New open post to discuss Meghan's upcoming NPR interview for "The Bench."
Not much appears to be going on. Living Legends came and went without fanfare ... what's the next event? Super Bowl - Sunday February 11th? Oscar's - March 10th? In the mean time, some things are still rolling along in various starts and stops like Samantha's law suit. Or tax season is about to begin in the US. The IRS just never goes away. Nor do bills (utility, cable, mortgage, food, cars, security, landscape people, cleaning people, koi person and so on). There's always another one. Elsewhere others just continue to glide forward without a real hint of being disrupted by some news out of California. That would be the new King and Queen or the Prince/Princess of Wales. Yes there are health risks which seemed to come out of nowhere. But. The difference is that these people are calmly living their lives with minimal drama.
Comments
was ordered looking into palace staff bullying allegations by #6w Has this investigation perhaps recently been concluded ?
Maybe there are very strong receipts now .There could be many witness statements plus clear documented evidence that will hold strong if/when #6w sends in her lawyers?
Or is it too soon?
That the palace investigations into the staff bullying by #6w enquiry is still ongoing ?
Yes - and very `dangerous to know'!
(I bet you knew I'd say that!)
Humpty Megsy sat on a wall
Megsy Wegsy had a great fall
Royal family could do nothing at all
She lived so far away
They just let her sprawl
She robbed the BRF blind
So they paid her no mind
Exhausted from her dramas
Said "Let her reap all her Karmas"
And hopefully be a good mama
Baby Lili you will Merch
So gotta leave you in the lurch
We are not hating
Just not participating.
God willing, stay 5,000 miles away
Where you can make hay
Making heap big Wampum
We know you will swamp 'em
In Hollywood it is understood
Where bad drives out the good
And Hapless hail fellow
Stay zoned out and mellow
Please don't go too far out
'Cause there can be no doubt
There be be no Royal Docs
To cover your tracks
No more money from Charles
Papering over your quarrels
With the BRF
What the F ! ! !......
About the unveiling you say
Remain with Megsy.
In LaLa Land you must stay.
Stay feeding your chickens
Visit our Isles?
You'll get the righteous arse kicking
You have needed for ages
To cure your petulance
And rages
You will get a sound thrashing
Without even asking
With Megs you get the complete package. Narc and bipolar all rolled up into one. Megs can act out on multiple levels. Call her a "mental" multitasker.
Who knows. She might be schizo lite too, with 3-5 different Megsys battling it out in her brain.
So exciting!!
I haven't caught up fully, but two points:
Of course it has to be William releasing this kraken. He is (aside from HM) the most popular Royal. His star power (with Catherines) have been steadily growing while the 6's has been on the wane.
And where are the results of the bullying investigation?
Maybe those will be released this week and I am guessing they paint the shrew as a total b*$&#!
Happy day!
@xxxxx
Are you taking the piss?
How should I answer this?
Like @Puds, I see M as being more likely to have a personality disorder than bipolar disorder. While I realize laws differ, it must be pretty easy in the UK to involuntarily lock someone up if her "symptoms" would do it. Certainly in the US, "mania" that the person can hide completely from everyone isn't the kind of symptom that leads to involuntary hospitalization. While there are times it is unfortunate we can't force people into mental health treatment, the notion that in the 21st century people can be "sectioned'" in the UK for symptoms no one but maybe a spouse has seen is kind of horrifying to me.
True mania can't be controlled so it can't be hidden. It leads people to do high-risk out of character things like engage in promiscuous sex, reckless driving, shoplifting, gambling and so on. And speech patterns, breathing patterns, locomotion patterns clearly aren't normal. But IF M were bipolar, that would give weight to the idea she was suicidal. Between 25-50% of patients with bipolar attempt suicide cat least once. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10826661/#:~:text=The%20mood%20disorders%20(depression%20and,attempt%20suicide%20at%20least%20once.
I am willing to believe M uses drugs if for no other reason than we know she supplied pot favors at her last wedding. While pot and coke are quite different, we at least have objective evidence she used illegal drugs at one time. And like @Puds, I see some of her more recent behaviors (and Harry's) as consistent with drug use vs bipolar disorder. (And I'd say there's pretty much zero chance she's schizophrenic. And IF she had multiple personalities [she doesn't] that's not schizophrenia anyway. It's Dissociative Identity Disorder.)
But none of us can know for sure.
@Puds
She can’t sue, what’s proven
to be true?
I know someone with dementia who was living with her daughter - she was in bed, heard daughter moving around in night, so went to investigate - failed to recognise her daughter, thought she was an intruder - took a carving knife to her. Daughter rang 999; police, ambulance and doctor attended, mother sectioned there and then and removed from the house, taken into NHS care at no cost to the family.
-------------------
My last narc had a sister who was as more or less as much of a narc as she was. They'd row like Kilkenny Cats, to exhaustion if not mutual destruction.
https://www.libraryireland.com/social-history/popular-rhymes/kilkenny-cats.php
The cats are played down by Kilkenny these days (not a good image for the cuty?)- a rhyme went:
There once were two cats of Kilkenny
And each cat thought there was one cat too many.
So they fought and they fit,
They scratched and they bit,
Until excepting their nails
And the tips of their tails,
Instead of two cats
There weren't any.
Thanks to larushka1 who captured it originally and all the intermediates!.
My first thought: OHMYGOSH! Did someone pass?
and yeah: the idea that 6 and 6w almost walk on water.
@xxxxx
I do this for fun, but, try to be
relevant, on topic.
Most of my rhymes, are about
current times
Didn’t realise you were
so short sighted, so myopic!.
I've been quietly rolling with glee with all your recent masterpieces. Thank you for them!
@xxxxx occasionally writes up poems of his own on the blog when he feels inspired. I don't believe he wrote up today's piece to insult you.
Please keep charming us Nutties with whimsy and your lovely wit.
"In England & Wales, somebody can be `sectioned' if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others. It just needs a doctor's signature on the right form. The case needs to reach the right authorities via a close relative or Social Services."
That's kind of the US standard too in most states for initial hospitalization for a 72 hour hold. But what constitutes proof of danger to self/others likely differs if people really think Meghan could be sectioned (even if not married to Harry. I'm talking about her behavior)
The woman with dementia who was sectioned after trying to stab her daughter because she didn't recognize her likely was known to a doctor to have dementia. That condition is known to be progressive. And chances are when the police arrived, she wasn't acting normally and couldn't act normally. Chances are she didn't known the date, the year, who the PM is (or whatever is asked to assess mental status) The idea that M could be committed and thought to have successfully hidden symptoms of a major mental disorder like Bipolar is hard to believe (for me, anyway) I agree with @Magatha, she's bad but evil doesn't mean mentally ill.
Yeah, my last narc was initially facilitated by her parents some 40+ yrs ago who assumed she was mentally ill. I gave up on her back then because I couldn't cope, but having met up with her again, and hearing she'd been treated at the Maudsley and seemed OK, we renewed the friendship.
Big mistake - we were OK for while but it all welled up again (she informed me that she'd forgiven me for what she alleged I'd done to her back then, plus a load of other behaviours we've seen in Markle) and I had to go No Contact.
I don't think the BRF was pushing the idea that Catherine was this magical peacemaker.
I think it was Camp Sussex.
That is classic come here, go away manipulation of trash and praise. And it was not real praise at all. It was putting her in a bad position of no win (we all knew the relationship was pretty much completely history and now we truly do with Lacey's book shows how irrevocable) - she would appear to be a failure since even she could not fix it after being this vaunted miracle worker who could be the one who repairs it. Besides, they of all would know she could not "say anything" to set the record straight with the never explain/complain any more than she could say anything about what really happened about the dresses.
`The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser and the Wardrobe' -
No prize for guessing who the Witch might be - tho' I think Wm's the Lion!
A politely worded letter from a solicitor to start with.
thank you!! the Times has a paywall and your postings are far better than the shortened DM version.
HMTQ has taken the gloves off and handed them to William 3 years earlier than we realized. There is a reason that William is the first born son and Lacey's book shows us in full plain words. These excerpts are the reasons for Scobie's re-issue to racism charges, a bit more centered but vague just the same. How I wish that Charles, or HMTQ would put these two in California in their places - no titles, to be in keeping with their specific request to be separate from the royal family that they continuely attack.
@Charade
Thank you, sorry for being a bit
tetchy. But he needs to realise
when he’s gone too far.
A bit of fun helps us all,
don’t take the p..s
laughter is the best medicine
Cheers 👍
All I did was write a poem. I promise that it was not directed at you or to criticize you in any way. The poem had only to do with M/H and the Royal Family. It was directed at them.
Lady C VICTORY/MONEY TALKS/News Channel fightback/Meghan's book sales FABRICATED/countering zealots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qVPeTXIq2Y
They posted a screencap of a Daily Mail story from May of 2021 headline reads "Phillip for a boy? Pregnant Princess Beatrice could pay tribute to her late grandfather or..."
In the text of the article it says Beatrice is considering LILY as a name if she has a girl, as a tribute to her grandmother's childhood name Lilibet.
I don't have a link to this article because it was a screenshot of the headline but I'm sure it can be found based on the title.
Am loving the powerful Prince William angle of him throwing PH out, that is a leadership move and I find it interesting it is repeatedly attached to these accounts – sounds like this is the real message, what do y’all think?
---------
Wasn't this also around the time that PW was notified of discrepancies in the Royal Foundation funds? Attributable to the Harkles having removed 300,000 pounds with no receipts or explanation of where the monies had gone to?
And PW then ordered a forensic audit of the RF funds? Also good leadership.
No wonder mm skedaddled so fast back to Canada, leaving H to face the music alone.
I personally think she was told leave and if you come back there will be legal consequences. H was maybe unknowingly involved; it would have been at her instigation since he never showed any indication of doing anything financially fraudulent previously.
Link below.
Could simply have been author speculation but makes one wonder if Meghan has ever had an original thought in her head.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9595307/The-royal-names-Princess-Beatrice-call-new-baby.html
In the text of the article it says Beatrice is considering LILY as a name if she has a girl, as a tribute to her grandmother's childhood name Lilibet.
---------
Hmmm. An article came out earlier than this one said Lilibet and Lili were a last minute name consideration for the Harkles. Wonder why that was. Haha. I don't wonder at all.
I am also somewhat concerned that WBBM has been plagued by narcs. I am sure she wonders why me. I have often been similarly plagued by bullies. Why me I always wonder as I cut all contact. Sectioning does I seem to recall require two medical doctors. The system can be abused. I once had a girlfriend whose mother had been so sectioned as a result of which and I quote said gf became 'her father's wife and daughter in every way'. At the time I did not quite grasp what she was implying - I am so naïve.
Because predators can sniff out the ideal victim. I myself am particularly vulnerable to flattery and womanizers, I have to be very careful about that but have been stung many times anyway.
Like magnets basically. The two charges attract each other for whatever subsection (narcs, bullies, womanizers, violent husbands, etc).
That's my theory.
Note I'm not victim-blaming here I'm just pointing out people are generally shaped into patterns and tend to remain in those patterns.
In my own family I have leverage over my father because... there are things he could have done better which he knows I know and I've been one of the only people willing to confront him on these things. This gives me a small amount of power.
Harry may have the same guilt-power over Charles but he DOESN'T have it over Will.
Just a thought on family dynamics. Plus Charles is a pussy.
At the time I thought that they were on the verge of having Archie being discovered to be plastic or surrogacy.
Later I wondered if it was because they were on the verge of the bullying misdeeds becoming public.
But now I'm wondering if they were running because they were on the verge of being discovered with felony levels of financial misappropriation.
How many people would have *this* many possibilities for misdeeds in their lives?
Mm was a disaster all the way around for H as well as the BRF.
Opus - I firmly believe that some people are just targets for specific types of others. ....
Because predators can sniff out the ideal victim. ...
Like magnets basically. The two charges attract each other for whatever reason
-------
Completely agree. I'm a prime target for a narc.
I try to be aware, but can still sometimes get caught up in it.
Can anyone who hangs out on Lipstick Alley tell me why they keep referring to Meghan as Peg or Peggy?
HA. I think SirStinx hit this point on the head as well.
In my own life I have had many narcs. My father and Mr. Musty 1.0. It finally occurred to me that I am part of the problem. As the child of a narc, this is all I knew. I thought all men were like my father and hence married a narc (the first time). After he threw the children and me out on the street, I met a man who was NOT a narc.
It was life changing.
He is Mr. Musty 2.0, the new and improved version.
What I'm saying is if that is all you know, than narcs are your "normal"
Nothing in particular (you asked what I wanted to look up on your blog), just sometimes this blog gets political and the snarky comments towards government officials makes me uneasy (flashback to my childhood).
@Hunter
Glad you appreciate my screen name. It made me giggle, yet again, of how I arrived at that name.
How did you come up with your screen name?
I have a rather "ethnic" name so I was used to receiving post with it misspelled, to put it politely--really more like having my name mangled. But when I got one addressed to "MustySyphone" all I could think was "do you really think someone named their child musty syphone?"
Someone on there just referred to Scobie as "melting Victorian doll face man" and I am dying.
Thanks for your reply. It is so annoying to have one"s name mangled.
You made the best of it. 😎
I read the Newsweek article. At the end it is stated "The Duke and Duhess of Sussex decline to comment."
In case anyone was wondering how many copies you have to sell to top a Children’s Picture Book best sellers list, here is the @PublishersWkly
chart and the number is 15,742. The Bench - Second in the children's illustration category. Units sold 15.742.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/nielsen/kidspicture.html
Obviously Nutties, I appreciate all of you too. This is our time! We have been waiting so patiently for the Kraken. I don’t think that doll face William Cambridge and his bulging vaccinated biceps have looked sexier, especially since kicking his poop head brother and narc sociopath unhinged sister-in-law out. As the ladies on LSA say, Wills has that BDE!
See https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7tqsb5
Could they possibly be thinking of Mad Margaret in the G&S operetta `Ruddigore?' That's a skit on Victorian melodrama, the original was probably the one called Raymond & Agnes' - it has almost all the elements of the present narrative!
`https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_and_Agnes
From `Ruddigore': Act 1
Mar. That's well! Then you don't love Sir Despard Murgatroyd? All mad girls love him. I love him. I'm poor Mad Margaret—Crazy Meg—Poor Peg! He! he! he! he!
It's what they grew up with, either as victims or witnesses. I used to watch a lot of "Loveline" with Dr. Drew Pinsky on Mtv before he moved to radio. He knew enough about childhood abuse that he could tell which female callers had been traumatized (usually sexually) as children by their little-girl voices. He could also pick out the potheads. If the show was "faked" or engineered, they did a good job of it.
:)
Part One
"First, I'd like to state that I work for certain people in aristocratic circles. This story begins all the way back in 2014, when Prince Harry was seriously considering marriage to one Miss Cressida Bonas. The truth is, they agreed to get engaged in late 2015 and marry in 2016, but this never happened, as we all are painfully aware. The media reports stated that Cressida didn't want to be royalty, but in truth, they were offered this deal: to be working royals and do less than a 120 engagements a year and retire early, once William's children are old enough to take the bulk of the work. Cressida was actually fine with this, she intended to model herself after Mrs Wessex, to be pretty low-key, have two children close in age and live a cozy life. Rumour has it that Harry was asking his grandmother for a ring from a certain royal collection.
Now, this fell through. Why? Not because Cressida didn't want to be a royal, she certainly didn't mind living in a palace and getting access to the box of chocolates that Her Majesty owns, but she could not. stand. her husband. comparing her. to her. sister-in-law.
It is known in these circles that Harry has a sick tendency to one-up his brother. Everything needs to be better than William's, he wanted the 1A apartment or Diana's old apartments but was denied, he wanted separate sec. from William's, he wanted a Dukedom in 2011, he wanted more. When William married in 2011 and he saw the wave of praise and popularity, he wanted just the same. Hw wanted a wife that could measure up to Mrs Cambridge in looks, popularity and appeal. Whatever Cressida did, he compared her to Mrs Cambridge. Mrs Cambridge told him this several times as she has a soft spot for him, but it felt on dead ears. Mrs Cambridge advised Miss Bonas to think about the engagement and Miss Bonas, bearing on ill will to Mrs Cambridge, thought of the former Mrs Wales and decided to dip.
Cue in years of chasing after her which failed miserably. His previous long term lady didn't want to marry, period, but this one seemed good. So he went on a search and encountered the future Mrs Sussex. She was very much a yes-woman. Everything went, at first, the parties, the drinks, the hunting. Except Mrs Sussex had a different reaction to being compared to Mrs Cambridge. Instead of calling him out and leaving, she took it as a, in her head, little competition."
"Mrs Sussex was willing to join the game of attempting to harm and one up Mr and Mrs Cambridge. Cue in the curiously wrong colour of dress for a certain royal event, I think it was something where the theme was cream and blue and she wore something dark green/olive green. Mrs Sussex has a particular disdain for Mrs Cambridge and Mrs Tindall, except that Mrs Tindall told her off pretty quickly and never spoke to her because of an argument around a wedding date. Mrs Cambridge and Mrs Tindall would both either been post partum or expecting at the time so they both asked for the wedding date to be pushed after a certain date, but Mrs Sussex was having none of it. No one knows why.
How does poor Miss Bonas tie into this? Mr Sussex got cold feet. Multiple times before the wedding. He attempter to compensate by getting a certain colour of carpet and something out of granny's box of chocolates for the Mrs. but it just wasn't it. Miss Bonas even visited Mr Sussex days before the wedding and stayed a long time there. No one knows a thing about the conversation, but we can guess.
The rumour mill has it that Mrs Sussex might attempt to pull something the late Mrs Wales did with the former Mrs Parker-Bowles once they split which will be sooner than we expect and her victim of choice might be Miss Bonas. Of course, Miss Bonas isn't Miss Bonas anymore, she is Mrs Wentworth-Stanley now. See, two last names now, pieces are falling into place for Mrs Sussex.
Except... Mrs Sussex has a big enemy. He is actually big, quite a tall lad, with a very difficult job position waiting for him, like CEO and owner of the company at the same time. Mr and Mrs Sussex are petrified of him because they know if he releases the kraken, Mrs Sussex will be done. And she will take Mr Sussex with her. Mrs Sussex intends to do a series of interviews in this year, pretending each is the last and only. Except this time, she is very aware that her enemy is looming over her."
Posted by Anonymous, of course, but it is fun to speculate.
I used to be worried about finding myself in one of these relationships until I had a stark realization. I have a rather *cough* "strong" personality as some people generously phrase it (whatever that means) and in my late teens/early 20s I realized the type of man who will abuse his wife would never be attracted to me in the first place. Woooo!! Small wins.
Ah Mom Mobile – I don’t comment there either because other LSA threads have given me the distinct opinion they are not looking for white people to chime in on anything, which… hey people of like mind deserve to have their own spaces. I do enjoy their references to Will’s BDE, lol!!
WBBM – you may be more right about the Meggy/Peggy angle because it seems to be said in a more derogatory than salacious manner, as though it's the diminutive of all diminutives - plus LSA seems to have quite a few Brits on board so it fits under that too.
Police quizzed Charles over Diana murder conspiracy - Mail investigation reveals full details of Yard chief's interview with Prince over wild crash claims
Last days of Diana, The devastating truth.
Why do you think Princess wrote this note, Sir.
My battle to save her (doctor's testimony).
- to be followed by further reports during the week, such as 'Her last haunting phone call.
Why now?
It may have been planned for the run-up to the statue unveiling, but I believe it was directed at #6. There were probably plates smashed over the pond over the Lacey book excerpts in the Times so I expect that the duo are now scrabbling for retaliation.
Apart from the obvious racism accusations what do they have left? #6 has hinted that he believes his family caused his mothers accident and I'm sure that the RF are expecting that to be their next move. If that is true these articles are brilliant move!
I must admit to being concerned about the consequences of all this. I have long suspected that #6w may one day soon be dragged out of mudslide mansion screaming "look what you made me do!".
God Catherine just seems like such a class act doesn't she? Telling Harry he needs to STOP putting Cresida in such a dumb no-win position and then (presumably) talking to Cresida and asking her if this is the life she really wants to herself. That's... kinda badass, sounds like she has a big heart.
Did they have a blue carpet or no carpet?
I’ve seen schizophrenia and Bipolar 1 up close. They do not have these. Her anxiety issues can cause her to look and act like low grade ‘mania’ at times.
Meghan is a narcissist and potentially a sociopath.
Harry is a codependent, and possibly a narcissist as well.
These are my conclusions. I suppose we will find out Harry’s official diagnosis eventually with the Kraken. As a narcissist, (and just as they claimed) Meghan will never get help.
I wish it was your guess, makes a much better story!
Found a picture of the new paperback edition on robertlacey.com and it is stated on the cover that it is "Fully Revised and Updated Includes Twelve New Chapters" which confirms what you all found in the DM.
..................
Thanks for this Midge!
I just rechecked the UK amazon offering and they also have the sticker added to the cover stating it has been updated - I did not notice this when I looked earlier.
I still don't understand why they would NOT put the fact that it has been updated in the Amazon description or title and would only rely on a small sticker on the book image! oh well
However, I do not believe Zara argued about H&M's wedding date. Lena was born in mid-June. Obviously Z likely wouldn't have been up to going to a wedding until at least July 1 and that could hit Wimbledon. There were also lots of events for the Centenary of the Royal Air Force that year.
And HMTQ rarely schedules big stuff July-Aug-Sept.
I know some people thought Kate's delivery date should have been considered more. While its unfortunate it came together as it did, I really don't think anything should have been done different. Those things happen in families all the time. And unlike in more ordinary families, 3-weeks post-partum Kate didn't have to do a bunch of stuff like help set up the reception decor. Or bake the cake! Late May and then June had the Trooping (multiple weekends, not just the June balcony day.) It also had the Ascot. And Philip's birthday. There just wasn't a way to schedule it later unless it was in the fall IMO.
The date may have had to do with M's visa. Or maybe not. But I seriously doubt Meghan set the date. And as awful and as controlling as she is, I just don't believe Kate and Zara fought with M about that.
I took that as Prince William. He will be leading the Firm onward and upward which will have a bigger impact than (my guess) his father?
Just a well-known Firm, with an incumbent CEO & 2 more in the wings!
Someone (sorry) said point blank that 6 has nothing over Prince William. And I thought that very telling about what 6/6w's UK links/future will look like when William becomes king.
Puds said...
Jenns computers going fuzzy when the Krakens waking up! What a time to do that! Perhaps its excited at the news.
.........
LOL Puds - this cracked me up! I hope the Kraken doesn't blow my laptop up before my new one arrives!😲
⭐⭐There's so much to unpack yet...
What's really sticking out to me so far:
- how the kraken uncovers all the lies the Harkles told via their sources/PR agents. I just can't believe they submitted these lies to the media who printed them on both sides of the pond. I'm thinking specifically of the lie they spun claiming they chose to leave Kensington palace rather than being thrown out by William. The story they told entered into the "general knowledge" of Harkle history and is repeated in books about the Sussexes.
- how EARLY Markle started causing trouble! She revealed enough of her actual "agenda" to make W&K suspicious long before she walked up the aisle. And the bullying of the aides started early as well - long before the wedding.
I find this so amazing - how could she have been so unafraid that they would not pull the plug when they saw her behavior? What made her so confident that the wedding would still take place when William saw she was not going to fit in and had her own self-absorbed agenda? They could have told them to get married on their own which would have removed them from the firm / line of succession - something we are all pushing for now.
- the fact that the article openly discusses their major mental illnesses. Imo Markle shows signs of the Dark Triad and I think Harry is bipolar. Does this mean they will be revealing the potential child scams next?
- the info on Jason Knauf helps to ease the knowledge that he let ANL/MOS down with the abrupt change in his involvement during the last hearing for the copyright/privacy case. I now have hope that he is still very active in the bullying investigation.
- the amount of content addressing the bullying...could this mean the investigation is uncovering a lot of evidence against her and can be used to defang them?
Re Lacey's bookz I xheck your link to amazon.co.uk., the blurb says 608 pages but when I 'looked inside', it showed 28 chapters and the bibliography starting on page 381, so say maximym400 pages? There are many illustrations, the last one being on page 361.
We'll be able to check for ourselves in a few days.
I am not familiar with Ruddigore and Gilbert's allusions but your referring to it as Raymond and Agnes jumped out at me for that is the name of an opera by Edward Loder which he wrote in 1855. It is based on Lewis' famed gothic novel The Monk. Loder is England's Verdi. I have heard much of it though not seen the score. More useless information.
Love this latest tea! Now let's inspect it...
I'm not familiar enough with Diana history to understand this reference-can anyone fill me in?...
"The rumour mill has it that Mrs Sussex might attempt to pull something the late Mrs Wales did with the former Mrs Parker-Bowles once they split which will be sooner than we expect and her victim of choice might be Miss Bonas. Of course, Miss Bonas isn't Miss Bonas anymore, she is Mrs Wentworth-Stanley now. See, two last names now, pieces are falling into place for Mrs Sussex.
I think the big enemy is obviously William - all the clues fit...
"He is actually big, quite a tall lad, with a very difficult job position waiting for him, like CEO and owner of the company at the same time. Mr and Mrs Sussex are petrified of him because they know if he releases the kraken, Mrs Sussex will be done. And she will take Mr Sussex with her."
Some issues:
Cressida not only stated she didn't like the attention of being royal but also that it interfered with her career as an actor. I always got the impression she walked away from that relationship without a problem.
The date of Harry's wedding was set with his upcoming Aussie tour in mind. The RF had already planned that tour before MM came around but once they saw she was going to marry him it was decided as a mixed-race person she would enhance the visit to those commonwealth countries. They scheduled the wedding early enough for them to live as a married couple for a few months before taking off on the tour together. This info about scheduling and the tour was in news articles at the time. Lady CC mentioned that the RF was initially happy to welcome a mixed race woman thinking it would modernize the monarchy.
I'm thinking specifically of the lie they spun claiming they chose to leave Kensington palace rather than being thrown out by William.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It could be that the BRF agreed to say that H & his strumpet had decided to leave KP as a face saving exercise but seeing the Harkles' subsequent atrocious behaviour, they've now decided the gloves are off.
Was Cressida the one at the wedding that seemed so upset? One of H’s girlfriends looked super upset. Didn’t MM forbid her from attending the reception? The optics certainly seem set up for playing the same card Diana did in the Martin Bashir interview. In MM’s mind Harry is playing Charles, Cressida is Camilla, and MM is… oh that’s right, how could I forget!?! SAINT OF VICTIMHOOD DIANA.
Damn. I didn’t think MM was sane enough to play the long game but she’s probably been planning her exit from H since the moment she met him.
Regarding the book, I just went back to amazon hoping there might be titles for the additional chapters only to find that the "look inside" is for the hardcover version! The whole deal with the updated book not being advertised nor described is ridiculous. I can't believe how much time I wasted both last night and today because the info wasn't provided. How could the Times offer an excerpt from a book and not even explain that it was an updated version of an earlier edition. Times readers were confused too. Hopefully we'll find out more when it's released. It might have more kraken info!
Re the Harkle lies. I guess that makes sense - the Palace never corrected the false information. Those lies were quite detailed and I plan to dig them up and post them on my blog when I have time.🤣
I remember asking the blog a while back about "never explain, never complain' and I think you were the one who answered me. Whether it was you or not would you mind explaining it to me now...why would the palace think it better for major lies to be told about them (like those the Harkles spun in the interview) than simply put out statements to correct them? It can't be all about dignity. Those lies have become well-rooted globally and unless the palace makes some kind of move in the near future I don't think they will ever be able to shake them. I know there are unusual circumstances w/ h+m but what is the philosophy behind this thought process of not explaining? TIA😊
@Mom Mobile
It was Chelsy that some people thought looked upset - but it might have just been a serious moment the camera caught her in. I watched the wedding and didn't think she seemed upset.
He was with Chelsy a lot longer.
Both Chelsy and Cressida were not invited to the evening affair. Markle left a lot of people out of that - many of H's old friends, the Suits cast, Harry's more attractive cousins!!
Oh, but Oprah was invited!
I thought that Cressida wasn't very interested in Harry but I could be wrong. I just got the impression her acting career was more important to her. I remember reading she was accused of dating him to get her profile raised. But she didn't want to commit to being a royal as she felt it would hamper her career.
Also they fought over his cheapness! He wouldn't pay for her airline ticket to go with him to his friend's wedding in the US. She didn't go to the wedding and I think she broke up with him after that.
With all this tea I haven't checked out the Diana "murder' story yet! WTH!!!😲 What the heck is that about?
Damn. I didn’t think MM was sane enough to play the long game but she’s probably been planning her exit from H since the moment she met him.
The admission of suicidal ideation during the Oprah interview was impulsive in that case. She never admitted to getting counseling for her depression. Even though H has openly broadcast that he is. That will hurt her in a custody battle. A judge will want a mental evaluation on her if she fights for cudtody of the kids. Not to mention Charles may be king at y hat point, giving him custody of minors. I do think the Sussexs kept FrogCott as their official address in UK. Which would make a divorce in the USA more difficult for M. Its not unusual for rich people to have more than one residence. Jurisdiction matters.
Once Will is POW he will hold the purse strings. He is the future king and he has already kicked them out of the foundation and KP. He knows what MM truly is. I think they are both jealous and afraid.
And delusional to think that the RF was jealous of MM in Aussie!🤣
Meet the Sussex Sultans of Spin: How a nine-strong team including Nick Clegg's ex-aide, the producer of a revenge movie and a celebrity lawyer are trying to help Harry and Meghan win the royal briefing war
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/meghan-markle/index.html
from the Daily Mail: "Charles won't let Archie be a Prince"
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9704475/Prince-Charles-wont-let-Archie-prince-plans-slim-monarchy-save-costs.html
I am going to run out of popcorn at this rate!
Charles won't let Archie be a prince: Prince of Wales's plan not to include grandson among slimmed-down lower cost frontline royals is revealed as row that ignited Oprah outburst
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9704475/Prince-Charles-wont-let-Archie-prince-plans-slim-monarchy-save-costs.html
Harry wants his own journalist at Diana memorial as it's revealed how 'hurt William threw him out' of household in row over Meghan bullying claims
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9704473/Hurt-William-threw-Harry-Rift-began-row-bullying-claims-against-Meghan.html
Just a minor point:
Pr of Wales is a title that has to be bestowed on the heir when he's adult. Once, however, the parent is monarch, said heir becomes D of Cornwall automatically - PC became D ofC in 1952, aged 3yrs 2& 1/2mnths.
Don't worry tho' - Will as D of Cornwall will hold the purse strings & I think H is out of it altogether - in fact, didn't someone point out that H isn't entitled to Duchy money now anyway.
He's not the Dof C's heir, that G,C & L. That's why the money is said to come from other of PC's funds.
I can't remember writing about “never complain, never explain” but I don't mind explaining. The phrase was coined by a politician, Benjamin Disraeli, who was a former prime minister (1874-80). The phrase was subsequently adopted by the Queen mother. It encapsulates the stiff upper lip so hated by M. Also, as far as the BRF is concerned, I think it would be extremely unseemly for them to start replying to every spat or criticism, and also very undignified so it's best for them to keep their own counsel. I think the BRF also knows that “today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip papers”, in other words will be quickly forgotten.
The phrase has served them well but the 6s' diabolical shenanigans demands a complete change in attitude. Not counterattacks as such but a calm rebuttal of allegations.
Hope this makes sense :-)
Just caught up. At the start of these posts someone was talking about Catherine X-X who worked for Gates’ leaving the Sussexs after only 12 months.
Weren’t there discussions here a year ago betting she would only be with them for that amount of time because PC was picking up their tab for a year.
Part 1
Charles won't let Archie be a prince: Prince of Wales's plan not to include grandson among slimmed-down lower cost frontline royals is revealed as row that ignited Oprah outburst
• Prince Charles made it clear Archie will have no place among frontline Royals
• The move incensed the Sussexes and is thought to have prompted their outburst
• A grandchild of the sovereign has long had the right to be a Prince
• Charles wants to change legal documents in order to limit the number of Royals
By KATE MANSEY FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 22:00, 19 June 2021 | UPDATED: 22:00, 19 June 2021
Prince Charles is to ensure that his two-year-old grandson Archie will never be a Prince, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The heir to the throne has made it clear that Harry and Meghan's son will have no place among frontline Royals as he plans a slimmed-down Monarchy after he becomes King.
The move has incensed the Sussexes and is thought to have prompted the series of bitter accusations the couple have levelled at Charles and the Royal Family from across the Atlantic.
A grandchild of the sovereign has long had the right to be a Prince, but Charles is determined to limit the number of key Royals, believing the public does not wish to pay for an ever-expanding Monarchy.
Charles has told the Sussexes that he will change key legal documents to ensure that Archie cannot get the title he would once have inherited by right, according to a source close to the couple.
The decision, which follows months of fraught discussion behind the scenes, has plunged relations between Harry and his relatives to a dangerous new low.
'Harry and Meghan were told Archie would never be a Prince, even when Charles became King,' confirmed the source.
The revelation comes amid a series of explosive claims by respected Royal biographer Robert Lacey whose newly revised book Battle Of The Brothers states:
• Prince William in effect threw Harry out of their combined Royal household following complaints that Meghan had been bullying their aides – a claim she has denied as a 'calculated smear';
• William had been horrified by Meghan's alleged bullying and confronted his brother in person;
• One Kensington Palace staffer described Meghan as 'a narcissist and sociopath – basically unhinged';
• William believed Meghan was 'stealing his beloved brother away from him' and felt hurt and betrayed by Harry.
Meanwhile, The Mail on Sunday has learned that Harry demanded the right to approve at least one writer or journalist to work alongside the usual 'press pack' of Royal reporters at the unveiling of the statue to Princess Diana next month, so deep is his distrust of the British media.
The full details of Charles's plan for a slimmed-down Monarchy have never been revealed, but it has been speculated that only heirs to the throne and their immediate families will receive full titles, financial support from the public purse through the Sovereign Grant and police protection funded by the taxpayer.
Charles and his younger brother, the Duke of York, have already been at loggerheads about what security Andrew's daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie should receive in future. Now Harry and Meghan have found themselves caught up, too.
Insiders suggest they hadn't seen the move coming, and were shocked to find that Charles will take the active step of changing legal instruments known as the Letters Patent in order to exclude Archie and others.
The loss will be all the more galling as the Sussexes have made a point of refusing to use another, lesser title for their son, who is technically the Earl of Dumbarton. They took that decision safe in the knowledge that Archie would become a Prince in due course. Or so they thought.
Earlier this year, a source close to the Sussexes confirmed they did indeed expect Archie to be named a Prince when Charles, Archie's grandfather, acceded to the throne. Their spokesman at the time was even instructed to remind journalists of that 'fact'.
The Sussexes finally learned that would not be the case just before sitting down with Oprah Winfrey for their first bombshell interview in March.
Insiders suggest the issue was still raw at the time of the recording – which might help account for the devastating criticisms they unleashed on the show, including the damaging implication that an unnamed senior member of the Royal Family had referred to Archie in a racist way.
It also throws a spotlight on one section of the interview which had raised eyebrows at the time. Speaking to Oprah, Meghan recalled how, when she had been pregnant, 'They [the Royal Family] were saying they didn't want him to be a Prince or a Princess'.
She continued: 'You know, the other piece of that convention is, there's a convention – I forget if it was George V or George VI convention – that when you're the grandchild of the monarch, so when Harry's dad becomes King, automatically Archie and our next baby would become Prince or Princess, or whatever they were going to be… But also it's not their right to take it away.'
This puzzled Royal watchers, who reminded the Sussexes they had very publicly declared that they didn't want a title for their son, who would be known as Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.
Some pointed out that a son of Prince Harry's – a great-grandchild of the Queen – had no automatic right to be titled a Prince, or receive a security allowance. But that was to ignore the real drama taking place behind the scenes. Because Meghan was actually referring to the secret news that Archie would never become a Prince, not even when Charles was King.
A source said: 'This is what nobody realised from the interview. The real thing was that Charles was going to take active steps to strip Archie of his ultimate birthright.'
The existing rules for Royal titles were established in Letters Patent dated November 20, 1917.
In these, King George V, the Queen's grandfather, allowed the title of Prince and Princess to be given to the children of the sovereign, the children of the sovereign's sons and the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales – in this case, Prince George.
Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, William's daughter and younger son, received their titles not by right but as gifts of the Queen, who issued new Letters Patent to that effect in 2013. Similarly, when King, Charles will have the power to change George V's Letters Patent how he sees fit – and so streamline The Firm.
An insider said: 'Charles has never made any secret of the fact that he wants a slimmed-down Monarchy when he becomes King.
'He realises that the public don't want to pay for a huge Monarchy and, as he said, the balcony at Buckingham Palace would probably collapse.'
Even now, not all grandchildren of the Queen are titled Prince or Princess. As she is a daughter, not a son, of the sovereign, Princess Anne's children had no automatic right to the title but out of choice she also declined lesser titles for her children Peter and Zara.
The Queen's youngest son, Prince Edward, thought it prudent not to name his daughter and son as Princess and Prince. Instead, they are titled Lady and Viscount respectively.
A Royal source said last night: 'We are not going to speculate about the succession or comment on rumours coming out of America.'
`Charles has told the Sussexes that he will change key legal documents to ensure that Archie cannot get the title he would once have inherited by right, according to a source close to the couple'.
`... because Meghan was actually referring to the secret news that Archie would never become a Prince, not even when Charles was King...>
A source said: 'This is what nobody realised from the interview. The real thing was that Charles was going to take active steps to strip Archie of his ultimate birthright.'
So who released this? Does it affect the veracity of the story - or are they, for about the first time in recent history, telling the truth?
This is also ignoring the other issue - so far there is no indisputable evidence that either of the 2 children they claim to have produced is `of the body' - for all we know, they could have arrived by warming pan. As it stands at the moment, I assume they have no ultimate birthright.
Are you saying that the position of Duchy of Cornwall is the position that controls the money and not the POW spot?
Knowing they keep track of what is being said about them on social media, we can be certain they know of all the suspicion and theories about Archie yet they have done nothing to stop that speculation.
`Prince Charles was made the Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester by letters patent on 26 July 1958, but the official investiture was not held until 1 July 1969' when he was almost 20.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_of_the_Prince_of_Wales
`Duke of Cornwall' is the regular usage for him when he's in the West Country - also elsewhere when he's with his duchess.
---------------
Edward VII became PoW by Letters Patent without investiture. I'm not sure about his predecessors - apart from the story of the very first Prince of Wales.
----------------
Geo V's son David, (ie future Edw VIII). was invested (well, we had a Welsh PM at the time) his coronet etc are in the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.
The Duchy’s 1337 charter established that The Duke of Cornwall is the eldest surviving son of the monarch and the Heir to The Throne. When the current Prince of Wales accedes the throne, The Duke of Cambridge will become Duke of Cornwall.
1. They had broken up before the Jamaica wedding where she surprised him by showing up. He did not look happy to see her. I remember a lot of press at the time (I am sure put out by her PR) about the romantic stay in a Jamaican hotel.
2. The seeming ambush at the Invictus games in the box by Doria, Marcus, and Her. He seemed surrounded.
3. The look exchanged between them during the wedding when the Archbishop mentioned children.
4. The looks and facial expressions of the RF during the wedding.
5. Trapping a man into marriage through pregnancy is one of the oldest tricks in the book.
We have discussed all these events before, but I thought it is a good reminder of his reluctance. He was very nervous before the wedding. I think he was being railroaded into it.
I agree that William is the mysterious CEO the 6s are frightened of.
I couldnt figure out the Camilla reference. I agree with @Momsmobile that 6w might try to pull a third person in to blame for a divorce.
So this really answers some Toad Hall mysteries, doesn't it? They never wanted to live there, were forced into it, and so rebelled by living elsewhere. I bet they absconded with sone if the funds PC gave them for refurbishment... like the copper tub.
I also think that the 6s were told, BEFORE the wedding that their children would not be made prince/princess. This is the source of the "what color" story she made up on the spot.
Its fortunate PC has long documented his desire forva "slimmed down" monarchy.
So many little things are slotting into place. Like the Harkles fury at the "Four Monarchs" portrait.
We may finally be getting some answers. And if this keeps up, we may truly hear the surrogacy truth as some recent rumours pointed to.
River is going to plotz
So will Lady C, lol
Good points. You would think that Harry would know that his father had plans to slim down numbers especially since he already made some changes with Eugenie and Beatrice.
I also think that this kraken really is from the Sussex camp in an initial trying to make the BRF look bad for not treating them as well as they feel they ought to be. Or, it is a fent from the UK side as a power move?
Will H drag Scabies to the Diana do??
What a perfect "plus one"!
at 1:56am
Wow Puds...that is a perfect synopsis of Megxit!
I agree 100%
I know the idea of Harry groveling to Will for Duchy money has been expressed here many times. But I just don't think that has any basis in fact. Harry's support was never going to be Will's problem before he was king. And after he was king, iy would be his problem only if H was a working royal.
While I think this blog is remarkably accurate re: our understanding of factual matters, there are "themes" we see emerge regularly that just aren't accurate (at least not in my opinion.) This is one. Another is the idea that in these modern times, the monarch has custody of all minor children in the BRF. And a final one is that Harry and his children can be removed from the line of succession by a mere wave of the royal magic wand. (Wish that one was true!)
It's nice to get answers especially when so many are confirming what we already suspected. I know I never believed they wanted to live at FrogCott rather than the Kensington Palace apartment. We had also heard they tried to mooch lodgings in Windsor castle! I personally think FrogCott is pretty and I love the history of it but I don't think I'd like the sogginess nor abundant frogs. I doubt princess megalo would be happy there.
How confidant are you in that tea? Did you see some of the points we made on parts that seem off. I'm not sure I believe he was going to marry Cressida - what's your opinion on that?
The money to support Harry has to come from the Sovereign Grant.
JennS - she did not want to leave KP and go to a not as central to the action location. That was clear through FF.
I agree with you that Harry seemed somehow pushed into that marriage. It just becomes more of a mystery that he went through with it as we learn how badly MM treated his family and staff before she even walked up the aisle.
Why couldn't he see how nasty she was and dump her - why didn't his family put a stop to it? I'm not sure threats of racism accusations were enough to prevent them from stopping an inappropriate wedding. We now know that William was suspicious of her having an agenda prior to their marriage! Her lying about a pregnancy could have done the trick or it might have been Harry's desperation for a partner, any partner.
I used to be unsure about the story they broke up but came across a good list on Plant's site of points and events that supported it. I'll have to dig it out and post it here.
2020, Robert Lacey’s book. I just read it on my Kindle. It ends when covid first started. They had moved to LA and he obviously had good informers regarding the brothers’ relationship souring before H got married. I kind of liked the book, as he doesn’t gloss over the way they act. Picked up some new details. Maybe a revised edition is coming out this month? I’m in the US.
What I have:
Robert Lacey, Battle of the Brothers
Publisher: Harper (October 20, 2020)
Publication date: October 20, 2020
Language: English
Print length: 400 pages
Amazon.com Sales Rank #2,524 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
#2 in Biographies of Royalty (Kindle Store)
#3 in Royalty Biographies
#3 in Sibling Relationships (Kindle Store)
Article by Camilla Long
ROFL, omg that article is priceless! I particularly like:
"Enter, by contrast, the arid, intellectually dead world of The Bench and you will encounter a frictionless non-universe created with fragile men-children like Prince Harry in mind. The whole book seems to be addressed to a weeping simpleton who doesn’t quite understand fatherhood or, for that matter, park benches (he’s told, “This is your bench, where you’ll witness great joy”, as if he has never sat on one)."
(hmmm, I guess copy & paste doesnt pick up the bold texting. I apologize.)
The tea from earlier...I agree there are a lot of holes. I actually posted it as a bit of fun and speculation. The anonymous posting on Tumblr makes me take most of the comments with a grain of salt.
And I agree about tge investigation! WTH is taking so long.
Twitter can have you tried, convicted and cancelled in about 20 minutes. Sheesh.
I read an excellent article about the whole #1 Bestseller!!
list recently. Was that here? The author had not even written a book (and then wrote about his foot?) and for $2 got himself listed as a bestseller. His point was that basically only USA bestseller lists had any credibility and the NYT lists were paid to shill books.
And I dont think Amazon scrupulously vetts the reviewers for all of their books. The sugars could be loading many reviews for one purchase. They are the only ones buying the thing.
I'm sorry I dont remember who posted that...Lots going on here.
And I agree about H being hounded into marriage. He looked shell shocked. But by the wedding he was all in. He was the only happy one at the wedding. Wonder what caused the turn around?
*USA Today bestseller lists.
Re: titles
I believe H knew long before M ever came along that his children would not have titles. Charles has been talking about it for ages. H has given many interviews over the years stating he wanted a normal life and was considering leaving the RF. I think he genuinely wanted his children to be safe from media scrutiny.
I think H told M there would be no titles for the children before marriage. During the engagement interview he said he was happy to find a girl that wanted him not his title. M knew and just thought she could manipulate Charles or the Queen into changing their mind. As many have noted, she appeared to be love bombing them from the start.
After she became pregnant with Archie, she was informed again. Allegedly, she had a huge tantrum that was recorded by someone but hasn't been made public (yet).
I think that she had been told by courtiers that she considered 'low level' that Charles and the Queen was unlikely to change their mind for her. When someone higher up, maybe Charles himself, explained to her why, she went ballistic. A few months before the birth, the Sussexs started becoming extremely secretive and demanding privacy.
After Archie was born, still no title. So they moved to Canada and then California. I suspect during the Sandringham summit and every conversation since with Charles or the Queen the topic of titles has been brought up. The only way to make it clear to the Sussexs and the public is to announce it now. There will be no Prince Archie or Princess Lili.
So my speculation is that Charles refuses to allow the new baby to be christened in any of their chapels. He will not allow it to wear "the" royal christening gown. Remember, we know that she is desperate to tie her offspring to anything royal and imo, the most important is the sacred christening in the traditional royal gown. That image kind of anoint the child as a royal baby.
The timing of the birth (brought forward) was so that she could follow Harry to the UK for the unveiling of the statute and also a christening for the new baby.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/15332221/prince-charles-no-plans-meet-harry/
Charles will sadly be in Scotland when H is in London (oh the horror!) for the unveiling.
Who thinks H will cancel at the last minute? He did brazen out the funeral of PP.
“ Meghan portrayed herself as the victim,” recalled one Kensington Palace staffer, “but she was the bully. People felt run over by her. They didn’t know how to handle this woman. They thought she was a complete narcissist and sociopath — basically unhinged. Which was why the pair of them were drawn to each other in the first place — both damaged goods.”
****Also repeating the FREE Times article shared above about Robert Lacey’s revised book with 12 new chapters being published June 24.***
https://archive.ph/2021.06.18-230709/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prince-william-split-his-household-from-prince-harry-after-meghan-bullying-claims-stw8fm0sh
In the 2020 publication of Battle of the Brothers, the author is pretty sugary at the beginning, but by the end of the book he is critical of #6 and his wife, especially the wife. I’m looking forward to reading the new chapters. I believe with @AnT and @JennS, and others that this revised book may coincide with a report on (alleged) bullying charges made by staff against Harry’s wife.
Interesting!I keep thinking she will never show her face in the UK again, but a Royal Christening could be the golden ticket.
And Welby as officiant? Maybe he will hold off on his sabbatical to do the honors.
Or, maybe she will stay at home and just Photoshop the whole thing.
The kraken news has overshadowed the piece about Beatrice wanting to name her daughter Lily. Setting aside the whole appropriateness/permission questions, this sure underlines 6w's bitchiness towards the York sisters. One can see tgat she is a mean girl and a bully in her treatment of them. First she grabs headlines at Eugenies wedding, then literally grabs Bea's baby names. I'll bet tgey have some stories about her.
So knowing what we now know about Frogmore, what were the 6's trying to say with the articles about Eugenie and Jack living there?
Her brain must look like a snakes nest...all twisting and gnarled and dark.
Re:Going through with the wedding despite hearing reports of her bullying and demands:
An old-fashioned "obligation" to marry her if she said she was pregnant?
I also disagree that #6 looked happy at the wedding. Maybe after the deed was done, but I thought he looked very apprehensive before the wedding standing in front of the chapel with William.
JennS – per that 9-strong PR team article – the ladies at LSA were commenting on whether they would be able to afford all the black people in that group. Let me look… Huh. Well at least three of them (2.5?) appear to have non-white origins (all are female) but I suspect this did not impress the LSA folks.
Per Pantsface (agree) - the “Charles Won’t Let Archie Be A Prince” article mentions a single source who they identify as a friend of the couple of some other such nonsense – this is an article plant from MM. Truly she seems to think attacking all other non-Queen royals is the ticket. Incroyable.
CHARLES WON’T LET ARCHIE BE GREAT I MEAN BE A PRINCE!!!! HOW VERY DARE HE!?!?!?
Alas, as an American I cannot manage a “never complain never explain” countenance because of all the assertiveness training and being told to “speak up for yourself” and all the other feminism blather about how everyone should accept us exactly who we are so basically if I have a problem I’m gonna let you know about it and why.
I’d make a bad royal without a competent staff.
Craving Martini – that may be – perhaps they couldn’t foot the bill for accomplished professionals after the spigot ran dry.
“Insiders suggest they hadn't seen the move coming, and were shocked to find that Charles will take the active step of changing legal instruments known as the Letters Patent in order to exclude Archie and others.”
BULLSHIT!! I protest.
As WBBM points out, the article cites a source close to the coupl
Earlier this year, a source close to the Sussexes confirmed they did indeed expect Archie to be named a Prince when Charles, Archie's grandfather, acceded to the throne. Their spokesman at the time was even instructed to remind journalists of that 'fact'.
The Sussexes finally learned that would not be the case just before sitting down with Oprah Winfrey for their first bombshell interview in March.
Meghan said “But also it's not their right to take it away.” Yes TwatFace that is exactly their right, who are you some barely-known re-located California actress wannabe? Yes the BRF gets to goddamn decide who gets to be in the BRF.
A source said: 'This is what nobody realised from the interview. The real thing was that Charles was going to take active steps to strip Archie of his ultimate birthright.'
An insider said: 'Charles has never made any secret of the fact that he wants a slimmed-down Monarchy when he becomes King.
All that was the Harkles.
A Royal source said last night: 'We are not going to speculate about the succession or comment on rumours coming out of America.'
That part was The Palace. All emphases in bold mine.
Even 1000-year old Italian royalty think Harry and Meghan are idiots,
and their kids have a better work ethic. Read to the end, please,
where Prince Emanuele discusses the Harkles and pulls no punches.
By the way: the prince is 48 years old, discussing young royalty as
per his 23 year old daughter. This should make it clear the 40ish
Harkles aren't "young royals" anymore, even to other royals.
Young princess fights for her claim to the (abolished) throne of Italy - ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/International/young-princess-fights-claim-abolished-throne-italy/story?id=78274162
Young princess fights for her claim to the (abolished) throne of Italy
Vittoria di Savoia is the first female heir to the Italian crown in 1,000 years.
Italy may have abolished its monarchy 75 years ago, but having no real power hasn't stopped its royal family from feuding.
Direct descendants of Italy's last king are divided over who should lead the family. For thousands of years, only men in the family could rule. All that changed when the current head of the royal House of Savoy, Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia, issued a decree on his granddaughter's 16th birthday granting her the power to eventually lead the family.
Princess Vittoria di Savoia -- who is also a rising star on Instagram -- is now the first woman in 1,000 years to become the family figurehead.
"I think it's a very important act, especially now in 2021 where women are standing so much for their rights," she told ABC News in her first ever on-camera interview.
Vittoria's father, Emanuele Filiberto, prince of Venice, said the move is a sign of the times.
Surely enough, Vittoria's rise in royal ranks comes as more and more royal women across Europe are taking over their countries' thrones.
CONTINUED....
Young princess fights for her claim to the (abolished) throne of Italy
Vittoria di Savoia is the first female heir to the Italian crown in 1,000 years.
"I think the next generation of royalties in Europe will mainly be women because if you look at Spain, if you look at Sweden, if you look at Norway, if you look at Belgium, England, well, we have a fantastic example with the Queen," he said.
But, of course, there are those who oppose the young princess.
MORE: Harry, Meghan deny claims they didn’t ask queen’s permission before naming daughter
In Russia, a separate branch of the family refuses to accept the new rules. Prince Aimone di Aosta, Vittoria's distant cousin, declined ABC News' request for comment, but told the New York Times Vittoria's claim is "totally illegitimate."
Vittoria's father disagrees. He said the reason some don't support Vittoria is because they wish they had her power.
"They were thinking without me having a male heir that finally it would come to them, but I think today times have changed, and we must stand with times and with modern times. So it's normal that they're not happy, and it's very sad for them," Emanuele said.
The Aostas are now contesting Vittoria's claim through an age-old institution known as the Consulta dei Senatori del Regno, which Emanuele said was dissolved when the monarchy was abolished.
"Once my grandfather left Italy the Consulta died, so they recreated a fake Consulta with the same name to make believe," Emanuele said.
The infighting between the Savoias and Aostas has gone on for decades, with Emanuele's father even reportedly punching one of his cousins over the feud at the future king of Spain's wedding.
"No, he did not punch him, he just gave him a nice, perhaps a bit too violent cuddle," Emanuele joked.
The irony, amid the royal drama, is that there's no actual throne to fight over; Italy abolished its monarchy in 1946, with the last royals deemed too close to infamous dictator Benito Mussolini.
The Savoy family was eventually forced to go into exile, leaving behind their kingdom and numerous palaces built over the years by their ancestors. They were allowed to return to Italy in 2002, but Emanuele said the initial exile is further proof his side of the family is next in line to the (defunct) throne.
"We were in exile by the Italian Republic. We were the ones to go into exile because if monarchy were to come back, my father would have been king," he said.
The family argues this fight is about much more than an imaginary crown, it's about the family's dynastic orders. Emanuele compared his royal family to a charitable organization and said they serve to promote Italy's interests around the world.
"Everything I do, I do it for Italy," he said.
"The role of the monarchy is to have someone above politics. It's like a flag. The queen or the king is a person that represents all the people of this country," he said.
CONTINUED ---- ON TO HIS VIEW OF THE HARKLES
Young princess fights for her claim to the (abolished) throne of Italy
Vittoria di Savoia is the first female heir to the Italian crown in 1,000 years.
It's why he thinks it's a shame the duke and duchess of Sussex decided to step back from their duties as members of the British royal family.
"It's not a red carpet, it's not a movie scene, it's real life, but another side I think she was prepared. She knew where she was going, so I personally think it's sad to spit in the plate where you eat," he said.
Speaking of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's exit from the monarchy, the prince of Venice said he believes the royal platform is too important to give up.
"Perhaps it's difficult to understand in America, but when you come from a royal family you grow up with those titles, with those values, with those duties, and it's part of you and to lose the titles, to lose what he (Prince Harry) was born to be -- it's extremely difficult. It's a pity to give up," said Emanuele. "They had so much to give to England, so much to do in England."
Emanuele is now working on several documentaries on the House of Savoy, and is franchising his Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, "The Prince of Venice."
As for Vittoria, she is now preparing to become the family figurehead. No princess lessons are involved, but she is spending time learning about her family history and getting to know Italy.
"I feel and I know that I have big responsibilities and I'm preparing myself for it," she said. "We still have so much more to do and I'm very, very grateful and I will fight for this."
Her father has pushed her to develop a good work ethic, which is why she recently interned at the Hotel Alfred Sommier, "cleaning the rooms and serving dinner at the restaurant," according to Emanuele.
"It's very important. It's important to work. It's important to realize that gaining money is difficult and you must be respectful," he said.
Despite the controversy surrounding her position as a royal, Vittoria has no plans to relinquish her claim to the Aostas.
And while it currently doesn't look like monarchy will make a true comeback in Italy, Emanuele said, "Never say never."
##
...Prince Emanuele is fabulous. In a few words, he explains what royalty is, even today, and kicks Harkle arse.
Yes! She looked fantastic, didn’t she! I sense that for her, the dragging weight of the Harkles is over.
@hunter
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏. ledge comment! I echo your shout of BS over their sniveling faux shock at the Letters Patent steps.
They knew. Everything they do and shriek to Oprah about is, in my opinions, is preplanned stunt acting. They are lunatic brats who want their way, can’t believe they didn’t get their way and got tripped up. They can’t believe they’re marooned and decided to lie about every damn thing to get the royals to bend, since it used to work on Thomas Markle, on Charles, on the Queen, on Trevor, on the chef, on Jessica....So they are berserk and saying to each other “just say he said it! Just say we didn’t know!” Etc.
I have seen adult VPs caught in a bind and tell teams in panic to lie and blame. So, yeah, the Harkle fools would do it too.
Now that the falcons of truth are soaring out of the palace and U.K., as the Harkle value drops, watch for Megs’ Big Move.
The Harkles are rodents who didn’t expect the landowners to burn the field stubble. There is nothing left to return to. Per my contact, nothing. So expect a big horrible fit of PR frenzy in Montecito I think.
I recall that Harry was still in contact with Cressida even long after news of their break-up was published. At Guy Pelly's wedding in America, friends said he kept on calling Cressida and glancing at his phone for messages from her throughout the event (a few days after the news of the break-up broke). Then, he attended all her stage performances thereafter, got Skippy and Guy Pelly to look out for her even after the break-up.
Why do I say Meg felt that Cressida was a bigger threat than Chelsy- because Lainey Lui (one of Meg's supporter) seemed to have her knives sharpened especially for Cressida. At that time, I wondered why Lainey would bother about another of Harry's gf. She was particularly vicious about Cressida's acting, dancing, dressing, everything. Why pick on this girl who was just starting out on her career, esp when she was not even dating the prince anymore?
Meg was jealous of Cressida. Cressida was everything she wasn't and wanted to be. Cressida is the quintessential English rose: beautiful with fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes; more Diana in colouring and looks than Meghan could ever be. She comes from an aristocratic family and went to all the right exclusive girls schools and grew-up mixing with the upper class including Princess Eugenie who is a childhood friend. Her family would be what Meghan would call "on-brand" - sister Isabelle is married to a Branson, another sister Gabriela Wilde was a Burberry model and actress, her cousin Richard Dinan was on Made In Chelsea and now a successful tech businessman. Her then former bf and now husband is the son of the Marchioness of Milford Haven. Cressida advert for Mulberry, appeared on endless mag covers, dressed for Christian Dior, LV, Armani and more at film festivals and red-carpet events that Meghan wasn't even considered for.
So yes, the jealousy and hatred for Cressida is real and is there.
Was Harry holed up with her for hours before the engagement/wedding? Possible. If not, why would she post the cryptic message on her blog "No matter how educated, talented, rich or cool you believe you are, how you treat people ultimately tells it all." I believe she ref Meg who always harked back to her NWU education, SUITS, her $10M wealth, her cool friends etc. Obviously, Cressida was still in touch with Harry's friends if not Harry himself just before the wedding to know how Meg had ill-treated Harry's friends and felt confident enough to write it down.
How cool would it have been if Harry went to the US and bought a gorgeous $1mm home on the outskirts of a major metro (atl, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Vegas (haha!)....some of these areas you can get something almost as nice as their ‘Montecito’ digs for that price, also secluded on acreage. With that in mind, it would have been wonderful for him to fly to LA/NY etc to his meetings, on expense accounts for the corporations and do all his woke ‘do-goofing’. He could have explained it was in his children’s best interest to pass down Diana’s money and he wouldn’t touch the principle. Heck, if he moved to Florida there are many gated communities. It’s the norm to have ‘security’ there.
His PR would be soooooo much better, he would be happier, and Meghan wouldn’t be able to scheme night and day. Shed be a regular upper middle class housewife with her children set for generations.
Archie and ‘lil name-less, were surrogate kids, so no title for them ever anyway.
We need to take over Harry’s life ASAP. He has a penchant for Americans running his days anyway ;). Could you imagine Harry ice fishing :)
If there is no truth in the newly-published report (no princely title for H's children, real or imaginary) would we expect the Palace to issue a denial, under the new approach?
Is the refusal to comment confirmation that it is (possibly/probably/indeed) true?
The tone of the article suggested to me that the Mail believes it - it's not like the usual cr*p issuing forth from Montecito that we see through without difficulty. It's the first time I've I've reacted with `Yippee!' rather than `Oh, no!'.
Should I have put a question mark after my initial comment of `Good News!'?
I agree. It looks like, as they’ve preemptively stepped away, Harry will lose his title under Charles. (It would be hilarious if at the same time Harry was proven to not be his child either, but that’s a different theory Nutties are decidedly against- it would be a fun explanation though! :)
As Caroline Aherne (British comedian, sadly no longer with us) said in her 'Mrs Merton' interview with Debbie McGhee ' So what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?'
With no 'set for life' financing, no titles or place in the line of succession for 'the children' and a publicly disgraced ex prince for a husband, not to mention the Sword of Damocles hanging over her in terms of the results of the bullying investigation, possible financial misdeeds and the surrogacy issue ( that's just for starters I suspect) I reckon Madams' next merching deal will be for Nike - if they have a pair of trainers large enough of course - and we'll see her running like Usain Bolt to the divorce courts.
Great result for the RF, they've played a blinder!
Megs is apoplectic that with no titles for Arch and #2baby, this will kill her merching schemes for them. If not kill them, then reduce their merch value by 75%. The laughs and the mirth are all in the Palace these days. While out on the West Coast they are singing the blues, as Megsy's earning and merching scenarios crumble.
Queenie had a great day at Ascot
While in fair Montecito
Just a sad, sorry lot
Sorry Tatty, ummmm I think you are an important part of our community, we would be less strong without considering alternate narratives. As we know, recollections may vary.
I know I know that’s kind of a jerk thing to say hey it is 4 am – I don’t hate tatty, I’m impressed with her fortitude to remain within our ranks despite the hardship she has weathered from all sides. That’s the most fair thing I can say.
Dammit which one is Cressida vs Chelsy? One has a small face and the other one looks drunk with buckled teeth half the time. One is a fair bit more classy the other is a party animal. Sadly as they are both white blondes I am unclear on the difference, CALL ME RACIST omg blonde white girls all look the same. Help!
Honestly the bloated one with the questionable teeth often looked a bit hungover so I would say despite being unclear on the difference I’d prefer the more restrained one with the smaller features and less donkey-esque laugh.
Ah perhaps I will never make it into heaven.
Someone help me – which was which??
I would like a fierce video of MM being forced under ridicule and intimidation to diagram the ever loving heck out of some sentence structures.
I know what you mean by not being able to tell the blondes apart - I'm English (ie my foreign ancestors arrived more than 200 yrs ago).
Yet when I was in my first job I encountered an unexpected difficulty.
I was `form-mistress' to a class of 32 x 11yr old boys in London.Getting to know which name went with whom was a puzzle - easy enough with those of Caribbean, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Malay, Maltese, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Slavic & other Eastern European and Sephardic origin, but I was left with about a dozen young Londoners of white British origin who all had mousy-brown hair, all of whom seemed exactly alike!
^ I drafted that last night while watching the football and forgot to post. After reading more posts today about the confusion regarding "is the Lacey book actually updated or not" and the idea it could have been intended to co-incide with the bullying investigation - now the investigation has seemingly been postponed I wonder if the Lacey book update has been affected and that's why everything seems so confusing with apparently non-updated book sales pages. Could this be plausible?
After reading that back I'm not sure I'm making much sense lol I definitely have more questions than potential answers over it all.
Let me help you - the one with the smaller face, more classy is Cressida. Her blond is a darker blond. She has more gentle features.
Chelsy used to look bloated and drunk previously but not anymore. She has cleaned up marvelously and looks like a professional executive. Chelsy is the busty one.
Chelsy outsmarts Meg as she has a law degree while Cressida outdances Meg as she was a dancer.And both girls have marvelously long, SHAPELY legs that Meg could only dream of.
Does someone really think they can world shame Prince Charles into changing his mind? Or guilt the family into sending money or welcoming them with open arms?
What is left which can be "fixed" by spending all kinds of more money?
In less than two weeks, on what would have been Diana's 60th birthday, the brothers will reunite for the unveiling of her statue, but what should have been a simple, unfussy act of commemoration will doubtless turn into something altogether different.
Take Harry's approach to the event. The Mail on Sunday has learned that the Duke of Sussex now wants his own journalist to cover the day.
Harry and Meghan have long decried the coverage they receive from the British media, claiming it is UK-biased and lacks diversity. Not wishing to leave the statue unveiling at Kensington Palace to the official 'Royal Rota' of journalists, they are now expected to 'appoint' at least one approved writer to work alongside them.1
It is just the kind of imperiousness that rankles with the Duke of Cambridge.
Who do they want the British press biased towards?
Presumably he wants a counter-narrative of what should be a straightforward event?
A laughable waste of money!
Does he expect to be kidnapped?
Even though she managed to infiltrate the RF she knows that she ethnically is a fake. She is no more white than I could be Japanese (much as I might want to). Had she remained as at birth I do not believe that her husband would ever have looked at her. He wanted the hawt chick but also the prize of being more virtuous than his brother (who really did marry a beautiful woman) and did so to shaft the RF. I had a little brother and I can thus testify that little brothers do indeed go through their entire lives trying to pull down their older sibling. I observe that is a fairly common thing at least among boys.
I suspect that today's news about the slimmed down monarchy is actually an excuse so as not to appear mean and with plausible deniability covering the demotion of the two Harkle children who may not even exist thus for the RF avoiding having to say that the two are dolls or rented children. Should they exist they will be American and one cannot have American Princes and Princesses.
The UK Daily Mail can now reveal wot really happened during the Queens Ascot After party.
Firstly, by unexpectingly attending on the final Ascot day. The Queen has proclaimed the end of Covid in the UK. Without uttering one word about it. Her presence and radiant joy told us all.
All the Ascot men put on their best Penguin suitings and top hats. The gallant gals of Ascot surpassed them in their floral themed dresses, their unique hats and fascinators. It was one big anti-Covid party. As bets were placed, the horses ran and Covid UK got a big punch in the gut.
When our Queen returned to The Palace she summoned all her Grey Men. Charles' Greys too. When they arrived she gingerly got up on her footstool and half shouted out, "Time to break open me gin cabinet. Get out 5 bottles of me best top shelf! Immediately and in all haste!" This rouses her corgis that begin barking up a storm.
As The Queen's sommelier doled out the doses, All Greys had their choice of Gin n Tonics or getting their Gin straight up. The bantering and laughter begins. Much mirth all around as the Covid lifting and the submarining of M/H offspring titles were celebrated.
After 20 minutes who should walk in but Prince Charles, Camilla and brace yourselves.... Lord Geidt of all people! They brought along 10 bottles of the top Champs bubbly which they preferred. All Greys got a pour or three of this divine aristo essence.
Now it seems that one of the top Greys. Unfortunately we cannot reveal his name. This chap had secretly made a few phone calls. Shortly after who should walk in but 10 dancing girls. Not strippers, you ravenous DM commenters and plebs, that we at DM owe all to you lot. But a crew (10) of Middle Eastern belly dancers. They were summoned from three of our top local kebab shops. Taken away right in the middle of their nightly routines. But no one can refuse a summons from Her Maj. I almost forgot. Six of their musicians too, armed with their ouds and other native instruments.
When these ten plus six arrived the real Queenie Ascot after party kicked off. Dear readers, this is when your now tipsy reporter was most rudely removed for quaffing too much of the Queen's gin. Banished from the proceedings as it were. So I can reveal no further. Not until my Grey Man friend is allowed to leak it. If he ever is.
If it's a private memorial they are seeking, why not, oh, PRIVATE?
The 20+ years part is another important part. Quit picking at the scab. The woman made repeated foolish choices at the end of her life and we all know the result. The Moving Finger has writ -- move on.
(I was not a fan in life or death but I'm pretty sure I'd say this either way.)
I have a theory and I would have thought that everyone would agree with it and yet I do not think I have seen it before. It is: the reason Markle hates her father - a man who doted on her, paid for her education, and brought her up when his wife went walkabout - is because he married Doria. Because he did that Markle can never be what she wants to be which is white, white and most of all white.
I like your thinking! It seems very probable.
Not that it's occurred to her that had she been born to another mother, not necessarily a white one, her entire world, mental outlook & experience would have been different - she might not have liked that either.
It's always a strange question -"Who might I have been if I wasn't me?" Of course, inside one is still `Me'!
PS I owe you an apology for not acknowledging your Holborn comments - having an agreed family history must be a different experience from mine. Digging into the records to get a better idea of `who I am & where I come from' has been frustrating when I've presented my findings to my cousins.
Two refused point-blank to accept what the Censuses, Registrar General, Parish and Criminal Court records say, preferring instead to cling to their belief that we are related to an eminent orchestral conductor of the same name, born to a well-to-do family in another part of the country altogether.
I can see how adoptees can get it into their heads that they are Royal by-blows.
Chelsey - who H went out with 2004-2010
https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/106/590x/1439299_1.jpg?r=1621603652117
Cressida 2012-2014
https://tinyurl.com/43b25c5h
I love it, though HM's favorite tipple, I gather, is gin & Dubonnet - very toothsome.
I'm reminded how News of the World would close their titillating reports of visits to dodgy strip joints with the words,
`At that point, I made my excuses and left'!
This unveiling needs to be as short and sharp as possible. I can't imaging HM tolerating having H's reporter sitting in on their private lunch though.
(No matter; apparently new teeth is a perk/requirement of royal brides, so they would have been fixed had she gone in for marriage. Somehow the fake choppers look worse to me than any Botox could. Fake hair's pretty, uh, fake-looking, too.)
Cressida is lovely.
Both of them = dodged a bullet.
Chelsey smiling:
https://tinyurl.com/yx8fdfvp
Both certainly dodged a bullet but would have been suitable royal brides had they been so inclined.
Anyway, I think it was Hunter who mentioned the teeth. I certainly didn't intend to go off on this topic : )
Both of them are very pretty; I am no one to judge.
However . . . I wonder what they saw in him?? Being fame-adjacent?
Unless the statue depicts Diana placing a crown upon William’s head while her foot presses firmly down on Harry’s back as he lies squalling on the floor, I don’t need to see it.
'recorded before the birth' but 'life with the royal 'in good times or bad' sounds like a damage limitation exercise. In other words, it wasn't always bad, it was good too. That's how I read it.
Note this is on Father's Day, both in the UK and US. What about her father??
I didn't read the rest but here it is
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9705407/Meghan-Markle-appears-radio-talk-childrens-book.html
So I take it there is a bench with inscribed plaque in the Frogmore gardens?
Tatty does not strike me as sugar. Stevia maybe?just playing. She is not unintelligent and relentless. Frankly I view her as Hunter does, alternative viewpoint.
Christian is speaking as well.
I just happened on it.
Diana card - played.
I WILL say, she's letting Christian speak quite a bit.
HA! 👏👏👏👏👏 brilliant catch.
Unless she is so culturally dense, she thinks only America has Father’s Day. I can believe that.
Passive aggressive bs
From Wiki, Lili Mountbatten-Windsor
"
Mountbatten-Windsor is eighth in the line of succession to the British throne and as of 2021 is the highest individual in the line to be born overseas. Daughters of dukes are entitled to the courtesy title "Lady" before their Christian names; however, akin to her brother Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, it is unlikely that she will use a title. Under letters patent issued by King George V in November 1917, she is entitled to become a princess upon the accession of her grandfather, Charles, Prince of Wales."
Grandiose bullsh**t
Apparently Lafy Lili is already a stoner.
I am very disappointed in you for saying that you "hate the frogs".
There is no place for such comments here.
I grew up surrounded by people like you and it's not pleasant.
The ironic thing is that people who say such things will go on to say that they aren't racist but they are just playing with semantics.
"Stevia" ha!
(Not a comment on Tatty btw)
In fact, as a child, I would be afraid to go to the playground because the children would be yelling the same thing you said before they started beating on us.
Meghan must think Harry is a total idiot.
It is not okay.
June 20, 2021 6:40 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday
SAMANTHA BALABAN
(Part 1)
For Prince Harry's first Father's Day, Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, got him a bench.
"As most of us do, you go, what am I going to get them as a gift? And I thought I just wanted something sentimental and a place for him to have as a bit of a home base with our son," Meghan says.
And on a little plaque on the back of the bench, she wrote a poem, about the moments she hoped they would share on that bench.
"This is your bench," the poem reads, "Where life will begin/For you and our son/Our baby, our kin."
Now, two years later, Meghan and Harry have added a second child to their family — daughter Lilibet Diana was born in early June — and that poem is a children's book. The Duchess of Sussex spoke to NPR about the book shortly before the birth of her daughter.
The Bench is a series of vignettes — fathers and their sons share a bench while they drink apple juice, wait for the bus, look at the stars, and put on their shoes. The bench is where they cry, celebrate, and mend their scraped knees and broken hearts.
Meghan says the poem was inspired by watching her husband and their son, Archie, together.
"I often find, and especially in this past year, I think so many of us realized how much happens in the quiet," she says. "It was definitely moments like that, watching them from out of the window and watching [my husband] just, you know, rock him to sleep or carry him or, you know ... those lived experiences, from my observation, are the things that I infused in this poem."
When it came time to turn the poem into a picture book, Meghan asked for Christian Robinson — the Caldecott Honor recipient and illustrator behind Milo Imagines The World and Last Stop on Market Street.
"This was just like, one day getting an email being like, 'Would you want to work with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex?' And I'm like, in complete disbelief and excited," Robinson says. "For me it was a no brainer."
It was also a creative challenge — Robinson usually works in acrylic and cut-out pieces of paper. But for The Bench, he did the illustrations in a different medium.
"I wanted him to just try something a little bit new and work in watercolor," says Meghan. "And that was specifically because I just felt that when you talk about masculinity and you talk about fatherhood, it can often not come across with the same softness that I was really after for this book. And I just wanted this to feel almost ethereal and light and Christian was able to use that medium and create the most beautiful images."
Robinson says he was up for the challenge.
"What makes creativity fun is when things are improvised ... when you kind of have to explore and play and experiment," he says. "I really think it was just the right note."
June 20, 2021 6:40 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday
SAMANTHA BALABAN
(Part 2)
The poem begins and ends with illustrations of the author's own family. A red-haired father and his toddler sit on a bench, surrounded by their dogs. But the rest of the book shows all kinds of families — something that was important to both the author and the illustrator.
"I think for me, inclusivity and representing as many different families as we could was at the heart of this book," says Robinson.
"Growing up, I remember so much how it felt to not see yourself represented," says Meghan. "Any child or any family hopefully can open this book and see themselves in it, whether that means glasses or freckled or a different body shape or a different ethnicity or religion."
One representation Meghan says she particularly wanted to include in The Bench was that of a military family. Years ago, she was on a USO tour with a sergeant from Texas.
"He had told me the story about how he wasn't able to teach his son how to play catch because he was away," Meghan says. "And so he and his son would mail this baseball back and forth to each other from Texas to Afghanistan and write the date on it."
In The Bench, a mother standing at a window cries tears of joy, while a father in a military uniform greets his son outdoors. The father has thrown off his backpack in excitement, and the boy has discarded his popsicle to jump into his father's arms.
"That page is true to form for him and his family," Meghan says. "There are lots of little small moments like that that were personal memories or anecdotes that I wanted infused in there," Meghan says.
Like her favorite flower, her mother-in-law's favorite flower, and, of course, the family's rescue chickens.
"I needed my girls in there," says Meghan.
But even though The Bench is a very personal, intimate poem that Meghan wrote for her husband, she says she hopes readers find its message universal.
"It's a love story," she says. "It's really just about growing with someone and having this deep connection and this trust so that, be at good times or bad, you know that you had this person," she says. "I really hope that people can see this as a love story that transcends the story of my family."
Samantha Balaban and Melissa Gray produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Petra Mayer adapted it for the Web.
I don’t think she thinks it....she knows he is and that’s why he was such easy prey for her. 😂
agreed