The Duchess of Sussex: Family and Background

[ladyjolene]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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?

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]

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]

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.

 

[Lady Nimue]

Again I said by TV standards it is very little money. You have some TV actors making 1 million per episode. I wasn't comparing her income to the average person. LaRae

My point was that by television standards she was doing just fine. That is good money for someone of her status at the time she was doing Suits. IMO. The million dollar an episode is celebrity money on a significant series, and is less the norm for the working actor. Meghan, for a working actor, was making good pay. I was contradicting you.

 

[Denville]

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.

I wish they were as good now, but I suppose they can't control her family, But my point was that she knew if she was going to be a part of the RF, she had to drop the publicity seeking she did as an actress, so she had to close her blog nad so on...

 

[Osipi]

Exactly. That's why I see it as her preparing to join the ranks of the BRF and it wasn't a PR stunt to influence the public or anyone else. These two people knew where they were heading long before the public were presented with the fait accompli. ?

 

[Denville]

Exactly. That's why I see it as her preparing to join the ranks of the BRF and it wasn't a PR stunt to influence the public or anyone else. These two people knew where they were heading long before the public were presented with the fait accompli. ?

I should say it was PR, it was tryng to show the public that she knew how to act when she became Royal, and to counteract the dreadful behaviour of her family which Im sure she knew was going to come out and get worse, wit her approaching marriage....

 

[Osipi]

We'll just have to leave it at that. We can't speculate on things we really don't know about but only about things that we know for sure are facts. ?

 

[Denville]

We'll just have to leave it at that. We can't speculate on things we really don't know about but only about things that we know for sure are facts. ?

How can you speculate about facts? Facts are facts, they are there, and proven....

 

[O-H Anglophile]

How can you speculate about facts? Facts are facts, they are there, and proven....

How is it a fact to say that Meghan was working to prove she could act like a Royal to counteract her family’s bad behavior, which hadn't ocurred yet? (well, other than Samantha a bit, but she just sounded jealous and bitter.) That is speculation.

The facts are Harry and Meghan knew within a couple months they were serious and Meghan began shutting down her public life as an actress to move into her new life with Harry after her contract with Suits ended.

 

[Dman]

Our paths are carved for us, we just travel the journeys.

 

[Pranter]

Harry and Meghan were lucky enough (smart enough) to keep their relationship under wraps for about 6 months...they knew by 6 months they were headed toward marriage.

Everything after it went public her life was pulled back and under radar...her public accounts were shut down and she ended their contracts. They took things public again with the Vogue (I think it was Vogue) interview and then shortly after the I.G. appearance.

She had approval from the Queen way before all this...Harry even said his grandparents were the only ones who knew about them for awhile.

They had a plan and a timetable and they followed it.


LaRae

 

[Osipi]

Our paths are carved for us, we just travel the journeys.

As much as I like your line of thought, I kind of prefer Ralph's "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

To me this exemplifies Meghan. She was willing to risk everything, give up her career, her place of residence, her activism to follow her heart to the UK and forge a new path. Both Harry and Meghan took a leap of faith together into the future. How can they lose when they're so sincere?

 

[M. Payton]

And if there is anyway to research Meghan's Tig account even though it is closed there is a very telling post that she made right after her divorce and it shows what she learned to make her the person she is today. A very strong precise woman who knows herself and the standards that she has set for herself then and they are instilled in her today.....I would venture to say Meghan is *tough as nails* in all that she takes on in life and more so now with Harry....

 

[Denville]

How is it a fact to say that Meghan was working to prove she could act like a Royal to counteract her family’s bad behavior, which hadn't ocurred yet? (well, other than Samantha a bit, but she just sounded jealous and bitter.) That is speculation.

The facts are Harry and Meghan knew within a couple months they were serious and Meghan began shutting down her public life as an actress to move into her new life with Harry after her contract with Suits ended.

I didn't say it was a fact, it is a fact that she stopped her blog and publicity things.. but IMO she did it to show that she knew the score as a future royal..and had to stop doing publicity things. I was saying that one can't speculate on facts, because they are facts... One can speculate on why things were done or what people's motives are....
Other people have a different opinion on why Meghan does various things....

 

[O-H Anglophile]

Our paths are carved for us, we just travel the journeys.

I do not believe in predestination-I believe in free will and the ability to make choices when two or more paths are open.

Meghan had choices and chose the path with Harry and his world.

 

[JessRulz]

This thread has been reopened to allow the new line of discussion re: Meghan's career to be in the correct place.

One important moderator note regarding any discussion of the Markles going forward: it is mandatory to follow moderator instructions. The thread was closed earlier this week for the repeated disregard to moderator warnings and requests. Going forward, this continued behaviour may see posting privileges suspended for repeat offenders.

Also - we keep seeing people ask "Why does the media keep giving airtime to the Markles?". The answer is simple: because they generate clicks and hits, which equal money. The amount of posts in this thread only highlight how 'popular' the topic is, and the media don't necessarily care if people are for or against the "Markle Debacle" as long as they are making money from it. So perhaps we should all rethink posting every single article mentioning the Markles, many from questionable sources, that comes across our radar.

 

[XeniaCasaraghi]

So perhaps we should all rethink posting every single article mentioning the Markles, many from questionable sources, that comes across our radar.

THANK YOU!!!! Been saying this for a month.

 

[Madame Verseau]

I'm not linking articles but I would like to comment.

Dad's latest interview has him complaining about the royals acting like a cult, like Scientologists, putting up a wall of silence, having a "secret handshake". Dad got money for this but it didn't help his image or get him sympathy judging by comments. Some of the comments are starting to get scary and for that reason Dad needs to fall back. The BRF is not going to supply him with security after all he has done.

Sam didn't make onto Celebrity Big Brother. I think the network heads realized she was a financial liability in terms of exposure to a lawsuit, loss of viewers and advertisiers, and restrictions from royals and future royal events. I also think she won't be the mystery house mate. She is not worth it.

In the end money is going to determines the tabloids' interests. So far the gossip press has "invested" thousands of dollars in the disgruntled Markles and they are not getting any thing in return like responses and fresh stories. When the books are reviewed and it's found money has been loss covering the Markle Debacle they will back off.

 

[Chloep]

Please...imo, no one cares about this pathetic excuse of a parent enough for him to need security. He is unravelling because he knows fully well that he'll never have anything to do with Meghan and her new family - not because he loves and misses her, but because he wanted the ego and image boost. He gets the $ by going to the trash papers and that's all he wants. He sealed his own fate a LONG time ago when it comes to Meghan.

I also doubt that Samantha was EVER approached to be on CBB. They never had someone with her condition on the show, she'd be outright uninsurable just because of that - and this on top of casting her having very, very little pay off but a mountain of potential drawbacks. This whole rumour was started by no one else but Sammy herself.

 

[Osipi]

The more Meghan's dad talks, the more he's proving to the world that Meghan and her new family are right to not respond to him. He's getting to the point where his statements don't make any kind of real sense at all and he's just raging like an angry bull who is all steamed up with no place to go.

I sincerely believe too that Samantha didn't make the cut for Celebrity Big Brother mainly because other than her vendetta against Meghan, there is nothing else about her that is interesting. From the quick glance at the participants that are in the house, they at least have some kind of a real background of their own merit. So no surprise that there's no Sam.

Meghan and Harry have enough on their plates and plans for the future and things they want to see and do and perhaps a family in the future. Meghan has a lot of loving support behind her and she's a strong woman that isn't going to collapse into a fit of the vapors over any of this. She'll be just fine. ?

 

[M. Payton]

Okay, I am going to post a link here that I referred to in my comment 2211 above and hope it passes muster with the mods.....this is something that Meghan learned after her divorce and what and how she is the person she is today.......I think it says a lot about her and they are most surely *Words of Wisdom*.....and anybody can learn from this......

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/7032853/meghan-markle-posted-quote-the-tig/

 

[Osipi]

Those really are amazing words to live by. Self affirmations such as this when repeated or read often enough become a way of living healthily. I would love to see Meghan pass these words on with the work the Royal Foundation does for mental health awareness. They're well worth repeating over and over and over again.