Harry and Meghan to step down as senior royals

[GAP]

Just more  immigrants......meh

 

[BeyondTheNow]

Barring a tragedy to William and his family, its pretty safe to assume that Harry and his family can fade into the Commonwealth with little or no impact on the ongoings of "The Firm".

Yes...and the family will move on, but the tabloids will take much, much longer, drawing things out, not letting both sides have their peace, sadly.

I know they’re used to it to a degree, and I typically haven’t paid too much attention beyond knowing when a new little one was added to the brood. But when Harry started speaking more recently about the past and treatment of Diana, both within the family and from the press/paparazzi, I started reading a bit more here and there. (I still recall the day of Diana’s death well, and have often thought of the toll in must’ve taken on the boys. If Harry felt he was being constantly reminded of her fate and the circumstances surrounding when he began a formal relationship with Meghan, then I don’t fault him for wanting to take—what others may seem are—drastic steps.)

I hope they’re able to settle into a life better suited for themselves and the direction they’d like to take, apart from “The Firm”, (love that, btw) smoothly.

 

[Czech_pivo]

Prince Harry the next GG?

60% of CDN's recently polled, said 'yes' to the idea.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-majority-of-canadians-want-prince-harry-to-become-governor-general

 

[Remius]

Prince Harry the next GG?

60% of CDN's recently polled, said 'yes' to the idea.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-majority-of-canadians-want-prince-harry-to-become-governor-general

If their plan is to step away and do their own thing, being GG is likely not a good fit.

 

[Good2Golf]

#brexitsquared  or  #rexit

 

[FSTO]

Well if Harry became GG, at least he'd know how to properly wear a uniform! ;D

 

[Kirkhill]

As some have noted, I am a monarchist.  But that refers to governance and oaths and fealty and all that good stuff.  Kind of in the tradition of saluting the rank and not the individual.

I have no problem criticising the individuals.  In this instance I can't find myself criticizing Harry or Megan either in their desire to step away or their desire to promote their "brand".

Harry has had a problem with being "the spare" for some time now.  At least since his first deployment to Afghanistan was aborted and then his military career followed.  He was reduced to being in the background of shots with William and Kate or squiring Kate around when her husband wasn't available.  Now William has a brood Harry is legitimately surplus to requirement.  Godspeed.|

As to concerns about Harry and Meghan marketing "their brand" - the House of Windsor knows a thing or two about that as well. 

https://www.royalwarrant.org/

Prince Charles's green farming business reaps a £200m harvest
PRINCE Charles's upmarket organic food business is now a £200million brand, his supermarket partners revealed yesterday.
By JOHN INGHAM
PUBLISHED: 07:19, Mon, May 1, 2017 | UPDATED: 09:08, Mon, May 1, 2017

The Firm won't want their brand diluted nor the competition.

And.... in light of the way that Andrew's kids have been treated, the way that Andrew and Fergie have been treated, and the sudden declaration of the slimming of the House to just those in the  line of succession, a decision made by Charles apparently, I don't see that Harry and Meghan would have been given much incentive to discuss matters.

But that's just me

 

[FJAG]

The British press is just turning more rabid by the minute:

Meghan flees to Canada where she left baby Archie with nanny and leaves Harry to deal with fallout from 'abdication' crisis after spending just three days in the UK following holiday

-Baby Archie was left behind in Canada with his nanny while Harry and Meghan flew back to the UK this week
-The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited London on Tuesday before sensationally quitting the royal family
- As Prince Harry faces the wrath of the Queen and the royal family, Meghan has already flown back to Canada
-Meghan spent just three days in the UK, after the couple and Archie had enjoyed a seven-week break abroad
-She could now spend foreseeable future in North America, as Harry thrashes out their roles with his family
By REBECCA ENGLISH ROYAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

The Duchess of Sussex flew back to Canada yesterday, leaving Prince Harry to deal with the fallout over their 'abdication' crisis.

The Daily Mail has learnt that Meghan returned to North America, where their eight-month-old son, Archie, had been left with his nanny. She may stay there for the foreseeable future.

Sources said she 'hadn't planned' to remain in the UK for long, after arriving back in Britain on Monday at the end of the family's seven-week hiatus from royal duties in Vancouver. She spent just three days in Britain.

The remarkable development – described by one royal insider as 'simply astonishing' – came as the Queen last night ordered her warring family to hammer out a solution that will allow her grandson and his wife to quit frontline royal duties.

On a day of behind-the-scenes drama, the monarch convened an extraordinary series of calls between herself, the Prince of Wales, Prince William and Harry. She told them to come up with a 'workable solution' to the crisis within days, and tasked aides with presenting a series of options to put to the unhappy couple.

Insiders last night predicted that Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, would be allowed to keep their royal titles and also enjoy a measure of the independence they have demanded.

But they added that the couple's string of demands had sparked a genuine crisis which will not be easy to solve.

As a sign of how serious and sensitive the issue has become, Home Secretary Priti Patel has been asked to take part in the negotiations.

She will be tasked with ensuring the couple's ongoing security is not compromised, but she also has to monitor the cost to taxpayers if they split their lives between the UK and North America ...

And on, and on, and on.

My sympathy for Harry and Meghan grows daily.

:cheers:

- mod edit to fix formatting/link -

 

[BeyondTheNow]

Well sheesh, FJAG, I go to share one link...

The Royal Fallout From Meghan & Harry’s Decision Is Turning Nuclear

Yesterday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stunned the world with the sudden announcement that they decided to step back from their royal duties. Their statement, shared over social media to their millions of fans around the globe, came to the surprise to the Sussexes’ supporters — and the disappointment to the Firm itself...

...The radical move comes after a particularly rough year for Meghan, who was subjected to often derogatory scrutiny at the hands of the British tabloids. Harry has publicly addressed this harassment on multiple occasions, condemning the tabloids’ hounding of his wife and even comparing it to what his mother Princess Diana faced in the last years of her life. Many believe that the couple’s decision to distance themselves from the Firm is a means of creating a necessary boundary that would protect the prince and his family from going through that pain again...

Of course, there’re always endless tidbits of information coming from “the source” :, but I read a very small headline or something about them splitting the day before it all broke, but tossed it aside thinking it was just baseless. Obviously something had gotten out though...

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/01/9175677/meghan-markle-prince-harry-quit-royal-family-backlash-reactions

 

[Kirkhill]

Having been immersed in the British press over the last few Brexity years I was continually astounded by how much ink was spilled on Meghan's parents and whether she or Kate were more popular/worthy/matronly etc.

I am proud enough to be British but John Wilkes has a lot to answer for.

 

[The Bread Guy]

More scaling down in the U.K. ...

Wax figures of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been moved from other members of the Royal Family at Madame Tussauds in London.

Prince Harry and Meghan had been placed next to the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

The museum made the changes following the couple's statement that they are to "step back" as senior royals.

Steve Davies, general manager at the attraction, said the couple were two of their most popular figures.

"Alongside the rest of the world we are reacting to the surprising news that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be stepping back as senior royals," he said.

"From today Meghan and Harry's figures will no longer appear in our Royal Family set."

Mr Davies said the couple will remain an important feature at Madame Tussauds London, "as we watch to see what the next chapter holds for the them."

The museum did not say where the couple will be placed ...

The attached, from the museum's Twitter feed.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

Unnecessarily hurtful and extremely passive-aggressive this early in the course of events. The family as a whole is still dealing with everything. Distasteful and downright disrespectful of everyone the situation is affecting at the moment. Honouring their wishes, my a$$—It was an extremely ill-timed move, IMO.

 

[tomahawk6]

From what I have read the couple is stepping away for abit and not stepping down. Not informing Her Majesty first is bad form.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Unnecessarily hurtful and extremely passive-aggressive this early in the course of events. The family as a whole is still dealing with everything. Distasteful and downright disrespectful of everyone the situation is affecting at the moment. Honouring their wishes, my a$$—It was an extremely ill-timed move, IMO.

I thought the Twitter post was maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe more than just a bit much ...

 

[ballz]

I really don't follow this stuff, but one thing I do remember is that they wanted to move out of Buckingham Palace and got told they couldn't. Now they're taking all sorts of measures to try and convince them to come back into the fold. The Royal family seems like a cult to me.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

Interesting article.

I remember that televised interview with Diana well. I watched it with a few friends. Even if one doesn’t follow the happenings of the Royal family closely, Diana’s clip from the interview saying, “...Well, there were three of us in the marriage, so it was a bit crowded...” and the pain in her eyes, especially during that segment, is familiar to most. She speaks openly of how poorly she was treated by the family.

Much seems to be the same with Meghan, and as the article points out, Meghan has ethnic differences, as well as societal/class comparisons compounding her clashes with other Royals. Her (basically) estranged family hasn’t helped matters either.

In any event, I agree with the article’s sentiment that Markle was an easy scapegoat to distract people from other issues involving Royals at different times. It seemed very coincidental that a couple of sources would report on a story (Prince Andrew’s purported affair, for example) and then all of a sudden there’d be a ton of sources reporting on something Meghan said or did to offend.

(I’ll be honest and say I’m personally not an overall fan of Meghan in terms of how she presents herself at times. Diana had a very unmistakable, heartfelt and relatable sincerity to her, which she exuded naturally in interviews, through social functions, galas and global outreach. She seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve at all times, which no doubt made many uncomfortable. On the contrary, I have difficulty gauging Markle. She always seems to be...performing? (And I’m very familiar with her through the series “Suits”, so that might not be helping.) But the same level of authenticity doesn’t seem to flow from her.

Anyway, I do think it’s very brave of them to unite and plot the path for themselves and the future of their own family. I can only imagine the coldness they’ll be facing for a while...

The Sussexes’ refusal to submit to tradition was a long time coming, and it will shake up the royal family

... There was a moment that, in retrospect, was a turning point in our understanding of Markle’s strength. Back in October 2019, just five months after she gave birth, in an interview with reporter Tom Bradby for a documentary called Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Meghan was fighting to hold back tears although the rest of her face confessed her despair. Bradby asked about Meghan’s wellbeing, and she frankly told him, “Not many people have asked if I’m okay … it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.” She pulled back the veil a little further when Bradby asked her if she’s not really okay and if it’s been a struggle, and she replied with a faint yet succinct, “Yes.” The short clip was a disgrace...

...The royal family still has not learned their lesson from another woman, who unlike Markle, was born into aristocracy and still struggled to exert her agency: Princess Diana. Twenty-five years ago, in 1995, Princess Diana did an interview with BBC in which she told reporter Martin Bashir that she doesn’t think she’ll be queen (even though she was still married to Prince Charles at the time) because the “establishment” that she married into wouldn’t want it. When Bashir asked why, Diana responded, “Because I’m a nonstarter. … Because I do things differently. Because I don’t go by a rulebook. I lead from the heart, not the head.” The stark difference between Meghan and Diana is that Diana’s rebellious nature is not compounded by her race. Because of Meghan’s Blackness, her controversy is attached to not only what she does but also by her being in the royal family at all...

... By Markle being an outsider, culturally, racially, and socioeconomically, she has been the royal family’s scapegoat through which they can shield other members’ indiscretions, like the pestering rumors about Prince William’s alleged affair with socialite Rose Hanbury, who runs in their same blue-blooded circles, or Prince Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and the underaged victims who were allegedly abused by both of them. This is a legacy of girls and women whose lives and bodies are no match for the ironclad protection of men, and Meghan, as a mixed-race woman, became a part of a perfect storm...

...BuzzFeed reporter Ellie Hall made a Twitter thread in which she’s said that out of all of her seven years of reporting on the royal family, Meghan is the only one who gets this intense amount of vitriol...

More at link:

https://zora.medium.com/meghan-markle-defeated-the-british-monarchy-f536ae8c14f5?gi=82f703b41c95

 

[tomahawk6]

I read an article today citing the number of Royals who had their own sources of income.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I'm waiting for someone to blame the drop out, draft dodging, slacker culture of Vancouver Island for infecting them to the point where they have decided to become Royal Hermits on the Left coast

 

[Kirkhill]

This article is curious.

How Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were 'cornered' into making resignation announcement

MEGHAN MARKLE and Prince Harry may have hoped to leave the country quietly, but unfortunately for them, a royal “leak” decided to expose their US ambitions in an explosive interview with The Sun.

By HOLLY FLEET
PUBLISHED: 04:13, Fri, Jan 10, 2020 | UPDATED: 13:24, Fri, Jan 10, 2020

Senior aides have claimed that the royal couple has been diligently planning their escape to North America away from the monarchy for months. However, someone on the inside of their closest circle shared their plans with The Sun newspaper and left them feeling cornered. “It was a case of they act now or lose control of something they had spent a long time working on,” says a source close to the couple.

.....

The most important new ruling that has come to light since the announcement of the Sussexes departure, is their wish to only work with a select group of journalists who will provide them with favourable coverage.

According to the royal couple’s new Sussex Royal website, they will be “adopting a revised media approach to ensure diverse and open access to their work."

Therefore parting ways with the Royal Rota, which is a select group of Britsh media organisations who have traditionally covered the royal news.

These outlets include The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Evening Standard, The Telegraph, The Times, and The Sun.

Instead under their new self-flattering media plan, the pair will only

“Engage with grassroots media organisations and young, up-and-coming journalists “

“Invite specialist media to specific events/engagements to give greater access to their cause-driven activities, widening the spectrum of news coverage “

“Provide access to credible media outlets focused on objective news reporting to cover key moments and events; “

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1226467/Meghan-Markle-news-Prince-Harry-latest-Duchess-Sussex-uk-departure

The tabloids' "Iron Rice Bowl" is threatened by Meghan and Harry adopting the new Public Relations strategy.  So the press has motive to resist the change and Fleet Street makes more money from Villains than Heroes.  Heroes are only useful as counter-points to Villains and until they can themselves be exposed as Villains.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Daily Mail having a field day with Canadian angles (with videos):

1)

The clue Justin Trudeau knew about Meghan Markle before the Queen: Canadian Prime Minister tweets Royal pair would 'ALWAYS be welcome' weeks before the couple's shock announcement

  Justin Trudeau wrote 'you're among friends' to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex
    He said they are 'always welcome here' on Twitter weeks before announcement
    Trudeau and his wife were allegedly consulted about the Canada move last year
    The Canadian government did not respond to claims and the Sussex's denied it
...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (pictured with Prince Harry at a dinner during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2018) wrote 'You’re among friends, and always welcome here' on Twitter after hearing the news about the Sussex's spending Christmas in his native country. Mr Trudeau and his wife Sophie were consulted about the decision late last year, before members of the Royal family and even the Queen, according to diplomatic sources
...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7877129/Justin-Trudeau-known-Royals-Prince-Harry-Meghan-Markles-announcement.html

2)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle face backlash in Canada over bill for Mountie guards as campaigners say there must be 'no blank cheque' for the couple's security

    Harry and Meghan to hold crisis summit with family over move to Canada
    Canadian taxpayers could be forced to pay for Harry and Meghan's security
    Country's Mounted Police told there must be no 'blank cheque' on costs
    In online statement the Sussexes said they would look to become 'financially independent' while stepping back as senior royals
    New poll suggests Canadians could approve of Harry taking Governor General role - which already offers incumbent security
...

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex could face a huge backlash from Canadian taxpayers if they are forced to pay for the couple's security if they decide to move there (Harry and Meghan are saluted by two officers of the Canadian Royal Mounted Police in London, March 2019)
...
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7877525/Prince-Harry-Meghan-Markle-face-backlash-Canada-bill-Mountie-guards.html

Some more Canadian-angle stories here:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/index.html

Mark
Ottawa