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

[UglyAmerican]

Originally Posted by Curryong

Perhaps not but Meghan had been the subject of Samantha Markle’s innuendo and bile since October 2016 when her half sister immediately began attacking her on her Twitter Page as soon as she realised Meghan was dating Prince Harry.

By 2018 she was probably fed up to the back teeth with this estranged relative she hadn’t seen for years constantly getting money for interviews with British shows and tabloids in which she was constantly putting her down. A natural reaction for Meghan to adopt with someone she had no relationship with at all.

Samantha's horrible, and I've never said anything positive about her. But much of what Meghan's publicly said about her is just verifiably false. Even the tabloids knew better than to drag Samantha's children into it.

[ACO]

Originally Posted by UglyAmerican

Samantha's horrible, and I've never said anything positive about her. But much of what Meghan's publicly said about her is just verifiably false. Even the tabloids knew better than to drag Samantha's children into it.

I mean Samantha's two oldest children were raised by their father's family. Her youngest did file an abuse claim against Samantha and she was placed in the care of her grandmother. All that is literally on record that was pulled by other media. Samantha also did go for years by Samantha Grant. That is literally how she was introducing herself when Meghan was first revealed to be dating Harry.

Thomas Jr also was arrested for domestic abuse. His sons changed their surname cause they wanted nothing to do with him. That family spent years attacking each other in the press. They had no issue talking to all kinds media (and still don't).

Good for them that they have all apparently bonded again in this media frenzy, but that doesn't change the facts of it.

[Sunnystar]

Originally Posted by Emmily

Just saw something on a morning show called "Morning Joe" and it wasn't sympathetic toward her in the least. She lied.

Hmmm... If Joe Scarborough and the rest of the 'woke' folks at MSNBC are starting to turn against Meghan, that doesn't bode well for their charity and networking efforts with the American, elite liberal set they've been hobnobbing with since they moved here.

[LadyRaven]

Isn’t the discussion on Samantha off topic

[muriel]

Originally Posted by winifred

2. The tabloids were and are vile to Meghan (and her father has repeatedly sold her out for money so she was perfectly justified in my opinion in cutting him out of her life) but what I don't get is why she and Harry let the Press and social media get to them. Why read it? What should have mattered was that they were getting positive responses from the crowds that came to see them, both here and on tour. Surely that's what mattered. They could have done such good but from all we've learned it seems that from very early on they were not prepared to live with the restrictions that come with a life within the RF.

They could have left and done their humanitarian work but the adoption of perpetual victimhood, the Oprah and podcast lies and half truths, the trashing of the RF and now this wholly unnecessary trial has turned many in the UK against them. It's so sad.

I could not agree more with you. It is a pity that H&M could not draw satisfaction from the good work they were starting to do (he had been doing so for some time already), and instead seemed to care far more about what the tabloids had to say.

Also, given how short Meghan's royal career was (married May 2018, effectively disappeared in October 2019 never to really return, time off for maternity leave in between), it is easy to come to the conclusion that she really did not give the royal life a fair chance.

[ACO]

The full text between Meghan and Jason Knauf have been revealed.

https://twitter.com/InvictusbyPepp/s...15824032518149

https://twitter.com/InvictusbyPepp/s...21539157688327

Interesting that Knauf didn't seem convinced that Thomas really had a heart attack. He also confirmed that Meghan did try helping him but he stopped communicating and started using TMZ. Also Meghan only wanted him to see the letter. No one else. She understood that Thomas might leak it but if he did that was on him.

The whole thing is just sad.

And I would guess it was hard for Meghan and Harry to ignore the negativity when it was constantly in their face. Even the royal family were pushing them to get Thomas to stop talking. Meghan was a newlywed and pregnant.... and that time was basically her dealing with nonsense. The bad was outweighing the good to her it seems.

[UglyAmerican]

Originally Posted by ACO

I mean Samantha's two oldest children were raised by their father's family. Her youngest did file an abuse claim against Samantha and she was placed in the care of her grandmother. All that is literally on record that was pulled by other media. Samantha also did go for years by Samantha Grant. That is literally how she was introducing herself when Meghan was first revealed to be dating Harry.

Thomas Jr also was arrested for domestic abuse. His sons changed their surname cause they wanted nothing to do with him. That family spent years attacking each other in the press. They had no issue talking to all kinds media (and still don't).

Good for them that they have all apparently bonded again in this media frenzy, but that doesn't change the facts of it.

I'm not accusing Meghan of making the whole thing up with regards to the children, though it wouldn't shock me. She was, however, flatly wrong when she claimed Samantha only changed her name to Markle after Meghan started dating Harry. Her original claim not to have seen Samantha since she was a child was similarly disproven. Maybe she lied intentionally, or maybe she was sincerely mistaken. If the latter, she had the means to confirm the truth before speaking, and apparently chose not to bother. I'll grant you that Samantha appears to have started this ongoing battle, but this isn't kindergarten, and "She started it!" doesn't justify Meghan doing exactly the same thing.

My issue with her bringing up Samantha's children isn't the truth of who raised them or why. She may well be entirely correct - I don't know and I don't care. It's that 1) Meghan appears to believe that having multiple children with different partners makes a person a liar, and 2) Meghan went out of her way to try to convince journalists to report on what would be, by her own account, a very painful family situation for the innocent children who aren't celebrities, aren't royals, and who have nothing to do with her disagreement with Samantha. The fact that even the tabloids had too much of a moral compass to report on this at the time speaks volumes about what sort of person Meghan is for thinking this is appropriate.

[Osipi]

Originally Posted by muriel

I could not agree more with you. It is a pity that H&M could not draw satisfaction from the good work they were starting to do (he had been doing so for some time already), and instead seemed to care far more about what the tabloids had to say.

Also, given how short Meghan's royal career was (married May 2018, effectively disappeared in October 2019 never to really return, time off for maternity leave in between), it is easy to come to the conclusion that she really did not give the royal life a fair chance.

I can't help but feel that, perhaps, that the draw of the glitz and the glamor and maybe even the sensation that Meghan was entering a world where she would be entitled and "above" most in social status may have raised her expectations of what the life would be like marrying Harry.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the deciding point for Meghan was that she sincerely was and is in love with Harry but she was entering into a world she had absolutely no idea about and then the problems started. Their only recourse was to leave and start over again in the US. The bigger problem resulting from that was they they felt their status, their importance, their popularity and the general feeling of being "above" the public domain didn't do them any favors. High hopes of being influencers. High hopes of being as big of a draw in California as they were as working royals. High hopes of a whole lot of things but I do think ego got in the way and with setting out to "correct" what tabloids say or what wrongs they perceived were done to them by Harry's family and feeling that they really needed to let their public know how wronged they've been, they've basically inserted themselves into far more drama then they've ever experienced before.

The Oprah interview was the first big mistake. Not only did they trash to the curb the institution of the UK monarchy but also the people that represent that monarchy. They effectively gave the United Kingdom the big old Bronx cheer. What did they expect from the UK press. Accolades and laurel wreaths for being wonderful? That interview basically did put targets on their backs and any semblance of respect the UK media may have had for them, disappeared. They've been digging themselves into a bigger hole ever since.

Instead of forging ahead with good works, promoting their foundation, getting some good content out via Netflix or whatever other contracts they have, it's been one, long continuous drama of being picked on, disrespected, slandered, libeled and with needing to get their "truths" out there, I have to think they've become tabloid fodder even more because of their actions and their words.

When you're playing the game and painting yourself as the victims crying out how wrong the world has done you and placing blame on everyone and anything else, how can you ever expect to be taken seriously as someone that is there to help and assist with compassion and kindness? Basically, the Sussexes have been sending a wrong message out and in the long run, I think it's going to hamper their road forward.

I'm really curious to know why we haven't heard of any incentives, projects in the works, or basically anything from Archewell. I would have though that by now, the foundation would be geared up enough that it would have started to be more in the limelight than it has been. I can't remember the last time saw an article on Archewell. But then again, perhaps I'm not searching for it either.

[ACO]

Originally Posted by UglyAmerican

I'm not accusing Meghan of making the whole thing up with regards to the children, though it wouldn't shock me. She was, however, flatly wrong when she claimed Samantha only changed her name to Markle after Meghan started dating Harry. Her original claim not to have seen Samantha since she was a child was similarly disproven. Maybe she lied intentionally, or maybe she was sincerely mistaken. If the latter, she had the means to confirm the truth before speaking, and apparently chose not to bother. I'll grant you that Samantha appears to have started this ongoing battle, but this isn't kindergarten, and "She started it!" doesn't justify Meghan doing exactly the same thing.

My issue with her bringing up Samantha's children isn't the truth of who raised them or why. She may well be entirely correct - I don't know and I don't care. It's that 1) Meghan appears to believe that having multiple children with different partners makes a person a liar, and 2) Meghan went out of her way to try to convince journalists to report on what would be, by her own account, a very painful family situation for the innocent children who aren't celebrities, aren't royals, and who have nothing to do with her disagreement with Samantha. The fact that even the tabloids had too much of a moral compass to report on this at the time speaks volumes about what sort of person Meghan is for thinking this is appropriate.

Samantha was going by Samantha Grant. All her social media said that. All her first interviews listed her as such. Where is the lie? Not really hard to do it. She was not going by Markle and the proof is out there. I rather not show the nasty tweets but here is just one of the videos from media she did back in 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyouYk5mNUI

Also as for when she last saw Samantha? She said as a kid and then at her graduation where her father asked her to attend. Note Samantha only has that ONE picture (of the graduation) of Meghan as an adult. The way she always posting images of her and Meghan... you would think she would have something beyond that one if they saw and interacted like she claims.

The tabloids did report on Samantha's issues with the kids. I read it. They also hounded her oldest daughter at her job. The whole family's drama was put in print multiple times. But also it was of no issue to them because they were also using her to attempt to get dirt of Meghan.

Now I agree that she didn't need to bring it up. These women clearly dislike each other.

[BriarRose]

Originally Posted by winifred

"All a mess and a muddle".

How on earth is the court allowing all these other items to be raised?

Discovery (the process of both sides of civil lawsuit seeking information from one another, and third parties) is intended to be broader than the expected scope of evidence. Basically, if it's reasonably related to the accusations of the lawsuit, or a possible defense of the lawsuit, it's considered fair game. (I'm terribly summarizing a complicated process, to be fair, my apologies to any solicitor/barrister reading this).

The defendant was investigating a defense that privacy over the contents of the letter had been waived by Meghan. It's not a good defense (hence, they lost in the lower court) but discovery is allowed even for not-so-good defenses.

And if a party to a lawsuit believes that a discovery request is too broad or invasive, they are allowed (and should) bring a motion before the Court to limit discovery. The Court is the referee. That's it's job. But it can't referee if no one brings a motion for relief. A Party can also motion the court for more time to complete a discovery request -but the motion has to be made before the response is due.

[Ista]

Let's move on from discussing Samantha. It's getting too off topic, as well as beginning to go around in circles.

[Sunnystar]

Originally Posted by ACO

The full text between Meghan and Jason Knauf have been revealed.

https://twitter.com/InvictusbyPepp/s...15824032518149

https://twitter.com/InvictusbyPepp/s...21539157688327

Interesting that Knauf didn't seem convinced that Thomas really had a heart attack. He also confirmed that Meghan did try helping him but he stopped communicating and started using TMZ. Also Meghan only wanted him to see the letter. No one else. She understood that Thomas might leak it but if he did that was on him.

The whole thing is just sad.

And I would guess it was hard for Meghan and Harry to ignore the negativity when it was constantly in their face. Even the royal family were pushing them to get Thomas to stop talking. Meghan was a newlywed and pregnant.... and that time was basically her dealing with nonsense. The bad was outweighing the good to her it seems.

This is just one text exchange, specifically regarding the letter Meghan wrote to her father. I'm not sure how it casts anything in much of a different light than what we already knew regarding the situation with her dad and him going to TMZ and the rest of the tabloid press before the wedding and over that summer.

I'm sure that it was very painful for Harry, to have his family repeatedly questioning why Meghan couldn't get her dad to just stop it but at this point, I feel like everything Meghan has written and said, to anyone, has to be taken with a huge grain of salt and the consideration that she was carefully selecting every word for maximum effect. We don't know the context of the conversations Harry was having with his family. All we know is how Meghan has characterized them in this text to Knauf.

#TeamRecollectionsMayVary

[Hallo girl]

We can go round the houses with the why and where but the bottom line is that Meghan had to apologise to the court for her bad memory.
We also now know that she takes care how to word and present things.
This is the image we now have and what the general public will remember , everything that she now says will be scrutinized and possibly taken with a pinch of salt.
Meghan and others can deflect as much as they like but the damage is done.

[Alison H]

Princess Anne's always ignored (in public) everything that the press have said about her - and they've said plenty. I should think that Prince Charles rues the day he ever did that Jonathan Dimbleby interview. Washing your dirty linen in public is never a good idea.

[Prinsara]

Some people have said it seems reasonable Meghan would ask an aide to check a letter that might likely end up in public.

I still think she's an entitled, manipulative perjurer, but not everyone does.

[Moran]

I can easily see why Thomas stopped talking to Meghan if the part about Harry's letter to Thomas is true. It was mentioned in court, wasn't it?. If Harry wrote him a letter so insulting that the court would not read it aloud and Meghan awwed and cooed over her knight protecting her so valiantly, I can totally understand Thomas seeing any attempts of her to "help" him as being no more than attempts to make him shut up because he was inconvenient for her. The talking to the press part is harder to overlook but with Meghan saying left and right what a horrible father he was being and looking with adoration as Harry spoke about "the family she never had", perhaps he had had enough.

Meghan's treatment by the press had been discussed many times. The news here is the way she wanted to be treated by the press (Omid, in particular) - to only get a particular slant, of which she had long ago accused royals of doing. Suddenly, when it's her, it's good and right.

The major news here is that Meghan perjured herself and then tried to make it someone else's fault once again when she invited the stress upon herself by initiating the suit. She couldn't remember because the KP deleted the emails?

We're so lucky that the KP didn't delete the emails of how Catherine made her cry! We're so lucky that she remembers an event that took place earlier than the email exchange.

[Hallo girl]

The two questions I have is why Harry had never met her father in the first place. This could have taken place behind closed doors with no publicity
Secondly considering they had not met previously why was he not coming over sooner than he appeared to be.

Doria was the same , although she had met Harry before she would have been lucky to get over the jet lag before the wedding day.
They could have flown over the week before , there are plenty of places they could have stayed discreetly.
It does make me wonder if she didn't want him there in the first place just my opinion obviously

[ACO]

Originally Posted by Moran

I can easily see why Thomas stopped talking to Meghan if the part about Harry's letter to Thomas is true. It was mentioned in court, wasn't it?. If Harry wrote him a letter so insulting that the court would not read it aloud and Meghan awwed and cooed over her knight protecting her so valiantly, I can totally understand Thomas seeing any attempts of her to "help" him as being no more than attempts to make him shut up because he was inconvenient for her. The talking to the press part is harder to overlook but with Meghan saying left and right what a horrible father he was being and looking with adoration as Harry spoke about "the family she never had", perhaps he had had enough.

Knauf in those texts was referring to the week of the wedding. He said "You don't remember how bad it actually was" talking about how much they were trying to fix the mess Thomas created. He had a 'heart attack' (and I am only doing as Knauf did) and stopped communicating with Meghan who was worried about him. According to Thomas his last chat with them as not nice. They were angry. "I hung up on Harry after Meghan handed him the phone." is what he told Piers Morgan, if I recall correctly. After that TMZ it was.

Meghan hasn't spoken to Thomas since the wedding and rightfully so. I just remember it being claimed she ignored him during the lead up to the wedding as the drama was unfolding, so it was interesting to see Knauf admit it himself that she did nothing of the sort.

Originally Posted by Hallo girl

The two questions I have is why Harry had never met her father in the first place. This could have taken place behind closed doors with no publicity
Secondly considering they had not met previously why was he not coming over sooner than he appeared to be.

Doria was the same , although she had met Harry before she would have been lucky to get over the jet lag before the wedding day.
They could have flown over the week before , there are plenty of places they could have stayed discreetly.
It does make me wonder if she didn't want him there in the first place just my opinion obviously

I said this previously, but it seemed to be that Meghan loved her father from afar. They didn't seem that close in her adult years though she loved him. There clearly were issues there. The fact Meghan said in her witness statement that she had never been to his home. He has been living there for years. Her Suits cast spoke about meeting Doria on set but not her dad. I wonder if he ever visited her. In her big moments (like her UN Speech) it was Doria by her side. You would think her dad would be there. But yes the biggest red flag was the fact Harry never met him. He met her mom and all her close friends, but not her father. There is clearly a disconnect there.

[soapstar]

Originally Posted by ACO

The full text between Meghan and Jason Knauf have been revealed.

https://twitter.com/InvictusbyPepp/s...15824032518149

https://twitter.com/InvictusbyPepp/s...21539157688327

Interesting that Knauf didn't seem convinced that Thomas really had a heart attack. He also confirmed that Meghan did try helping him but he stopped communicating and started using TMZ. Also Meghan only wanted him to see the letter. No one else. She understood that Thomas might leak it but if he did that was on him.

The whole thing is just sad.

What’s confusing is that this contradicts the evidence that was submitted in court this week. The AN lawyers submitted texts that show Thomas didn’t completely cut off contact with Meghan. Since Knaufe was only getting information through Meghan, it’s possible he didn’t know that contact had still been going on.

Andrew Caldecott, for Associated Newspapers, said the text messages gave ‘a completely different picture’ to the ‘never called, never texted, just ignored her’ narrative that Meghan’s friends provided to People.

He said the duchess – in her handwritten letter – and People magazine had made ‘allegations of [Mr Markle] cruelly cold-shouldering’ her in the pre-wedding period, which were ‘demonstrably false or misleading in the light of the text messages’.

Meghan’s friends had claimed she had been ‘calling and texting’ her father without response.

The truth, said Mr Caldecott, was that ‘there are many texts from Mr Markle... they are all affectionate and were abundant in the run-up to the wedding’.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...urt-hears.html

[Somebody]

Originally Posted by winifred

"All a mess and a muddle".

So much is a mystery to me. 1.I'd have thought the copyright issue was absolutely straightforward. Meghan owns the copyright and didn't give consent for its publication, therefore the MoS is guilty. Whether Meghan wrote it expecting her father would leak it is irrelevant. How on earth is the court allowing all these other items to be raised?

Most likely because Meghan herself made it about so much more than only the copyright of a letter. She turned it into a war against the (unfavorable) media. All these claims were dismissed; she did only win the copyright-case itself but was the one who invited all the noise into this case from the start.