Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Current Events 1: May 2018 - March 2020

[Hallo girl]

I think palace advisors would have advised her to ignore the media, ignore the social media comments, only go to law if absolutely necessary and get on with the job. Yes the meida have not been kind to her but a lot of the nasty stuff is internet commenters saying unkind tings and its very hard to deal with those people.. They are private individuals and unless they say something illegal there is nothing much that can be done. but if she and H are going into some kind of business, they're going to get criticism too, and internet flame wars and so on. Business is often controversial and leads to unpleasantness. If they take on more "exciting" charity wrok they will get people being unkind and nasty to them, because they may not agree with their stance on issues.

All very true.

 

[Alison H]

Very true. All the comments about them being hypocrites for taking unnecessary flights whilst lecturing about climate change have also been made about Emma Thompson, Leonardo di Caprio, Orlando Bloom and a load of others. Roger Federer, whom I would have thought was pretty harmless, got online abuse from the climate change mafia for being sponsored by Credit Suisse. Last week, a load of idiots called for a boycott of a particular brand of tea because a senior politician was photographed using their teabags to brew up!! This week, someone's said that people shouldn't use a well-known brand of handwash to try to protect themselves from coronavirus, because it might use oil that's linked to deforestation. Whatever you say or do, someone will moan, whether you're royal or not. They're going to have to accept that, unless they disappear from the public eye completely.

 

[Denville]

Very true. All the comments about them being hypocrites for taking unnecessary flights whilst lecturing about climate change have also been made about Emma Thompson, Leonardo di Caprio, Orlando Bloom and a load of others. Roger Federer, whom I would have thought was pretty harmless, got online abuse from the climate change mafia for being sponsored by Credit Suisse. Last week, a load of idiots called for a boycott of a particular brand of tea because a senior politician was photographed using their teabags to brew up!! This week, someone's said that people shouldn't use a well-known brand of handwash to try to protect themselves from coronavirus, because it might use oil that's linked to deforestation. Whatever you say or do, someone will moan, whether you're royal or not. They're going to have to accept that, unless they disappear from the public eye completely.

well yes and in today's world of PC charities full of the easily offended... people in that world are ALL going ot get attacked over things..
If H and Meg want to get involved in that world because its more exciting than shaking hands and smiling in some dull provincial town,.. they're going to have to get used to lots of and lots of being blamed and jeered at
and they have always laid themselves open to criticism over teheir going on about climate change and taking planes all over the place. If they want to make money by marketing things, people will blame them for the products they sell.

 

[Kataryn]

Yet I have always wondered why the Duchess did not think to find advocacies and groups that offer platform for discussions on racism, false reporting, unethical practices in the media. I think she found a way to justify leaving, as someone who is all in with the RF would have never contemplated the option of leaving but working within its structure.

And I'm always convinced that the years of media abuse suffered by the women in that family by an unkind media have been conveniently forgotten.

I am not really sure that it was Meghan who wanted to go and "took" Harry with her. IMHO she believed Harry was "in the know" and when he became so unhappy with the treatment she received and how she felt about it, she believe that he would find a way to go more private, to remove most of the things the media claimed "the taxpayer" critizised them for and they could find a better life then. Avoiding the negative press, earning their own money in order to not being reliant on public funding, spending some time away from Britain to live more privately in a country where they were not so confined by their Royal roles - all that makes some sense.


I am convinced that within the Royal households there are a lot of people who have had problems with the way Meghan approached things. She did not stay behind Harry and listened to him and their advisors, she wanted to jump right in and approach situations her way. That doesn't sound too bad, but for people whose job is it (and sometimes has been for generations of their family!) to secure this ancient institution against modern times it must have appeared disastrous. It surely took the more "liberal" insiders by surprise just how much hate the tabloids and some of their collegues have had for Meghan and how much negative media coverage this has produced. Some things were surely made up or made to a big story from small things.



I can imagine that someone went down to th vaults and selected some tiaras suitable for both Royal weddings of the year. Then they were showing Meghan the tiaras to choose from and they had left the emerald one in it. She said she liked it and then they told her that Eugenie should have a look at it first, because she has that reddish tinge in her hair and this calls for emeralds. This is nothing special, no bad intention in it, and when Meghan told Harry with an assistent listening in, she might have said in her "new world way" that "but I saw it first", not knowing what could come from it, when Harry ran off to help his bride. Nobody set it up as a trap, no one reacted wrong, but gossip within the palace and then in the media (with a fiendish editor going over the whole story) led to the tiara scandal later. Which presented Meghan the commoner as believing herself to be much better than the princess born...


As a reaction Harry and Meghan tried to leave the closeness to the "court" and settled a future parents at Frogmore, where they found more privacy and less curious and potential betraying eyes. By then they had realised what was going on, I think and the way they kept her pregnancy from the media and the palace staff was a way to keep her in a better mood, but still it set off the media They decided they liked her (a bit) when she did good deeds for people, but hated her and Harry when they were private persons. And slowly the atmopshere became so poisoned for them, that they wanted to go away at least for a while each year, find ways to earn their own money so they didn't have to rely on the public purse etc. but found that the courtiers did not think it was a good idea and it went on and on... So Harry, the soldier, who was not raised a courtier but knew how his gradmother and father love him, published their webpage in order to force them to deal with it.



Oh, that was so wrong, but the media of course loved it! IMHo it was a complete misunderstanding of how the court worked, how the RF has to make small steps in changing things, how they have to be carful to not annoy the people via the media. And here their homepage botched it completely!!!


And now they are forced out of the country, will loose their security, ar accused of have hurt the very old queen with having no sense of duty when IMHO all they wanted was to have more peace to work for others. Now even the threat of Coronavirus does not stop Piers Morgan from telling them off because they don't bring their little boy first into a plane where all passagers share the same air and then right to the eldest members of the family without even letting him quarantined for two weeks! Talk about hatred and bad will towards them! While th queen tells Harry they are welcomed back with open arms if they chose so!


It is such a series of misunderstandings with two very naive people who couldn't stand the hatred of certain parts of the media and the courtal intrigues.



I'm not sure what will become of them. But I'm sure it was not Meghan and negative character traits of her who made them wanting to go away.

 

[Denville]

Im sure that Harry never thought about "earning a professional income" and "making money." He may have sometimes wished to leave Royal life but he did not do so until he was with Meghan.. and Im sure he never considered ideas like "if things don't work out in the Royal working we could go and live in Canada near to the USA and make money there." I doubt if he got further than thinking of moving away...

 

[poppy7]

I think the limited knowledge of the work and life of the royal family is obvious in some here. As is the knowledge of what they can say.

Meghan and Harry left because it wasnt working for them. It was not what Meghan thought it was. You can't control your media or say what you want. You have to do the boring work and its not about having your voice heard. He married her. He has precarious mental health himself and they have a small child. It is the human thing to try to make it work for him. They wanted to have it their own way and were told no. So they are going.

In the end it is as simple as that. The toxicity of the media relationship with them was beginning to spread and to be honest. It wasnt working. They needed to change tack or leave. In the end that was all they could do and I hope very much for Archie's sake that things go well.

The royals are not to blame. Meghan got herself in to a situation she did not understand and didn't gel with it.

 

[Denville]

I think the limited knowledge of the work and life of the royal family is obvious in some here. As is the knowledge of what they can say.

Meghan and Harry left because it wasnt working for them. It was not what Meghan thought it was. You can't control your media or say what you want. You have to do the boring work and its not about having your voice heard. He married her. He has precarious mental health himself and they have a small child. It is the human thing to try to make it work for him. They wanted to have it their own way and were told no. So they are going.

In the end it is as simple as that. The toxicity of the media relationship with them was beginning to spread and to be honest. It wasnt working. They needed to change tack or leave. In the end that was all they could do and I hope very much for Archie's sake that things go well.

The royals are not to blame. Meghan got herself in to a situation she did not understand and didn't gel with it.

I agree that perhaps Meghan did find things were not what she expected, when she moved to England and joined in with royal life. I could be cynical, at times though and think that she never intended to stay, at least not as a full time royal worker.. (again that has an element of lack of knowledge..that she didn't realise that part time wasn't possible). That she just saw a couple of years of royal life as a stepping stone ot fame and fortune in the USA.

A kindlier explanation is that she didn't know what to expect.. that Royal life wasn't living in a castle and having people smile at you all the time.. that there were restrictions on the work she could do, and what she could say.. and that the Press were already not too fond of her and would become more critical all the time. I honestly don't think she realised that the British tabloid press is so ready to tear people down..
I think that she may have thought that as a royal she would get good press most of the time because the "British people love their royals"..and did not realise that most Brits are indifferent, some are hostile and some are adoring.

 

[_Heather_]

I agree that perhaps Meghan did find things were not what she expected, when she moved to England and joined in with royal life. I could be cynical, at times though and think that she never intended to stay, at least not as a full time royal worker.. (again that has an element of lack of knowledge..that she didn't realise that part time wasn't possible). That she just saw a couple of years of royal life as a stepping stone ot fame and fortune in the USA.

A kindlier explanation is that she didn't know what to expect.. that Royal life wasn't living in a castle and having people smile at you all the time.. that there were restrictions on the work she could do, and what she could say.. and that the Press were already not too fond of her and would become more critical all the time. I honestly don't think she realised that the British tabloid press is so ready to tear people down..
I think that she may have thought that as a royal she would get good press most of the time because the "British people love their royals"..and did not realise that most Brits are indifferent, some are hostile and some are adoring.

I think all of this is a very good point. And I admit that I often see it from the cynical point of view, though the kindlier explanation is also certainly worthwhile. In both cases it really strikes me, though, just how much self-awareness Meghan, and really both Harry and Meghan, lack. I honestly believe that they had absolutely no idea until very, very recently that many people within the public weren't terribly fond of them. And I still believe that they genuinely don't understand why. Either that or they just don't care and that's even worse. I really think that over the last several years they've really become their own worst enemy and they would have fared so much better with a little self-awareness and humility.

 

[Denville]

I think all of this is a very good point. And I admit that I often see it from the cynical point of view, though the kindlier explanation is also certainly worthwhile. In both cases it really strikes me, though, just how much self-awareness Meghan, and really both Harry and Meghan, lack. I honestly believe that they had absolutely no idea until very, very recently that many people within the public weren't terribly fond of them. And I still believe that they genuinely don't understand why. Either that or they just don't care and that's even worse. I really think that over the last several years they've really become their own worst enemy and they would have fared so much better with a little self-awareness and humility.

Its rather odd, in that they have been claiming (not entirely unfairly) that the Press is so hostile - and yet, they don't seem to realise that they are not as adored by the public. As if they believe that in spite of the press whipping up criticism, the public still adores them and wil tolerate anything they do.

That leaving so suddenly was going to set off a certain cynical feeling in the public.. an idea that "they didnt' want to do the job, they just want to make money and show off at fashionable charity events..." or "they don't want to stay in England, they'd rather be in America.. or Canada, so let them go and stay away."
Apart from Royal watchers and Harry fans, I honestly don't think there is a strong desire for them even to come back to "do their last few charity jobs"...
But I meant to add ot my last post, that I do believe the idea of "if we give up royal work, or cut back on it, we can make money in America" was pretty much all Meg's idea. Harry may go along with it.. and maybe he's pleased that she thought of it, but I don't believe he realy had that idea. I think that she is used to eanring her own money, managing her life and he isn't. So while he might dream of dropping out sometimes, she was the one who said "lets actualy DO IT.. and we can earn a nice living selling merchandise or doing public speaking events..."

 

[wyevale]

they would have fared so much better with a little self-awareness and humility.

Indeed the problem is the perception of why did Harry [who 'life-long'] seemed Humble/good humoured and [sort of] 'self-aware', or least 'in-touch' with the Public lose those attributes ?

MANY believe the change stems from his new Wife, and [unsurprisingly] she IS resented for it.

Whether that's accurate or fair, [or not] is irrelevant - its a widespread view, and never more so than since they decamped abroad..

 

[Denville]

Indeed the problem is the perception of why did Harry [who 'life-long'] seemed Humble/good humoured and [sort of] 'self-aware', [at least 'in-touch' with the Public] lose those attributes ?
MANY believe the change stems from his new Wife, and [unsurprisingly] she IS resented for it.
Whether that's accurate or fair, [or not] is irrelevant - its a widespread view, and never more so than since they decamped abroad..

Harry wasn't always so angelic.. There was the racist remark, the dressing in an Africka Corps uniform, dirnking and abusing barmen as a kid. (and the naked pics)
But I agree that I thougth he had improved mostly when in the army and was busy with a job he enjoyed. And he seemed to change once he married Meghan. Suddenly he seemed depressed, giving off vibes that he was not happy with life, even when he had a new beloved wife and a baby... He seemed to have become more introspective and "new Agey" and less Jolly good natured simple one of the lads Harry...". I've seen people making unkind comments after the marriage that "he looked unhappy and she looked smug".. Of course his crtiics and hers were saying that he looked unhappy because he had realised his marriage wasn't workig out... but I think he DID look unhappy at times... possibly more because he was less happy with his royal role and perhaps because he was worrying that Meg wasnt' adjusting to English life and he was going to have to do something about it..

 

[victor1319]

Harry wasn't always so angelic..

Thank you for remembering! Prince Henry, Citizen Harry has always been a wild child. Why this is the case can only be speculated about - but the case is there!

 

[carlota]

Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Current Events 1: May 2018 -

Am I the only one who thinks that H&Ms trip to the UK next week will not be met with much joy? I get the impression the media will just comment on the fact they are moving on, etc (all the negatives) rather than the positives which will make the sussexes angry yet again - and there starts another chapter of the media circus again!

IMO, it is disingenuous to blame Meghan's issues with the press purely on racism. There is far more to it than that, and to just name a few: issuing misleading releases suggesting she was in labour hours after the birth of Archie, authorising her friends to speak anonymously on her behalf to the US media, wearing expensive foreign designer wear on official engagements instead of supporting the British fashion industry....

The hypocrisy over them being eco conscious yet taking private jets on holiday, Meghan wearing a 50k dress (3 dresses like those would pay for the average UK mortgage!) in the engagement photos, them hijacking the South Africa documentary with their own personal issues (when they are meeting victims of rape, discrimination, violence etc as part of the trip but never mind - their issues are clearly more important!), the extravagant baby shower...

I mean, it’s not hard to find reasons why these two are making the public and the press angry / confrontational.

And I'm always convinced that the years of media abuse suffered by the women in that family by an unkind media have been conveniently forgotten.

I always said so and agree with your statement. It’s not as if other royal women weren’t harassed / attacked by the press. Yet they focused on their work and won the trust of people. Most importantly they didn’t moan non stop.

Actually Meghan missed an opportunity here - she could have come out and said that despite the media and the tolling she was not going to be bullied and stood her ground. From what I thought I knew of her this is what I would have expected and advised. So I think this is what the palace advisors would have done as well - it is strong and assertive , it is not turning the cheek and not confronting the problem. Image how different the South African documentary would have been.

That would have been a really impactful way to address this but IMO it’s slightly too mature a reaction given what we’ve seen.

 

[Betsypaige]

Unworthy of the dignity of a response..

I just...so pretty much anything anyone in the BRF does is reduced to diddly, except Harry (does his pre-MM handshaking and making nice count?) and a woman who’s been part of BRF for five minutes....

 

[poppy7]

Well Germaine Greer. She of the predicting Meghan would bolt and take Harry with her latest prediction os that Meghan isn't as strong as she first appeared and that if the next steps is driven by the two of them it will be a disaster. Just call her Cassandra.

Of could be that we were a bit blindsided by Meghans confidence and she isn't that strong, intelligent or self aware. Even their supporters at ITV were saying they are the ones stirring things now.

Also the media have bigger things with the Corona virus, as well as Kate and William in Ireland on the royal beat to be much interested in Harry and Meghan at the moment. They may just come and go with little comment.

 

[_Heather_]

Well Germaine Greer. She of the predicting Meghan would bolt and take Harry with her latest prediction os that Meghan isn't as strong as she first appeared and that if the next steps is driven by the two of them it will be a disaster. Just call her Cassandra.

Of could be that we were a bit blindsided by Meghans confidence and she isn't that strong, intelligent or self aware. Even their supporters at ITV were saying they are the ones stirring things now.

I really, really hate to be that person but I'm going to be a bit self-indulgent for just a minute and point out, very briefly, that not all of us were blindsided and not all of us fell for it. However, when we stated as much we were mocked, called all sorts of really ugly things, and told that we needed to be quiet and let the world live in their Meghan-adoration bubble. Small detour, so sorry. Carry on!

I stand by my assertions that this won't end well in the long run. I'd still love to be a fly on the wall to find out if they're receiving terrible advice, not listening to good advice, or a combination of the two. I really have to say that I think it's probably a combination of the two. The next few months should prove to be very interesting on the Harry and Meghan front.

 

[Betsypaige]

I think all of this is a very good point. And I admit that I often see it from the cynical point of view, though the kindlier explanation is also certainly worthwhile. In both cases it really strikes me, though, just how much self-awareness Meghan, and really both Harry and Meghan, lack. I honestly believe that they had absolutely no idea until very, very recently that many people within the public weren't terribly fond of them. And I still believe that they genuinely don't understand why. Either that or they just don't care and that's even worse. I really think that over the last several years they've really become their own worst enemy and they would have fared so much better with a little self-awareness and humility.

I’m not sure people weren’t unhappy with them until the January announcement...Meghan,ok, but not Harry. Since then, they’ve acted like they’re covered in Teflon, like they can act however they want because they - or Harry- are untouchable

 

[Reinosa]

The hypocrisy over them being eco conscious yet taking private jets on holiday, Meghan wearing a 50k dress (3 dresses like those would pay for the average UK mortgage!) in the engagement photos, them hijacking the South Africa documentary with their own personal issues (when they are meeting victims of rape, discrimination, violence etc as part of the trip but never mind - their issues are clearly more important!), the extravagant baby shower...

I mean, it’s not hard to find reasons why these two are making the public and the press angry / confrontational.





I always said so and agree with your statement. It’s not as if other royal women weren’t harassed / attacked by the press. Yet they focused on their work and won the trust of people. Most importantly they didn’t moan non stop. .

Agree 100%. I didn't quite care about Meghan Markle. Until I saw the film showing her tears and complains about royal life in a country (and in a world) where terrible things happen everyday and people survive the best they can.
If those are her (their) feelings I think it is a Good mensure to retire. But retire 100 %. No titles, no HRH, no money from taxpayers or Prince Charles, pay their own security. To live wherever they want with their own resources (they are rich enough). Soon media and people will forget them and move to other more interesting issues.

I'm only sad about QE, she is an old lady and he is her grandson.

 

[Missjersey]

It is a mess that they have created for themselves.

Really, what is Harry qualified to do. That’s a big dilemma for me. Walking into someplace trying to pass yourself off as an entrepreneur about someone won’t cut it. The only thing I see is the hope of face
recognition opening doors and carrying them to the bank. I truly think that was part of their plan.

I also think they both love the limelight. I could be wrong but I get the impression a certain misses doesn’t do “second fiddle” to anyone, jmo.

 

[Denville]

I really, really hate to be that person but I'm going to be a bit self-indulgent for just a minute and point out, very briefly, that not all of us were blindsided and not all of us fell for it. However, when we stated as much we were mocked, called all sorts of really ugly things, and told that we needed to be quiet and let the world live in their Meghan-adoration bubble. Small detour, so sorry. Carry on!

I stand by my assertions that this won't end well in the long run. I'd still love to be a fly on the wall to find out if they're receiving terrible advice, not listening to good advice, or a combination of the two. I really have to say that I think it's probably a combination of the two. The next few months should prove to be very interesting on the Harry and Meghan front.

I didn't take to Meg from the first either.. but I did not think she was this weepy lady that she seemed to become. Perhaps she was going through a bad patch.. but I was surprised when both she and Harry began to give off these signals that they were depressed and unhappy. They have presumably a good marriage, they are young and healthy and have a new baby.. They had a role in the RF and no financial worries...
Yes the brtiish press are horrible but they are like that.. was it really so severe that it upset a woman like Meg who seemed strong and confident. That surprised me a lot. I didn't think she was very intelligent but I thought she had enough shrewdness to weigh the good sides of being royal against the bad.. and make the best of it. I didn't think she would get upset and rush away.

 

[Denville]

It is a mess that they have created for themselves.

Really, what is Harry qualified to do. That’s a big dilemma for me. Walking into someplace trying to pass yourself off as an entrepreneur about someone won’t cut it. The only thing I see is the hope of face
recognition opening doors and carrying them to the bank. I truly think that was part of their plan.

I also think they both love the limelight. I could be wrong but I get the impression a certain misses doesn’t do “second fiddle” to anyone, jmo.

Presumably that is their plan to use their image and name to sell things and to sell Harry or boht of them as public speakers. But honestly that seems rather calculated, and does it fit with them both being depressed and rushing away from the UK because they were unhappy....

 

[Missjersey]

Presumably that is their plan to use their image and name to sell things and to sell Harry or boht of them as public speakers. But honestly that seems rather calculated, and does it fit with them both being depressed and rushing away from the UK because they were unhappy....

Calculated, absolutely.

I think they thought they could “wing it” and talk about whatever the topic needed to be for each individual event.

Depressed, probably, but not until after “you can’t use sussexroyal”. I think they’re struggling trying to find another name for “show me the money”.....

 

[_Heather_]

I didn't take to Meg from the first either.. but I did not think she was this weepy lady that she seemed to become. Perhaps she was going through a bad patch.. but I was surprised when both she and Harry began to give off these signals that they were depressed and unhappy. They have presumably a good marriage, they are young and healthy and have a new baby.. They had a role in the RF and no financial worries...
Yes the brtiish press are horrible but they are like that.. was it really so severe that it upset a woman like Meg who seemed strong and confident. That surprised me a lot. I didn't think she was very intelligent but I thought she had enough shrewdness to weigh the good sides of being royal against the bad.. and make the best of it. I didn't think she would get upset and rush away.

To be perfectly honest, though, this is what a lot of us didn't buy. I've met a lot of people over the years through my line of work that like to appear strong and confident. However, when push comes to shove, it's all been just a good front and a good show for the cameras and they're really quite insecure and have a tendency to have tantrums when things don't go their way or someone sees through the facade and calls them out on it and then do tend to be runners that hang on only until it's apparent to everyone around them that they were never as capable or as competent as they wanted everyone to believe and then they run leaving everyone else holding the bag. It's really pretty typically in my line of work and purely from that experience alone I saw all the signs but got some pretty brutal smackdowns when I voiced them. It's clear from years of interviews that Harry has some fragility and when you combine that fragility with all of this, it's a recipe for disaster. I can tell you with 100% honesty that through my day to day work I've watched from the sidelines while a lot of people vacillated between the facade of strong/competent and weepy/depressed and quite often it's their way of garnering attention and whichever side is on show at the moment is the one they think will get the most attention and sympathy.

Now, before anyone says it, I'm aware that the British media can be brutal. And I'm aware that having a new home, new baby, new marriage all in a short span can be tough. But, so much of the personality shifts that we've seen from both Harry and Meghan are what a lot of people saw coming quite some time ago. I'm quite interested to see what the next few days look like in terms of reception, crowd, body language, etc. and whether or not we hear any reports after the fact about the crowd being screened to be sure that it's positive, etc.

 

[Missjersey]

To be perfectly honest, though, this is what a lot of us didn't buy. I've met a lot of people over the years through my line of work that like to appear strong and confident. However, when push comes to shove, it's all been just a good front and a good show for the cameras and they're really quite insecure and have a tendency to have tantrums when things don't go their way or someone sees through the facade and calls them out on it and then do tend to be runners that hang on only until it's apparent to everyone around them that they were never as capable or as competent as they wanted everyone to believe and then they run leaving everyone else holding the bag. It's really pretty typically in my line of work and purely from that experience alone I saw all the signs but got some pretty brutal smackdowns when I voiced them. It's clear from years of interviews that Harry has some fragility and when you combine that fragility with all of this, it's a recipe for disaster. I can tell you with 100% honesty that through my day to day work I've watched from the sidelines while a lot of people vacillated between the facade of strong/competent and weepy/depressed and quite often it's their way of garnering attention and whichever side is on show at the moment is the one they think will get the most attention and sympathy.

Now, before anyone says it, I'm aware that the British media can be brutal. And I'm aware that having a new home, new baby, new marriage all in a short span can be tough. But, so much of the personality shifts that we've seen from both Harry and Meghan are what a lot of people saw coming quite some time ago. I'm quite interested to see what the next few days look like in terms of reception, crowd, body language, etc. and whether or not we hear any reports after the fact about the crowd being screened to be sure that it's positive, etc.

Totally agree Heather.

Days ahead— I think there will be a chill in the air.

 

[Denville]

Tsmackdowns when I voiced them. It's clear from years of interviews that Harry has some fragility and when you combine that fragility with all of this, it's a recipe for disaster. I can tell you with 100% honesty that through my day to day work I've watched from the sidelines while a lot of people vacillated between the facade of strong/competent and weepy/depressed and quite often it's their way of garnering attention and whichever side is on show at the moment is the one they think will get the most attention and sympathy.

Now, before anyone says it, I'm aware that the British media can be brutal. And I'm aware that having a new home, new baby, new marriage all in a short span can be tough. But, so much of the personality shifts that we've seen from both Harry and Meghan are what a lot of people saw coming quite some time ago. I'm quite interested to see what the next few days look like in terms of reception, crowd, body language, etc. and whether or not we hear any reports after the fact about the crowd being screened to be sure that it's positive, etc.

I thought that she was genuinely confident.. but I did think she didn't know much about the UK or RF as a whole..and she might not like it that much when she was settled here. And I think I was right about that. (but yes I also got rather shouted down for saying that maybe she wasn't really suited ot the job or knew much about it).

But I didn't think she would go all weepy. To be honest, perhaps I am not understanding you but it sounds as if the "weepy side" is being used/pushed out, to get sympathy.... rather than because she was genuinely depressed. I just don't know with those 2.. how much of it is them being genuinely wobbly and fragile.. which pushed them into leaving.. or how much of it was a fairly calculated desire to only be part time and to get out of the full time RF which they had been planning almost since they got married and which made them decide to leave... They have me puzzled.
I know some people feel that they had every intention of being full time royals for life and only left when they got unhappy.. but I am not sure about that.

 

[wyevale]

Days ahead— I think there will be a chill in the air.

Given the widespread perception of their less than honourable treatment of his aged Grandparents and Father, l think it may even be 'frosty'...

 

[Denville]

Calculated, absolutely.



Depressed, probably, but not until after “you can’t use sussexroyal”. I think they’re struggling trying to find another name for “show me the money”.....

I think Harry definitely showed signs of depression well before they left.. and again I was surprised because he had seemed a cheerful chap, and at that stage, he was only married a year or so, had a lovely baby and a wife he was presumably happy with..and yet he was giving off signs that he was struggling.

 

[Kataryn]

I’m not sure people weren’t unhappy with them until the January announcement...Meghan,ok, but not Harry. Since then, they’ve acted like they’re covered in Teflon, like they can act however they want because they - or Harry- are untouchable

Could you please tell me what they actually did that needed for them to be "touchable"? I found them to be very private and quiet. What did you se what I did not?

 

[Missjersey]

I think Harry definitely showed signs of depression well before they left.. and again I was surprised because he had seemed a cheerful chap, and at that stage, he was only married a year or so, had a lovely baby and a wife he was presumably happy with..and yet he was giving off signs that he was struggling.

Yes, you are right.

I meant both of them together.

 

[wyevale]

'Touchable', and 'untouchable', are words open to a number of definitions/interpretations, depending on context [much as 'shrewd' is]..

In the context used 'upthread', l think the meaning intended was 'you cannot control/affect me KNOW - i'm 'free of you' ?
That was what I drew from it [and from Sussex' demeanour in the last few days before he left for Canada].