Saturday afternoon April 17 is the funeral for Prince Philip, a little more than a week after his death.
It's been a remarkable time for the media, which has published numerous stories about how humane and kind this seemingly crotchety old man really was on a one-to-one basis.
My personal favorite came from White House butler Lywood Westray, who served various Presidents for 32 years. When Elizabeth and Philip visited in 1979, the Prince had apparently had enough of the stuffed shirts - and, perhaps, of the Carter family - and hid away from the party for a drink with the staff.
"The prince was in there by himself, which was odd, because everybody else had gone down to the other end of the building," Westray says. "I said, 'Your Majesty, would you care for a cordial?' He says, 'I'll take one if you let me serve it.' What do you do? I didn't do all that because I had the stuff in my hand. And he says, 'If you let me pour it, I'll have one with you.'
"... So he poured it, the one he wanted, and we took the same thing that he had. And we had our drink there together and had a little talk while we were there. He told us if we were ever over there in London to stop at Buckingham Palace and see him. Can you imagine the prince serving you? I enjoyed it. You know, we're not supposed to drink and carry on at that time. We're not guests. It was just the three of us in the room, so nobody knew what happened. And I drank my little cordial, we all drank, and had a little conversation. But that was one thing I'll never forget, having been served by royalty."
The memories of Philip are just the kind of thing to bring people together, which Meghan must hate, because she prefers to tear people apart.
As the world prepares for Philip's funeral, it seems inevitable that Meg will do something to bring attention to herself.
What will it be?
Comments
Charles probably has 20 Welsh boltholes to choose from. After all, He's the bloody Prince of Wales. A few might be old coal mines.
I was interested in not just the style but the sheer amount of work people like Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford put into their work and their image. What they had gone through. Norma Shearer in particular, who suffered from a strabismus and forced her eyes to look straight by sheer willpower, for hours in spectacular photo sessions. Joan Crawford working as a child servant, Lana Turner's father being murdered in a back alley when she was a baby. Clark Gable homeless after the Wall Street Crash and sleeping on a beach. After that he always carried money in a belt around his waist as he never felt secure again. I've wandered away from jewellery, but I do wonder how much someone like M knows about those times. In her native California. How hard it was and that you needed real talent and dedication before you ended up in a big house. Though I doubt any of her worthier predecessors had 16 bathrooms.
As for HRM, she's hardly alone but is with her lady in waiting and her dresser, friends and confidants of many years, and I understand that she watches television with one of the men working in the household. She (reportedly) goes on daily walks with Sarah, Duchess of York. I expect that she sees Princess Anne regularly, and I doubt Edward and Sophie have abandoned her.
*IF* she is alone, it is because she wanted to be alone to grieve without people flitting about. I've *only* been married 44 years; however, if he dies, I will not want people in my house trying to make me feel better. I would wish to be alone. I didn't want or need anybody's comfort when my dear mother died of cancer, not even my dear husband. He was there if I needed him, but I needed to grieve alone.
All good points, and she does have those people around her. And the corgi puppies too. And yes, though my mother-in-law wanted companionship, thinking way back, my mother wanted some time by herself after my father’s funeral. In any case, no one can replace Philip.
https://archive.ph/BHUBH
Sources close to him refused to divulge his travel plans, keen to avoid him being followed or mobbed by paparazzi at the airport.
The Duke is understood to have brought his own private security team from the US, who travelled with him on a British Airways flight from Los Angeles to Heathrow.
Although the Sussexes were stripped of their round-the-clock royal protection when they stepped back from royal duties, it is thought the group were met at the airport by personal protection officers from Scotland Yard.
One senior policing source said: "Like any high profile individual an assessment will be made to assess the risk and threat and in the circumstances there will be no question that the Duke is afforded personal protection. Given that he will be in quarantine for most of the time and then is attending a private funeral service, the issue is also a very simple one."
The Duke’s private team is likely to have stayed at Frogmore before returning with him, potentially as early as Monday.
i can't read this whole thing - locked up. Talks about how Harry is forced to write letters due to break down in communication.
It's probably to have proof of what Harry says.
they aren't called Eskimos anymore. They are called Innu and consider the word Eskimos to be offensive.
I tend to agree with you. Security was possibly the ring of fire around H, by design, to fence him. The sight of him walking freely after the funeral was probably not in the plan.
@xxxxx
they aren't called Eskimos anymore. They are called Innu and consider the word Eskimos to be offensive.
..........
No, Eskimos are now referred to as the Inuit in Canada and as Alaska Natives in America. The Innu are an indigenous group from the Quebec area.
He is such an idiot if any of the recent reports are true. His American security would be useless there. Not allowed to carry firearms and wouldn't know the ins and outs. And the RPOs would not give them access. He (or someone) is paying for travel, overtime, food, lodging. If he is so precious of a cargo, they could have driven him to airport & loaded him on the plane. And the RPO's meet in London. And just reverse it when he goes home.
I read another article where it says Eugenie is not staying at Frogmore and that is why H & his crew are staying there. It seems no one really knows the truth which is par for the course where they are concerned.
Re. Harry being forced to write letters
We know how much he dislikes committing thing to paper. He can claim it’s all down to “leaks”; personally I would give equal credence to near literacy being the reason he doesn’t want to put his ass in a chair and write thing down. H seems just about able to sign his own name, but having slid through all his formal schooling doing as little writing as possible, he does not propose to start up now. I’m kind if shocked that he’s learned to read well enough to cope with his sporadic video messages. We see the results when he is forced to be more extemporaneous at length, such as in the Orcah travesty. The limitations of his communication abilities are all too painfully on display. Writing complex ideas down requires organized thinking and a command of words that I just don’t think is there. Like most intellectually challenged individuals, H can only frame himself in terms of being “an action man”. Group sports where he gets to kick a ball around and tackle people our outlets for his aggression, his hyperactivity, and the gratification is immediate. A whole lot less complicated then interpersonal communication involving speaking and writing. He threw a strop and quit the Army after it was presented to him that the only way forward for him was to take the exam for the next rank and become a desk officer. He’d been such a little toerag there was no way he ever could have commanded a platoon. H quit in a sulk because...no more Action Man, but also because he knew he’d never be able to pass or cope with admin duties. At some point the line between “won’t” and “can’t” gets very hazy. Without the intrinsic desire to learn and improve, there’s nowhere to go. I think H really started to unravel in 2015 when he lost the Army. That was due to his own laziness and insubordination, but he’ll never accept that.
The monarchy could be in for a very uncertain time if the Queen and Prince Charles find it too difficult to engage with the Sussexes. With the country facing a fresh challenge from Scotland and further dissatisfaction from Wales and Northern Ireland (the latter with exceptionally good reasons after Brexit), this is not a good time to feel rudderless. Or more accurately, to be circling around the drain. If the first two aren't up to it, devolve more to William. We know he will deal with it. Let him.
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I really agree with this. The O interview has awakened more rumblings in the Commonwealth too. There are a lot of articles in the Times that have been published since the Harkles opened their big mouths that show all the damage that interview did.
Hopefully the firm has been working with the government and will get them involved. I don't see how the government could ignore this when the Harkles have threatened the UK's standing on the world stage. Considering the Commonwealth and the racism accusations there really should be more of a response on that aspect.
Boris initially avoided any kind of response to the interview most likely afraid to touch such a sensitive subject, but he must. The more I think about it the more I believe that getting the government to publicly address and handle the situation would probably be the best bet.
The RF can continue with their investigation into the charges of bullying against Markle, looking into racial policies within the palaces and setting up their new senior-working-family-member structure/patronages. They also need to let the public know where the Harkles stand and perhaps that is where the government can help in some type of joint endeavor to strip them of their royal connections. Coming from both the gov't and the monarchy, the Harkles and the woke media will have less opportunity to cry racism and victimhood.
Also perhaps a rep from the government could speak about the false claims the Harkles made. I don't know enough about the structure of the UK government to be able to use the correct terminology or to break my ideas down any further but hopefully folks still get the gist of what I am suggesting.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/5yvqu3/is_eskimo_a_slur/
Alaska_Jack
4 years ago
Alaska Eskimos refer to themselves as Eskimos, and use the term all the time -- cf Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, World Eskimo-Indian Olympics, etc.
I have lived in Alaska my entire life, and traveled extensively among the villages of the North Slope. I have never once time heard an Eskimo (Yupik or Inupiat) use the term Inuit. Although they are of course aware their Canadian counterparts do.
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Alaska_Jack
4 years ago
Not in Alaska. Lived here my entire life, never once heard Alaska Eskimos (Yupik or Inupiat) refer to themselves or even use the word Inuit.
*********** yes there are counter opinions at the above Reddit site. Eskimo is similar to "Negro" - Then they preferred to be called Black. Then came Afro-American. The current preference is to be called African-American.
You said you wanted to live in the Yukon territory, which is in Canada. In Canada, the term Eskimo is considered insulting. In Alaska, things may be different. But, you said you wanted to live in the Yukon.
There's about 15 of them on my street - do you want me to ask them for you?
All’s Well, That Ends Welby
It’s time he retired
Service no longer required
Full of self importance, much froth
He’s failed to inspire
Including Ma’am, in the Quire
Step down from his pulpit, Frock - Off
Check out this post from LSA (linked below) where the font provides the chart from the Daily Mail showing the original plans plus step-by-step photos of H screwing it up!
Harry was supposed to drop back behind Peter and walk next to Snowdon with Timothy walking in alone at the rear. Instead he crosses over to go behind his brother and leaves poor Snowdon to change sides.
What was he up to? I don't think he would have been able to change his seat. Did he want to be seen next to his brother in the film and photos? How could he think about that at his grandfather's funeral? smh
https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/meghan-markle-unpopular-opinions-thread-pt-2.2215591/post-70496526
“There is a lot of distrust in the camp and everything is still very, very raw.”
One palace insider said Charles was hoping to see his son again after Philip's funeral but Harry told him he wasn’t sticking around.
Meghan, 39, is expecting their second child, a girl, within weeks and was advised not to travel to the UK for the funeral.”
This is pure melodrama on H’s part. I think once he figured out he wouldn’t get to see HM alone and he wasn’t going to get anything from Charles (because the future William V was standing there to make sure he didn’t), he packed up his toys and went home.
Get ready for it.
“They said I’d always be a beloved family member, but they were so cold.”
“I just wanted to mourn with them, but the ignored me.”
“They made me feel like an outsider.”
H is going to die on this hill he made. His flag has been planted.
Thank you for your comments about abbreviations. I totally agree and was thinking earlier today about how I could politely ask people to stop using non-obvious abbreviations. I hope that happens as it has recently been difficult for me to read. 🍷🍷🍷
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@AnT
Quarantine: so long as he takes another test at the end of 5 days 5 days & receives a negative result, the quatentine is lifted, according to English papers (The DM, I think.).
Also the crest on Queen Mary's wee crownlet was visibly different.
Also stones were not set like that with those giant globular stones just hovering in their sockets. It was a cheap replica.
Lady Colin Campbell herself says as much by saying she was forbidden from using any Crown jewelry.
It must have been a girly show.
From the Mirror article linked above:
“There is a lot of distrust in the camp and everything is still very, very raw.”
One palace insider said Charles was hoping to see his son again after Philip's funeral but Harry told him he wasn’t sticking around.
Meghan, 39, is expecting their second child, a girl, within weeks and was advised not to travel to the UK for the funeral.”
This is pure melodrama on H’s part. I think once he figured out he wouldn’t get to see HM alone and he wasn’t going to get anything from Charles (because the future William V was standing there to make sure he didn’t), he packed up his toys and went home.
I think that is what is destroying PC. He was in horrible pain from the death of his father; just imagine finding out that his son did not care about any of that, did not care about his grieving relatives and grandmothers, and *only* wanted money. I think he found out that his son Harry is dead, at least the persona that he thought of as Harry, and in his place is a mentally ill, probably substance abusing grifter determined to wring out money from his relatives and grandparents.
Re prostate cancer...most men who live to a great old age end up with it. It tends to grow more slowly in older men, so many of them don't require treatment and die with it, not of it.
I'm curious as to what Prince Phlip died of, but in the end it doesn't matter. I hope that awful interview didn't hasten things. And it's total garbage that they couldn't postpone its airing...all the POSs would have had to do is issue a statement saying that due to Prince Philip's health issues, the interview would not air as scheduled. Oprah would have had no choice but to go along with it, even as self-absorbed and egotistical as she is.
Bravo poster, bravo!
Sources
Sealed records. Didn’t surprise me that her records are sealed, given that she married H. It isn’t unusual for people to seal records if they are going to be public figures. President Obama’s school records were sealed before he ran for President. Hillary Clinton’s records were also sealed, I believe, before her Senate race.
My dear husband nicely cross examines me, about where my “facts” come from, so I often try to find out, especially with M, but with M it is impossible.
Yes ask your neighbors about the word Eskimo. Where, Alaska or Canada? I don't want to live in the Yukon. Only to have a Prince Charles style bolthole there. (FWIW) (which isn't much)
Harry and his family are always entitled to security due to HRH status. I’ve suspected they will never be stripped of their titles due to the $$$ savings for the RF. The government then picks up some of his tab.
I don’t think anyone lives at Frogmore. Why would they? Harry stopped paying his bills on the home, and Eugenie and Jack have never been sighted in Windsor with her baby. The tree photos look like a different location, anyway. The Queen walking around Frogmore? Without the resident? Doesn’t make sense.
I think they can remove the titles he was given upon marriage Sussex etc, and still retain the HRH he was born with which would entitle him to security when home in the UK. Or they can go all the way and remove the HRH as well and tell him to pay ALL of his security himself.
Anything can be worked out between the monarchy and the government.
The RF was polite and respectful to Haz, but they'll never trust him again as long as he's with the claw.
But which tiara story are you referring to? There have been so many. And just when I thought I had it straight about which one she asked for we were told in the Times, that the tantrum was not over which tiara but that she wanted to take the tiara with her to an appointment with her hairdresser to practice how they would do her hair. It's very confusing. Do you know of a story that tells more detail of her behavior?
My true feeling is that the tales of conversations between H and Charles, and those including WIlliam, and the steps toward brotherlyreconciliation, are simply that: tales. What would be the incentive or likelihood for reconciliation at this time?
First: The entire BRF is hurt, appalled, and infuriated by Megxit, the selling of their lives, the selling of Diana, the bizarre secret child, and of course, the Oprah interview and selling of their conversations to Gayle. This nothing, untalented, sloppy, lying z-lister MM from the lowest rungs of television is hellbent on their destruction and the destruction of their children’s lives as well, all because they did not acquiesce to her severe mental illness and make her Queen. Charles refused to leave Camilla for her, William refused to dump Catherine for her, the Queen failed to resign and move out of Windsor for her, and no matter they did or gave her, it was never going to be enough. H chose a mentally ill escort as a wife, and still chooses her, and shares her rage that they did not bow down and surrender all to her. Nothing less than that would end this war: full subjugation to a clubhouse escort. So, no point,
Second: H is proven angry and untrustworthy, using them only for money, plotting with MM to leave before they even began. It was all lies, a cash grab. And as they all know full well what she is, any hope in H having better judgment is gone. As mentally troubled M is, H is also a vat of long- bubbling issues. H exists now on hate and bile, he was groomed by M (“I didn’t know p I was trapped until she told me”). And as we saw this weekend by his atrocious, unrepentant behavior, he is too far gone to trust, or to even want around in the most minor basic ways. He was mentally ill in some way since childhood, and they all know more than we do. H’s vicious stare at Anne outside was so eerily like M’s death gaze at Catherine, it gave me a chill and a sort of Charlie Manson cult vibe: this H is now a full “family assassin” too. This is his new power high. Why invite that back in? He treats women very poorly, allowing his boss MM to attack Catherine, and Anne, and Charlotte, and Angela, and Rose, and the office workers, the security woman, the governor’s wife, the women forced to sit on a floor. Think about that list for a moment. The family needs to cut him off; they don’t need someone like this near an old, grieving queen.
Third: the monarchy is reeling from the interview damage, Andrew mess, and the death of Philip, all in the time of Covid. Charles is broken. The Queen, widowed, sad and elderly, looking frail. William furious at the Harkles attack on his wife and family, and certainly aware he is the only strong soldier on the ramparts right now. All this considered, the untrustworthy, useless, coffer-draining Harkles are simply of no use anymore. Extra hands can be supplied by Eugenie and Jack, in addition to Sophie and Edward and even Lady Louise (who is closer in age to young Britain than the dentured, sun-damaged 43 year old MM).
No one in the family misses these two. They didn’t just find out the Harkles are snakes. Grieving them, if a few do, is going to easier than watching them burn your family members alive, one after the other.
Why waste the energy and ask for more hell? No reconciliation with H is worth it, certainly not in 2021.
All jokes aside, in dead seriousness, how can any one look even better wearing a mask than without?
All’s Well, That Ends Welby
Amen to that! As he spoke during PP’s funeral all I could think of was his stupid comment that being a member of the RF was the equivalent of a “life sentence without parole.” Frock off, indeed.
@brown-eyed
No problem. I think a lot of people agree it's too difficult to read the blog with too many different names and abbreviations for the Sussexes.
Yes, I watched the entire thing and saw H looking all over the place, making odd faces, grimacing, antsy, restless, slapping the service program against his thigh. He behaved like a spoiled five year old brat. Add to this his sudden shoving forward and purposely messing up the designated order of their walk right before they followed the casket into the chapel, confusing the other walkers, just to stand behind William (for a photo opp for his brand, likely).
A friend was texting me and noticing the same thing as we watched in different cities. Mr AnT noticed, too, and had some choice words for H’s rude, attention-seeking behavior that contained too many expletives to repeat here.
Harry is beyond redemption.
Lol, I know what you mean! Catherine was utterly stunning. It looked like a set of movie stills. How can anyone look so beautiful and regal in a mask? Her steady open gaze was mesmerizing too, and seemed to say so much. It is like the gods and heavens and stars aligned to deliver the calming image of the perfect future Queen Consort, at just the right moment.
Catherine and William always seem to move in tandem. Now, I feel they have both somehow managed to ascend simultaneously to a next level of royal strength and bearing. Charles is broken, the Queen is broken, but these two have unfurled their “It” factor to the world.
Setting aside for the minute the fact that H’s wife is a chaos agent and the damage the interview did...if all if that went away, H is still very damaged goods. In my opinion, he is a drug addict. An unrepentant one, with no desire to get help. If he weren’t a prince of the United Kingdom, with a granny who is the queen, this estranged family funeral scene is sadly commonplace...Waster grandkid returns to shake down his relatives for anything he can get to feed his addictions. In H’s case, the addiction isn’t just to “gear” but the fantasy version of their lives his wife is peddling.
But mostly, he’s an addict. It’s what made him so malleable and susceptible to the idea of running away and getting rich for doing nothing. Behind his intransigence is anger that he’s not getting what he wants and fear that the gravy train is drying up. Maybe the ‘talks’ dried up because his family discovered they were being recorded...Or otherwise fear that anything they say will wind up on Oprah Interview #2. H and M have violated the cardinal rule: Don’t go against the family. They are prostitutes for cash, and desperation has no scruples.
The RF had its work cut out for it. The addict won’t stop until the addiction kills him.
Bea and Eugenie are HRH and they receive security paid for by Andrew, not the Crown, because they are not full time working Royals . Harry lost his paid for security when he quit being a full time royal. Harry pays for his own security. This is a huge thorn of contention for him, as evidenced by the interview.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
Yes! To your post on all the reasons why the RF would be disgusted with H! Almost too hideous to speak or write is the idea that they may have hastened his grandfather's death. I can't get past that.
I think it's become obvious that the media is just winging it with the current coverage of Harry's return. They should just keep silent unless and until they have good intel.
Hell no.
William was back at work today busy speaking up on an entirely different subject, as the head of the FA. He spoke out againstthe billionaires threatening the state of UK football with the Big Six Super League proposal. Harry, you are yesterday’s news.
That's right re Eug and Bea! But then why did Harry get UK security for this trip home? Could it be because he is in the direct line?
Thanks, and like you, I didn’t want to add that key point, that their behavior caused stress to Prince Philip and hurried his death. But, you know that was also forming the ice in the air. You know everyone is thinking that as well.
That Sun article is funny - it's very sarcastic in the way it pokes at MM!
There was an article on Saturday in the Times that I didn't bother to post here as it was too similar to another one I did post from the Telegraph, that had complete details of that wreath - every flower type and color. The author was Roya N. who seems to sometimes get info directly from MM's camp.
Did you or anyone else take a look at that post I left up-thread from LSA that details in pics how Harry pulled his shuffling of positions into the church? It's disturbing but really very humorous...
Does anyone have any clue what benefit he thought he would get? other than to get more pics next to his brother? Which I don't understand - He made himself look like a plonker doing that.
But that doesn't explain the difference between H and bea and eug.
The story claims Harry told his father that he would respect the institution. How can that promise have any merit after what he said in that interview? He told the world that his father left him high and dry financially and would not take his calls! Plus all the other complaints he made. I can't see the rf ever wanting anything to do with him again unless he left MM and sought treatment for whatever is ailing him.
Would his promise of respecting the institution mean going forward from now on, or was that said in reference to PP's funeral? Did he have to make promises to respect the traditions to his father in order to be allowed to attend? That article makes it sound like he and Charles have not at all or barely have spoken since the Oprah spectacle.
Never try to apply logic to people like Harry and Megs. They operate without decency, or respect.
Harry did it
😖 To show no one tells him and Megs what to do
😖 To get near to William, either for the photos (“I am still up there in the monarchy, see!”) or
😖 Or because as we saw from Harry’s dash to catch up with William on the Windsor walk after the funeral, he likely needed the reconnect to suck up for some money and wanted to stick close by after being spaced over to the side by Peter during the early part of the walk
😖 He likely enjoyed shoving the other two men askew in the line-upas well, to be cruel, cause consternation, and beat his thin chest a bit
😖 Because he is a little thug who has been even more groomed in poor behavior by his tacky wife
@London Gent, please accept my condolences as to the loss of your wife. I'm very sorry. I enjoy reading your comments and am glad you are here.
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Thank you :)
The letter, if it exists, was probably Megs’ idea as finances dwindle and no one has yet sent a chest of jewels and stock for baby Di.
The letter would thus probably the typical empty promises of a lying addict: “I will be good and seek help, after you give me another big fistful of cash. I really love you. Ignore the knife in my hand.”
Thanks so much for using the h and m initials. I was just thinking about how I believe we have some elderly people in their 70's and 80's who read the blog which would be another reason to avoid codes. Trying to read here lately was migraine-inducing for me and I'm a lot younger than that!🤣
I really appreciate you giving up the code names.
💓💓💓
And the guy made himself look like a foolish plonker in the process! At least Snowden handled it gracefully.
🙋♀️🙋♀️🙋♀️
Cheerio, I'm off to begin watching "The Lost Prince" - the BBC miniseries about Queen Mary and poor little John her youngest son...
📺😍📺
I understand. I have nicknames for them too but I use the real ones most of the time because I want them exposed and I guess because I like unity and organization.
I do like to call her Megalo and him Hazza. But I usually just go w/ Markle or MM and H or harry. And for the 2 of them Sussexes or Harkles or the vile pair. The problem was there were too many different names and the initials were driving me mad - I'd have to stop reading and try to figure out what they were supposed to be especially when so many other words are abbreviated. But anyway I'm sure we will all continue to rant about H and M and call them all manner of horrible and well-deserved names at times!😁
Sometimes, when the patient is very elderly, the death certificate will only say "failure to thrive" as a cause of death. Basically, it means that they are old and it was not an unexpected death because of their age.
My mother's death certificate has "failure to thrive" as the cause of death. She had a lot of medical issues that very old people get, so they went with "failure to thrive."
@Swampie@Rebecca
I’m awaiting the mitre fall 😉
I'd have said something like `They deemed it unwise...'.
I changed my phone number and went ex-directory to prevent my estranged no2 catching me out, as that was in the days before mobiles when it was not possible to block numbers easily.
*****
@LondonGent ( and all of the rest who have had to deal with this horror) , my father-in-law died of a glioblastoma. It was beyond horrible at the end, and I hope you have millions of beautiful memories to outweigh the last ones. Please accept my condolences.
*****
H's fidgeting reminded me of people who have just quit smoking, or are not able to indulge in their recreational drug of choice. Very antsy. I think by nature he may be somewhat fidgety anyway, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn he had been without something he was used to having regularly.
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OT OT OT I think the Eskimo/Alaskan Native thing is exactly like the Native American situation; many are offended, many are not. I have two Indian ggrandmothers, one Mingo, one Eastern Band Cherokee. Spent most of my summers on the Qualla Boundary, where Washington Redskin jerseys were happily worn by their supporters, who are mightily POd about the name change. Of course, the EBC are very adaptable; when the Indian Removal stuff started in, they promptly adopted a white man and had him buy up all the land around them.
On the other hand, one of my Lakota friends is highly offended by Indian mascots, etc., but her twin sister and two brothers could care less.
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Took me awhile to warm up to Catherine; didn't dislike her, was just underwhelmed. I started liking her a lot more after she had George, and think she has been so incredibly good for William! ( As have the entire Middleton family)
But she was just absolute perfection at the funeral. Setting aside how stunningly beautiful she looked ( and I have never thought her much more than just a pretty girl, certainly nothing spectacular) she simply hit every note right. I do think she would happily set aside any feelings she had against Meghan if she thought the brothers would reconcile. She is just that noble and full of grace. I am in serious danger of becoming her sugar, such was the impact watching her on Saturday. She will be a magnificent Queen Consort.
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Does anyone else think it was HM herself, or possibly Anne, who suggested PC remove himself to Wales? I definitely need to be alone to grieve, and it would NOT be helpful to me in the least to have someone so emotional around me. I loved Charles even more for his emotion, but HM may find it more difficult to keep herself pulled together if he is there falling apart, and she would also likely feel the need to comfort him, and who the hell would want to have to deal with that when they were dealing with their own loss?!
@Hikari
Thanks so much for using the h and m initials. I was just thinking about how I believe we have some elderly people in their 70's and 80's who read the blog
Ahem! I'm nearer 80 than 70...
`...the Duke of Sussex and Duke of Cambridge made a point of chatting together as they strolled back up the hill from St George’s Chapel following the funeral on Saturday...'
-that wasn't, however, what I saw.
H hastened to catch up with the Cambridges and William tried studiously to ignore him - it seemed important for H to be seen in their company, even if he had to buttonhole them.
https://wordhistories.net/2017/09/30/origin-of-buttonhole/#:~:text=In%20its%20second%20sense%2C%20it,in%20conversation%20against%20their%20will.
As you point out, he'd already spat at it in the Oprah interview.
If their Negxit statement taught us anything, it was that Harry has no understanding at all of the institution he grew up in.
He was genuinely shocked that granny was THE Queen and THE commander in cheif despite a lifetime of knowing those facts plus 10yrs in the military.
The letter, if true, shows he remains as hopelessly ignorant as ever.
Megxiled
I’ve written a letter to Papa
Begging for money, succour
I sent it before I departed
Banking on getting much more
It now seems that I’ve been outsmarted
As Papa’s locked, and bolted, the door
He gives Meghan approval to do what she is doing. So it's all on him. But I wonder what his dim brain wants to achieve by leaking that he wrote his father a letter because communication has broken down. He is so self absorbed and lacks awareness that he doesn't seem to think that he did anything wrong by leaking to Gayle that Charles and Willam called him but the talks were unproductive. He doesn't know that is one of the reasons for the breakdown in communication.
Please, you seem to understand their modus operandi. Can you explain why we are suddenly seeing all these reconcilation PR from Harry? What is his motive?
The only thing I can point out is that in the reconcilation PR drive, he isn't including Meghan. It's all about him reconciling with his family. Him writing a letter promising to respect the institution. He is doing PR for himself alone.
I don't know if any other person has noticed it. He wants to be in good terms with his family but he isn't including Meghan in the reconcilation PR. By lovebombing the Cambridges during the funeral and as Kate got the praises as a peacemaker, the subtext from the many articles praising Kate was that Harry can reconcile with his family without Meghan's shadow looming over him. Kate is the uniter and Meghan is the divider.
But in all of this, what do you think is Harry's aim? Why is he pushing the reconcilation PR? Why was he desperate to be seen with Willam?
Papa went a bolting
Far from the maddening crowd
So brothers can hash it out loud
Or quietly
Over some tea
Just these two
Getting along
Far far away
From M's siren songs
She has no sway in London
As deprogrammers get it on
A very sticky wicket
Haps has lost his ticket
So will be stuck there more days
Deprograming Haz out of his haze
@WildBoar
I agree, Kate & Wills were not strolling,
almost broke into a trot trying to shake
off Haz. Will looked in desperate need
of his scarf. H did it for the optics, same
as his sloth shoe shuffle on entering
the church.
If H wrote a letter to Charles, it will have been dictated by the viper or written by her then copied by H. She'd definitely want to have a hand in it. It may be in H's handwriting but the content will be pure viper's (and, of course, 'Meg sends her love' at the end).
@Magatha
I really like All’s Well, That Ends Welby, the mitre fall and Megxiled. As usual, succinct but to the point 😁. Thank you.
May i recommend the blog: The Royal order of Sartorial splendour.
http://orderofsplendor.blogspot.com/
Sadly she stopped posting because the SS made her life hell, but the blog is still up and is a wonderful information source for royal jewels from all royal houses globally.
She took a more fun approach to royal jewels than the court Jewellery blog which is equally informative, but not as entertaining.
http://www.thecourtjeweller.com/
Ella at the Court Jeweller stood her ground when the SS came for her and lived to tell the tale - she dared identify the tiara from the Meghan portrait!!!
As for books on Queen Mary, a new one was published in 2018 after being embargoed by it's author, James Pope- Hennessy, for 50yrs after his death.
Apparently he wrote it when Queen Mary was still alive and it contains direct quotes from many in the family. A kind of authorised biography.
However, he decided it was too incendiary to be published in his lifetime or even any time close to his own death and he embargoed it hoping to spare everyone's blushes.
Unfortunately, it's edited by *Hugo Vickers before being released which leaves one to suspect that any truly incendiary information has been removed and it's in line with other QM biographies.
It's still a curiosity though.
*Hugo Vickers = Keeper of the royal family's secrets.
Very good! I like M's siren song (probably sounds more like screeching) and I hope the deprogrammers are at work. If they are, I hope they were trained at Guantanamo.
Given how he did in school, Haz probably has atrocious hand writing. If I were him I would type it and get it printed out. M can send H text to insert. Haz' letters (emails I suppose) to Prince Charles of Bolting, Wales.
part 1
https://www.royalfoibles.com/prince-philips-final-act/
(speculation unverified )
It’s long been rumored within palace circles that Prince Philip was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer several years ago. Per his wishes, his battle with the disease was never made public. His weakening constitution, made worse through chemotherapy treatments, was the reason why he was obligated to retire from public life in 2017. One suspects his preexisting condition was probably the reason why the Covid-19 vaccination he and the Queen received on 19 January of this year at Windsor, according to certain among His Royal Highness’s relatives, wasn’t able to prevent Prince Philip from becoming infected by the virus.
Before the author continues, he must state that, at this juncture, he’s forged friendships with several members of the Duke of Edinburgh’s extended family. While he cannot verify what he’s both written and is about to write concerning the alleged cause of His Royal Highness’s passing, he can only repeat what’s been told to him by certain royal cousins of Philip’s in a unique position to know the truth. At this juncture, Buckingham Palace has not released Prince Philip’s official cause of death, and if what this author’s been told by his family is true, said cause for His Royal Highness’s demise will likely remain undisclosed for some time to come, or at least until everyone concerned can agree upon a convincing half truth. Britain’s now on its 3rd Covid lockdown, and the last thing the Johnson government needs is to reveal to the public that the Queen’s husband apparently succumbed to the virus’s Kent strain after he was vaccinated, though his very old age and already advanced ill health undoubtedly also played a factor in his demise.
Once the Duke of Edinburgh allegedly tested positive for Covid, and began to suffer serious respiratory problems, he was taken to London and admitted to King Edward VII’s hospital on 16 February, for what the palace deemed a “precautionary measure.” This, so the author’s told, is the real reason why Prince Charles, who’d previously overcome the virus, insisted upon visiting his father at the hospital, and why he cried while leaving. By the 23rd the palace disclosed the Duke was suffering from “a virus,” but was responding well to treatment. Which was true until doctors discovered the virus had spread to his heart. Despite making it clear to HRH that an operation could only prolong his life by a few weeks at best, and his end was undoubtedly near regardless, he nonetheless agreed to the operation, despite the very real possibility he could’ve died on the operating table. Perhaps his Orthodox beliefs, that possibly compelled him to deem forgoing the operation tantamount to a form of eternally damnable suicide, goaded him to proceed? Whatever the reason, he did, and the operation was a success, though he wasn’t discharged from St. Bartholomew’s hospital till 1 March.
Continued part 2
https://www.royalfoibles.com/prince-philips-final-act/
On topic
I think you are on the right path searching out Harry's motives. It's also how he operates and has operated his entire life.
He throws a strop, behaves badly and once some time has past, he sidles back to the family as if nothing is wrong.
In the past everyone simple put it behind them and moved forward. Harry got away with his poor behaviour without apologising.
Rinse and repeat for decades.
And poor William has always been left to take care of Harry. To apologise for him and handle him.
Unfortunately, this time he went too far. Not only that, his strop is destabilising entire family and he brought in a chaos agent to atrack the family which in turn has created a mess that can't be contained in the usual manner.
And yet he thinks he can do the same as always and all is forgiven. He picked William to sidle upto for 2 reasons
1. William is the one who always made it alright. William is his surrogate father who took care of him. Always.
2. Megsy probably told him who to be pictured with to ensure he was in the pictures.
As for the separate PR strategies, this has been going on for some time. I think i started to notice it after the Cemetery stunt. Harry has alot of PR for himself without Megsy, but also trying to re-attach himself to UK, the military and his family.
The re-attachment PR is learned behaviour from his Charles who uses the media to 'talk' to his family and to put forward his desires. It's worded in similar style though in Harry's case not achieving the results he wants because his behaviour has been especially abhorrent to the point that the UK public don't want him back nevermind his family.
Also, I noticed that even though he is putting out this reconciliatory PR, he hasn't made any reconciliatory nouses about Archie of the new baby. No public desire for the baby to meet his cousins. Perfectly alright to use him for self-regarding PR, but not to meet any cousins on both sides of the family.
Ultimately, He is still pushing for a half in/out solution even if it's just for himself because i suspect he's figured out that half in will restore some money and security.
Prince Phillips possible cause if dessth
https://www.royalfoibles.com/prince-philips-final-act/
Part 2
But, once back at Windsor, it was clear Philip’s ordeal had left him irretrievably weakened, and ultimately he didn’t survive his recovery. Despite his family’s best efforts, Philip was made aware of his grandson, Prince Harry’s, and his wife’s unfortunate interview with Oprah Winfrey, and according to his friend, Gyles Brandreth, writing for the Daily Mail, saw at least some of it, declaring it “madness.” His death, nonetheless, was peaceful. According to his favorite daughter-in-law, HRH the Countess of Wessex, speaking to fellow parishioners outside of Windsor’s Royal Chapel of All Saints, a small church near Royal Lodge, last Sunday morning, Philip’s last moments were “so gentle. It was just like somebody took him by the hand and off he went. Very, very peaceful and that’s all you want for somebody isn’t it?”
On the morning of his passing this author immediately called one of the Duke of Edinburgh’s cousins upon reading the email confirming his death. The author was the first to inform her. She repeated what their family claimed was the real reason why he’d recently gone to the hospital, and sadness at his passing. She then declared “The King is dead. Long live the King.” This was in reference to the view that Philip’s family has always taken toward his place within the House of Windsor, ie that while Elizabeth is the head of state, Philip was the head of the family. And now it appears the Prince of Wales has taken that place, for better or for worse
2
Thank you Maneki, mon amie X
Thank you Maneki, mon amie X
-------
Thank you for your poems 😊 x
Given how he did in school, Haz probably has atrocious hand writing.
-----------
H mightn't have done well at school, I'm not sure there's a correlation with handwriting. Whether typed or handwritten, a letter purporting to be from H will have tell tale phrases from the viper.
This is what I think, too. I can't begin to understand the loss of a constant companion of so many decades, but I do know it'll be a painful period of adjustment and it's not always helped by people trying to be helpful. I think that a lot of people assume that grief has to be a shared experience and people need rallying around to help them get over it but it's not always like that. Sometimes you really need alone time to personally come to terms with how things have changed. My mum was horrified when we told her that we didn't want her to travel up to look after us after my daughter's passing, it broke my heart to have to put my foot down about it (and even then if it wasn't for the covid restrictions I think she'd have turned up no matter what I said). She's been a fantastic support over the phone every single day and I'll always be appreciative that she wanted to come, but all we needed right then was solitude and time to mentally adjust to what would be a different way of life. Having another person in the house with us would have made it more difficult to start that process as it would be too easy to lean on them to get through it simply because they were there instead of needing to find our own strength, and it also wouldn't have been fair to mum in that scenario.
My thought about Harry's personal PR is that it only exposes his selfishness. When he wants to attack his family, he attaches himself to Meghan, when there is backlash, he does PR for himself and leaves Meghan to her fate. He knows that people blame Meghan for Megxit and people believe she is controlling and manipulating him. He knows this and he knows that his family will always take him back, so he does his PR for himself. That's why I say Meghan is the most foolish woman. She doesn't realise that Harry is quietly throwing her under the bus by seeking to attach himself alone back to his family. Where does that leave her because she is nothing without him?
I don't know why she doesn't see Harry for the devious man that he is. I don't understand why a supposedly smart woman can't see that her husband is only doing reconcilation PR for himself. He won't get the half in and half out, so what do you think his next strategy will be?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/meghan-kate-both-played-peacemaker-23945020.amp?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar&__twitter_impression=true&s=08
@Lurking
I can’t imagine what you’ve been
through, and still going through,
the loss of a child X
You reminded me, when my dad passed
I spent 2 months with my mum,
very special time. My husband, and children,
said it’s time for me to come home, to them.
It broke my heart to leave my mum,
but they were right, she needed to grieve
on her own, and learn to live alone, she has.
And I needed to be with my family.
Thank you 🙏
My heart breaks for you. I understand, as a mother, the urge to share and lighten your burden of grief, if possible, but people process grief differently.
Hari Har-Har
Harry, also known as Chimpo
Haz them laughing out loud
in Tokyo
Chimpo, Japanese slang for a dick
With his hand-le on tool
J Arthur Rank, royal fool
He’s pulled it too hard, broke his stick
I finally watched the funeral in its entirety. PC is a broken man. He looked as if he has the whole weight of the world on his shoulders and perhaps he does. I cried seeing HM with her head bowed all alone. There is no doubt that some sinister players want to bring down the Monarchy and from media optics, and Harry's participation, it looks as if he is leading the charge, imo.
Just watched “Duke in his own words”
documentary, 2004 I think?
Philip whizzing around Windsor
Great Park with a film crew.
Was struck by his many references
to his children, family.
Beautiful statue of the Queen on
horseback.
In his 80’s, still erudite, humorous,
and very handsome.
I understand the account published in the royal foibles is speculation. However, the account states as a fact that by Feb 23 the Palace had announced PP was suffering from "a virus."
I never saw that announcement and can find no trace of it online. What the Palace said publicly (besides saying outright it wasn't COVID) was PP had "an infection." An infection can be viral but it also can be bacterial or even fungal.
The idea a vaccinated 99-year old might get COVID isn't that surprising as no vaccine is 100% effective and most, if not all, vaccines are less effective in the elderly. But to overcome vaccine hesitancy, like @SwampWoman i can imagine the Palace might not want to publicize it if PP had COVID. But the idea PP would be infected in his "bubble" seems less likely. The same can't be said though about bacterial infections as those can begin in many ways including gum infections. And staph is everywhere including on skin.
It sounds like the account is trying to suggest COVID caused PP to develop endocarditis. And so he had heart surgery either to replace a valve or to remove/repair damaged tissue. I guess that's possible. I am not a doctor but it's my impression COVID causes myocarditis not endocarditis. (And the majority of endocarditis cases are bacterial, not viral.) If it was endocarditis, I am surprised doctors would operate for that on ANY 99-year old, even the Queen's husband given the surgical risks especially if the best outlook was a few extra weeks of life. Its not as though recovery begins immediately either assuming the surgery is survived. I guess he might have had some sort of ventricular "assist" device implanted for myocarditis though.
Overall the account strikes me as unlikely. Here's the main reason. IF it was an open secret in the extended family PP had COVID, and if a "cousin" knew that but wasn't close enough to the family to know when PP had died until told by "the author" that's not a secret that can be contained. In fact, it would already be out there in more credible forms than this one. JMO
I don't know why she doesn't see Harry for the devious man that he is. I don't understand why a supposedly smart woman can't see that her husband is only doing reconcilation PR for himself. He won't get the half in and half out, so what do you think his next strategy will be?
It doesn't look as though his family is happy with his self-serving PR efforts. Harry is attempting to keep his 'dump Meghan and go home' option open if they/she fail(s). He's trying to milk two cash cows. There's always the possibility that both cash cows are going to kick him off the teat.
Now Meghan says she is also a peacemaker. This lady's jealousy of Kate knows no bounds. Meg is now taking credit for making peace between Will and Harry. This is the latest.
Heh. Is it possible that something has finally pierced that impenetrable bubble of self regard with such a resounding *pop* that she noticed that *she* is being held responsible for Harry's execrable behavior? (Don't get me wrong, I think Harry alone is responsible for his behavior but, in the court of public opinion, she is being blamed for it.)
The RF must exile on
Haz to the Yukon
To mingle with the Natives
Who will never slate his
Haz will return Telling tales
Of seeing dolphins and whales
Fishing and hunting with them
Just Inuit Chieftains and him
Whenever the whim!
Natives doing Haz no harm
He will never return
To M's non-loving arms
He'll find his native lass
Making Haz forget his past
Making quality time in her igloo
Guaranteed I tell you
They return back to London
Telling Megsy of course
To back a new horse
A new beast of burden
Because Harry is out
M can no longer hurt him
All England will smile
Where two Princes will reconcile
Just give it a while
And not forgetting Kath
She always on the right path
Making brothers drop all their wrath
Yes!
Our wise, lovely Kath
Translating their misery into laughs
Turning nighttime into the day
These are Katherine's ways
While Megsy alone in Montecito
Drinking grape sodas
Stuffing face with Cheetos
After all her lies and double talk
She has no one left to stalk
Very few people live more than a year after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. That's part of the problem--by the time the doctors figure it out, it's already spread to the liver or elsewhere. Another big problem is that the pancreas doesn't have an outer wall, it's stuck to surrounding organs, so removing it is very tricky and dangerous.
He was almost 100,
does it matter how/from what he died?
Let him rest.
He was almost 100,
does it matter how/from what he died?
Let him rest.
Amen.
yes, actually it does matter to some of us.
Firstly, because we need to know if someone who is vaccinated and isolated like Philip was could die of Covid. So that we can know what to expect in those situations.
Secondly, we would like to know if someone what to watch out for as someone who was as fit and strong as Philip succumbed to. He certainly took care of his health. I listen to people who live to 100 when they talk about their health, believe me.
Thirdly, we don't want him to have suffered much.
To me, it's as important as knowing that he had a drink with the butler at the White House.
If you don't like the topic, you are free to scroll on by.
As for Harry’s pr. Yep he sounds like he’s getting the gigs and she’s not. Question is does she control his pr? Is she promoting him with the thought of getting crumbs and eventually getting gigs herself. Or does she realize her best hope for now is 50% of community property earned during their California stay So the more gigs he gets she lines herself up half of that and a history of a certain lifestyle for child support.
The sooner people wake up to this, the better. Both deserve a life of incarceration, whether in gaol or mental institution probably doesn't matter, beyond there being more chance of them never being released from the latter.
I wholeheartedly agree. I said much further up thread that it truly didn’t matter what he died of (because there had been so much Nutty discussion about it) I was told it did matter. It might matter to the family, but for everyone else it shouldn’t.
.
@Girl with a Hat
Hahaha! You’re taking the piss?
Firstly, he was 99 and failing, as would
be expected.
Secondly, stuff your scroll by,
I will comment when I see fit.
If both HM and PC need time to heal, might W be Regent sometime soon?
Just a thought...
And so will I.
I always thought that Philip died of congestive heart failure because he had the signs.
As I thought Charles does. But it turns out that it's a form of arthritis that causes the fingers to swell up. So, an autoimmune disease.
I think that Philip took good care of his health, and didn't drink too much, as some of the Royals are wont to do, so I am surprised that he suffered from such autoimmune conditions.
My own grandparents lived well past 100, and eventually died of old age. They didn't suffer from cancer, or autoimmune disease, or even heart disease but they lived in a simpler time when there was less pollution and one could drink the water from the well without worrying what was in it.
I have an uncle who received 2 PhDs after the age of 60, and another who is launching a new career at the age of 81. They follow health advice to the letter. They only eat organic food, get plenty of exercise, and don't smoke or drink.
They were also quite perturbed by seeing Philip pass away as he was kind of their poster boy
Interesting thought. But I personally doubt that will happen.
There were rumors a while back of a possible planned regency when HMTQ turned 95. But with Charles as regent, of course.
I don't think TQ would do anything to make Charles's eventual reign less successful. And settlng up a situation where he seems incapable so Will has to rush in and take over would do that.
Philip has been dead less than 2 weeks. Certainly we've not gotten any indication the TQ doesn't intend to try to carry on. And I admit I'm less bothered by Charles's retreat to Wales than some others appear to be. If he stays gone for weeks that's different. But as of now, I think he's been gone 2 days. Plus, we don't know how involved he was in the funeral preparations and the Harry situation immediately after PP's death. Perhaps this is the first time he's really been able to focus on his grief.
@Girl with a Hat
I don’t give a toot what you think.
Hahahaha!
His love counts for nothing with those parasites.
The realisation must be shattering.
Kinda funny, H wants to stay on, but everyone has an urgent need to be left alone. The Queen wants to left alone in her tiny bubble, his dad announces he wants to be left alone and bolts for an outstate home, his brother says, oh, h*ll no. Only persons left are PA and one of the York girls. And even the York girls didn't seem too interested in H at the funeral. Everyone else looked at H with distaste, or as if he had suddenly sprouted horns.
I can see the Queen wanting to be alone for a while. She should be focusing on herself and her own needs and not be having to worry about other people's needs. Or having people fawning over her.
H really needs to just go away from them. None of this right now is about him.
I take it as an apology,
@GWAH?
Perhaps PC is finally facing up to the fact that his beloved younger son has kicked them all in the teeth, at a time when they were extremely vulnerable and needed every bit of support they could get. Moreover, he did on an international stage and damned the entire realm to boot.
His love counts for nothing with those parasites.
The realisation must be shattering.
Indeed. That is exactly what I think.
👏👏👏👏 This makes the most sense to me. At last I have read a logical reason why a rich, pampered 72 year old man meant to be king, who has been restlessly preparing to be king for about 69 years, scampered away to hide in Wales instead of merely going home to reflect quietly on the sadness of loss and the inevitability of change.
I know many here are defending him, and that’s fine. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion and beliefs. But to me, it seemed a weak look for an heir to the throne and eldest son. And, it was like throwing a big poorly timed dollop of “caviar grief” into the eyes of the many who lost family members through 2020 and beyond, and sat in their small unstaffed homes in their sadness.
But, if he felt a pressing need to remove himself from the dangerous reach of Harry and deny access, that makes at least some sense.
Yes, I agree about the genes. Also, the microbiome which might be what soil your food is grown in, or the people you come into contact with. So many factors that we might know even know about yet.
I am sorry to hear about your problems. Have you had your genome analysed?
@Girl with a Hat
Apologies?
If the queen can take calls so can he!
---------
Thsi is where things might be different. Charles is less stiff upper lip than the Queen and seems more sensitive. Seeing H, although expected, might have been a shock to him. Maybe this is also why he needs to go away to the restorative peace of Wales to clear his head regarding his wayward son. If he can get way for a few days then he should and I hope he comes back a little better equipped to face the future.
I think what is driving H to keep going on about his reasons for leaving is that he wants PC/HM to publicly validate them. So far, they have said they "understand", "respect", "always be loved family members", but they have never said "we agree with this decision".
He tried forcing that validation by humiliating the BRF with the "racism" claims, but that fell flat when the stories were revealed to be questionable and HM said "recollections vary". Now he is trying the personal letter to "sweet talk" his dad into validating his reasons.
M was able to do the "victory lap" after the ANL ruling and that is what H is desperate to do with "his" decision to leave the BRF.
However, we all know it was NOT the right decision. They need the half-in/half-out to make it work and that appears to be off the table as long as HM is alive.
from LSA, on why the writer thinks PP passed away:
"I maintain he died from a too vigorous game of soccer with Mike Tindall. Tindall has nothing but free time with a new baby, and obviously Philip, just released from the hospital, wanted to go one on one with a former professional player. It's the only explanation. Clearly one can't die in their sleep a few months shy of 100."
I do think PP would have loved a go at this.
Hmm, interesting theory. It is possible, and if it was a directive made in strict confidence, then, Charles may be wrestling with what to do about it.
TIA :)
Everyone is entitled to their own guesses about what PP said to PC. But I sncerely doubt PP told Charles to abdicate.
For one thing, abdication is not seen positively within the family. For another, I don't think PP would have thought playing around with the LOS would be a good thing. And if something happened to Will (and things can happen to anyone) George will still be a minor for another 10+ years. Finally, I'm not sure 99-year old Philip was a worshipper of "youth culture" and thought youth was always better than age.
But if Charles did abdicate, no way would Charles and Camilla still play "major roles" in the monarchy. Of that I'm sure.
Thanks for The Telegraph article. I enjoy reading their stories along with The Times. The tabloids are fun but they dramatize a little too much sometimes
The US is going though a period of racial unrest not seen since the 1960s IMO. My guess is H&M will try to capitalize on it.
Nothing about somber reflection on the life of PP. Nothing about PP at all. It's all about what can he get for himself going forward.
I think it's normal after a death for people to want some time alone. Especially someone like PC who appears to be shaken to his core.
It can't be easy to lose your dad right after your idiot son goes on global TV and disses the entire family and everything they've ever stood for, and worked their whole lives for. PC has a lot of thinking to do. More than just reflecting on a death.
I can see where people might think it looks weak of PC to go to Wales for a while. Nothing wrong with it imo, as long as it doesn't go on too long. And it's a good way to prevent the Harkles from putting out lies about what's going on.
I think that they really, really just want H to go away. This isn't the time for working his stupid problems. If that was so important to him to do in person he could have come earlier (like before the interview), or come later in the year. There is nothing concerning H that needs to be worked out today. It's been going on for years, what's another year?
People need to accept that PC is not his mother. Vastly different personalities. I suspect that he is far more sensitive than she is. She is able to pull off the stiff upper lip. That's not him. He appears to be much more of an empath than she is.
I kind of suspect that the death has hit him far harder than anyone else.
All that being said, I really want him to develop a spine and tell the Harkles to shove it where the sun don't shine. They wanted out, they're out. Ta ta. Tally ho. Etc.
I certainly hope Charles returns in a few days but if he doesn’t it will look bad. Like he only can seek counsel with himself and his trees, especially if Camilla isn’t there. I doubt he is doing a George HW Bush who planned most of gulf war 1 from his speedboat in kennebunkport. The visual signs of boating with his advisers pissed off people at the time but was a good receipt after the fact that there were plans and calls being made to line up allied support. Doubt this is what Charles is doing but if he did have a “court” of advisors to some up with things for his reign then a few well place pictures even well after the fact would help. Alas I think he’s just communing with nature.
Interesting theory that pp would suggest he abdicate in favor of William. Depending how long the queen lives this would be interesting. And it would be a heavy idea to contemplate but I just don’t see it with Charles. He’s been prepping for so long I can’t see him walking away. If it’s Harry where has Charles been the last three years. Now he feels betrayed. Should have been feeling it all along. And if it’s just recent then he really is tone deaf and frankly may not have what it takes to be king. Wisdom and optics would go a long way.
Yes I’m down on Charles today. Maybe because we had snow and my flowers hated it. And I’m hating on nature right now 😉
Joining the Royal family is far from easy, but she has learnt to use her position to make a positive difference to others
By
Angela Levin
19 April 2021 • 6:00pm
Among the heartache, grief and loss at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral on Saturday there was an outstanding ray of positivity that it was impossible to ignore, and one that couldn’t have been more simple and more powerful. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, stood tall and graceful. Her poise, elegance and quiet confidence reassured us that the monarchy is in good hands.
She has often been described as selfless and resilient, but on Saturday it became clear that it is her positivity – a characteristic she has had all her life – that outranks all these other qualities and stands her in such good stead. Not only can Prince William count on her, but his rather confused brother and the wider Royal family can also be grateful they have such a positive influence in their midst.
Joining the Royal family is far from easy, with its endless demands and lack of freedom. Catherine, now aged 39 and mother of three small children, quickly understood what her life would be and has been determined to make the very best of it. She accepted and understood what the country and the monarchy expected of her with elegance and dignity. Her beauty is not skin deep. Instead of complaining about her position, she has learnt to appreciate what it can offer to others.
Watching her after the funeral was impressive. The royals were expected to follow the Queen and be driven from St George’s Chapel the short journey to Windsor Castle, but at the last minute they decided they would all walk back in the glorious sunshine.
Stepping forward to talk to Prince Harry and you could tell by her soft movements that rather than get revenge for the criticism his wife Meghan Markle had aimed at her during Oprah Winfrey’s bombshell conversation, she was trying to break the ice. As William joined them and Catherine quietly stepped down off the pavement to give the brothers space to chat, she then quite naturally stepped back to talk to Sophie, Duchess of Wessex, occasionally taking a glance at the two men.
It might not lead anywhere but at least it was a start.
So what is the source of this positivity, which we all so desperately need now we have to face coming out of lockdown into a very different world?
Significantly, Catherine comes from a solid middle-class family. Her parents, Michael and Carole Middleton, have been strong role models and given her traditional values. She is also close to her sister Pippa and brother James and has thrived on the warmth generated by a close family.
She and Prince William met at the University of St Andrews and their relationship became public in 2004. Three years later William stepped back, apparently uncertain about their future. Kate, as she was then known, didn’t try to get her own back or make money by selling the story of their relationship. Nor did she complain. Instead, she seemed determined, on the surface at least, to have a good time. This smiling, positive woman making the best of things is probably what brought William back a few months later. And even then when Kate was mocked, ridiculed and called “Waity Katie”, she kept her feelings to herself, doing her best to look for the good in things.
This optimism has helped her cope with the demands of her position over the years. William, like Harry, has an aversion to the media and when he and Catherine became parents didn’t want photographers to interrupt their family life. Instead of going into battle, Catherine learnt how to become a photographer and has since provided a steady stream of delightful family pictures that the public have loved. She is also slowly letting Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis understand how their lives are different but so far in a fun way. What could be more enjoyable than to stand outside your door and clap for the NHS?
After their marriage some people called her “lazy” for giving up work. But, instead of being cowed by such criticism, again she quietly turned a negative into a positive using the time she did have to thoroughly research what patronages she wanted to take on, getting a real understanding about how they worked to ensure she could be of use. Again this positive approach to the task in hand worked. Now, far from being seen as work-shy, she is recognised as one of the best-informed and motivated Royals.
She knew William didn’t merely want to cut ribbons and unveil plaques but to make a difference. Catherine joined William and Harry’s Royal Foundation and it is believed to have been instrumental with coming up with the idea of Heads Together. Making mental health a key issue was a radical decision and encouraged anyone who is depressed or suffering from a mental illness to seek help and not feel ashamed.
Since, she has worked to encourage children to be out in the fresh air and has had fun designing play centres. She has become a Royal Patron of Place2Be, a mental health charity that provides counselling and emotional support to children and teachers, and helped launch the first-ever Children’s Mental Health Week in 2015.
She believes that detecting problems when children are small can make a huge difference to their lives as adults. Much of her work has been around supporting and reaching out to young mothers, not to tell them what to do, but to share their feelings so they feel less alone. During the pandemic she and William have regularly Zoomed with frontline workers, teachers and parents, appreciating their hard work to help them feel more positive about their lives.
With so much negative noise having been generated around this family for the past year, the funeral on Saturday was not only an opportunity to say goodbye, but also a quiet time of reflection of common family interests and bonds. With Catherine’s natural inclination for looking for the positive in any situation, I can’t think of a better hand to guide them through this next chapter.
Thank you! :)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's feud with Royal Family has sparked something 'fundamentally incendiary' that may topple 'archaic' monarchy before Charles ascends the throne, royal expert claims...
I’ll add that the so called expert is the dismal Anna Pasternak who is pro Megsy and Harry, so I give the whole article very little credibility, and just a lot of spin coming from the Duo’s PR maggots.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9491525/Prince-Harry-Meghan-Markle-sparked-fundamentally-incendiary-topple-monarchy.html
I watched the funeral Saturday and observed several things. One being Catherine looked so beautiful even with the mask. The entire service was such a tribute to a amazing man who lived such a long life. Simple but elegant.
The Queen looked so tiny and it broke my heart to see her sit alone, highlighting her loss even further. I think she should finally take the time and enjoy what's left of her life.
PC taking off immediately after the funeral doesn't sit right with me, why would he do that as a future King. What would he have done if it had been the Queen who passed, passing the crown on to him? I don't think he's strong enough to rule and should step aside for PW. JMHO
I'm beyond angry at H right now. While his motives aren't exactly clear to any of us, I doubt his journey home was all about his grandfather's funeral. He didn't look like a grieving man.
I swear PW looked as though he wanted to take off running at the sight of his brother trying to interject himself in the walk. There was nothing William could do in that situation but tolerate a very awkward situation. William couldn't get away fast enough. There was no reconciliation in sight.
I hate when someone does something really messed up and then expect me to get over it because it makes them feel uncomfortable. At one of my sister's funerals, another one of my sisters came and sat down next to me and did the same thing that Harry did. Only a few months earlier this sister told me I was dead to her and that she never wanted to speak to me again. Here she was trying to talk to me at a funeral. I too couldn't run away or walk fast enough, I was stuck in small talk with someone I was so angry at.
The funeral was the first time I realized that MM isn't the only equation in devastating the Royal Family. It began occurring to me finally that H also has both hands in it also. MM however is the one who turned H into what he has done. Alone I don't think H would have left his family nor would he turn his back on them as he has done.
All week she was throwing out tidbits of information so that we wouldn't forget she was all alone in California grieving for PP too. Who cares? She knew him as well as I did. But of course we should never forget she was still around!!
It was yesterday when the article was published about the 'deeply personal letter' H wrote to his father before the funeral, promising to respect the Institution (behave himself). Why would such a private moment in H's life become public for all to know he would do the right thing? Why? H isn't the sharpest tool in the shed but that article was direct quoted by H, although I suspect MM put it out to be published. She really needs to go, she's worthless, useless, diabolical. But right now they both disgust me.
I'm glad they have done everything they have done because it means they are less and less valuable to themselves, their currency is zero. Who will want to associate with them when the reality is they are worthless and add nothing to anything important. Billionaires, ha, that ship has passed.
Depressive Harry can invite him to bunk
In sunny Montecito
Drinking grape soda
And eating Cheetos
Watching non-stop reality TV
This is how it can be
This will put them on a high
That none can deny
Orbit them in outer space
Megs marijuana can't take its place
In time of crisis, we need a monarch who has courage and mental toughness, as well as empathy, not one who crumples like Henry I after the White Ship disaster of 1120.
If PC hasn't ascended the throne, he can't abdicate. He could, I imagine, however, renounce his place in the Succession, the option that was offered to Princess M is he really wanted to marry her beau Peter Townsend. As Lizzie points out, PC wouldn't want to be seen playing second fiddle to Wm.
Btw: Edw.VIII had to `abdicate' because he became king automatically when Geo V died. He at least didn't break his vows because he hadn't got as far as a coronation.
Leaders have a responsibility to seek out periods of being alone.
By Raymond M. Kethledge and Michael S. Erwin
Solitude has been instrumental to the effectiveness of leaders throughout history, but now they (along with everyone else) are losing it with hardly any awareness of the fact. Before the Information Age—which one could also call the Input Age—leaders naturally found solitude anytime they were physically alone, or when walking from one place to another, or while standing in line. Like a great wave that saturates everything in its path, however, handheld devices deliver immeasurable quantities of information and entertainment that now have virtually everyone instead staring down at their phones. Society did not make a considered choice to surrender the bulk of its time for reflection in favor of time spent reading tweets or texts.
Yet, with an awareness of what we have lost, each of us can choose to reclaim it. And leaders in particular—whose actions by definition affect not only themselves—have more than a choice. They have an obligation. A leader has not only permission, but a responsibility, to seek out periods of solitude.
that is what narcs do. They suck the life out of you.
I noticed this with certain narcs in my life. All the people who surrounded them and tried to help them died young, or their health failed. I decided I wasn't willing to sacrifice my health and/or life for any narc, no matter the blood tie I had with them.
@London Gent - I am so sorry for your loss. May the light of sun shine on your face once more.
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Thank you :)
@ London Gent, We have to give thanks that Megs is not an elephant that would be 18 to 22 months duration.
It seemed to be being said Megs would give birth in July on Diana's Birthday as Megs loves fabricating destiny. However, it seems because she needed a reason not to come to the UK, the birth is now more imminent and now is expected in June. Megs loves surprises like having a 10 month pregnancy last time.
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Can't give the point any better than you just did.
PC taking off immediately after the funeral doesn't sit right with me, why would he do that as a future King. What would he have done if it had been the Queen who passed, passing the crown on to him? I don't think he's strong enough to rule and should step aside for PW. JMHO
Given the schizophrenic recent Royal media coverage, can we even be certain Charles has decamped to Wales? I have had to stop checking Royal articles because I was getting too frustrated that even normally reliable sources like the Telegraph keep reversing their published stories. While it does surprise me that Charles would withdraw to Wales at such a time instead of going back to Highgrove, if this is how he chooses to handle the immediate aftermath of his grief, I respect this. Charles is a great rambler, miles a day when he's able, and maybe he proposes to 'walk it off'. I'm sure he'd rush back to Windsor immediately if he is called upon, but in the meantime, if the Queen is well-looked after where she's been, quite contentedly for a year, she will be fine, or as well as can be expected. Since Chas hasn't been in HM's bubble, their interactions would probably be limited anyway, and he can encourage her by phone wherever he is. I would not question his devotion to his mother by his choice to take a trip now, especially if his mother told him to go. He may also be attending to some Crown business there and this isn't just a personal getaway. I've learned through all of this that we, the public, barely know anything about what's going on, so it's dangerous to judge anybody's motives from the dribs and drabs of information which we receive.
Some folks in the press and a few here seem to be taking the view that Charles's tears for his father at the funeral represent some unmanly letting down the side of the stiff upper lip tradition and are unseemly and proof that Chas is too weak to be King. This to me is an unfortunate view. Had Chas prostrated himself on the ground behind the coffin and wailed, that would have been Too Much. He did not. He comported himself with dignity and hit his marks. He is human, after all. Stiff upper lip is a useful mantra in times of hardship, such as war . .but can anything be more personal than burying a parent? Speaking as an eldest child of four myself . . the relationship of an eldest child of a large family to the parents tends to be more complicated than that which the younger siblings have with the parental units. Upon us the full weight of parental expectation rests and a lot of the time, that parental expectation takes the form of "Be just like me (us)." Charles' relationship with both parents completely illustrates this and he had it a whole lot worse and more intensely than an eldest-born from a normal family. Charles' grief for his father has got to be a lot more complicated and layered than his siblings'. Princess Anne was also looking emotional, I thought. Edward looked contemplative and Andrew was just focusing on keeping upright in his morning suit.
The ongoing awfulness with his second born and the fallout from that must also be weighing very heavily on Charles. H has lobbed a bomb at the very foundations of Charles's future and that of William. The betrayal must be extreme. I commend him for even being able to stand up under the pressure.
No one has an issue with Harry leaving the RF. It's the way he has gone about it. He wants to be paid and have security and leave the firm. It's the fact they spent millions on a wedding, renovations, and galavanted around the world as BRF representatives for several months.
As for Harry's personal timeline- no one stopped him from leaving prior to Meghan. In fact, I'd argue hed be happier if he did that first then found a suitable spouse. It wouldn't have been Meghan as she wanted fame (also as she explained in the Oprah interview- celebrity =\= royalty whining).
He already knew what Royal life was, and explained in Oprah he only left because of Meghan. Harry was assuming, as we were told in their engagement interview, that they were going to be apart of the BRF in a big way.
Harry is in the wrong, and Meghan is in the wrong and now they are suffering the consequences of their decisions. They've also gone and embarrassed his father, the family, and themselves on a world stage.
By all means Harry, back out of the RF, but accept your decision and the consequences and the now ruined reputation, and do not complain.
I believe Harry is on record twice saying he was thinking of leaving the royal family and these instances were long before MM entered the scene.
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If he had withdrawn from The Firm in a respectful, honorable, dignified manner, no problemo.
He ditched the Queen with a publicly disrespectful manifesto instead. A pox on him.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1425307/queen-news-Sir-Michael-Oswald-dies-horse-racing-adviser-royal-family-latest-ont
She has had a lot of hits lately. Maybe time for that gnat of a grandson to bugger off.
I think what is driving H to keep going on about his reasons for leaving is that he wants PC/HM to publicly validate them. So far, they have said they "understand", "respect", "always be loved family members", but they have never said "we agree with this decision".
He tried forcing that validation by humiliating the BRF with the "racism" claims, but that fell flat when the stories were revealed to be questionable and HM said "recollections vary". Now he is trying the personal letter to "sweet talk" his dad into validating his reasons.
However, we all know it was NOT the right decision. They need the half-in/half-out to make it work and that appears to be off the table as long as HM is alive.
This is an astute observation. As far as the Sussexes are concerned, their 'half in/half out' manifesto is what they are absolutely determined to have. There is no Plan B because without Royal cachet and access, neither of them have a single thing to offer. Getting 'normal' jobs and actually living a 'private' life is out of the question. They want to be global celebrities just for existing, and for that they need H's family ties.
The Queen is intractable about this, but they still think they can get their way if they harass and needle Charles into capitulating. This is going to make or break his reign. The Windsors have never been much good at crisis management, preferring the ostrich head in sand approach to difficult topics. This has got to change and be met head-on, fire with fire. I hope this is what Charles is contemplating during his retreat in Wales. In order to be dispassionate enough about what he has to do next, he may have to learn to think of his son H as dead. Pretend he was killed in Afghanistan, and this imposter who is in his place now has nothing to do with the child who was once part of the family. The RF is in for a long and bumpy ride, and the only way to come through it is to regard the H they knew as dead. This insurrection coming at them has to be crushed. The time for 'family reconciliation' has passed, by H's own choice.
The traitor and his cheerleader are going to keep doubling/tripling down on their breathtakingly self-destructive path. Both of them are being revealed as mental case delusionals but even dying snakes can still inflict fatal bites. No mistake, the hardest times of Charles's 73 years are ahead. Before this is over, he may wish he was back at Gordonstoun where things were simpler.
I keep forgetting to say but I want to tell all of you that share about your family that have passed on, I say a little prayer for them and you when I read that. May God rest them and give YOU peace.
Since I've been, er, distracted with the complete insanity in our state, I haven't read much Royal Family news today. I want to comment (as I always find the desire to do!) about Kate. I thought Kate looked strong in her mask. Her makeup was very bold. She usually has a thick eyeliner and mascara, but it seemed even more so. She looked defensive as if nothing was going to her affect HER family, her husband, her Queen on that sad day. She's truly a marvel.
I have to put a little foot forward for Prince Charles. He is...devistated. It's clear that he's struggling terribly. His father's death has truly rocked him and I can understand his need to get away for awhile. Alone with Camilla, his gardens, his brandy, he can process what has happened. Even though he should be there for his momma, I don't think he's capable of it right now. Let him be for awhile. I think the Queen likes the company of Sophie, Fergie, Angela, Susan and her pups.
@Hikari,
You’ve both made such excellent comments here and some very important points. Lots to mull over. You really have me thinking.
@Christine,
I’ve lived and worked in Minneapolis, and we still have dear friends there. Sending you good thoughts this week, and prayers.
Just glanced at the Daily Mail story about H&M's drama possibly toppling the Royal Family. Hopefully Charles will emerge from his exile rejuvenated.
Wanting my close relative who lives close to the scene to come stay with me for a bit, but they want to stay at their house to protect it. Guess all of our group will go there then. I hope we're not needed.
It looks like PC is back working from his Wales home. Good for him. Writing thank you notes can be therapeutic.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/newslondon/back-to-work-for-prince-charles-after-harry-summit/ar-BB1fQIR6
As for Harry's personal timeline- no one stopped him from leaving prior to Meghan. In fact, I'd argue he'd be happier if he did that first then found a suitable spouse.
Absolutely. When H left the Army in 2015, he was at a loose end. This is when the Invictus Games were organized for him, so that H would have 'something to do'. Jesus on a bike, if the RF needs help with image management now in the wake of Megxit, then they should get Edward Lane Fox back and give him any salary he requires to work his magic. And a knighthood. ELF spent years spinning sh#t into gold with his charge and he could use those same tactics against H rather than for him.
I believe at this time HM had a serious discussion with Ginger about where he saw his future in the Firm and she offered him at this time the chance to spend part of the year in Africa, as a working royal, devoting time to Sentabale and other African charities. H. declined. Again in bold: HE TURNED DOWN THE QUEEN'S OFFER TO WORK P/T IN AFRICA WITH FULL SECURITY FUNDING AND PERKS--ie, half the year 'out' of the fishbowl of Royal life, doing good on the ground, with his hands, intimately involved in those charities he professed to care about so much.
H. was not ever that invested in working with sick African children or their families. H was 'made' to pretend to work with sick African children as part of his 2-year 'gap year' in Lesotho. In actuality, H's only true interest in Africa was in luxury boutique safari holidays with the potential to shoot exotic animals for fun. Vacations, with top amenities and the optics of being Action Man in the bush . .that's what Africa means to H. This was all well and good for a few weeks at a time, but as a semi-permanent lifestyle?
H was not interested. He didn't want to be away from the London club scene that long, with its attendant party favors. Nor did he want to spend half the year buried in Africa, not getting comparable press attention to his brother, who kept churning out cute kids for England, Inc.
Had H been in any way an authentic person with a genuine interest in serving Africa and forging a relationship with a young lady of mixed heritage, imagine all the lovely women of the Commonwealth that might have become the Duchess of Sussex. This could have been an entirely different story but for that to have happened, H would have had to have been an entirely different person.
If you all need a chuckle, read the comments on the DM's Chimpp article. The commenters are on fire, per usual.
tatty said…
I believe Harry is on record twice saying he was thinking of leaving the royal family and these instances were long before MM entered the scene.
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If he had withdrawn from The Firm in a respectful, honorable, dignified manner, no problemo.
He ditched the Queen with a publicly disrespectful manifesto instead. A pox on him.
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He may as well have stabbed his Grandmother with a knife.