The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 6: Aug. 2021- Oct. 2022

[camelot23ca]

Originally Posted by UglyAmerican

Meghan initiated the lawsuit, which means she had control over its timing and its existence. Presumably she also had some control over the timing of her pregnancies. When you choose to initiate a lawsuit, you don't get to selectively hit pause because you've subsequently made other personal choices that combine to make the stress of a lawsuit a bad idea at that time. If she didn't want the stress of a lawsuit to potentially affect her pregnancy, she shouldn't have initiated one at that time.

Yes, a BBC article I read today had some further quotes from Meghan’s statement and she made a point of mentioning she miscarried days after the MoS publisher “threatened to break the confidentiality” of the friends from the People article. At this point I can’t remember what episode in this never ending case she’s referring to, but it doesn’t matter. The Mail and its legal team didn’t know Meghan was in the early stages of pregnancy at the time, and it’s ridiculous to think that they should have pulled any punches even if they had known. Their goal was to win the case, not to hep meghan optimize her reproductive health.

And I can’t help but remember Meghan and Harry talking about the lack of support from the Royal Family but now we have these statements that show that at least two senior royals were involved in the discussions around how to approach the issue with Meghan’s father. But apparently this wasn’t a genuine attempt at support but rather unwelcome pressure on Meghan and Harry. So they get involved and it’s pressure, they stay out of things and they’re unsupportive.

[Heavs]

Originally Posted by Curryong

The MoS quite obviously wish to win the case in the courts, otherwise they would not have continued with the appeal but would simply have interviewed Knauf and included his emails in their articles.

This may be a big story now with the negative implications for Meghan. However, if she wins this appeal and again insists on an apology from the MoS on its front page that may well stop much of the cock a hooping among the British tabloids at the moment.

Would they like to win in the court? Of course.

Have they very clearly done what they set out to do with this appeal (which was about wanting to go to a full trial)? Definitely.

They've got Meghan and Harry both admitting to wanting to lie and misrepresent the truth *in writing* and admitting "forgetfulness" about it in court. They've got 100% secure evidence for a many different stories that were only rumours or unprovable, including Meghan wanting Scobie to dig into her sister's children's childhoods and Harry sending such a terrible message to Thomas Markle that the Judge refused to allow it to be read aloud in court.

JK is on record as "regretting" not coming forward before now. And there's the bullying investigation still on the potential horizon, even though the details of that are more likely to actually stay private to protect employees.

That's worth an "apology" and potential payment.

It's something that's indelibly linked to the Sussexes now which is damaging to them. Especially as they've set themselves up as arbiters of truth and kindness.

If they had just been able to listen to advice - including their own advice to never read the tabloids or SM- and let things go however infuriating or unfair, they'd be in a much better position to keep and develop the actual positive publicity they crave. Because no matter how upsetting it must have been they are still very fortunate people with access to a lot of help when needed.

I'm not convinced they're listening to Sunshine Sachs any more than they listened to Knauf, the rest of the team and any "senior royals".

[HighGoalHighDreams]

I've been thinking more this afternoon about the rather extraordinary claim that Meghan (presumably, her legal team) overlooked the email detailing the Sussexes's plan to cooperate on FF. That may be the most damning bit of this entire affair.

We know that (1) Meghan cooperated with FF and (2) she told the court she did not. If it is also true that (3) she only told the court she had not cooperated after her/ her legal team thoroughly searched her documentation and believed there to be no proof of this cooperation, we can understand that a lie was told because of the calculated belief the teller would never be caught out. In other words, it was quite calculated.

One wonders what other falsehoods have told simply because the tellers believed they could not be proved wrong.

[Erin9]

Originally Posted by camelot23ca

Yes, a BBC article I read today had some further quotes from Meghan’s statement and she made a point of mentioning she miscarried days after the MoS publisher “threatened to break the confidentiality” of the friends from the People article. At this point I can’t remember what episode in this never ending case she’s referring to, but it doesn’t matter. The Mail and its legal team didn’t know Meghan was in the early stages of pregnancy at the time, and it’s ridiculous to think that they should have pulled any punches even if they had known. Their goal was to win the case, not to hep meghan optimize her reproductive health.



And I can’t help but remember Meghan and Harry talking about the lack of support from the Royal Family but now we have these statements that show that at least two senior royals were involved in the discussions around how to approach the issue with Meghan’s father. But apparently this wasn’t a genuine attempt at support but rather unwelcome pressure on Meghan and Harry. So they get involved and it’s pressure, they stay out of things and they’re unsupportive.

I’ve long thought “support” to them is agreeing with them. This seems to be another example. They didn’t like the advice they were given by family. So- instead of an attempt at support and advice- it’s called pressure instead. Not sure what the family was supposed to do if the expectation was they were just supposed to agree with the Sussexes on everything. That may not be fair or an overstatement though..

The job of the lawyers is to represent their client to the best of their ability, not concern themselves about the stress level of the opposing side who instigated the lawsuit.

[Osipi]

I am amazed at how much my opinion of Meghan has changed from the very beginning. It seemed like when she was marrying into the BRF that this was a woman of character that was a strong, independent type woman that would rather be a woman that works over a lady that lunches (her words). Now as more and more comes out of Meghan's mouth, I'm tending to see a woman that is insecure, emotionally fragile and one not overly willing to cop to her own mistakes truthfully and is still willing to push the blame onto other people and other circumstances. It's not a good look for Meghan. Not at all. All this may seriously damage how people will want to interact with Meghan and also, more importantly, with Archewell.

Maybe the BRF did dodge a huge bullet with Megxit? Perhaps they're better off now with both Harry and Meghan on their own doing whatever they want to do?
They're free to sink or swim however they choose to go forward but one thing is certain. Once a reputation is tarnished, no amount of buffing can ever get rid of the tarnish.

Once again. Reputation is everything and Meghan surely hasn't done much to present herself in a good light with the recent developments. There is no amount of money that could be won in a lawsuit that could ever patch up the public opinion of Meghan after this court case and Harry's not doing himself any favors here either.

Of course, if money from lawsuits is one way to plan on beefing up their finances, I expect more and more of this kind of lawsuit to be brought to the courts by Harry and Meghan. How many lawsuits have there already been and are these two on their way to being termed as serial litigants?

Stay tuned.... I'm sure there's more that is going to hit the fan as this continues. It actually is getting kind of tiresome to me.

[Heavs]

Originally Posted by HighGoalHighDreams

One wonders what other falsehoods have told simply because the tellers believed they could not be proved wrong.

In the case of the Sussexes I can think of....well it comes down to most things they've said about their lives and situations since their engagement interview. Even though it's probably not all of those situations.

Originally Posted by Erin9

I’ve long thought “support” to them is agreeing with them. This seems to be another example. They didn’t like the advice they were given by family. So- instead of an attempt at support and advice- it’s called pressure instead. Not sure what the family was supposed to do if the expectation was they were just supposed to agree with the Sussexes on everything. That may not be fair or an overstatement though..

The job of the lawyers is to represent their client to the best of their ability, not concern themselves about the stress level of the opposing side who instigated the lawsuit.

I think it's been clear for a while that by "support" they mean "agree with us and agree to do what we want". It's openly in FF that Meghan and her friends didn't like the advice that KP gave them so it was deemed "trying to control her" or not understanding her. It's also clear when she talks about a family member advising her to lay low - "trying to imprison me".

Also stress or mental health struggles is not generally considered a factor in miscarriage:

https://www.tommys.org/baby-loss-sup...se-miscarriage

Considering we know know she decided to use "Daddy" to tug on heartstrings it would seem likely that the same is being done here.

[Erin9]

Originally Posted by Heavs

Considering we know know she decided to use "Daddy" to tug on heartstrings it would seem likely that the same is being done here.

All I can think when reading that is how very manipulative and calculated this all has been.

A very bad look IMO. And it’s all in writing. I wonder what else is out there.

[Moran]

Given the way Meghan interprets things the way she wants them to be, is it possible that she claimed she didn't cooperate with the authors of FF because she thought (mistakenly) that the NDAs JK and the rest of staff signed were to her personally? She might have been unaware that since her "office" operated under the umbrella of the BP, the NDAs weren't to her exclusively but the BP in the broad meaning if the word?

Meghan isn't stupid. She certainly knew JK had copies of the emails but for some reason, she decided that he wouldn't show them and she wouldn't be caught. And he did - right when he's leaving. There is something here.

[ACO]

Harry and Meghan were in New Jersey today visiting a military base.

https://archewell.com/news/to-rememb...lect-to-honor/

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by Moran

Given the way Meghan interprets things the way she wants them to be, is it possible that she claimed she didn't cooperate with the authors of FF because she thought (mistakenly) that the NDAs JK and the rest of staff signed were to her personally? She might have been unaware that since her "office" operated under the umbrella of the BP, the NDAs weren't to her exclusively but the BP in the broad meaning if the word?

Meghan isn't stupid. She certainly knew JK had copies of the emails but for some reason, she decided that he wouldn't show them and she wouldn't be caught. And he did - right when he's leaving. There is something here.

If true (seems a rather likely scenario), this only goes to show that even in court, moreover, in a case she herself started (!), she is willing to lie and mislead people as long as she thinks she won't get caught.

Goodbye to any ethical or moral high ground... Manipulation and dishonesty aren't desirable characteristics in anyone and certainly not if you've made it part of your profile fighting that exact same thing.

[Curryong]

Originally Posted by ACO

Harry and Meghan were in New Jersey today visiting a military base.

https://archewell.com/news/to-rememb...lect-to-honor/

And speaking to the military personnel on base. That’s great! I knew they would both do something to honour vets and November 11th. Hope they got a lot out of this interaction on both sides.

[Moran]

Originally Posted by Somebody

If true (seems a rather likely scenario), this only goes to show that even in court, moreover, in a case she herself started (!), she is willing to lie and mislead people as long as she thinks she won't get caught.

Goodbye to any ethical or moral high ground... Manipulation and dishonesty aren't desirable characteristics in anyone and certainly not if you've made it part of your profile fighting that exact same thing.

Did you notice how she tried once again to evoke sympathy by presenting herself as a grieving mother? Why else would she bring her miscarriage? IMO, it was done to make people see her not as a perjurer but a sufferer. Which is ridiculous, IMO. Many criminals have kids and if court let every parent off the hook, half the prisons would be empty.

Meghan is once again trying to create a certain impression. She might be a perjurer and a grieving mother. The second doesn't entitle her to become the first. Sure, she isn't saying, "I lost my baby, so why are you tormenting me as well?" but it's implied. A lot like their "lie not lie" stratefy with FF.

[HighGoalHighDreams]

Originally Posted by ACO

Harry and Meghan were in New Jersey today visiting a military base.

https://archewell.com/news/to-rememb...lect-to-honor/

After that article, you can scroll to the next, "The Internet Lie Machine," for Harry's thoughts on "what lies do to our community [and] society."

[US Royal Watcher]

Originally Posted by Curryong

I’m not sure that average people in Western nations sit down to breakfast each morning for literally every day for about four years wondering what negative articles in the media will be coming out about them.

In fact I don’t think that any average Briton or European would have any conception of the stresses and strains of royal life has on those not born into it, and that would indeed impact on a foreign high profile royal in a new country with a very new lifestyle.

I'm sure the average people in Western nations do not sit down wondering about negative articles. But I am also sure that Meghan isn't sitting down every day wondering about whether she has enough money to pay for the latest school trip, whether she is going to be laid off, or whether she can miss work to take care of a sick child.

Meghan has stressors average people don't have but we have stressor she doesn't have. Meghan insists on living in the public eye and negative articles is part of the price she pays.

[UglyAmerican]

I wouldn't actually know - none of us would - but I suspect that most celebrities don't spend every breakfast worrying about that day's headlines. Maybe politicians do, because their careers depend on it, but not Hollywood types. Just because you're famous doesn't mean you have to obsess over media coverage. That doesn't mean they're happy about it, but I don't think it's possible to spend decades in the public eye without developing a thicker skin than that.

What's more, most of Meghan's stressors are self-inflicted at this point. They had more than enough money to quiet, luxurious, peaceful life had they chosen to go that route, and the media would have forgotten about them soon enough. Very few people have that as an option. But for whatever reason, no matter how much they complain about the downsides of the celebrity lifestyle, they just can't walk away from it.

[Prinsara]

Because Meghan, I think, thinks she can game any system. She's an uber-Leo and thinks she can have fame, riches, and a prince, a royal title gained from doing almost nothing, the power to play in US politics at the highest level, and at the same time believes (or insists) everyone will treat her daintily and with kid gloves because that's how a fair and compassionate world would be.

So hungry for a good image that she'll lie and manipulate rather than just...do good deeds and not shoot herself and Harry in the foot? :/ Seems like.

"They can be disconcertedly passive and dependent in their relationship, as if they want to disappear into the union, but they can also be overly protective and passive/aggressive, hovering over their Beloved like the proverbial mother hen. Even in the best of circumstances these Lovers are susceptible to periods of self-pity and unrealistic thinking." — And a few more things that seem familiar. (this is what Meghan has according to her chart.)

[Leopoldine]

Originally Posted by Curryong

The MoS quite obviously wish to win the case in the courts, otherwise they would not have continued with the appeal but would simply have interviewed Knauf and included his emails in their articles.

This may be a big story now with the negative implications for Meghan. However, if she wins this appeal and again insists on an apology from the MoS on its front page that may well stop much of the cock a hooping among the British tabloids at the moment.

Let's not forget Lord Rothermere initiated movement for the DM/MoS to go private not too long ago. He saw all of this coming.

[camelot23ca]

Originally Posted by UglyAmerican

I wouldn't actually know - none of us would - but I suspect that most celebrities don't spend every breakfast worrying about that day's headlines. Maybe politicians do, because their careers depend on it, but not Hollywood types. Just because you're famous doesn't mean you have to obsess over media coverage. That doesn't mean they're happy about it, but I don't think it's possible to spend decades in the public eye without developing a thicker skin than that.

What's more, most of Meghan's stressors are self-inflicted at this point. They had more than enough money to quiet, luxurious, peaceful life had they chosen to go that route, and the media would have forgotten about them soon enough. Very few people have that as an option. But for whatever reason, no matter how much they complain about the downsides of the celebrity lifestyle, they just can't walk away from it.

Harry and Meghan could have had what many people would consider the best of both worlds after stepping away from the core of the Royal Family. The financial security, connections and opportunities would remain, but the need to maintain visibility as well as an ongoing working relationship with the press would be gone. They could have picked any major American city and disappeared into it. It would have taken awhile for the British press to calm down, but as long as Harry and Meghan kept a low profile they could have gotten to the point where the amount of press coverage they got, positive or negative, was limited in nature.

If they found the press and tabloid coverage to be as unbearable as they say, they should have just walked away from it all.

I look at someone like Adele, one of the biggest, if not the biggest musical artist of the past decade, and she just disappears between albums. She pops up randomly every once in awhile but, for the most part, she’s completely off the radar until she needs to make the rounds to promote her new work. If she can do it, so can Harry and Meghan. But obviously that nice, peaceful, semi-anonymous life isn’t what they want. Which is fine, but the very visible life they do want comes with intense press coverage as part of the deal.

[Curryong]

Except that the most extreme and hateful Press coverage isn’t coming from where the Sussexes have been living since the Spring of 2020 but from across the Atlantic. The fact that Meghan and Harry have chosen to live happily in the US in some luxury with their children appears to have driven the British media pack almost to hysteria. And that is despite the fact that neither Harry nor Meghan are receiving a penny from British taxpayers or Charles for anything any more so there’s not even that excuse.

It’s not by and large the US Press or California TV stations that’s haunting the couple day after day with nasty articles and online shows day by day but the British. So it seems that even living a world away on the west coast of another country doesn’t get the tabloids off your back if you’re Meghan and Harry.

[Leopoldine]

I think Meghan may have underestimated the BRF's "long view". The somewhat soft response to the Oprah interview could have been a clue.

The BRF may have known Mr. Knauf's situation and documentation and knew it was in the hopper, ready to pop up in the future.