Duke and Duchess of Sussex, General News Part 1: May 2018 - December 2018

[jacqui24]

I don't think the story of the aide moving on is newsworthy, but thank you letters nearly 6 months on from the wedding is just not on. Sloppy and unbecoming, IMO.

Actually people were receiving other thank you s months after the fact as well, like George and Charlotte’s birthday wishes. It’s not a surprise given the amount of things that happened in a short period of time. They do still have other things to work on in that office. I’m not sure why that’s surprising to people.

 

[RaggedyAnn]

I have a question? Can the British Royal family and media forum be opened again since it is closed? There are clearly things people want to talk about, that many find important that are not allowed to be discussed in this forum. The media’s relarionship with the family, especially the Sussex family, is a very hot topic. I feel like it should have some place for discussion. I am new so I really don’t know how to request that so I apologize if this isn’t how to go about doing it.

 

[muriel]

Actually people were receiving other thank you s months after the fact as well, like George and Charlotte’s birthday wishes. It’s not a surprise given the amount of things that happened in a short period of time. They do still have other things to work on in that office. I’m not sure why that’s surprising to people.

This is not about Brand Sussex, but just reflects badly on the Royal Household. If they were over worked, more resources from within the Royal Household could have been organised. It does not take very much skill to send these letters out.

Also in terms of the level of activity for KP, there was a wedding in May and a tour in October. Not exactly earth shattering stuff, given the Cambridges have not done a big autumn tour this year because of Louis' age.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

I have a question? Can the British Royal family and media forum be opened again since it is closed? There are clearly things people want to talk about, that many find important that are not allowed to be discussed in this forum. The media’s relarionship with the family, especially the Sussex family, is a very hot topic. I feel like it should have some place for discussion. I am new so I really don’t know how to request that so I apologize if this isn’t how to go about doing it.

I agree, however threads are closed at the discretion of mods for a reason. There is the Royal Library and Electronic media section of TRF available where it's possible to discuss various books and documentaries on the royals, such as the recent Jobson book, etc. As well, there is a British royal family relationships thread that is open.

Under the Electronic media forum, there is a thread about the recent documentary on Prince Charles, where a topic of discussion has been about Prince Charles' close relationship with Duchess Meghan and with his sons.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Drt73bhXQAAykKC.jpg

Seeing some of the latest photos of Meghan today, I think she is changing, which is obviously inevitable as her life has changed so much over the past two years. I miss somewhat who she was before, and that she was able to share much more of her life previously. Now, true sharing is off-limits as a royal.

It strikes me that Meghan plays her role well as the Duchess of Sussex. The royals always display these somber, melancholy expressions at events like today's. I do realize the somber nature of what Remembrance Day stands for, especially for Great Britain, a country that lost so many human lives during both World Wars. However, Meghan is from laid-back California, and although she surely has read up a lot recently on the British monarchy and British history, as a young American in her 30s, she is very far removed from that period in history generally, especially in British history. I suppose she feels deeply connected now through marriage, and as a newly baptized member of the Church of England. Meghan seems entirely up for all these grand, ritual occasions and pomp & circumstance ceremonies. She did study international relations at Northwestern. Plus, her acting career has definitely held her in good stead being in front of cameras at all these events. [...]

[...]Sure, some of this royal lifestyle might seem glamorous and appeaing from the outside. But on the inside, it could begin to get somewhat claustrophobic and overwhelming, particularly always being around RPOs and the same royal family faces and the palace intrigue, unless you do have a happy relationship with your significant other, (get along reasonably well with most of the family) and have purposeful, meaningful work to occupy and motivate your day-to-day existence. Right now, of course, Meghan is likely in full motherhood planning mode, and also still involved in pre-planning for the Royal Foundation projects she will be adding to her future schedule. As well, she may be in her element with the decorating needs of her and Harry's new 20+ room apartment at KP, their rental home on the Great Tew estates, York Cottage at Sandringham, and Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor estate. And surely for down-to-earth sustenance, she remains in contact with her closest and dearest friends, along with having her mother, and the solid support of her besotted husband.

In her former life, Meghan was seemingly very organized and a successful entrepreneur as well as a very busy actor on a popular cable television series. Add to that her humanitarian work and all the traveling she did, and I suppose it's safe to say she's segued nicely into her life as a royal, because of course, she has a staff to whom she can delegate many of the mundane tasks. This outsized, minutely examined life for someone who once spoke of feeling blessed and thankful for having a fruit basket every day in her very own trailer on the set of Suits. She must be living a dream and mostly enjoying the privileges, being up for the challenges, loving her prince of a husband, and simply ignoring and not sweating the less pleasant stuff (such as the recent nonsensical 'tiara drama').

 

[Terri Terri]

Really? Better her than me! The tiara drama would have me seriously questioning why I gave up my former life! But then again...This is a woman who has lived through a father and haf-siblings denigrating her in public...so the tiara drama may be mild in comparison.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

So true none of those homes have been confirmed. We really need to take everything reported by the Daily M.ail with a grain of salt because so many of their articles are not true.

It's not strictly DF that has done speculative coverage re homes for the Sussexes. In any case, I mostly do not click on DF trash. It has been reported by more than one source that H&M are renting a temporary home in the Cotswolds on the Great Tew Estates. I see no reason to doubt that.

I also see no reason to disbelieve reports that H&M will soon be moving into Apt 1 at KP (if the Gloucesters decide to move out). H&M may or may not have been gifted homes on the Windsor and Sandringham estates, but I see no reason to suspect it isn't possible -- this has been discussed in the thread, Future Home for Prince Harry, under British Royal Residences.

 

[Jacknch]

Please note that posts moving the thread away from the topic have been edited/deleted.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

Any chance that we can possibly import the Australian media to cover the royal stories rather than the tabloid British press? I kind of grew attached to them during Harry and Meghan's tour poʍu nupǝɹ. [emoji3]

Where will the British reporters go? Please don't send them to the US.

 

[Dman]

I wonder if The Duchess of Sussex will sign a book of Condolences for those who tragically died in the California fires?

 

[M. Payton]

Would she have to go to California to sign it or have it brought personally to her in London?

 

[Dman]

Would she have to go to California to sign it or have it brought personally to her in London?

No, the Book of Condolences at the American Embassy in London. 74 dead so far and 1,000 people still missing.

 

[MARG]

I am sure she will find a way to do that especially as it is such a devastating tragedy. Seventy-four confirmed dead and worse, a thousand unaccounted for. Those figures are almost incomprehensible when you think of the number of lives impacted by this disaster.

 

[Pranter]

Most likely the majority of the missing are simple bugged out and staying elsewhere since many of them have nothing to return to.


LaRae

 

[Dman]

Most likely the majority of the missing are simple bugged out and staying elsewhere since many of them have nothing to return to.


LaRae

The number of dead will likely go up, because it’s hard to tell the difference between burned objects and burned bodies.

 

[Madame Verseau]

The queen has released a statement about the California fires

https://www.google.com/amp/s/people...pport-meghan-markle-california-wildfires/amp/

That may be the only mention of the fire from the Crown. If Meghan does something on her own it looks like it would have to be cleared with BP.

 

[sndral]

California is a big state and Meghan’s ties are to Southern California where the Woolsey Fire has left 3 dead. The deadly Camp fire is in Northern California, I doubt that Meghan has any connection to Butte County, indeed she may have never even visited the area. The Queen has eloquently offered her condolences and I would not expect Meghan to add to that.
The smoke from the Camp Fire has finally pushed my air into the ‘unhealthy’ range (they issued masks at work yesterday) and I am probably 150 miles south of the Camp Fire. Although the large number of ‘missing’ on the list will go down as duplicate names are removed and people check in as safe with the Sheriff, my fear is that the death toll will go up and that there will be some never found. I’m a native northern Californian and what concerned me from the beginning about this particular fire was how close the start was to the towns and how fast it grew, usually officials can issue evacuation orders ahead of the fire, they didn’t really have that chance with the towns closest to the origin of this one. I hope I’m wrong.

 

[muriel]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-reveal-Hurricane-Meghan-shaking-Royals.html

Getting up at 5am, bombarding aides with texts and her eyebrow-raising fashion: Palace insiders reveal how Hurricane Meghan is shaking up the Royals six months after the wedding

> The House of Windsor welcomed Meghan Markle into the fold six months ago
> The new Duchess of Sussex has wasted no time in putting her stamp on The Firm
> She has proved to be less of a breath of fresh air and more of a whirlwind

 

[JessRulz]

The General News thread has been reopened.

The following actions have been taken:

-- Posts discussing the racist comments on the KP Instagram have been moved to the http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums/f23/the-british-royal-family-race-and-racism-44086.html thread.
-- Posts discussing Doria Ragland attending Christmas at Sandringham have been moved from their own thread to this thread. Doria can be discussed here, as required and related to the Sussexes.

Please direct questions to the moderation team.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...s-reveal-Hurricane-Meghan-shaking-Royals.html

Getting up at 5am, bombarding aides with texts and her eyebrow-raising fashion: Palace insiders reveal how Hurricane Meghan is shaking up the Royals six months after the wedding

> The House of Windsor welcomed Meghan Markle into the fold six months ago
> The new Duchess of Sussex has wasted no time in putting her stamp on The Firm
> She has proved to be less of a breath of fresh air and more of a whirlwind

I don't generally click on DF, but this time I did just to get a gist of what this is about. It's not really a negative piece, but as usual, DF purposely slants it in a seemingly negative way for clicks. Plus they are hint, hinting, or wink, winking, but don't really have anything damning to say except that Meghan's personality, style, and expectations are different partly because she's American. And that to a degree, her different approach takes getting used to by some of her staff. Initially, there were stories about Meghan hugging everyone on her staff, so it figures that the narrative would eventually change.

I don't see anything wrong with someone who rises at 5:00am (and likely after her yoga ritual) gets down to business working and energizing everyone around her with project ideas, plans and daily tasks. It's always been apparent (if you checked Meghan's former Tig and Instagram, and viewed the many interviews she gave, accessible on Youtube) that Meghan is a bright, energetic go-getter, and a mover-and-shaker. I think it's admirable that the Duchess of Sussex likes to work hard and is an ambitious achiever. Harry doesn't appear to have any problems with his wife's personality, work-ethic, and lifestyle routines.

 

[O-H Anglophile]

So I read the article-much of it is ridiculous. “Meghan is raising eyebrows wearing a black tuxedo and skirts above her knees.” Umm, no, neither of those things is something new.

 

[Curryong]

Of course the article is ridiculous. It's peppered with snide little comments all the way through, inviting its readers to disapprove of 'this American who's trying to change everything.' I've no doubt the DF and the Sunday Fail are following an editorial agenda.

In the six months since Meghan married Harry it's been around one semi-favourable article to about half a dozen negative ones in the tabloid Press, especially the DM. They don't attack Harry as much as his wife because he remains very popular with the British public, but Meghan is the interloper and therefore considered fair game.

 

[Nico]

It's me or there's a smear campaign going on ?
Wonder where does that come from ...

 

[DeeT]

I’m not clicking on the article as it’s the usual click-bait fiction & dog whistle that’s published by that tabloid. The unnecessary need to treat Duchess Meghan as an outsider, not like the rest of the family. All of the other princesses & duchesses have worn similar fashion styles, but Daily Mail is snide with Meghan. Now Meghan’s hard work ethic is a problem for them, they always want to tear her down; however it is the tabloid that looks increasingly low standard & unprofessional.

The last time Daily Mail published false info about staff leaving related to the Duchess, they had to print an apology. Of course, they never print corrections prominently & timely like they blast false information.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/article-6271125/Corrections-clarifications.html
On 10th July 2018 we published an article with the headline ‘Queen's two most senior PR chiefs to leave after... Sally Osman and Steve Kingstone have confirmed that their individual and independent departures predated...’
We accept their respective positions, and apologise for any misunderstanding or embarrassment.

 

[Terri Terri]

Nothing new! The DF has carried out a smear campaign against Meghan since it was discovered that she was Prince Harry's girlfriend...so this has been going on for over 2 years now!

 

[Nico]

Nothing new! The DF has carried out a smear campaign against Meghan since it was discovered that she was Prince Harry's girlfriend...so this has been going on for over 2 years now!

Well the Press needs a princess the public loves to hate : Princess Michael, Sarah , Camilla and now Meghan ...
Nothing new indeed.

 

[Terri Terri]

Exacting! The press builds you up and then tear you down! Everyone has gone through it.

 

[Curryong]

Yes, but Meghan hasn't ever been built up, at least not by British tabloids. She's always been treated as the interloper. There's been no honeymoon period for her with the London Press.

 

[Denville]

but the press will print what they think the public want to read......

 

[Curryong]

It can be a chicken and egg situation as well, though. Do the Press, (including tabloids) through their editorial policies, decide on a certain course and follow through with it, leading and moulding public opinion, or do they just follow what they think their readers desire?

For instance, in Australia, the media, both television and press, was very favourable to Meghan throughout the recent tour. There were no niggling criticisms such as the DM comes up with. And the Aussie public responded, with enthusiasm and large crowds.