The Duchess of Sussex: Family and Background - Page 110

ladyjolene · #**2181** 08-17-2018, 11:00 PM

It ramped up significantly when they started dating.

PS: I don't dislike Meghan, but I have a healthy dose of skepticism.

ACO · #**2182** 08-17-2018, 11:14 PM

You don't have to like or dislike her. It just not into downplaying stuff she did because people are convinced she spent her life trying to bag a prince. She was involved in a lot of charity work for years. It had nothing to do with Harry. Her volunteering at the food banks and organizing the left over craft services from her set to be sent to shelters wasn't some grand scheme to grab the attention of the royal family 4 years before she met Harry.

Also I don't think anyone is claiming she was some A list actress but she was on a hit and long running show. A show that is still airing and likely she would still be on. Actors evolve. She clearly was pursuing other avenues. Who knows what her next plan would have been. She was very, very close to with the head of NBC Universal. She knew a lot of producers and directors. That comes in handy when looking for work. It wouldn't have been unrealistic for her to land another show. Example: Her good friend Abigail went from Suits to Timeless and just announced a new show. It is about who you know.

So yes her walking away from something she worked a long time to get is hard. I don't think she has regrets because she has gained a lot but Meghan also sacrificed plenty.

Dman · #**2183** 08-17-2018, 11:14 PM

The woman has been striving to make a change in this world since she was a kid. She worked very hard to make her dreams come true to become an actress and landed a big role on a successful tv show for 7 seasons. That’s quite the accomplishment in her own right.

Osipi · #**2184** 08-17-2018, 11:17 PM

Its always good to have a healthy dose of skepticism on hand to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to what we read about anyone in the media,

I have to disagree with you that her charitable work ramped up after she met Harry. If anything, the relationship was kept at an under the radar level so much that if anything, Meghan cut down on things that would have called for public appearances, activism in any shape or form, deleted her social media and her blog "The Tig" and lucrative sidelines such as her association with Reitman's clothing. She basically went into hiding so to speak.

O-H Anglophile · #**2185** 08-17-2018, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladyjolene

I'm putting on my skeptical hat. She was on a cable TV show that was never big and she was in her mid 30s. Not 'old' by normal standards, but by Hollywood. She never really had a big breakout role. I'd never heard of "Suits" or her until she dated Harry. She knew her acting years were slowing down ("Suits" had been on 7 seasons and the storylines are repetitive). She really didn't sacrifice her career. She wasn't the multi-millionaire the press tried to make her out to be.

Don't flame me, but the charity and humanitarian stuff seemed to be PR. It struck me as she was almost trying to campaign to be in the royal family. Of course, KP isn't good with PR either.

Meghan had other non-acting opportunities she was involved in before she met Harry. Her life style blog and her contract with Reitmans both made her money.

Even the DM gives credit to her for her charity/humanitarian work BH (before Harry).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/ar...-campaign.html

"Meghan has worked with UN Women since 2014 as an 'Advocate for Political Participation and Leadership'"

Meghan Markle | Ambassador | World Vision Artist Collective

"Lifestyle expert and actress Meghan Markle became a World Vision Global Ambassador after travelling to Rwanda with World Vision in February 2016."

ladyjolene · #**2186** 08-17-2018, 11:25 PM

My main skepticism comes from it seemed she she tried to do a PR push... a PR campaign. I'm obviously outnumbered here. I'll submit to you all.

Osipi · #**2187** 08-17-2018, 11:29 PM

The more I think about it, the more I'm coming to realize that it was *because* of Meghan's basically going into hiding to keep her relationship at the time with Harry in an under the radar manner that propelled the media to do a whole lot of digging to find out just who Meghan Markle was because there was a gigantic interest in her.

The more the media dug, the more they found out that this woman was one of many accomplishments and had quite a bit of humanitarian endeavors behind her *before* she ever laid eyes on Harry.

The media found a wealth of information about this woman and there has yet to be any skeletons found in her proverbial closet that caused a really negative narrative. Of course, there were aspects of Meghan that the media could create mountains out of molehills with and they sure did but nothing was really ever found that put black marks against her character.

I'll say it again. Harry grabbed the brass ring on the marriage-go-round ride.

ACO · #**2188** 08-17-2018, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladyjolene

My main skepticism comes from it seemed she she tried to do a PR push... a PR campaign. I'm obviously outnumbered here. I'll submit to you all.

No need for that. You have a right to your opinion. If you feel her charity/humanitarian work was just all PR, that is fine. I clearly disagree but we can have that discussion. I just curious to why you feel like the stuff she did years before Harry was on her radar was for solely for PR and not genuine. And also do you feel that about all the royal work? It is just for show and not cause they actually care. Because that is a real critique many people have about their patronages.

O-H Anglophile · #**2189** 08-17-2018, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladyjolene

My main skepticism comes from it seemed she she tried to do a PR push... a PR campaign. I'm obviously outnumbered here. I'll submit to you all.

When do you think she did a PR campaign? What actions do you see that way?

As Osipi said, once she and Harry got serious, Meghan shut down social media and any gigs outside of Suits. She didn't seem to be out there promoting much of anything, IMO.

AlowVera · #**2190** 08-17-2018, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Osipi

I, too, have to laugh when I see people stating that the BRF live opulently and have all these amazing "perks". I just have to recall the story when Charles was little, he came back to the house and had lost a dog lead. HM sent him back out there to find it as "dog leads costs money". HM does seem to live frugally and as simple as possible on her own time. Tupperware holding cereals and BBQs out of doors at Balmoral etc.

Harry was raised partly by Charles and although Charles has been cited for excesses, I believe its due to going for quality that lasts. The man has shoes over 40 years old. He's also a very astute businessman and makes wise investments not only for himself but for his duchy and his charities such as the Prince's Trust.

This "frugality" of living, to me was reflected in Harry and Meghan's courtship. They preferred staying in and cooking their own meals and walking the grounds of Windsor Castle. Simple things. Normal things. Not exactly the life of "the rich and famous" where bigger and sparkle is better. They could afford the best there is but that's not their goals at all.

Harry has shoes with holes in them. The Royal family has massive wealth but they do come from a culture in which excessive flaunting of wealth is frowned upon especially by Hollywood standards.

I thought that clickbait article was a false narrative because it made Meghan's Suits money seem glamorous when in terms of TV shows it is still the lower rung but then again she was not the lead actor. Being on a TV show makes one well off but the business is so unstable you have to make your money last. Also you have to pay for a manager, stylist etc.

ladyjolene · #**2191** 08-17-2018, 11:40 PM

My BA and MA degrees are in communications. I'm falling on deaf ears here, but it's obvious. I don't doubt she had done charity in the past, but it REALLY got publicised once she dated him. She was an actress with a team. Yes, she just down social media, but that doesn't mean her PR team wasn't working and leaking. I'll bow out now. If you've been in the PR biz, you can recognize it. As I've said before, I don't dislike her, but you can see it.

Osipi · #**2192** 08-18-2018, 12:10 AM

Could it perhaps have been the media's best interest to print everything and anything they could dig up on Meghan to feed the general public's massive interest in this woman that Harry was dating? I would definitely say then that, yes, there was a massive PR campaign to bring Meghan into the public's line of sight any which way that they could. Meghan Markle was the hot topic of the time and the media did their very best to promote whatever they could find out about this woman. There certainly was plenty to write about and every nook and cranny of Meghan's life was put into the limelight as more and more articles had "exclusive" revealing information about Harry's love interest.

Meghan didn't have to do a dang thing nor did her PR department. It was all done by the media for her. Not all of it was good and promoted as "scandalous" and "outside of the box for the BRF" and just the fact that she was an actress, American and biracial to boot made the media cackle with glee all the way to the bank.

It still continues to this day with everything that surrounds Meghan. So actually, ladyjolene, perhaps you're right on the money suggesting there was a PR campaign even while Meghan was dating Harry but the instigator wasn't Meghan's people or Harry's people or anyone else besides the media themselves.

Now this makes sense to me. Its just my opinion but the more I think about it, I'd put the blame for "pushing" Meghan, negatively and positively, solely at the door of the media itself.

ACO · #**2193** 08-18-2018, 12:11 AM

I am in the entertainment business too. Have been for over a decade and deal with managers, agents, executive/personal assistance, etc. I know the game very well. It was inevitable that her past was going to be presented. People went digging for every little drop of info on her the moment their relationship was exposed. Meghan was a public figure so a lot of her was easy to come by with just a google search.

Now I agree that her people probably provided things to counteract some of the nasty tabloid stuff in the beginning. The same way anyone with a public persona does, including the royal family. That is just how it goes. But if we being honest, Meghan (nor her people) didn't really have to do much. The press did all the heavy lifting dropping $$$ to anyone who would talk and many did.

They enjoy building people up to tear them down -- as we can see.

hel · #**2194** 08-18-2018, 12:15 AM

I'm confused by the math of this story that's going around (The Express quotes the Sun, which quotes the Mirror).

Assuming it's true (which I don't, but let's just take it as a given for the thought excercise):

She either made £37,000 per episode OR she made £333,0000 annually. It can't be both. Suits has a season of 16 episodes after the first season; the 37K/333K figures the papers are using require a 9 episode season.

At £37,000 per episode, she would have made £592,000 annually. (£37,000 x 16)
At £333,000 annually, she would have made £20,812 an episode. (£333,000 / 16)

With that said (again, assuming it's true for the thought exercise), she was mainly living in Canadian dollars (i.e., rent, food, taxis, yoga studio membership, etc etc):

£333,000 is ~$556,000 in Canadian dollars and ~$425,000 in USD
£592000 is ~$985,000 in Canadian dollars and ~$755,000 in USD

ladyjolene · #**2195** 08-18-2018, 12:35 AM

She wasn't selling herself to Harry, but to the public and The Firm. I don't doubt her love for Henry, but you have to get Queen approval.

ACO · #**2196** 08-18-2018, 12:45 AM

Based on union scale it is very likely that first season Meghan would have made around $20K - $35K per episode. With each renewal it would have increased. After 7 years, the $50K number was likely correct but I would guess that happened when they re-signed for the last 3 seasons. Of course people like Gina and Gabriel probably were more in the $60-$75K range. I assume the cast all got a significant raise for season 8. Also Meghan's contract with Reitmans likely was nothing to sneeze about either. Then side projects which is impossible to know. It is not crazy money but she was very comfortable.

Osipi · #**2197** 08-18-2018, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladyjolene

She wasn't selling herself to Harry, but to the public and The Firm. I don't doubt her love for Henry, but you have to get Queen approval.

Can you pinpoint just *one* example that Meghan herself was selling herself to the public and the "Firm" for approval? Once Harry and Meghan's relationship became public knowledge, we didn't even *see* them (except for few and far between photos where they were caught in public) let alone hear from Meghan herself until the Vanity Fair article "Wild About Harry" shortly before they became publicly engaged. By the time that article was published, I imagine that the engagement was already a done deal and they had the approval of the Queen to go ahead and get engaged.

I stand by my opinion that it was the media "promoting" anything and everything Meghan because of public interest.

XeniaCasaraghi · #**2198** 08-18-2018, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladyjolene

My main skepticism comes from it seemed she she tried to do a PR push... a PR campaign. I'm obviously outnumbered here. I'll submit to you all.

As someone who thinks Meghan's acting days were nearing an end I must say the 2nd part of your statement makes no sense. How was she campaigning 4yrs before she met Harry?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ladyjolene

She wasn't selling herself to Harry, but to the public and The Firm. I don't doubt her love for Henry, but you have to get Queen approval.

So she was selling herself to the Queen 3yrs before she met her grandson? This sounds like that Andrew Morton theory that Meghan had a plan since 1997 to nab Harry.

Denville · #**2199** 08-18-2018, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O-H Anglophile

When do you think she did a PR campaign? What actions do you see that way?

As Osipi said, once she and Harry got serious, Meghan shut down social media and any gigs outside of Suits. She didn't seem to be out there promoting much of anything, IMO.

but surely that was PR, on Meg's part. She knew that as a royal, she could not be seen promoting things in the way she had done as an actress, so she closed her blog etc....

Osipi · #**2200** 08-18-2018, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denville

but surely that was PR, on Meg's part. She knew that as a royal, she could not be seen promoting things in the way she had done as an actress, so she closed her blog etc....

To me, that wasn't PR but rather both of them knowing where the relationship was heading and getting all their ducks in a row bit by bit before any public engagment was announced.

They did their very best to exclude the public from the lead up to the engagement and kept it private. They did a good job of it too.