Harry & Meghan: Legal Actions against the Media

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Hallo girl

IMO a great deal if this mess is down to Meghan not being properly prepared or briefed if you want to put it that way in how the RF operate.
That is not her fault but IMO it is Harry, he knows how the family work all the rules , the protocol, who can earn money etc etc.

I have to disagree. My own gut instinct is that it was not about Meghan not being briefed by the Palace, it was just that she was not willing to listen to what the Palace or other family members were telling her.

I think you had the ingredients in place for the perfect storm:

> Harry was probably not particularly secure in his relationship with Meghan and wanted it to last, come what may

> Harry had insecurities of his own about the media, and the feeling they were out to get him. Not helped by Diana's difficult relationship with the media, the circumstances of his unfortunate death and the phone hacking scandal amongst others.

> The loose family / KP structure where H&M were not kept on a very tight leash from the beginning, and were free to define their work roles in the way that they wanted to

> Add in Meghan probably misunderstanding their social media following as being support for her personally rather than the institution

> Her unwillingness to let go of her North America / Hollywood advisory team, including new friendships with the likes of Oprah, who Meghan probably thought of as a role model for developing a "compassionate brand" that could be successfully monetised for personal gain

> Harry's inability to stand up to her and convince her of what can and cannot be done in the context of the role of the second son of the PoW and his wife, i.e. primarily a supporting role rather than a starring one.

[evolvingdoors]

Originally Posted by ACO

Jason didn't write any part of the letter.

“For the avoidance of doubt neither Mr Knauf (nor anybody else) created any part of the Electronic Draft or the Letter. The Claimant, and the Claimant alone, created the Electronic Draft, which she then transcribed by hand to her father as the Letter.”

This seems to be the new angle to try to state Meghan didn't hold copyright. We shall see how this plays out.

Meghan has also proved she has no problems lying and twisting the truth to fir her needs, she literally lied to the court in September! saying she had no hand in FF but now we find out she gave permission to her friends to speak to Omid for the book.

So until Jason says what help exactly he gave, I don't believe her narrative, because she is has proven to be unreliable in her presentation of the truth.

Originally Posted by REAL COUNTESS

Really why would Meghan need help to write a letter to her father? She Meghan is NOT a dumb person ,so she don't need the input from anyone who worked for her.

Dumb? well.. maybe not. But she obviously did need input because she sought it out.

Meghan fans need to decide: is Meghan a victim or a strong woman? i'm getting whiplash.

Originally Posted by Hallo girl

Maybe now people will appreciate why the royals in the most part follow the " never complain never explain ". guideline.

IMO a great deal if this mess is down to Meghan not being properly prepared or briefed if you want to put it that way in how the RF operate.
That is not her fault but IMO it is Harry, he knows how the family work all the rules , the protocol, who can earn money etc etc.
He is wealthy in his own right , doesnt need to earn money and to see in writing that Meghan is complaining that other family members can earn money but they couldn't is frankly embarrassing.
Or maybe it was their desire to not follow royal advisors that they then brought in PR machines etc who did not appreciate how the royals do things.
It is all a mess.

Do people who aren't the sussex squad seriously think the royal family would not have put her through lessons on protocol and the proper way to be right from the get go?
They literally contacted her after her photo op with the H&M necklace and said, we recommend to try and not draw too much attention, let it ride out.

She was 36 when she said yes and married in, not a naive 19 year old!! If she didn't bother doing her HW while they were still dating that's on her!

[Denville]

Doesn't this kind of show that Meghan never intended to stay as a full time royal and so thought that whatever rules there were or what advice her Palace staff gave her, the rules and guidance didn't necessarily apply to her..

[Heavs]

Even in FF Scobie contradicted the "Meghan wasn't supported by the institution" narrative by saying that Royal aides did provide advice (like don't wear jewellery because it baits the paps) but that they ignored it.

I suspect that they were offered a lot of advice but it wasn't what they wanted to hear so they ignored it and went their own way (Tom Bradby etc), saying to themselves that the palace were conservative fuddy duddies who didn't understand.

There also does seem to have been a culture clash in that again royal aides aren't there to be your Hollywood team of publicists, agents, managers etc. And the ladies of the BRF aren't necessarily going to be like the group she had in LA/Toronto and at her baby shower ready to run to the press on her behalf. They've all been through this drama themselves and handle it differently in the "never complain, never explain" model.

They believed their own hype and chafed at being considered 2nd priority, even though they were given important jobs and patronages.

The palace possibly could have handled things a bit differently and they are set in their ways.

[Hallo girl]

Originally Posted by evolvingdoors

Do people who aren't the sussex squad seriously think the royal family would not have put her through lessons on protocol and the proper way to be right from the get go?
They literally contacted her after her photo op with the H&M necklace and said, we recommend to try and not draw too much attention, let it ride out.

She was 36 when she said yes and married in, not a naive 19 year old!! If she didn't bother doing her HW while they were still dating that's on her!

I am not saying they did not try and help her , I am sure they did, and probably because she was that bit older and had a career that she had total control over, she thought she knew better.
I still think Harry needed to take responsibility to ensure she fully understood what she was getting into. Meghan came in with a plan in her mind, not realising that what she wanted was different to the reality.

I am not sure if your Sussex Squad reference is directed at me , if it is please do not make assumptions.

[AC21091968]

I'm not quite sure where to put this post. Prince Harry became paranoid & suspicious of friends from the phone hacking scandals according to The Times. He is also claiming damages of more than £200,000.

Phone hacking stories left Prince Harry paranoid and suspicious
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/p...ious-rqr879b0n

[Curryong]

Originally Posted by AC21091968

I'm not quite sure where to put this post. Prince Harry became paranoid & suspicious of friends from the phone hacking scandals according to The Times. He is also claiming damages of more than £200,000.

Phone hacking stories left Prince Harry paranoid and suspicious
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/p...ious-rqr879b0n

I remember newspapers at the time reporting that BOTH Princes were left with suspicions of friends and other contacts, and they planted false rumours with various friends in order to see whether these would be repeated in the Press.

Anybody would be suspicious if some plans and socialising with their friends was accurately being reported in tabloids. It just shows what the editors of these rags were and are capable of and how low they were and still are prepared to go.

[cathy50]

When Donald is gone the US an still rely on the Sussex couple to get one surprise after another ��
They both seem to need a lot of advice and not try lecturing others about how to live their lives, I sometimes feel so old when reading all this nonsense about these two spoiled childish brats.

[Madame Verseau]

Dumb move about the third party. Giving the go ahead to talk to Scobie and not clarifying is bad optics. It still doesn't let the tabloids off the hook or the royals. They were wrong. Now Dad is not being required to testify; testimony is viewed as unimportant.

[Hallo girl]

Originally Posted by Madame Verseau

Dumb move about the third party. Giving the go ahead to talk to Scobie and not clarifying is bad optics. It still doesn't let the tabloids off the hook or the royals. They were wrong. Now Dad is not being required to testify; testimony is viewed as unimportant.

Not just bad optics. It also reflects on Scobie.
His response to questions 're their involvement in the book was always carefully worded which in itself was always questionable. So he was economical with the truth.

IMO it also draws into question how even handed the comments 're the royals and the courtiers are , who provided the detail etc.

[Duchess_Watcher]

Originally Posted by Lori138

And so all of those who absolutely believed Omid Scobie when he categorically denied having help from Meghan or both Harry and Meghan? It was the only possible answer to the amount of personal information revealed in the book.

It is almost like all the conspiracy theorists who don't believe that Covid is real and not a threat. You believe Omid Scobie but deny a pandemic. Just my two cents.

It shocks me anyone believed Omid or Meghan. The details are too personal, I always said she either TOLD someone and wanted it leaked or she did it herself.

Just pathetic.

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Duchess_Watcher

It shocks me anyone believed Omid or Meghan. The details are too personal, I always said she either TOLD someone and wanted it leaked or she did it herself.

Just pathetic.

I don't think many believed that Omid has not been briefed by Meghan. The book sold because it was gossip first hand.

[AC21091968]

Originally Posted by Duchess_Watcher

It shocks me anyone believed Omid or Meghan. The details are too personal, I always said she either TOLD someone and wanted it leaked or she did it herself.

Just pathetic.

I agree that Meghan must have some indirect input (via third party) to Finding Freedom, especially in the journey of accessing tiara (i.e. the number of steps and route to the vault) and Harry & Meghan's private trip to Africa. I don't think a historian, royal biographer and royal commentators would know that much detail on the jewellery vault (not the name of the jewellery itself, but the storage arrangement), which is mostly hidden from the public. The primary sources of this comprehensive information that I could only think of are Harry & Meghan (most likely) and the courtiers (less likely). I do worry about a security breach on possibly leaking Palace details either by Harry & Meghan or palace staff.

Originally Posted by muriel

I don't think many believed that Omid has not been briefed by Meghan. The book sold because it was gossip first hand.

I think Omid kind of shot himself in the foot when the author's note/acknowledge of Finding Freedom mentioned that he had spoken to the Sussexes

'We have spoken with close friends of Harry and Meghan, royal aides and palace staff (past and present), the charities and organisations they have built long-lasting relationships with and, when appropriate, the couple themselves.'

His interview leading up to the book release haven't been great either, especially with the Times interview, where he spoke to interviewee with a younger age compared to other websites or even his own twitter feed.

Times interview with Andrew Billen: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/o...edom-k77lsclgn
Tweet from Andrew Billen confirming that Omid told him that his age is 33: https://twitter.com/andrewbillen/sta...42634242715649

Screenshot from the Beta Companies website, showing that he is 39: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Edwce2KX...png&name=large

Picture Originally from the tweet: https://twitter.com/TourreBakahai/st...35487626858496

Screenshot of deleted tweet by Omid on celebrating day 2 of being 27 on 5th July 2008. This indicate that he is now 39: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EeUocGWU...png&name=small

Picture originated from a tweet: https://twitter.com/RuleBGB/status/1289481366095052801

[muriel]

Originally Posted by AC21091968

I agree that Meghan must have some indirect input (via third party) to Finding Freedom, especially in the journey of accessing tiara (i.e. the number of steps and route to the vault) and Harry & Meghan's private trip to Africa. I don't think a historian, royal biographer and royal commentators would know that much detail on the jewellery vault (not the name of the jewellery itself, but the storage arrangement), which is mostly hidden from the public. The primary sources of this comprehensive information that I could only think of are Harry & Meghan (most likely) and the courtiers (less likely). I do worry about a security breach on possibly leaking Palace details either by Harry & Meghan or palace staff.

I think you are right, the level of detail in that book could only have come from one of the principals.

[Duchess_Watcher]

[.....] She gave out information that was too personal for it not to come from her or through a third party. She tried to be slick and that means she threw the entire monarchy under the bus. Something was up when she claimed to know nothing about the Royals but there was a photo of her at the Buckingham Palace when she was younger and apparently followed blogs on them.

[......]

And I honestly think Doria is one of those third party sources. She can frame it off as she confided in her mother. She couldn't leave without having her story told, and it's sad.

[Denville]

I thought that Meghan's side had admitted that she did put out a lot of the information to Omid Scobie.

[yukari]

Is there any (actual) proof that what's written in FF is true? Like the vault details, the pee-pee story etc?
I mean, there's several point in the book that has been proven incorrect (I won't repeat it here, there's a dedicated thread for it), so there's a possibility that those above are incorrect too.

I personally have this friend who really love to gossip and in a very details way that it seemed to be true fact while actually it isn't. I know because I heard a story about me from another friend who heard it from that blabbermouthing friend which I later clarified that most of it is not true, only correct generally (which yes, I mentioned it in passing during one of our group outing) but the details are far from truth. Why I'm still friend with this one? Because other than the loose-lip tendency (and wild imagination), this friend is more or less harmless.

What I understand from M's court statement, she's aware that couple of her friend had been approached by Scobie and told him story, but she didn't know how much they told him. Same thing may happen in the case of friends talking to People mag about the letter.

For now, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt that she doesn't lie in her latest statement which mean the point that she (and Harry) didn't contribute to the book still stand.

As for her claim of no support from the palace, IIRC it said that she didn't feel supported when she's pregnant, means it's after August 2018. Say, the palace actively gave her advice/support in the first few months after marriage, but then for whatever reason they let her be after that or it also could be that their "support" was not the kind that she wanted (insert culture clash here) hence she didn't feel supported. In this case her last statement about being given advice is not contradicting the earlier one of no support.

I really hope that's what actually happen. But then again, who know ....

[Denville]

Odds are that she ok'ed her friends talking to Omid, but can say, as Diana said of Morton that she had never talked to Omid....

[ACO]

Originally Posted by Denville

I thought that Meghan's side had admitted that she did put out a lot of the information to Omid Scobie.

No. The documents state Meghan never talked to authors and had nothing to do with the book. Also made clear she never discussed the letter nor presented it to anyone outside KP. And she wasn't aware of what was discussed between her friend and the authors.

What it did state was that she was aware a friend was approached by the authors. That is also not new information as we already knew Meghan was aware her friends spoke to the authors. Omid stated he spoke to over 100 people including those connected to the other royals. That was already cited in earlier documents. So not exactly the breaking news they are claiming it to be.

The only new info was the fact she had two senior royals in the loop. That came out from the Mail on Sunday claiming KP staff wrote the letter therefore Meghan doesn't hold the copyright.

[Denville]

Originally Posted by ACO

No. The documents state Meghan never talked to authors and had nothing to do with the book. Also made clear she never discussed the letter nor presented it to anyone outside KP. And she wasn't aware of what was discussed between her friend and the authors.

What it did state was that she was aware a friend was approached by the authors. That is also not new information as we already knew Meghan was aware her friends spoke to the authors. Omid stated he spoke to over 100 people including those connected to the other royals. That was already cited in earlier documents. So not exactly the breaking news they are claiming it to be.

The only new info was the fact she had two senior royals in the loop. That came out from the Mail on Sunday claiming KP staff wrote the letter therefore Meghan doesn't hold the copyright.

Of course she wasn't going to say taht she spoke to Omid direclty.