Royals At War, The Untold Story of Harry and Meghan's Split with the House of Windsor

[Sun Lion]

I love the picture of Meghan and Harry dancing at the top of the New York Post article.

Another book - due for release in a few days, on 30th June.

"Royals At War The Untold Story of Harry and Meghan's Shocking Split With The House of Windsor."

https://nypost.com/2020/06/27/meghan...s-cabin-fever/

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal...g-royal-family

https://www.booktopia.com.au/royals-...iABEgJojfD_BwE

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ok-claims.html

[Muhler]

Hmm.

Don't know the author, but the book does asks some interesting questions.

If the book offer some serious replies to these questions it may actually be worth a read.

- I do find it more than plausible that Harry was sounded out by someone close to him and asked whether he was sure.
Considering the relatively short period H&M had been dating, I find that that to be a relevant question. A question I would even ask my own children planning on marrying after a short relationship.

[Sun Lion]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Hmm.

Don't know the author, but the book does asks some interesting questions.

If the book offer some serious replies to these questions it may actually be worth a read.

- I do find it more than plausible that Harry was sounded out by someone close to him and asked whether he was sure.
Considering the relatively short period H&M had been dating, I find that that to be a relevant question. A question I would even ask my own children planning on marrying after a short relationship.

How does someone born into fame, who came to loathe it, and someone who aspired to fame, and came to weaponize it, live happily ever after in La La Land?

An interesting premise from the book.

(Can't see the Duke of Sussex taking up surfing though.)

[Hallo girl]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Hmm.

Don't know the author, but the book does asks some interesting questions.

If the book offer some serious replies to these questions it may actually be worth a read.

- I do find it more than plausible that Harry was sounded out by someone close to him and asked whether he was sure.
Considering the relatively short period H&M had been dating, I find that that to be a relevant question. A question I would even ask my own children planning on marrying after a short relationship.

It has always been claimed by those in the know that it was William so there is nothing really new in that. Like you I am sure that is a question that is often asked within families, but it has also been claimed that Harry was offended by the question.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

How does someone born into fame, who came to loathe it, and someone who aspired to fame, and came to weaponize it, live happily ever after in La La Land?

An interesting premise from the book.

(Can't see the Duke of Sussex taking up surfing though.)

My reply was written, before the New York Post link was added.
It's more detailed.
I'm not entirely sure what is the journalist's interpretation of the book, and what are direct quotes from the book.

I certainly find it very plausible that Harry is going stir crazy right now - he wouldn't be the only one. Of course that is made worse by the break from his family - especially depending on how dramatic the break was and how much he is in contact with his family. And the no doubt insecurity he must feel about his future.

I notice that most of the critical things about Meghan are pretty much lifted from tabloid articles about her.
And while I find it believable that she had - reservations - about how to conduct her new royal role - ultimately leading to the break with the BRF. I am still on the fence as to how much of that blame can be laid solely at Meghan's door. It usually takes two to tango. And Harry must have had some role. Even though the book seemingly suggest he was/is too dim to realize he is being manipulated.

It seems obvious to me who the authors believe is the villain here.

I have serious reservations about "sources". But at least there is one named source, Ninaki Priddy.
However there really don't seem to be much new here.

Originally Posted by Hallo girl

It has always been claimed by those in the know that it was William so there is nothing really new in that. Like you I am sure that is a question that is often asked within families, but it has also been claimed that Harry was offended by the question.

I can well imagine Harry going totally into defensive mode, when presented with reservations about the woman he loves. Even if the reservations are mainly to make him think. - It's a little irrational, but also very human.

- I'm personally not at all impressed with the way H&M have handled the break-up with the BRF. Nor am I particularly impressed with their attempts to reform the way the BRF does things from within prior to the break.
But so far none of the books we are currently discussing here on TRF seems to offer serious, unbiased, fact finding accounts let alone answers to what really happened. - And that, alas, seems also to include this book.

I wonder if we are to wait for non-British and non-American royal experts books or documentaries in order to get a more nuanced coverage of H&M.

[Iluvbertie]

If you want 'unbiased' you will be waiting a long time. It isn't possible even going back to a modern writer writing ancient history - they will still have a bias.

Getting a more balanced coverage of what happened will probably have to wait a few decades or more likely a century - when all the private correspondence of those involved is made available to historians (assuming it ever is).

[Sun Lion]

Originally Posted by Muhler

My reply was written, before the New York Post link was added.
It's more detailed.
I'm not entirely sure what is the journalist's interpretation of the book, and what are direct quotes from the book.

I certainly find it very plausible that Harry is going stir crazy right now - he wouldn't be the only one. Of course that is made worse by the break from his family - especially depending on how dramatic the break was and how much he is in contact with his family. And the no doubt insecurity he must feel about his future.

I notice that most of the critical things about Meghan are pretty much lifted from tabloid articles about her.
And while I find it believable that she had - reservations - about how to conduct her new royal role - ultimately leading to the break with the BRF. I am still on the fence as to how much of that blame can be laid solely at Meghan's door. It usually takes two to tango. And Harry must have had some role. Even though the book seemingly suggest he was/is too dim to realize he is being manipulated.

It seems obvious to me who the authors believe is the villain here.

I have serious reservations about "sources". But at least there is one named source, Ninaki Priddy.
However there really don't seem to be much new here.



I can well imagine Harry going totally into defensive mode, when presented with reservations about the woman he loves. Even if the reservations are mainly to make him think. - It's a little irrational, but also very human.

- I'm personally not at all impressed with the way H&M have handled the break-up with the BRF. Nor am I particularly impressed with their attempts to reform the way the BRF does things from within prior to the break.
But so far none of the books we are currently discussing here on TRF seems to offer serious, unbiased, fact finding accounts let alone answers to what really happened. - And that, alas, seems also to include this book.

I wonder if we are to wait for non-British and non-American royal experts books or documentaries in order to get a more nuanced coverage of H&M.

The Duke’s character has been “un-sugared” so much with Megxit, Muhler.

Not that there weren’t signs before.

The behaviour caught on camera in Las Vegas, the known drug use, the Eton court case where the manipulation of exam results was exposed and so on.

(Not of the Duke’s doing of course, the Eton thing, but this whole burnishing of an image that was not who the individual really was.)

Seems like Prince Harry was always in rebellion to what he was born into.

And it seems like his mother was at the root of at least a good part of it.

In her “battle” against the system she entered into willingly, and couldn’t manipulate to her total satisfaction, both sons were her tools.

The “do what you want, just don’t get caught“ attitude she is said to have imparted.

Very much think the Duke saw his wife as a way out - and she didn’t want or need to stay - so in that a good match for each other, and very much a joint decision.

[Curryong]

All senior royals have their images burnished beyond what their own individual characters are.

Known drug use? That can be tracked back to a tabloid creating a heap of allegations about those young people who attended the Rattlebones Inn near Highgrove when Harry was a teenager. Other people were attendees at that inn including Guy Pelly (now a Royal godparent) who was named and dragged into this newspaper's allegations of cannabis use and trading there.

And none of that negates Harry's charity work for years, including the founding of Sentabale and Invictus. Nor his army service which included two tours in war zones.

Most of the books coming out now seem to be catering to those who dislike Harry and Meghan, and are hardly unbiased. I'm looking forward to books due to be released later this year which hopefully may redress the balance a bit.

[Madame Verseau]

I looked up the authors of the book. Both earned their stripes in tabloids. Howard was the VP for Chief Content for American Media until his contract ended on March 31 2020. They did a book on Charles Manson that came out in 2019. But when I saw a source for the book is Nikkai Priddy I'm deciding hard pass.

[Sun Lion]

This book also covers the pregnancy announcement, by the Duchess of Sussex, at Princess Eugenie's wedding ... and the consternation it caused.

I say consternation, but the book says embarassment for Prince Harry and furiousness for the York family.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...s-big-day.html

[Curryong]

Again speculation that first appeared on social media at the time and driven by anti Meghan Tumblr sites. These authors have apparently trawled those sites as well as tabloid articles.

Nobody knows what was said about the pregnancy if anything at the wedding, only the KP announcement that the Royals were delighted by the news.

Months Sarah later stated that she had gone through attacks in the media similar to what Meghan was going through, so her 'fury' apparently didn't last!

[Sun Lion]

Money, money money ... and the reckless spending of it.

"Royals At War" says this has been an over-looked aspect of the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from their UK life.

The services of a celebrity acupuncturist, both Harry and Meghan taking a 12-week course of numerology readings at a cost of $4,515 , a $59,100 babymoon, an allowance for the Duchess' mother Doria, private trips to Canada and the US with bodyguards.

Further details from the book in the link below -

https://www.news.com.au/entertainmen...357182fdc88294

[muriel]

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

Money, money money ... and the reckless spending of it.

"Royals At War" says this has been an over-looked aspect of the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from their UK life.

The services of a celebrity acupuncturist, both Harry and Meghan taking a 12-week course of numerology readings at a cost of $4,515 , a $59,100 babymoon, an allowance for the Duchess' mother Doria, private trips to Canada and the US with bodyguards.

Further details from the book in the link below -

https://www.news.com.au/entertainmen...357182fdc88294

Not sure how credible some of these sources really are!

[Muhler]

Forgive my ignorance in such matters but how can a numerology reading course last twelve weeks?!?
Twelve hours would seem excessive to me.

The only interesting things in this article are the sums mentioned.
Everything else is fill, guesswork and detractions. Especially in regards to how the other members of the BRF would have thought and reacted. That IMO is not serious.

How did the author reach the figures mentioned? I guess you can call an numerologist and ask what the price is, so that seems plausible.
And the price of the wedding dress must have been commonly known.

Then there is the spending on clothes. To that I will defend Meghan to some extent at least, she would have needed a new wardrobe for being able to represent the BRF. Even if they planned to leave the royal roadshow within a relatively short period. Kate after all has had several years to build up a wardrobe, some of which can be recycled or remade.
So I don't know whether 700.000 Aus $ is a vulgar amount of money as the article suggests.

As to the baby-shower abroad. Security would go with her no matter where. However, I wonder if there would have been much less criticism had H&M presented their son to the public as per tradition (and to the delight of the press and royal watchers) before heading off to a baby shower?
The presentation of Archie, or the lack of it, was, to put it mildly, poorly handled PR IMO.
He was an infant, he wouldn't care, but just sleep through the whole ordeal or whimper a little. And infants look pretty much the same, so it's not like he would have been recognized walking down the street.
I think that handling was one of the key reasons why the press in particular but also a large segment of the public began to turn against H&M.
The press was "cheated" of hours and hours of coverage, countless articles and photos - not to mention all the "royal experts" who were lined up. That amounts to a serious pile of money!

[Curryong]

I remember reading all the above stories of the Sussex's extravagance in the pages of the Daily Fail at the time, and the totals involved came from their journalists, many times inflated if they existed at all. The authors of this book, like Lady Colin, seem to have followed the tabloid route for their 'information' gathering.

[Mbruno]

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

Money, money money ... and the reckless spending of it.

"Royals At War" says this has been an over-looked aspect of the departure of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from their UK life.

The services of a celebrity acupuncturist, both Harry and Meghan taking a 12-week course of numerology readings at a cost of $4,515 , a $59,100 babymoon, an allowance for the Duchess' mother Doria, private trips to Canada and the US with bodyguards.

Further details from the book in the link below -

https://www.news.com.au/entertainmen...357182fdc88294

As long as all of the above is coming from the Prince of Wales' private income, I would say it is a private family matter which is not of public concern. Unfortunately, Harry and Meghan's "departure" doesn't seem to have fixed the problem as the Prince of Wales is still footing the couple's bill in North America (or so I suppose).


Harry and Meghan's stated intention of being "financially independent" is unfortunately limited by the constraints on the type of businesses or commercial activities royals can be engaged in, especially in the UK. On top of that, the Covid-19 pandemic , at least temporarily, has made it more difficult to launch the type of brand the Sussexes wanted to build, which relies heavily on public speaking and other social gathering events that are not feasible under current social distancing rules.

[Madame Verseau]

This book has now rehashed Meghan's approach to royal work chaffed the staff. People expect new material in a book.

[Claire]

[QUOTE=Sun Lion;2322908]How does someone born into fame, who came to loathe it, and someone who aspired to fame, and came to weaponize it, live happily ever after in La La Land?

This should be the byline of a book - it is brilliant

[Sun Lion]

More from "Royals At War" -

This book claims the excessive spending of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was part of the reason for the rift between Princes William and Harry.

The expenses for the Sussex's "health drive" included a three-night babymoon at Heckfield Place spa for thirty-three thousand pounds.

And, the Duchess had a "gung-ho" attitude and rushed into situations, and raced to support charities, without consideration of outcomes.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...e-William.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...dds-staff.html

[Curryong]

I'm not surprised the DM is re-printing all these stories of the Sussexes' high expenditure on God knows etc, considering they all came from their journalists at the time! The authors have just copied the original fairy tales, lies and inaccuracies and all!