
"In 2018, the American Friends committed $705k to The Royal Foundation and, since its inception in 2011, has now awarded grants of over $4million."
For citizens of the UK living in the US and subject to US taxes, it may help to have US tax deductible opportunities to donate to UK charities.
@HappyDays
The HRH Sussex dukedom has a tainted past and the current title holder has done nothing to rehabilitate its reputation ... the opposite, in fact.
Perhaps the best solution, that would have fewer wider repercussions, would be for Harry to repudiate the Sussex dukedom amd subsidiary titles, in some special one-off way, much like David did when he abdicated. If he is divorced from Meghan and reverts to being HRH Prince Henry, rules are already in place to deprive Meghan of the HRH, but I think she would still be allowed to call herself Princess Henry (and Scobie would call her Princess Meghan). What would the Queen have to do to take that away from her?
I hope I am wrong but I have a bad feeling about Prince Phillip. Surely, though, if he is in the dying process the Queen would want to see him? Or has she said her goodbyes? Or would he want to go back to Sandringham to die, quietly in his sleep? Prince Charles did look upset and as if he had been crying when he left the hospital.
Aw, I love that book too. It definitely deserves a reread, thank you for the idea. Do you find you have a different view of it as adult, now that you are more aware of politics and royalty etc?
.....just placed my copy of Alice on my To Read bedside stack.
Master Brookbanks is adorable, especially for a newborn boy!
Apologies if this info has already been posted, still running behind, reading as fast as I can.
"Not hugely loving August ( would have preferred Augustus, I think), but am wondering if it wasn't also just a bit of a nod to Harry, as the first Duke of Sussex was an Augustus?"
Augustus / August is a favoured name of the Hanoverian royals to this day - see Prince Ernest August of Hanover, the husband of Caroline of Monaco. The heir in the family is given the name Ernst August for over 300yrs including the present heir.
George 1 of England was unusually given a different name of George Ludwig instead of Ernst August, but he brought the tradition to England whereby his descendants through to Prince Albert carried Augustus as a name. Any females that were given the name carried the female form of it, Augusta.
It was only Victoria's dictat to name future generations Albert that stopped the obsessive use of Augustus / Augusta / August.
Since Victoria through to Harry, there is always an Albert named child.
In a way Eugenie is continuing the dictat to name her child after Albert except she's gone with his middle name August instead of Albert.
Only UK and commonwealth citizens can hold UK titles even if they are only courtesy.
Every other nationality thst has been granted a title has only held it as an honorary title and never actually use them eg Angelina Jolie was made a Dame in 2014 and Steven Spielberg was made a knight in 2000. They don't use the titles.
The 'American friends of the Royal Foundation' organisation is modelled on Charles's one.
Their main function is to fundraise for the UK foundations from America.
In 2019 the New York post wrote a scathing article about the wastage within the organisations saying any money raised seemed to go to administrative costs and not much else.
https://nypost.com/2019/12/14/americans-donate-big-to-british-royal-family-charities-which-skimp-on-their-cause/
There is also this article from 2011 about the ousting of it's chief operating officer after 14yrs in the job.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2039029/Prince-Charles-cuts-300k-Prince-Wales-Foundation-charity-chief-Robert-Higdon.html
Thanks for the info. I thought I remembered other BRF charities set up in the US but couldn't remember the names. Since I couldn't verify them, I didn't want to say they existed.
Unbelievable!
One paragraph states:
'The interview promises to deliver the most explosive revelations about the royals since Princess Diana lifted the lid in 1995, with the pair set to reveal exactly why they decided to turn their backs on the family and the UK more widely.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9281963/Meghan-believes-Oprah-interview-loudest-way-shell-voice-back.html
I'm not sure the Queen has finished with them - any more shenanigans and the titles might well go. She did say she had no plans to remove them but maybe that's for now. Who knows if at a later date she won't reconsider.
In their recent quarrels
Q sent me
To Switzerland to skim
Not on any whim
But for the dosh to keep
The Crown Working
While you were a-jerking
Your girlfriends galore
You got your fill
When this was in vogue
Oh you rogue
Then you hit 30
You got very flirty With D
But this was not meant to be
The Royal chaos she created
Has been replicated
By your boy Harry
You must cut H off
No more salad tossed
That will stick to you
Or you are through
With H no more a Royal
This pot is at boil