Clean Conscience and All That

H doesn't think he aired any dirty laundry in Spare or Netflix (or we suppose any of the other sources of what they were thinking or feeling like with the Oprah interview or Omid Scobie's books) according to an article on the Daily Mail.  And, he has a clean conscience.  Difficult but hard truth he was promoting.

Really?  

He talked of setting up his father driving in a car by a guy in a plane who didn't know it was the Prince of Wales he was ordered by H to follow before being redirected elsewhere.  He talks of how his brother tried to make him acknowledge that * was being disruptive to the staff - physical fighting and his bracelet was broken.  The list goes on and on. No one but he and his wife come out looking good.  They are innocent victims of a modern persecution by his family against them.  

 In another article was more about what and where there had been some problems between the two couples.  So it doesn't say this ... but ... I started thinking about what might have been the message each was signaling maybe.

Tights for the wedding:

It doesn't matter (my wedding, my decision) versus in our family we stick to protocol as set by the Queen, I'm trying to follow the rules.

Other factors floated: Ivy, Jessica's daughter was favored over Charlotte.  And, Charlotte's dress was ill fitting.  

Who cried or who cried first:

Initially it was said to be Katherine but in the Oprah interview, it was the other way around.  

Other factors: Katherine brought flowers to apologize and owned that it was she who behaved badly in the interview.

What do I think?  Well ... the second version is in alignment with the BRF treated me badly which was the overall arching message from the interview.  That it did not come out earlier is kind of suspect in some ways as why not (I don't remember what was said in Finding Freedom but I thought I remember it was Katherine)?  Do I think Katherine may have come over and brought flowers?  Yeah, she comes off as someone who tries to do the right things, the right words and (remember this) walk the higher ground after a disagreement.  The whole comment of Katherine owned source of the disagreement comes off as a back handed compliment.  Jabs like that are not a pretty look in the popularity polls.  Being able to reach out despite frustration, anger and so on shows great strength, courage, not weakness.

The visit to William and Katherine's Kensington Apartment:

Contrast between how they had to use credit cards (hers) to buy a sofa while William got priceless art and luxurious furnishings.  The meeting went from polite talk to Katherine taking offence about the tights and mention of hormones. William was said, in Spare, to tell * that what she said was rude and allegedly pointed his finger at her.  William was told not to point his finger at her by her and things kind of ended about then.

What do I think: Well, there was an underlying theme in Spare about how William always got what H wanted and always more of it.  Why he could not ask for another sausage or help furnishing the cottage is unknown.  No one ever reads minds and the worst that could be said is to be told no.  At the time, the palace was doing a lot of trying to keep the newly weds happy so I don't know that it makes sense that someone, somewhere put a kabosh on a request by the couple for furniture from the storerooms if it had been asked for.  After all, William and Katherine had lived there first and they probably didn't have to furnish it from Ikea.  Hmm, I wonder if  the furnishings which were there for William and Katherine were switched out later or like did they take some to Kensington?  H would have visited a fair number of times while they lived there so one thinks he might have remembered what was there, now gone and what replaced it.  

What do I think: Notice how she responds to criticism.  Push back at it.  Vigorously.  This is him, telling us his wife does not tolerate anyone telling her something she doesn't want to hear.  In print.  This isn't some friend of a friend of a friend whose 4th cousin once worked at the palace 20 years ago and heard something.  And, who is telling her is the third most senior power figure at the time within the family.  There is this is family behind doors but there is also a need to respect, listen to people who are older, more powerful, than you even if they are family.  So not saying the first thing that comes to mind, especially when navigating a new power system is (or even an old one) ... good advise.  

William trying to tell H about problems his wife is creating with staff:

Well that doesn't go well.  H claims his brother had an agenda which was about making H agree that his wife really was creating problems.  They come to blows and a necklace is broken.  

What do I think:  I have no idea if the conversation came to physical blows or not, or how it was said by William.  What I noticed is that H is also not tolerating criticism of his wife (more on that).  And perhaps by extension, him as well (that I suspect is part of the expectation was that H ought to be doing a better job of helping his wife learn how to navigate a new and complex system that she had no prior experience for in America).  It is unknown if William had heard that * felt she did not need people like Sophie helping her as she knew she would have H as her resource.

Trip to the Queen:

Charles tries to tell H that * is not to come to Balmoral.  The response back was that this was nonsensical and disrespectful towards his wife.  Then, when it comes out that Katherine is also not going, it becomes more along the lines of he should have told me that first instead of disrespecting my wife by not allowing her to join me.  

What do I think: Another example of people, senior power person, trying to tell H something he doesn't want to hear about his wife.  When he doesn't understand something, he dismisses it.  Should not be/unimportant.  There was something about the US political system he also was quite dismissive of.  Again, his words, not from a game of Telephone.

What do I think: Notice that he is still trying to view himself as equal to his brother and his wife equal to his brother's wife by both the UK/world view and within the family of him/them even though he/she are no longer part of the working BRF.  If William gets something, I ought to have it too.  I would gather that it has been a long held world view which he didn't realize that he would never be fully equal with William and how it would play out through the years just because of primogeniture.  Life is unfair - someone is always higher rank than you or they have more money, more power or live in a bigger house.  That's reality.  Some things can be changed such as you make more money and now you surpass this other person.  But some things cannot be changed like birth order in a family which has it as a hard and fast underpinning rule of how it operates. 

I remember reading in Spare about how his father tried to explain to him about how the funding would change when Charles became King.  Charles knew that it would happen sooner or later and was trying to let his son know that the Bank of Charles was going to become the Bank of William and therefore H would lose access to how his father juggled the money - say for the wedding and so on to start the couple's life together.  It was a conversation about their future plans, short and long term, now before the Queen passed.  Again, blowing off the advise as it was bad news.  His father trying to tell him something he didn't want to hear and then being blamed in some way.  In print.

And how could we forget about the uproar before the first baby?  

In the end what do I think?  

maybe he just has a different idea of what the definition of airing dirty laundry is?  Mine is when people do not want something which is embarrassing to themselves or others like family and close friends made public.  He really doesn't make himself look good in his efforts to make everyone else look bad.  Still fits my definition.  Haven't figured out his yet.