The Duke & Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 2: December 2020-March 2021

[RandyDrx]

Considering the dude ranked #1 as most popular royal for years and did a lot of service for the BRF, this is not at all fair.

I'm talking about the present-day, that period of popularity was before he married Meghan and became preachy. Plus, popularity is a fickle thing, you can be extremely popular today and be detested tomorrow, just ask Edward VIII and Andrew.

 

[RoyalNight]

British Prince pretend-peeing in stranger's house to promote himself...
Can't wait for Oprah interview.

 

[Claire]

I do see a problem with the way he views the Crown - personally I feel he is under contract not to say anything against Netflix in general as most people who work with the company have the clause in their contract. So legally he cant say anything negative.
But saying that a bluntly inaccurate depiction of your family's past and the obvious undercurrents of The Crown is better then your personally depiction in the tabloid media is laughable. So attacks on my family are acceptable, just don't say Meghan's dress is ugly. Surely Harry knows that popular culture like TV soon becomes fact, he is in the industry now. And he thinks people believe tabloid journalism more - hmm. What tea is he smoking? People know the tabloids for what they are - they were there decades before H& M and will be decades afterwards. No-one gives them the light of day - but if the Sussex's get negative press then it is oh they are attacking my mental health. Either he is immature that he takes his popularity and press way too heart or he is extraordinary vain and needs the public admiration and sympathy to validate his existence. Either way - good luck in LA.

 

[ACO]

I really enjoyed the interview. Lighthearted and a lot of fun.

 

[Fijiro]

Actually, Harry asked to use the bathroom at the home where "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" was filmed. It was a comedic spiel into getting Harry to have that home as his LA base. I thought it was funny. In these times, we *do* need a respite from everything being dire and gloomy. I don't know about anyone else but I mention watching Netflix a lot and Hulu and preferring to stream things rather than watch live TV. In fact, throughout the entire interview, I can't say that I saw either Harry or James "plugging" anything at all.



Three syllables. A most difficult word for a lad his size. I can just imagine the routing. "See you later, alligator" with Archie chiming in "After while, crocodile" and busting into a fit of laughter.

OH! Another part I found interesting is Harry being asked who would ever "play" him and he names Damian Lewis. I'm in the middle of streaming all the episodes of "Homeland" where Lewis plays Nick Brody. I remember clearly thinking that he's a ginger like Harry was when Lewis was on screen.

I also don't think he needed to use the bathroom - I think it was just meant to be funny.
.

 

[Denville]

I also don't think he needed to use the bathroom - I think it was just meant to be funny.
.

How was it funny?

 

[poppy7]

Ir was a way well made interview. James Corden is certainly worth whatever they are paying him. And Harry is very fit.

Beyond that...tumbleweed.

Corden could have done that with a plank of wood and Harry was not particularly charismatic or interesting in it. Dull.

In fact the only two interesting things that were said were about the Queen and Prince Philip. Which is interesting to me because before i would have loved any details about Harry.

Royalty makes average (sometimes below) people star sprinkled. Without it you better have gifts.

Because what is Harry? Really? Well obviously very fit but little else. He has very famous relatives and is as a consequence very famous.

I don't think, on the back of this, that is sustainable.

Maybe she can carry them both now. Lets see what she can do on Oprah

 

[Fijiro]

On a lighter note, "See you later, alligator" would sound quite different in British and American English due to the flapping (?) of the intervocalic 't' in the American pronunciation and the mute final 'r' in 'alligator' in the British pronunciation (the final 'r' in 'later' wouldn't normally be pronounced either in British RP, but in this particular sentence, I believe it is, because it is followed by a vowel).


I wonder how Archie would pronounce that sentence having an American mother and a British father.


On Harry's casting suggestion, isn't Damian Lewis too old to play him? Wikipedia says he's 50.

Children always adopts the accents of the country/place where they grow up, so if Archie ends up growing up in America, he will have American accent.

Winston Churchill's mother Jennie Jerome was American, Winston Churchill of course had British accent, he grew up in Britain.
.

 

[Osipi]

Royalty makes average (sometimes below) people star sprinkled. Without it you better have gifts.

Because what is Harry? Really? Well obviously very fit but little else. He has very famous relatives and is as a consequence very famous.

"Famous" is relative. Harry is famous because he's a royal and has a way with making people feel comfortable around him. Tiger Woods is famous because he's an excellent golfer. Ghislaine Maxwell is famous for her association with Jeffrey Epstein. I'm not famous because nobody really knows me and I'm not in the public eye for anything but my Foodie with a Snout thinks I'm good with giving him food.

Harry's gift is his charisma and his ease being in and around people and making them feel comfortable and listened to. I would say that is a gift that is needed for one going into philanthropy and raising donations for charities and incentives. Would he make it in the PGA? Nope. Not a chance. I have no clue if Harry's ever golfed in his life.

 

[poppy7]

"Famous" is relative. Harry is famous because he's a royal and has a way with making people feel comfortable around him. Tiger Woods is famous because he's an excellent golfer. Ghislaine Maxwell is famous for her association with Jeffrey Epstein. I'm not famous because nobody really knows me and I'm not in the public eye for anything but my Foodie with a Snout thinks I'm good with giving him food.

Harry's gift is his charisma and his ease being in and around people and making them feel comfortable and listened to. I would say that is a gift that is needed for one going into philanthropy and raising donations for charities and incentives. Would he make it in the PGA? Nope. Not a chance. I have no clue if Harry's ever golfed in his life.

Not here he didn't. There was no sign if any charisma. Although I agree I have seen it in the past.

Fame isn't t relative . It is quantifiable and qualifiable.

Harry's fame in my view has nothing to do with anything you said and everything to do with birth.

And those talents he has, while I dont disagree. Are ten a penny and thankfully for us shown by many nurses doctors, teachers, counsellors etc about making people comfortable. In fact his own brother is phenomenal at all those things.

The cold hard reality is that they need to build a sustainable.brand and he is not going to enable this. Maybe she will.

 

[TLLK]

It's amusing and lighthearted. Both men have picked up a true Southern California idiosyncrasy by adding "the" before the number/name of a freeway/highway ie: "the 405."


I'm not surprised that he seemed to be okay with the Crown due to the Netflix connection to the Sussexes.

 

[AC21091968]

Thank you Osipi for your positive comments about the Cordon interview. I too enjoyed this light hearted escapade into the wilds of LA and appreciated the many common touches (can I use your bathroom: even Royals need to pee!) that were highlighted by Cordon. Yes, there was clever product placement: Netflix and Jeopardy (Alex Trebek was famously Canadian) but Harry is a professional: his performance in the obstacle course, clearly marking his speed to help Cordon out, was exemplary; At the end of the interview, however, I was also sad because the Royal Family has clearly lost a star performer in the Prince;

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Queen and the royal family has done brilliantly in supporting frontline workers, their patronages and charities, as well as continuously conducting engagements in different formats. There was not a big hole when Harry & Meghan left. In fact, some may suggest that they are not missed at all in terms of duties and engagements.

I am sure the 'grey men' at Buckingham Palace are kicking themselves with 'what could have been'.

I'm pretty sure these "men in grey suit" (whatever the Sussexes want to call them to play the victims) probably said "good riddance" when they left, because the Sussexes have been perceived to be self-centred and arrogant by not following royal protocols, thinking they can modernise the royal family, wanting the royal family to work around them not the other way round, hiring their own PR team and make the leaving announcement without much advance notice.

What I will be watching for is the British press reaction to this clear attack on their 'toxic' reaction to his 'stepping back', some of which I read in the various posters on this forum, to my dismay.

A lot of public figures have negative encounter with the press. What Harry & Meghan been through since the leaving announcement is a fraction of some politicians and celebrities get. I don't think the press is too upset by the word "toxic", given that it has been used endlessly. I'm pretty sure the press is used to getting criticism and hate from public figures and members of the general public.

Shame, really; but there are many Daily Fail readers on this forum, I think. A little bit of kindness never hurt anybody.....

I'm pretty sure most people on this forum despises the Daily Mail as well as other tabloids (Daily Mirror, Daily Express & The Sun) and shelf magazine (New Ideas) and can make them own opinions without reading them... Unlike the Mail, most people here like Harry & Meghan initially and stay loyal until the Sussexes leave as senior working royals mainly due to the way they left. Speaking of kindness, it's always those people including celebrities who speak about compassion or with the #BeKind hashtag on social media who are the least kind and most vile (E.g. vitriol thrown at Captain Tom Moore, Prince Philip when at hospital, Boris Johnson when in intensive care or when Wilfred Johnson is born and named). This also applied to some staunch Sussex supporters who have been vile to the members and staff of the royal family (The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Duke and Duchess of Wessex, Angela Kelly) by throwing accusation of racism and misogyny, as well as wishing ill on them.

 

[poppy7]

It's amusing and lighthearted. Both men have picked up a true Southern California idiosyncrasy by adding "the" before the number/name of a freeway/highway ie: "the 405."


I'm not surprised that he seemed to be okay with the Crown due to the Netflix connection to the Sussexes.

We do that in the UK except there is m in front of motor ways The M4, the M6 etc etc. They just put in the number of the American roads.

 

[QueenMathilde]

The cold hard reality is that they need to build a sustainable.brand and he is not going to enable this. Maybe she will.

Well he's the one with the charm. If he can't build it they won't build it.

 

[Betsypaige]

Not here he didn't. There was no sign if any charisma. Although I agree I have seen it in the past.

Fame isn't t relative . It is quantifiable and qualifiable.

Harry's fame in my view has nothing to do with anything you said and everything to do with birth.

And those talents he has, while I dont disagree. Are ten a penny and thankfully for us shown by many nurses doctors, teachers, counsellors etc about making people comfortable. In fact his own brother is phenomenal at all those things.

The cold hard reality is that they need to build a sustainable.brand and he is not going to enable this. Maybe she will.

I couldn’t agree more...I suppose in America he might end up famous for being famous, like they used to say of George Hamilton. Harry’s being jolly doesn’t do anything for me - like a poster said above, apparently his family is limited to his wife and child. Father depicted as a beast ? No big deal. He’s sold his soul for the almighty dollar...

What’s this about asking to use the bathroom ?

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

I rather enjoyed the video of Prince Harry with James Corden. Harry seems like a good sport. Archie seems super sweet.

 

[TLLK]

We do that in the UK except there is m in front of motor ways The M4, the M6 etc etc. They just put in the number of the American roads.

Thank you poppy7. I hadn't known that and now I can see that Prince Harry and James Corden would use "the" when referring to the freeway.

 

[kathl29]

I watched the James Corden interview with Harry and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. You could tell they were friends which helped it flow well and it felt like I was seeing the Harry of old in some parts of it.

Harry comes off best in this light-hearted type of setting as whether he likes it or not he is not viewed as an intellectual heavyweight which impacts how he is perceived when he talks on serious issues. Not sure I needed the cameo with Meghan but they are a duo and Harry will feature in the Oprah interview so I can understand why she was there and showed their connection well.

There was the obvious plugs to Netflix but they are now ‘employed’ by them so as celebrities rather than Royals they have to do this. The only part I found problematic was the reference to The Crown as there have been articles indicating Charles, William and Earl Spencer are not happy with the portrayals. I wonder how well Harry’s statements will age when The Crown moves fully into its telling of the War of the Wales.

This was great PR for Harry and Meghan and my concern for them is that they will undo all that with the Oprah interview.

Oprah is a different style and loves a more emotional, victim style interview which is also primarily focusing on Meghan who is undoubtedly less popular which I doubt will go down as well as this one has. I think James got the scoop on Oprah and I hope I am wrong and that they don’t end up wishing they had stopped at this interview.

 

[Fijiro]

I couldn’t agree more...I suppose in America he might end up famous for being famous, like they used to say of George Hamilton. Harry’s being jolly doesn’t do anything for me - like a poster said above, apparently his family is limited to his wife and child. Father depicted as a beast ? No big deal. He’s sold his soul for the almighty dollar...

What’s this about asking to use the bathroom ?

When talking about the toxic press coverage, he said ".... seeing stories written about my family, or my wife, or myself ..."; so he didn't limit his family to his wife and child.

 

[Osipi]

We do that in the UK except there is m in front of motor ways The M4, the M6 etc etc. They just put in the number of the American roads.

I noticed that. In the UK, you say the BBC and Philip is in hospital. Here it would be the opposite. It's showing on ABC and Philip is in the hospital.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

Young royal prince who has left the royal fold with his wife and son and settled near his wife's hometown of L.A., decides to spend time with an old British friend who happens to be a celebrity talk show host living in the L.A. area.

Just for fun they decide to go out for an excursion on a double decker bus so that the talk show friend can show the prince a bit of L.A., which he hasn't had a chance to see due to staying home mostly during the pandemic. A $14 million home mind you that sports either 16 or 19 bathrooms. Meanwhile, mucho bathrooms are common features in large homes of the wealthy in the L.A. region (Montecito to be exact, in this instance). They come in handy I'll bet when entertaining guests or during large family gatherings, which hopefully will not become a thing of the past, in the future.

Funnily enough, the talk show guy has planned in advance to stop by the former residence used to film the American tv show which starred Will Smith ages ago: Fresh Prince of Bel Air. A moderately funny skit ensues, with the easygoing prince playing along in fine fettle. The skit is actually not too faraway from one that the prince did with his grandmother and with his friends, the former #44 POTUS and FLOTUS, to help promote his wonderful athletic games initiative for injured military veterans all over the world. The annual event was taking place in an American city that year. 'Boom!' Also, funnily enough the prince's grandmother herself, accompanied by her corgis, had once famously appeared in an epic, unexpected skit with none other than James Bond, in which it simulated her skydiving into viewers' living rooms, promoting the opening of -- NOT a lowly American awards show -- it was the 2012 London Olympics.* LOL! There were no endless tabloid stories nor mindless criticisms of the latter two lighthearted skits.

Ultimate takeaway: Royals are celebrities are normal people too, who often Zoom with their grandparents/ great-grandparents who live faraway. And delightful Grandpapa/ Great-Grandpapa sure knows how to promptly close the laptop when the sessions are over. No nonsense! ?

Additional takeaways: Boy, that prince sure has a gorgeous wife who is even beautifully photogenic during a random view of her on a mobile phone screen!!! Plus, their toddler son sounds like a sweet, precocious pumpkin of a little boy who loves waffles for breakfast. His father lightheartedly reveals that his son received a much-desired waffle iron from great-grandmother for Christmas. Apparently, after 'dada' and 'mama,' the toddler's first real word was 'crocodile,' likely due to the fact that a crocodile is one of the animals in a storybook about a Duck/Rabbit, which his mother read to him for his first birthday celebration. The video was shared by an organization allied with Save the Children, which benefited fundraising efforts.

So the parents obviously try to align themselves with good causes, in the process of communicating with the larger public. At the same time, the parents of the little boy are adamant about maintaining control over their son's image, which doesn't mean he will never ever be seen or heard in public. LOL!

The parents' care, concern and caution regarding protecting their son and preserving as much privacy as possible is understandable due to the public frenzy that ensues whenever this normal, down-to-earth, charming family of humans who desire to do good things in the world and who like to work hard for their money, do or say anything. Even the act of breathing and existing by this young family excites a myriad of emotions, including admiration, disdain, and aghast outrage. Countless articles from every angle have already appeared all over the place obsessing about every detail of the prince's casual outing with his talk show friend. SMH

How dare this prince and his wife who departed the royal kingdom over a year ago, boldly desire and actually manage to live their lives on their own terms, in a $14 million Garden of Eden no less?! That's like having your cake and eating it too!!! Tsk, tsk.


*Thanks to Osipi for the important correction

 

[Countessmeout]

I quite enjoyed the Prince Harry interview. It was all in good humor.

He was careful not to go much into why he left the royal family. Probably due to the Oprah interview. And because it was mainly meant to be light hearted.

There was no way he was going to get away without mentioning his family. I loved the sweet anecdote about the queen's gift to Archie. I had to laugh a little that he got a waffle maker from his great-grandmother.

And he found a way to answer 'well do the queen and Philip even get to see Archie ever'. The answer is yes. I loved the story about Philip not logging out of zoom, but simply shutting the laptop closed when he is done. I had to smile as I can so picture him doing it.

In reality with covid, even if Harry and Meghan were living in the UK, that is the only way they couple would see Archie right now.


As for the 'its a joke to claim they are putting their life to service'...no its not.


Royals have the luxury of devoting their time to charity. They don't work. They dont have to make money and have jobs. They can devote time to charity, and even then they aren't doing full time. Meghan and Harry have been doing charity work through their zoom calls and events. The same kind of charity work other royals like William and Kate have been doing. Very little hands on work has been done with covid. Sophie is a rare example of that.


Harry and Meghan are doing what people who don't have the luxury to 'support charities part time' as a living. They balance their work commitments with their charity work. That doesn't make them any less dedicated to their charity work and giving back to people. It just means they have to find a balance in life.

I'd say most people would love the luxury of being able to just do patronages and visits a few times a week. But honestly I'd be bored out of my mind. Pre-covid I volunteered as many hours a week as royals do events, ontop of working a full time job. And I wouldn't change that for a thing.

Harry made a good point about the 'Crown'. The Crown is clear that it is a fictionalized version. Its not like the media who present their 'news' as being the truth when it is often far from it. It was not an attack on his father saying this. As no one, including his beloved mother, came out looking overly great in the Crown. He emphasized none of them were portrayed as truly accurate.

It was a great chance to see him laugh and relax with a good friend.


Be different side when we see him and Meghan on Oprah.

 

[MaiaMia_53]

It's amusing and lighthearted. Both men have picked up a true Southern California idiosyncrasy by adding "the" before the number/name of a freeway/highway ie: "the 405."


I'm not surprised that he seemed to be okay with the Crown due to the Netflix connection to the Sussexes.

LOL. Most of the royals have been relatively okay with the Netflix production of The Crown, until Season 4. Even then, reportedly some of them still watch the series.

Also, David Attenborough's recent environmental documentary debuted on Netflix, and it's been enthusiastically promoted and supported by the Cambridges. ?

 

[moby]

Harry seems to be currently benefitting from the old narrative perpetuated by the press of the Queen, and the RF in general, as cold and callous. The recent happenings in this family have found their way in meme accounts on social media, surely a sign of this particular stage in the lifespan of the Windsor dynasty as having penetrated pop culture.

I suppose this is the reason I don’t like his comments about The Crown. Though it is historical fiction, few people unfortunately make that distinction. Validating it in some way is disloyal, as the masses who don’t welcome nuance and have little discernment would always end up thinking of Diana as the victim, Charles and the Queen callous, and uncaring. In fact comments on the internet meme pages I mentioned say that he better “stop spilling tea” or “he’ll be offed the way his mother was by the Queen.”

Completely unfair to the RF that’s tried very hard to shed that image, that I suspect the reason why there’s always that line about “Meghan and Harry being much loved members of the family” is always there in the statements. Unintentionally or not, Harry’s benefitting from the what a great number of people worldwide have always wanted to believe about the Queen.

 

[King of the Jungle]

It's interesting that Harry alluded to feeling pressure to put duty and service ahead of everything (in his commonts on The Crown).

Realistically, one doesn't have to be Royal to feel a pressing need to value duty and service and many ordinary folk actually enjoy duty and service. The loyalties to one's beliefs, family and customs, and working to upkeep those, can lead to immense satisfaction and a happy reason to live.

What Harry sees as a hardship doesn't seem to be a loss to thousands of people nor also to
the likes of Captain Sir Thomas Moore and The Queen.

We don't need Royals to miserably martyr themselves. We want sincere free gifts of generosity. If Harry can't find a way to positively handle pressure then he's better off removing himself.

 

[poppy7]

I noticed that. In the UK, you say the BBC and Philip is in hospital. Here it would be the opposite. It's showing on ABC and Philip is in the hospital.

It's more to do with the definite article. We would interchangeably use both. Indefinite would be he is in hospital for the and referring to a particular hospital would be the hospital. Similarly with BBC...Which is actually 4 channels. One of them digital. It's on BBC 2. It's on the BBC.

 

[Osipi]

I don't know what the point of this was? All six of the Queens grown up grandchildren have given loads of interviews. Always fully controlled.

I can remember one interview quite recently by one of the Queen's children that was very much out of control. ? That was an anomaly. The Queen is the one the never gives an interview.

 

[AC21091968]

I don't know what the point of this was? All six of the Queens grown up grandchildren have given loads of interviews. Always fully controlled. There is nothing unusual about that. Harry has given a lot. The Doll house was for the BBCs Andrew Marr series from 2012 The Diamond Queen where the emphasis was on the grandchildren giving interviews not the Queens children.

This one was pretty much standard fair for the type of one Prince Harry gives. I mean he isn't an intellectual but as far as it goes this one was less earnest and preachy than he usually does. I mean he has always come across earnest and preachy that didn't start with Meghan. William is a suav interviewee, Beatrice endearingly emotionally open, Eugenie probably the most intellectual of all the grandchildren, and Peter and Zara absolutely unpretensious and relaxed. Harry has always had the comic timing gift but always wants to sound more intellectual than he is and he is preachy and earnest.

I was posting more links to this thread of "In their words: Video interviews of the royals" to show more examples of royal family members being interviewed and filmed. This thread is not just about Harry's light-hearted interview with James Corden, but also other royal family members across the world. I understand that my post may have interrupted the flow of this thread, but nevertheless relevant to this topic.

 

[poppy7]

I can remember one interview quite recently by one of the Queen's children that was very much out of control. ? That was an anomaly. The Queen is the one the never gives an interview.

That particular person has always been a nightmare interviewee and arrogant as anything. The grandchildren, the other children, the niece, nephew, cousins have always been far more controlled until now. There are shades of A in Has to b sure.

 

[Denville]

I can remember one interview quite recently by one of the Queen's children that was very much out of control. ? That was an anomaly. The Queen is the one the never gives an interview.

but Andrew isn't one of the grand children.. and the interview was an exceptional one.. (obviously from the pOV of the RF it was also a dire mistake).