The Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Step Back as Senior Royals: January 2020


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Funding from Charles is a more nuanced issue, which I think depends very much on whether Harry and Meagan continue working part-time on behalf of the Queen, or whether they stop altogether. There's also the thorny issue of how Charles uses his private funds.

But the push for Harry and Meghan to lose their titles and styles has always stuck me as odd. Harry remains the son of the Prince of Wales. What is the basis for removing his style? Prince Andrew is, at best, a part-time working royal now and there has been no similar push for him to simply become the Duke of York. Beatrice and Eugenie (at least currently) aren't working royals, yet they remain Princesses.

As for the peerage, it is my understanding that it would require an act of Parliament to remove it. Is that what you're proposing? Are there any other peers who you believe should lose their titles?

But I believe that Beatrice and Eugenie do NOT use their titles at work- they are Eugenie York or Beatrice York. If they used used Harry & Meghan Sussex the optics might be better for their “private” life, esp. if they are fund raising to pay themselves a salary from their foundation.
 
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Article here from Rebecca English. Yes it's published in the Mail but it's very kind towards Harry and very much based on her own interactions with him rather than what undisclosed sources say. It essentially confirms what many people have said - Harry was always lukewarm at best about being a member of the Royal Family and dealing with the media.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...uching-insight-Prince-Harrys-personality.html

Honestly, I have tears in my eyes. This part below got me. Harry has cut himself off from William, who was only looking out for him, and now it appears he’s distanced himself from his father, who only wants him to be happy. This is a story that is making nobody happy, the media included. This is ultimately a story of a family being torn apart...and that’s just tragic.

But understand, Harry, that sometimes your best friends in life are the ones who are willing to tell you when you are wrong.

Whatever the consequences might be.

Families are complicated. Who am I to give advice? But recent events do make me think back to a chance meeting more than a decade ago in a nightclub when your brother said protectively of you: ‘Give him a break, he’s just a young guy in love.’ It’s probably just as relevant today.

William was looking out for you then. Can things be really so different now? Is it really wise to divorce yourself so acrimoniously from the only family that will ever truly understand the pressures you are under?

If you honestly think it is better for you and your family to take a step back, then do so — but don’t cut yourself off completely.
 
That all this is acrimonious and that Harry is divorcing himself from his family, wont be close to his father any more, is Rebecca English's take on things. Relationships change within families, and between siblings. What works in a person's twenties sometimes does the opposite as people get older. Everyone knows that things change when you marry, have a child. And Harry is doing what he feels is best for his family. A family that must have known how things were going in the last twelve months.

Harry doesn't want to be a supporting act any more, alternately patronised and ignored and in the end in his fifties put on the back burner because his brother's son and his siblings must have their time in the limelight.
 
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Sorry if this had been post before, but I can keep up with all it is written here, but all the employees that had at their house in Windsor had been relocated to work in other areas. She had a number of staff working for them. And Dailymail had said that her soul was crashed under the Royal life. I do not know what she did expect from getting married with Harry but I am sure she had some idea! Anyway I do not feel sorry for her, but yes for the rest of the family and the Queen. For me it is confusing, because if she did not like the media and wanted a more private life what is she doing with all this charities in England? Also how many people has to work in what they do notlike because they have to make a living and pay their bills, She didn't like to be told what to do? Didn't like the media? But she had a great living in an incredible house with servants, etc...etc..... I coudnt care less about the media talking bad about me if I am living her life!
 
Article here from Rebecca English. Yes it's published in the Mail but it's very kind towards Harry and very much based on her own interactions with him rather than what undisclosed sources say. It essentially confirms what many people have said - Harry was always lukewarm at best about being a member of the Royal Family and dealing with the media.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...uching-insight-Prince-Harrys-personality.html



Well- I definitely agree with her on this: he told her he read all the stories about himself in the media and social media, and that is unhealthy. I’m glad she told him that directly. It was good advice. Too bad he failed to take it. I gather Meghan did the same from what she said.

I like her point that his definition of a normal life wouldn’t be anyone else’s really. That’s how removed he is from what’s normal for the rest of us.

Best I can tell Harry married someone similar to himself in certain ways: won’t block out the media, a bit too much of a free spirit for the BRF. And here we are. That’s an over simplification naturally, but that’s likely part of it.

She has a great point about not cutting his family out acrimoniously. They’re the only people who can understand his life.
 
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Wow. Like betseypaige, that editorial brings tears to my eyes. It is quite heartfelt. And, her is what is so disturbing to me... Harry was, by his own admission, a voracious reader of any and all articles written about him. That isn't healthy in the best of times and certainly far worse and more damaging when times are rough. Yikes!
Article here from Rebecca English. Yes it's published in the Mail but it's very kind towards Harry and very much based on her own interactions with him rather than what undisclosed sources say. It essentially confirms what many people have said - Harry was always lukewarm at best about being a member of the Royal Family and dealing with the media.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...uching-insight-Prince-Harrys-personality.html
 
Harry doesn't want to be a supporting act any more, alternately patronised and ignored and in the end in his fifties put on the back burner because his brother's son and his siblings must have their time in the limelight.


I’m not sure we can say that’s how he feels about the Firm.

However, no matter what he will always be related to the royal family. He will always the grandson/son/brother/uncle of the monarch, barring disaster. He will always be supporting in a sense- whether he is working with his family or divorcing himself from them. The BRF will always be in the limelight. And he can’t change who he is.

He can change where he lives, how he spends his time- but those facts won’t change. Everything you just said could easily happen in ANY life Harry chooses because he will always be who he is.
 
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I am an American, but I view Queen Elizabeth as my Queen. No, I am not one of her subjects. We actually fought a war over that called the American Revolution, but anytime someone says "The Queen ", most everyone knows it is Queen Elizabeth II. She transcends countries and has executed her job in a diplomatic and selfless way. So I think what makes me madder than anything is that H& M have disappointed and upset MY Queen. Here is a woman who was never supposed to be a Queen. She was supposed to be able to live a mostly private life of a country woman with her husband, children, and horses. Then because of the supremely selfish actions of her uncle David (Edward VIII), which I believe he lived to regret, she found out at a very young age that she would be Queen. Then her father died at a young age, unusual for Windsors, and she became Queen at age 25. This was a total upheaval to her life, to put it mildly. Regardless, she has served her country admirably and selflessly, dealing with crisis after crisis in the best way, I believe, that she knew how. She has made some mistakes, but I believe she always had best intentions at heart. Up until about a 7 weeks ago when H&M decided they needed a "break", everything seemed to be going well. Meghan stated during the engagement interview that she was ready to "hit the ground running " and Harry too. Every indication was that they embraced being full time royals. I can just imagine the Queen looking over the situation and probably finally feeling that everything was great; the annus horribilis of 1992 only a distant bad memory (except for the horrendous Andrew situation--don't even get me started on that)Then after bad press, some of which they brought on themselves, H&M decide they just can't do it anymore. Gee, I would wonder if the Queen ever felt that she just couldn't do it anymore(a rhetorical question), that "it just was not working for her", and I am sure there were times the Queen just wished someone would ask "how she is doing", but she understands duty! And don't get me started on specifics regarding Harry. Simply, he should know better! It appears that Meghan has already hung up the towel--- I understand her going home to Archie, but how can you not fly back to take part in a meeting so vital to your future. I don't know what is ultimately going to happen here, but these two need a reality check.
 
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Honestly, I have tears in my eyes. This part below got me. Harry has cut himself off from William, who was only looking out for him, and now it appears he’s distanced himself from his father, who only wants him to be happy. This is a story that is making nobody happy, the media included. This is ultimately a story of a family being torn apart...and that’s just tragic.

Rebecca is not an intimate friend. Nor any inside information. Or insight. Any more then any reporter who asked Harry questions in the past.

No family has been torn apart. Harry has not gone into exile never to see his family again. In fact both he and the queen have said he will continue to support her and the family.

Yeah William may have tried to give his brother advice but is Harry doomed to follow it all of his life?? There comes a time when the meaningful meddling of your family reaches limits and you have to make your own choices in life.

Just because Harry is no longer the third wheel doesn't mean he and his brother won't have a relationship. The reality is that all family bonds change with time. That's what happens when you grow up.

And if William and Harry are broken who is to say it's Harrys fault. Perhaps William hasn't accepted his little brother is no longer little. His isn't the foolish teen needing advice and reigned in. Maybe William needs to accept his brother is a grown man with his own mind.
 
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Rebecca is not an intimate friend. Nor any inside information. Or insight. Any more then any reporter who asked Harry questions in the past.

Rebecca is not a friend but, the article was based on her contact with Harry, not, in the main, on what someone unnamed but "close" to him told her (whatever "close" means).

The part of the article that touched me was not Rebecca's unasked for advice to Harry but her retelling how he telephoned her after seeing she was upset while visiting sick children. Now that may be a complete fabrication but if it is true, it only shows Harry in the best and caring light. Yes, Rebecca is not exactly shy of making herself the heroine of her story, nor do I like the way she glosses over the media's role in this mess or implies Meghan is solely responsible for the change in Harry - a change I think we've all seen over the last couple of years.

In the end, though, if I had tears in my eyes it was at the thought that someone who distrusts the press was still caring enough to find out why a representative of "the enemy" (my words not Harry's or Rebeccas's) was upset and telephone her with nothing but kind words and thoughts.
 
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I don't want to speak for you or put words in your mouth but I believe that what you're referring to is the same thing that was brought up countless times over the last three years or so. Some have referred to both Meghan and her mother as both "California girl free spirits" and "hippy dippy." I suspect that this is the type of culture you're thinking of and you're right in that the culture around those labels is thought to encourage things like leaving toxic environments, cutting out negativity, etc. Again, I really don't want to speak for you so maybe you mean something entirely different, but that's my guess as to what you're referring to.

Thank you Heather.
As I do not live in the US or Uk I do ot oow what has been brought up,
but i would not put it to be some hippy dippy, Yoga can be a serious thing but my experience with "those" who take it too serious is exactly the same, they cut tribes, leave places and are taking about toxic environment and people.
 
Having once flown from Vancouver to the UK, and then had to go to work the next day because I didn't have any annual leave left - 8 hour time difference jet lag, plus being exhausted from the long flight, I dread to imagine how much I messed up that day! - I don't really blame them for not bringing Archie back just for a few days. It's a very tiring journey, and the jet lag's always worse when you're flying west to east - and then he'd have had to do it in reverse a few days later.
 
I expect some statement done today, because HM was writing " days",
though it might be really complicated I think she hoped and intended to sort things
out very quickly to calm the situation.
 
Well- I definitely agree with her on this: he told her he read all the stories about himself in the media and social media, and that is unhealthy. I’m glad she told him that directly. It was good advice. Too bad he failed to take it. I gather Meghan did the same from what she said.

I like her point that his definition of a normal life wouldn’t be anyone else’s really. That’s how removed he is from what’s normal for the rest of us.

Best I can tell Harry married someone similar to himself in certain ways: won’t block out the media, a bit too much of a free spirit for the BRF. And here we are. That’s an over simplification naturally, but that’s likely part of it.

She has a great point about not cutting his family out acrimoniously. They’re the only people who can understand his life.

Agreed. I forgot to mention in my above post that the fact that he does read what the media has to say about him is a really, really bad choice. Harry seems to have an obsession with the media - he hates them, but he needs them. People normally try and avoid things that make them angry, so why isn’t he ?
 

From Chris Ship on Twitter:
No members of Harry & Meghan staff have been “let go” says a source for the Sussexes, although some have been ‘redeployed’ apparently for “quiet periods”.

Which I imagine would be the case for all royal properties that aren't occupied permanently. What we don't know of course is how long the "quiet periods" will be.
 
Is there any precedent for someone who neither has nor is currently pursuing British citizenship to have an HRH style?
 
Oh wow, this just makes me so sad. I'm not liking either Harry or William at this point.

Affectionate ridicule? So clearly the two don't respect their father....Harry running to "granny". I wish that the Queen had insisted that Harry deal wit his father. I'll also say this - when Charles is gone, they will regret how they treated their "papa".



https://www.spectator.co.uk/2020/01...yal-conflict-is-between-charles-and-his-sons/


I not necessarily believe in the "Spectator" as it is the sister paper to the Telegraph and this is a really unreliable paper when it comes to the Royals.

_Heather_;2284007 Why on earth would they deserve security if they're doing private work? I'd agree that they certainly deserve security when performing engagements or duties on behalf of the Queen. But when they're acting privately? Nope said:
deserve[/I] anything. They might like to have it. They may want someone else to pay for it. But they certainly don't deserve it.


Security is not a costly perk, you get security if you need it. I think they are gonna loose their security at least for a bit like it probably will happen for Prince Andrew but if there is believable information that they might be targets, they'll get security.

So there is never the question: do they deserve it? They either need it or not. As a veteran prince Harry might need security more than William, did you ever think about that??
 
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I not necessarily believe in the "Spectator" as it is the sister paper to the Telegraph and this is a really unreliable paper when it comes to the Royals.

I hope you’re right. Of course I understand that families have their ups and downs, that parents and children don’t always see eye to eye...and that doesn’t mean that there isn’t deep love there. Charles’ relationship with his parents is a good example - it was rough for awhile, but they came through it. He and Philip don’t agree on much, but it doesn’t matter. I just have always had a soft spot for Charles, so of course I want him to have as good a relationship with his sons as possible. The most important thing is that they know he’s always there for them, and hopefully Harry understands that even as he’s going through this upheaval.
 
At the heart of the problem, IMO, is the issue that I raised a while ago. I just do not think Meghan was ever going to be happy being in a supporting role in the BRF. And whilst there may have been issues with the press (which, IMO, was not insurmountable), my guess is that she quickly realised that being married to the 6th in line to the throne was not all it was cut out to be. The rest is just details.

As regards Harry, I think he has always craved emotional security, and Meghan was probably the first person who could provided it to him after growing up. However, my guess is that he was always concerned that she may decide it is all too much for her and that is why he rushed into the marriage. Following the marriage, and with this backdrop of emotional dependence on her, I just do not think he could lay down the boundaries in the relationship, and allowed himself to be alienated from his family, as is now clear, the only life he has known.
 
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Is there any precedent for someone who neither has nor is currently pursuing British citizenship to have an HRH style?

I don't think the situation's ever arisen. The system 100 years ago was that women took their husband's nationality on marriage - and that a British woman lost her British nationality if she married a foreign man. Equality for women, i.e. making their own choice about seeking naturalisation, is a fairly new thing, and only really applies to the last few generations!

Princess Marina was a princess in her own right anyway, I’m not sure about Princess Michael but her first husband was British so she may well have already been a British citizen, and I think - I may have forgotten someone - that all other recent male HRHs have married British citizens … with the obvious exception of the Duke of Windsor. Prince Philip was granted British citizenship before getting married.

I don't think Meghan not being a British citizen would be a reason for her not to be styled HRH, though, and I think that taking the style away now that it's been granted would be seen as a very hostile thing to do. If she chose to renounce it, that would be different.
 
I never thought that Harry (as part of) would become so divisive....... I find it rather sad....:ermm:
 
I don't think the situation's ever arisen. The system 100 years ago was that women took their husband's nationality on marriage - and that a British woman lost her British nationality if she married a foreign man. Equality for women, i.e. making their own choice about seeking naturalisation, is a fairly new thing, and only really applies to the last few generations!

Princess Marina was a princess in her own right anyway, I’m not sure about Princess Michael but her first husband was British so she may well have already been a British citizen, and I think - I may have forgotten someone - that all other recent male HRHs have married British citizens … with the obvious exception of the Duke of Windsor. Prince Philip was granted British citizenship before getting married.

I don't think Meghan not being a British citizen would be a reason for her not to be styled HRH, though, and I think that taking the style away now that it's been granted would be seen as a very hostile thing to do. If she chose to renounce it, that would be different.

The Duchess of Gloucester is Danish. Don't know if she has dual nationality.
 
Is there any precedent for someone who neither has nor is currently pursuing British citizenship to have an HRH style?


I believe in former times it was easier to become British on marriage. Thinking eg of princess Marina of Greece and Denmark who became the Duchess of Kent. She would have lost her own HRH when she became British but her husband had one, so she took his.



Same with Brigitte of Gloucester amd Marie Christine of Kent. I believe they got the British passport when they married as they were foreigners. If not, then they both were HRH (like Meghan sharing the style as the wife of a HRH) as foreigners till they got the British nationality.


And it doesn't matter for Meghan, as she only shares her husband's style, as the queen made clear in 1996 when she removed the style from Diana and Sarah following their divorces. Since then it is law that only the wives share their husband's style and once the marriage is dissolved, the style of HRH is removed from the divorcée.
 
Agreed. I forgot to mention in my above post that the fact that he does read what the media has to say about him is a really, really bad choice. Harry seems to have an obsession with the media - he hates them, but he needs them. People normally try and avoid things that make them angry, so why isn’t he ?

It’s counter productive on every level. He was born to the most famous family in the world, not to Joe and Sally Smith. He can’t change that. If he was really so miserable with his lot in life, he could have pursued a higher education and made it clear years ago he did not want to ever become a full time Royal and wanted to pursue a career outside the BRF. If he had met and married a normal girl who wanted just him and a family and a quiet life outside media attention, then he may have had a chance for that “normalcy” he claims to want so badly. However, he met and married a woman who has spent her life wanting and craving fame. There is absolutely no denying that. She has all the fame she wants and needs now and there is no way she is going to be happy anywhere unless she is front and center of the world’s attention and the only way she can get that attention is through the media. Without media they fade away to obscurity, which would suit Harry but it would never suit Meghan.

He will never be free of media intrusion or criticism because these two will never go away and live their life as quietly as possible. It will only get worse from here and in the end Harry will find that he has traded his Royal heritage for Meghan’s ambitions and he will not be any happier. Living outside the fishbowl only makes you prey for sharks.

Read on Harry.
 
The Spectator article was written by Camilla Tominey. Tominey is an established royal reporter and the article is an analysis piece with supporting details. I don't always accept analysis pieces, but I accept much of what she is saying because I think she is onto something regarding the impact of Sir Christopher Geidt's departure and Charles' relationship with his sons.

I find her closing sentence quite ominous.

This is the tension that now lies under the royal household, and the drama over Harry will not be the last of it.
 
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Well clearly something is brewing as the editor of The Mirror has hinted more them once now. He says members of the press who know are legally not allowed to discuss it, but he claims there is way more to the Sussex exit drama.

Who knows though but if true I’m sure it’s bound to leak.
 
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It’s counter productive on every level. He was born to the most famous family in the world, not to Joe and Sally Smith. He can’t change that. If he was really so miserable with his lot in life, he could have pursued a higher education and made it clear years ago he did not want to ever become a full time Royal and wanted to pursue a career outside the BRF. If he had met and married a normal girl who wanted just him and a family and a quiet life outside media attention, then he may have had a chance for that “normalcy” he claims to want so badly. However, he met and married a woman who has spent her life wanting and craving fame. There is absolutely no denying that. She has all the fame she wants and needs now and there is no way she is going to be happy anywhere unless she is front and center of the world’s attention and the only way she can get that attention is through the media. Without media they fade away to obscurity, which would suit Harry but it would never suit Meghan.

He will never be free of media intrusion or criticism because these two will never go away and live their life as quietly as possible. It will only get worse from here and in the end Harry will find that he has traded his Royal heritage for Meghan’s ambitions and he will not be any happier. Living outside the fishbowl only makes you prey for sharks.

Read on Harry.

I don't think it was ever possible for Harry to pursue higher education NOR to easily avoid his destiny of being full tiem royal in due course. he is one of only 2 sons.. He may have thoutgh that he could nto escape.. htat he had to do royal duties after some time in the army... esp as his grandparents were getting older... but I do believe if he really really felt he could not hack it.. then the time to give up was before he got married... to say that he coudlnt' do the job, and that Meghan was too independent and thtat they'd have to find someone else to take on the second son duties. Not to take on marriage, a wife, and an important royal role and then say he and his wife had to bail out, 2 years later.
 
I don't think it was ever possible for Harry to pursue higher education NOR to easily avoid his destiny of being full tiem royal in due course.

Harry was not the most academically gifted, so the idea of higher education would only have taken him so far!
 
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