The Queen was just seen out lunching with her good friend, famed race car driver Jackie Stewart this year. The royals always had celebrity friends and they hang out with them when they have time to do so.

None of this would be happening however without the Sussexes themselves being perceived as so preachy & woke. Nobody likes being lectured to. "Do as I say & not as I do" will not endear them to the British public.

Without the climate posturing et al there would be no criticism of the Sussexes use of private planes except for the usual grumblings about how the other half lives.

An earlier comment referred to HM using Sir Donald Gosling's yacht in an attempt to draw an equivalence between her & the Sussexes. Sir Donald is a Vice Admiral in the Royal Naval Reserve, he is most emphatically not a celebrity.

Sir Elton John's comments, along with those of other celebritis, are pouring oil on troubled waters.

Hopefully the Sussexes will now get on with their royal duties with a minimum of fuss. A masterclass from the Princess Royal or the Gloucesters might not come amiss!

Exactly. Charity functions and fundraisers seem to be one of the "key" organisations/places where one can mix in with royalty and famous faces, so it's only natural that if they're supporting the same charity, royals will cross paths with celebrities and they'll get chatting and become close. Elsewhere, royals and celebrities will also tend to mix in the same circles via parties, education, etc. It's not surprising they'll have a lot of mutual friends.

Not true they would just find something else to complain about. Like the Vouge magazine that sent some over the edge even though Charles has co-edited a magazine and several royal women have on the cover of that exact magazine.

I don't get the celebrity issue either what they aren't able to have friends (most of whom both have known a while) because they have public facing careers?

I do think more people are criticising them than the usual constant moaners and that is because they feel there is an issue here. Again I would say people are having more of a moan at Harry than Meghan.

Charles got raked over coals for flying to NY to collect an environment award and for taking a private jet on a tour of the South Americas that had an environmental focus so I don't see a double standard in the reporting of this issue. It seems pretty clear if you are a member of the RF talking about the environment the next time you take a private jet you should expect a fuss. Again this is more a case of poor PR work IMO than H&M doing anything wrong.

I remember Princess Anne being asked about the environment once and she said something along the lines of we all need to try and be a little greener but we all lead busy lives so it can be hard. Something about the tone made it clear she knew it was tricky for everyone to do and so there was nothing to disagree with really, it just seemed less high handed and more down to earth. In some of the most recent "issues" it has clearly been a case of either being wrongly interpreted or poor presentation. Either way I hope lessons are learnt - on all sides.

I am enjoying the controversy and general kerfuffle about the Sussex sojourn in the South of France! Clearly, the general public and those on this Forum are thinking about climate change and its consequences so that this awareness in itself is already a victory for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. That they are being tarred and feathered for their use of a private plane is immaterial although unkind; dear Sir Elton means so very well and he has paid his dues to the environment: he says so himself! :lol: The other celebrities that are coming out of the woodwork to 'support the Duke and Duchess' are of course entertaining and totally irrelevant. What is important is that the point has been made and we can all go back to tracking Greta Thunberg's progress on Malizia II https://tracker.borisherrmannracing.com/
and admire Greta and her father's stamina in travelling without a carbon footprint while cheerfully booking our own holidays in a horse drawn camper:lol:

:previous: Good thoughts. Every time I see a empty plastic bottle, I keep hoping its a magic one and when I twist it, it turns into a pair of Rothys' shoes. No luck on that yet.

Even I know that my life would be impossible without leaving some carbon footprints or using things bad for our environment such as a plastic straw at a fast food restaurant or a styrofoam container to take left overs home in. I do what I can such as recycle everything plastic, glass and aluminum. I do what I can where I can. If I can't go 100% green, how can I expect anyone else to?

I think its the same for Harry and Meghan. There are going to be times where there is no "greener" option to take. If we're talking about the private plane trip, wouldn't taking a commercial flight the same distance leave the same amount of a carbon footprint? In our world, flight is a necessity and especially for working royals that have daily planners already filled in for months ahead.

If you fly commercially the carbon footprint is shared by all those aboard the plane meaning that your individual footprint is much smaller than if you fly private. There are of course a difference in the size of footprints because of for instance the size of the planes, but in general flying commercially means a smaller one.

There is a difference: royals are always invited because of their function or their official role, they represent, and not because they are successful or knowledgeable about environment etc as private citizens or celebrities who have dedicated themselves to the subject (a la Leo Di Caprio).

And I doubt Pink etc understand the concept of royalty and how it is perceived in the UK.

See Pierre Casiraghi's family topic on this issue; as, unfortunately, Greta's trip causes more pollution than if she had travelled by plane. Now the crews fly in and out of the States (from Europe) to make all of this possible. That's a lot more people than the two seats that Greta and her father had taken up in a regular flight to the States.

Although I fully agree that at least all of this inconsistency got people talking about the importance of preserving the environment :)

I agree. This is very unhelpful. I don't see how labelling all critics 'racists' is going to help in any way. While the criticism of some has racial undertones (or is outright racist); that doesn't mean that the criticism in general is racist.

I would hope that Meghan and Harry do pay attention to what is being said (of course not by reading every single detail but keeping track of the larger public opinion) and take it into account instead of putting it away as 'racist'; as that would almost guarantee that they will continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.

Friends confirming that all of this is just 'racist' is not helpful at all - although I somewhat understand how hard it must be for friends to not be able to 'protect' your friend against what you perceive to be unfair criticism.

I am saddened to see that a woman Meghan chose to highlight is using this connection as clickbait to generate views and followers by dropping Meghan's name into obviously nonsensical rants. One month ago no one would have cared what Jameela Jamil had to say about the Sussexes, but because people perceive Meghan to have a connection and form of closeness to these women, people are flocking to read her rants, and I believe Jameela was fully aware of that and is shamelessly exploiting it.

The only alternative is that Jameela sincerely believes that it is dangerous for us normal muppets to be in proximity due members of The Royal Family due to roaming assassins.

Just want to point out this very interesting commentary by the Guardian which deals with the carbon footprint Meghan and Harry left while flying private planes. Especially as it was published at the Guardian!
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...green-politics

Indeed very interesting commentary. ...

When is the couple expected to be at Balmoral?

Soon, I would guess.

If they even go. They weren’t there last year. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen Harry up at Balmoral.

It would be great if they went around the time of the Braemar Highland Games. The young royals don’t tend to go. So it would be nice to see them there.

The times that the royals spend at Sandringham or Balmoral are on their private time and unless they're "spotted" at Aberdeen airport or on a Sunday attending church with the Queen, the public is not informed of their plans. We know the Sussexes are very, very good at traveling under the radar so they could have been to Balmoral and back home again already. :biggrin:

I'll be happy when the silly season is over and we get to the meat and potatoes of what Harry and Meghan do. Their public roles. We've a lot to look forward to with the opening of the Sussex foundation and their tour to Africa.

...

For me, this is the whole shebang of the young royals and their families wanting their privacy. Freedom to go and do as they please on their own downtime without every detail being splashed all over the public domain. I think the Queen and Philip and Charles and Camilla have come to realize that the Balmoral estate is a place where they can breathe the easiest and just enjoy their downtime in peace and quiet. I also believe this is the underlining reason that the Sussex family chose to live in Windsor Home Park at Frogmore Cottage.

Perhaps for us, this concept of being left alone isn't something that is worth its weight in gold as I imagine the majority of us could slip on a coat over our jammies and go to the nearest store for a gallon of milk and no one would blink an eye or even notice us. Even with bedhead. If we put ourselves in the position that Harry and Meghan are in, we'd have to be sure to dress nice, have hair and makeup just right and be prepared for cell phone cameras out and at the ready for every little detail right down to the brand of milk we bought. Would that gallon of milk be worth it? I'd think twice about it. :biggrin: