The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 6: August 2021-
 

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On her 40th birthday, Meghan has announced a new project, 40x40, "a campaign encouraging people around the world to give 40 minutes of their time to support women going back to work."
https://www.today.com/popculture/meg...rthday-t227291

"The Duchess asked 40 activists, athletes, artists, and world leaders to participate by contributing 40 minutes of mentorship to women reentering the workforce.

Those who have put their hands up to help include Adele, US poet laureate Amanda Gorman, Nobel peace prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, author Deepak Chopra, US author and activist Dr Ibram X Kendi, and Stella McCartney."
https://www.standard.co.uk/video/new...hday-v84931e05

More information and video can be found at Archewell..

This was a really cute video. Really nice initiative. Nice to see Meghan... and I spy with my little eyes Archie and (I think) Lili pictures on her desk at the start of the clip.

Lovely office! And English tea and biscuits! So good to see Meghan and that is a great initiative to be establishing. Re-entering the workforce after Covid unemployment or perhaps part time employment or time away looking after small children, can be an ordeal. It’s good to mentor someone in that situation who may lack confidence. I’ve done it myself and found it very rewarding.

A great way for Meghan to celebrate her 40th birthday with the mentoring partnership.

I love it! I think Meghan has hit on something that a whole lot of women are experiencing and that is going back into the workforce in their 40s. Stay at home moms with the empty nest or a woman experiencing divorce and reentering a single life can and do feel so lost and unsure about how to go into what seems like a totally alien world from their "normal".

Great initiative. I especially like that Deepak Chopra is involved. I love how that man thinks. :smile:

Good idea, nicely presented and obviously well thought through - a good gift to the women of the world by one of their own. Or so. I hope we will always see Meghan and Harry daring to be more personal (in the fashionable "unpersonal personal" way) in their interactions, as it is both fitting with his heritage and their own positioning. She hopefully doesn't think to run for president but it would be nice to see her sometimes (or even more often) as long as her ideas help others as much as this one. And I like that Eugenie immediately stepped in.

Sounds like a good initiative. I hope it works out well.

I really enjoyed the video with Melissa McCarthy and think it is a wonderful initiative. How does it work in practice, do the people committing to 40 minutes reach out to a charity supporting women or how do they find someone to mentor?

What a fantastic idea!


Princess Eugenie is also part of the 40 lending support to "Dear Meghan’s" initiative

https://instagram.com/stories/prince...um=share_sheet

Watching Harry juggling outside the window during the interview with Melissa McCarthy
was hilarious! He was doing quite well... for about two seconds!!!

When I first saw the photo, I thought Harry was a guy washing the windows!

:previous: Now that's Harry the way I love seeing him and his antics fit perfectly with what Meghan was doing with Melissa McCarthy. I was looking at Meghan's to-die-for desk and office and laughed that she had used a pile of books to raise her laptop to use for 'Face Time' or 'Zoom'. I guess she'd been signing a bunch.

Looking at perfectly stacked books I thought it showed that she likes things 'squared away' but not sterile which was something I remembered from an early shot of her Canadian home. She seems to like a restful, slightly minimalist but what I imagine the Californian version of Hygge would look like for her home.

As to the Birthday Idea? Wonderful, and so many strong women who will inevitably attract other strong women to mentor other women returning to the workforce. It's almost the visual of a self-supporting prophecy. I can imagine there are those that end up spending more than 40 minutes with any one woman.

Having been in that situation myself I cannot begin to imagine how much the support of a strong, successful woman would have been. Oh I know there are those that will scoff and say how can a successful woman relate to a woman who is suddenly a solo mother, a divorcee, a widow all with limited skills or confidence, yet Meghan's venture into 'Smart Works' was as down to earth as you can get.

Best of all, her work for women started long before she was 'The Duchess of Sussex', she was Meghan Markle and she used what fame or stardom she had to promote the cause of Feminism and I don't mean burning her bra! I could never understand why so many women never understood that it was a derogatory put-down promoted by the (almost totally male) media.

Article below courtesy of Muhler:

https://apnews.com/article/health-ar...0fab0edcd96eb6

Not surprising to me. They did always say their first priority was to move to and continue their work in another Commonwealth country but scrapped it when the BRF somehow didn't find that doable. They obviously ended up going with Canada but I think there was talk of South Africa at some point as well?

Interesting interview with Governor-General of New Zealand Patsy Reddy, not just Harry & Meghan's thoughts on living in New Zealand, but also on the subject of constitutional monarchy.

The Sussexes won't be the first to live in New Zealand if they choose to do so. Lady Davina Windsor and Gary Lewis (now divorced) at one point after marriage have decided to raise their children there. I'm not sure about now. This is the latest article I could find about them.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/w...4year-marriage

It appears H&M were considering leaving the UK as early as October 2018, around 5 months after their wedding.

Not much novelty here. Prince Harry himself said in the past that New Zealand, South Africa and Canada were considered as possible relocation sites before the Sussexes decided to move permanently to the US. The only significant new information is that they were already considering a move out of the UK in 2018.

I agree, it is the timing of this conversation that will led credibility to the notion that they really did not try very long after getting married before they started to look for options to leave the UK. This reported conversation took place 5 months after their wedding. It should also be noticed that, until then, the press narrative had largely been a very positive and supportive one.

Yeah, I think it's the timing that matters here. I'd love for some Brits to chime in on this: could they reasonably have intended to remain as full-time royals while living in a Commonwealth country, perhaps with the intent of preserving the Commonwealth in the future? If they'd been so inclined, I think they could have done a lot to keep Australia and New Zealand "in the fold," so to speak, while being based there. Maybe if Australians and New Zealanders had their own royals who did things like hand out youth awards and open senior centers as a full-time job, instead of just popping in for a tour every few years, they'd attach more value to the monarchy and be more in favor of keeping it around. At least, I could understand the palace and Harry/Meghan thinking along those lines.

I'm trying to be fair and attribute good motives here if possible. But in combination with everything else, it does seem like they began planning their escape almost immediately after their marriage - before any offensive media coverage of the pregnancy (which was only announced just before the tour) or much of anything else, probably before any discussions with the family about Archie's skin color or security (they wouldn't have had time to set all this out between the pregnancy announcement and the tour), and without having "tried to make it work for two years," as they've previously claimed.

Frankly, if anything, it lends credence to the people who were questioning their commitment pre-marriage to being fulltime royals based on the offhand comment they made in the Oprah interview about being uncertain for two years before they debuted their website. No one was quite sure when the two years began but it seems pretty clear that the discussions began pre-wedding. In retrospect, it's obvious that both the Australia/New Zealand trip in Oct 2018 and the South Africa trip in Sept 2019 were attempts by the BRF to keep the Sussexes in the fold and at least living in a Commonwealth nation.

Prince Harry has issued a statement about veterans of the Afghanistan war:

Complete article here: https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalt...mpaign=1277539

Courtesy: Blog Real

A call to action from Harry and Meghan
https://twitter.com/RoyalReporter/st...716421/photo/1
https://archewell.com/news/haiti-afghanistan-relief/

...
Let’s not forget Harry served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, and if anybody is entitled to speak out about the situation in Afghanistan and what has happened ref the Taliban takeover it is vets who served there. In his last tour he saw body bags and transported wounded and maimed.

Of course Harry is angry and distressed. A friend of mine, who saw a mate badly wounded over there is as well. Some of his fellow vets are saying it was all for nothing now and many of us ordinary folks who have never been to the region are thinking of the situation with the women and girls especially as well. Lots of people want to help.

What amazes me is the fact that they obviously think the world was waiting anxiously for their opinion in the Afgan drama !

The Duke of Sussex appeared via video link at the 24th GQ Men of the Year Awards at Tate Modern in London yesterday evening, September 1, to present the climactic award to Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, Dr Catherine Green and the entire Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine team:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 **


** gq-magazine article: Prince Harry: ‘The Oxford Team have done their part. They are heroes of the highest order’ **


** standard article: Duke of Sussex blames ‘mass-scale misinformation’ for vaccine hesitancy **

Great to see Harry :smile:

Wonderful to see Harry. He made IMO a well thought out speech, especially mentioning the inequality of supply around the world with regard to vaccines. As he said…

“That must include sharing vaccine science and supporting and empowering developing countries with more flexibility. Where you are born should not affect your ability to survive when the drugs and know-how exist to keep you alive and well.”


Heartfelt and well earned praise too for the entire team behind Oxford AstraZenaka, including of course the two women honoured, Professors Dame Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are among the Time Magazine's 2021 list of the 100 most influential people and new portraits have been made for this:


** Pic 1 ** Pic 2 **


** time.com: Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex **

One more picture from Time 100
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_VGVhVX...jpg&name=small

The accompanying article was lovely, focusing on HRH The Duke and Duchess of Sussex's long history of philanthropy, especially since it was written by one of their longtime friends and philanthropic associates, Chef Jose Andres. I love the pictures, especially the one with them walking hand-in-hand in the woods. They both look good in green. A nice birthday present for HRH The Duke of Sussex.

I like that this is focused on the *both* of them as a couple. It's recognizing the philanthropic work that they both have done over the years and continue to do. It's a good way to keep in the public domain, the work they want to continue to do as a couple and as individuals. Can't fault that at all!

The photo of them walking hand in hand is lovely but the other two pictures are overly photoshopped in my opinion.

What exactly did they do in the matter of philanthropic work except talk about it ?

I'd like to believe that all the philanthropic work they did as working royals figured in along with individual work they've both done since reaching adulthood (perhaps even earlier too). A change in status, employment, residence and lifestyle would never erase any good works that have gone before

A very nice birthday present for Harry especially as the Press has not always been so kind, to say the least. The photos were heavily photoshopped but that was hardly the couple’s fault, and IMO they clearly show how close and loving they are still after three and a half years of marriage and over five together.

Jose Andres wrote in the accompanying article about their philanthropy which he knows of first hand through their generous contributions to his charity work with World Central Kitchen in poorer nations suffering crisis situations.

https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrit...ntral-kitchen/

https://www.today.com/food/meghan-ma...itchen-t204423

https://wck.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8...SAAEgKOCPD_BwE

TIME usually has a big fancy publicized dinner to recognize the new 100. It would be cool if H and M went. We have not seen some formal glamour from her in a while.

Current and past "100 people" attend and things get pretty jolly. I've read that everyone wants a bit of facetime with Henry Kissinger!

While we all knew they were going to be included in this list, I think it was a little bit overdone.

It's not their fault, the photos look absolutely awful - photoshoped beyond any rational stage - that when I saw them for the first time, I thought it was a shot from the Lifetime movie and not the real Harry and Meghan :lol: But I was glad NOT to see Harry in another blue suit. So... meh.

The little blur by Andrés is as sweet as cotton candy, but that is to be expected, they had to explain the choice somehow. I laughed about the last sentence: "They run toward the struggle."

Quite ironic in their case.

I think that it is a good thing that the focus of all the 100 on the list is basically because of the good things those 100 have accomplished and that is the full monty of why they were selected. Nothing else figures in. Not the scandals, not the reputation or judgment of the court of popular opinion or even status and wealth. Time magazine deemed them noteworthy and, IMO, that is what matters in this case.

Osipi, Donald Trump is there, too. And Modi, Joe Manchin, and the president of Iran. Notoriety = influence.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are doing "their thing" and pursuing their private careers in the US where they are celebrities (banking on their royal titles, of which they were not stripped). In the UK, most people probably don't care except their more ardent fans and enemies of the monarchy who want to use the Sussexes as weapons against the next King(s).

Exactly. Notoriety comes in all kinds of assorted flavors and packaging. They are people that stand out in our world for this or that. No judgment, no
bias, no collecting $200 for passing Go. It is just a list.

But then you can't really say "everyone is basically there for the good things they accomplished".

Right. I stand corrected. Back to the topic of the Sussexes making the top 100. :smile:

Yeah. I thought the pictures weren’t flattering. At all.

The last sentence was rather ironic all things considered. Not to mention waaaay over the top imo.

It's nice to see that, in spite not being working members of the British Royal Family anymore, HRH The Duke and Duchess of Sussex still practices its main values of using their wealth and privilege to help and speak for those without either or those. After seeing everyone else on the list, I would conclude that they're in good company, for better or for worst.

Well considering these photos have produced days of nonstop chatter --- I think it was quite fitting they were included. My goodness. Lol

Well, I don't know how influencial they are, I can't judge that, but they certainly are among the very few on that list I know about. :lol:

If I might respectfully say so this sounds like a misunderstanding of the role of the rf. It's only fair to point out that the main value in having a rf lies in its members supporting the crown & representing the British people. It's certainly not about the importance of individual members in it.

As to whether h&m fit that criteria is for others to say.

That TIME cover is hands down the most unflattering photo I have ever seen of the Sussexes.:sad:

It's almost as if they were being spoofed instead of celebrated....with Harry seeming to be trying to hide behind his excessively photoshopped wife.

I thought the same. This is a shame, since the Sussexes are a stunning couple.

Photoshopped or not, it's clear that it's the Sussex couple and that, really, is all that matters. :)

Amen :smile:

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited the One World Observatory at One World Trade Center in New York City today, September 23:


** rex gallery ** gettyimages gallery ** gtresnews gallery ** ppe gallery **


** dm article: It's wonderful to be back! Meghan and Harry are joined by NYC Mayor de Blasio..**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKbro9_WyIs

So the Mayor of NYC & the Governor of NY State formally greet a private couple who represent nobody but themselves & who live in the same country.

Do elected officials normally line up to meet celebrities in the USA? I would have thought it was the other way round. Maybe one of our US members could explain.

https://twitter.com/USAmbUN/status/1441106513334919172

Harry and Meghan meeting with Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

Yes that's all very well but why do these two get access to this US ambassador?

Can any US citizen get a meeting with such a senior member of the US diplomatic service? He's not even an American!

yes - I am sure Americans and New Yorkers will be asking the same question. Along with who is paying for the NYPD crowd controlled ect.

Yes, actually. US officials often cavort with celebrities to use the free publicity to promote themselves, their policies, the area their representing, etc...

Yes but do they do the lining up to greet these celebrities? Like supplicants.

I had thought an American Governor, being the chief executive in their state, was the one who others lined up to meet. Not the other way round.

Interesting. I wonder what Ben Franklin would have made of that.

No they typically don't do these extremes with celebrities but clearly the Mayor, Governor and Ambassador felt differently about the Sussexes nor see them as such. I am a bit surprised by it as well, especially the level of security detail but someone signed off on it.

It is only day one. They are in town until at least Saturday.

They arrived last night. Daily Mail has a video of them having dinner with a friend (looks like Misha Nonoo and hubby).

An interesting perspective that US (Democrat?) officials don't see them as celebrities.

It begs the question what exactly do they see them as? These are legitimate & thought provoking questions for Americans I should think.

I don't know what people see them as but clearly people don't consider them celebrities. I don't either. They are members of the royal family though not working royals. So it is a weird in between, I guess. And maybe for many, working or not, they don't see then any different. Today would imply as much.

Of a foreign royal family. With no status in the US.

Are they to be feted & protected at US taxpayer expense elsewhere & at other times?

They get access because they are the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland's grandson and his wife. Top tier British Royals have always and will always have access to the upper classes and the elected officials in the USA. That's the way it is, and the way it has been since at least the 1860's and Albert Edward's cross country trip in the USA.

Protected? On the taxpayer's dime? Only if it's a US government function they are at. Otherwise private security.

Feted? Yes. Of course. They will always be A-list and will be treated that way here.

Social access is one thing but access to elected officials is quite another.

It's corrupt.

Unless they're influencing an election or bribing an official, it's not corrupt. Not here.

Look, I don't care for them, but they are hugely famous and top tier "celebrities" and unless they get in a Prince Andrew-like scandal, they will be for the rest of their lives and thus will always be feted by the great and the good.

The short answer would be "No."

Any old person is not the grandson of the Queen. So of course they get access. People act like it's a surprise they do. It may not be "fair" but that's the way it is.

Clearly there are some NYC politicians who are keen to meet them, probably because they are royalty, even if they're no longer representing anyone but themselves.

It does really raise the question of "why are they doing this?" though. If they're no longer representing the Queen or anything higher than themselves what good is a 20 minute official photo op? Apart from publicity obviously. It all comes across as rather hollow, a little like the cemetery photoshoot last year, play acting the real thing.

I think we're seeing them try to implement the "Half in, Half out" they originally wanted but freelance. Time will tell if it works once the novelty has warn off.

They get to meet elected officials because of who they are. That's unfair access. That's certainly a form of corruption.

Can't believe many Americans will be be happy with that. A resident foreign prince possibly having the ear of elected officials for decades to come. Raises all sorts of questions surely.

Hopefully they'll stick to charity. Maybe the pitfalls of this sort of flirtation with politicians is more obvious to Britons?

Nope. Most Americans do not give one single fig about Harry and Meghan meeting anyone that wants to meet them. No one in the general public cares here.

Basically. It just aint that deep. And honestly I feel that goes for all of them. People really don't care about the royals all that much to that level. They fun to watch and talk about but... yeah.

It is not surprising that got the reception they did.

Interesting comments from US members on here.

Always good to hear different perspectives. And how British & US attitudes can differ.

It's obvious to me (and Captain Obvious is not who I am) that Harry and Meghan are starting, once again, to step out and build up their lives in a public way and, for me, I have no issues standing out for *anything* about this recent trip to NY. They can afford the hotel. They were assigned security because those that assign security authorized it. They met with high ranking NY state government people and UN people and I can't say the Sussexes finangled it all for publicity purposes. It was for a reason and consented on by *both* parties.

This couple is not going to sit home in their house twiddling their thumbs avoiding public appearances. The more they do, the more people will pay attention to what Harry and Meghan's goals are. It's all *good* if you ask me. :smile:

Yes, the cemetery photo shoot! IIRC, the Duchess also chose a heavy winter’s coat for that event. Speculation was she had planned to wear it at the Cenotaph but that appearance didn’t happen. Perhaps she plans her wardrobe too far ahead, and then is loathe to make changes.

This is where we see the big mistake of the Queen allowing them to keep those titles. She didn't want them to be half in/half out, being royal only on their own terms but that is exactly what they are doing in NY. It wasn't Harry Windsor and Meghan Markle meeting these powerful people and being given a tour of places in the city, this was TRH The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Her coat wasn't really heavy winter. It was quite chilly this morning and it is very windy now. Was suppose to rain but so far it has not. I saw many people with jackets on this morning. It isn't hot by any means but I can see why some would find it strange.

There are many things in life that are unfair but most do not meet the definition of corruption. This doesn't meet the standards of corruption.

Harry and Meghan never said they would disappear. They couldn't just demand to meet with mayor and governor. The mayor and governor chose to meet with them. Harry and Meghan seemed to have their own security. The mayor and governor have their own security details too. They would be with them no matter where they were or who they were with.

Albert Edward was the working PoW, representing HM the Queen.

These two, as many have pointed out, are not representing anything but themselves. Moreover this is definitely "getting into politics". Without bias, but still extremely political.

And to do what, except raise their own profile?

Even the Windsors didn't have this sort of chutzpah. (Except once. They went to Nazi Germany to be treated with a high profile.)

Unfortunately the Queen doesn't seem to have any sway on them anymore - if she ever did. It is up to the American people to 'control' them now. If Americans are okay with having non elected self appointed ambassadors of themselves running around then they may be happy in provide them with access most dignitaries would kill for.

I am a New Yorker, and quite honestly I would not have know about this event, if not for Daily Mail spread. There is a lot of corruption in New York government offices, as well as in the UN, think of this as you may.....

The question was asked, but no answer given

Doesn't it take an act of parliament to remove the dukedom of Sussex? They are not using the HRH. Even if dukedom and HRH were formally taken away would not they still be Prince and Princess Henry (Harry)?

At the same time, American superstars are fawned over in the UK by politicians, which must greatly displease their constituents. Angelina Jolie buddying around with William Hague when he was in office, for instance. He always had time for her. She and her children also got a private tour of Buckingham Palace.

Like Harry and Meghan, she has philanthropic interests.

I doubt the mayor of New York will be re-elected, so I think this is just one-off

I am sure they did not demand the meeting, but their PR team surely asked for a meeting, there are plenty of major politicians at the UN gathering, but only Harry and Meghan get a big spread in Daily Mail, think of it what you will

The mayor of NYC is term limited and cannot run again. The new governor intends on running for a full term in the upcoming election.

He can't be re-elected. Term Limits.

Interest of the reader base determines who you print about. It's about circulation and subscriptions and the green dollar.

This is correct. The only reason Parliament has ever stripped a peer of his title was for treason. Not behaving badly or in a scandal or such. Removing Harry's ducal title for reasons such as "The Queen wants it" or "dude behaved badly" would then set a precedent that *any* peer could have his title removed for just about any reason at all. Parliament is *not* going to remove Harry's title.

Reluctant though I am to quote the Daily Fail this from one of their articles about this visit may provide an explanation about the security issue.

Wackrow noted that, although they have stepped down from official duties, Harry and Meghan are still family members of the British head of state, and thus might reasonably expect some government protection while in a high threat environment, such as Manhattan during the general assembly.
'While they are not the head of state for the United Kingdom, they are part of the head of state's family and at times such as summits, global gatherings, it is warranted they receive some level of protection, even if it is taxpayer funded protection,' he said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-Service.html

Perhaps, this is the reason, he does not care anymore what New Yorkers think of him, he can chill with whomever he wants

Agreed. Regardless of the cause they were promoting, the way they conducted this visit looks to me like a pitiful attempt to appear as if they are working royals, except that they are not. For someone like me who loves the Royal Family, I view how they are conducting themselves as a ploy to appear to get their way. They could still have had meetings in NY, but not have done it like a royal engagement. It looks like they are trying to establish their own "royal court" in the US, like the one the Queen would not let them have.

I doubt very very much that the couple asked for that much security. It was probably provided because they are members of the British Royal Family and nobody wants any incident in New York.

Harry, Meghan and Chelsea Clinton

https://twitter.com/ETCanada/status/1441176557377122309

This is a vital issue, and I’m so glad that Harry and Meghan recognise this and are eager to assist Global Citizen and others, to try and achieve it.

Also, due to the high profile people the Sussexes were meeting with (who most likely have their own security also) and the expected visibility of the popular Sussexes deemed that security needed beefed up. Better safe than sorry.

I don't think it really is that they're BRF family members but that did play a part in it. Other factors figured in too.

I don’t think they’re being royal on their own terms. They’re being celebrities who happen to be royal. No matter what the couple may say now or in the future, this is very much not the half in/half out arrangement they initially demanded. They wanted to remain senior working royals but also to be given the free time (and funding) to do other things, likely the very celebrity lifestyle things we see them doing now. They did not envision themselves having to hustle to make it as full time celebrity do gooders in the US after being quickly and completely cut off from official royal life in the UK.

They also wouldn’t be appearing with high profile American politicians if the Royal Family or the UK government had any real opposition to them doing so. If the couple hadn’t so thoroughly burned their bridges in the UK, these sorts of appearances could have been potentially problematic. By being so public and so vicious in their repudiation of the BRF and what it represents, they broadcast their loss of official status loud and clear. I doubt the BRF cares if Harry and Meghan want to be Brangelina 2.0, as long as there’s no danger of them being treated as people who represent the Queen or her government.