The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 1: September-December 2020

[caethi]

I'm not a body language expert, so I could never say with certainty what specific facial reactions during an interview mean or don't mean. Eye-blinking and throat swallowing can mean anything.

Based on the depth of the interaction between Meghan and the Fortune editor (and even the interaction between Meghan and the The *19th founder, Emily Ramshaw, and between Meghan and Gloria Steinem) the context and the actual content and give-and-take of such conversations, in my opinion, are the best indicators of a person's actual feelings and intentions.

In particular, Meghan referencing the words of Georgia O'Keefe, is very inspirational:

"I have already settled it for myself, so flattery and criticism go down the same drain, and I am quite free."

Meghan may want everyone to believe that she thinks this, but in my view she is very interested in what people think of her. She is engaged in a very deliberate media strategy to make sure people think well of her (and by default, Harry).

 

[cathy50]

Meghan may want everyone to believe that she thinks this, but in my view she is very interested in what people think of her. She is engaged in a very deliberate media strategy to make sure people think well of her (and by default, Harry).

I agree totally and she is rather bad in hiding her true feelings as not only experts can see. she has surely taken advice and improved her acting but there are physical reactions which one cannot control consciously, that=s simply a fact. there might be better or worse experts but these things cannot be denied, it is science and not guessing or interpretation.
plus she carries a heavy burden with her past, having shunned both folks and friends aso
plus her husbands behaviour which seems to be ONE huge unique "sign, reaction, whatever" which does not go along with anything he or she are trying to pretend.
maybe he finds his way with it , if it's more healthy than before when he had to suppress his true feelings or just another copy is yet not said

 

[QueenMathilde]

On a side note what they're doing over Christmas seems up for debate. Some papers say that Harry said he was going back to the UK - some say that the Queen will not be able to go to Sandringham for Christmas. Each one seems to say something different.

 

[Nice Nofret]

All papers are yet speculation... if there where real information out, it would be also in serious media; not just the ragpress.

 

[Claire]

I don't understand the kerfuffle. The Queen is only allowed a bubble of 6 people for Christmas - even with her own Bubble that is more then 6 people. (unless the rules are changed). It might be people will be allowed on the estate and wave to each other. It would really be not much different then waving on Zoom.

 

[muriel]

I feel he spent his whole life growing up to be Prince Harry and to do engagements. Such a shame his life now is in Hollywood, where imo he is out of place. The Royal Marines meant a lot to him and the Invictus games too.

I guess this was a choice he proactively made, it was not something that was taken away from him.

 

[Mbruno]

Prince William to take Prince Harry's role as head of Royal Marines

Prince William, 38, has been invited to take on Prince Harry's, 36, role Captain General of Royal Marines after the Duke of Sussex was stripped of the title in March, sources told The Express.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Nothing official, but a source is claiming that the role will be given to William. This is not a surprise, as Harry has made it pretty clear that he will not be primarily living or working in the U.K. or for the royal family.

Harry cannot remain captain of the Royal Marines when he is not even living permanently in the UK and is now actively involved in politics in a foreign country. He might even become a US citizen in a few years and have to renounce his allegiance to the Queen to do so, as required by US law. Staying on as captain general would be a disrespect to the service in my opinion.

 

[muriel]

Meghan may want everyone to believe that she thinks this, but in my view she is very interested in what people think of her. She is engaged in a very deliberate media strategy to make sure people think well of her (and by default, Harry).

I have to agree with your statement above. I think she cares very deeply about what "people" think about her, its a pity that the definition of "people" did not extend to the people of the UK.

 

[Hallo girl]

I guess this was a choice he proactively made, it was not something that was taken away from him.

IMO he made his position clear when he chose to go to the Disney premier with Meghan rather than the marines memorial event. He put duty second.
I would like to add that he was entitled to make that choice, but he then needs to accept the consequences.

 

[Darius1]

The Royal Marines story is not new. It was announced after the Sandringham summit that Hary would renounce his military appointments and the press at the time talked about his last appearance in the dress uniform of Captain General. It was suggested at the time that the Princess Anne would take over. No appointment yet having been made the press have decided to revive this non-story with a battle of the brothers slant making it look like William has taken the role from Harry. William is the go-to choice as only a senior Royal should represent the Marines as the DofE did for 60-odd years.
Why anybody thinks that the Markles of Montecito should be able to represent anything to do with he UK is beyond me!

 

[Prinsara]

(Though I understand the DoC will presumably be able to hold the post for a longer time...)

I still think Anne would have been an awesome fit. C'mon, Will, shove over.

 

[ACO]

I have to agree with your statement above. I think she cares very deeply about what "people" think about her, its a pity that the definition of "people" did not extend to the people of the UK.

Well many “people” in the UK clearly never thought much of her and made it plainly clear they never were going to.

She wasn’t exactly welcomed by many accounts. Seems more tolerated because she was with Harry. It is what it is. At this point I’m sure all sides think it is for the best the Sussexes walked away.

As for William taking that role? Not surprised though I thought the rumor was Anne. Rather it be her but again not surprised it’s William.

 

[Durham]

She wasn’t exactly welcomed by many accounts. Seems more tolerated because she was with Harry. It is what it is. At this point I’m sure all sides think it is for the best the Sussexes walked away.

No. This is is wrong. She was welcomed by huge numbers of British people with great enthusiasm. Any suggestion otherwise is a smear on the good people of this country.

 

[QueenMathilde]

I guess this was a choice he proactively made, it was not something that was taken away from him.

People forget - they weren't fired they quit. It was entirely their decision.

 

[AC21091968]

At this point, I would not be surprised if Harry loses all his military ranks, royal patronages in the UK, Commonwealth youth ambassador or other roles representing the Royal Family at the end of one-year review (since the Sandringham summit). IMO, Meghan is definitely not coming back to the UK. Without sounding too cynical and overly critical, I don't think the Queen and the Royal Family would trust Harry in most representative roles, given that he has

1. "Dipped his toes" in US election
2. "Figuratively" lectured the British public without adequate level of research (Evening Standard interview).
3. Place self-pleasure and self-satisfaction over Duty (Attending the The Lion King's premier instead of Royal Marine's memorial event or even in the South-African tour documentary)
4. Allegedly want to do royal duties in his and Meghan's own way and trying to stand out, rather than following the Palace advices and play a supportive role (to the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William)

I do think either Duke and Duchess of Cambridge or Earl and Countess of Wessex will become Commonwealth Youth Ambassadors. The Earl of Wessex has taken over his father's role in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

 

[Countessmeout]

Well thankfully such decisions fall with people with an actual inside understanding. And not armchair royal experts who dont grasp much of what they read. And have a clear bias.

Patronages aren’t handed out and taken back like toys by the queen. Harry and Meghan’s patronages beyond the ambassador role are not the place of the queen to revoke. And certainly not his military ranks. Harry has done nothing for the military to demote him for.

Self-pleasure? You think they went to lion king for date night. You do get royals attend movie premiere frequently even the queen. The lion king premier was a fundraiser for the Protect the pride foundation. It was a mix of Harry’s conservation work and a nod to their trip to Africa. It wasn’t a well we date night move that you paint it. Or piers Morgan seems to.

The BRF is not the queen and heir situation. The others don’t sit in the shadows and quietly support. They never have. The entire family is out there supporting charities and being a face for them. No one but their critics expected Harry to vanish into shadows and support William quietly. Andrew Edward and Anne never did why would Harry?

 

[Claire]

Well thankfully such decisions fall with people with an actual inside understanding. And not armchair royal experts who dont grasp much of what they read. And have a clear bias.

Patronages aren’t handed out and taken back like toys by the queen. Harry and Meghan’s patronages beyond the ambassador role are not the place of the queen to revoke. And certainly not his military ranks. Harry has done nothing for the military to demote him for.

Self-pleasure? You think they went to lion king for date night. You do get royals attend movie premiere frequently even the queen. The lion king premier was a fundraiser for the Protect the pride foundation. It was a mix of Harry’s conservation work and a nod to their trip to Africa. It wasn’t a well we date night move that you paint it. Or piers Morgan seems to.

The BRF is not the queen and heir situation. The others don’t sit in the shadows and quietly support. They never have. The entire family is out there supporting charities and being a face for them. No one but their critics expected Harry to vanish into shadows and support William quietly. Andrew Edward and Anne never did why would Harry?

The military were consulted with regard to Prince Harry - several high ranking Generals were asked their opinion and they agreed that the services are unlikely to respect someone who was outside of the country and essential had left their duty. It must be remembered that these are honorary appointments and are at the discretion of HM and HM can take them away at any point. It is done with consultation with the department of Defense. But ultimately she does the appointing.

Then down to patronages - all patronages requests are send directly to one office at BP. Where they are shuffled through. Yes - if there is a directly association with a royal already if is taken into account. Again, HM gets the final approval. It should be noted that the royals have a portfolio of interests - environment, children education, children's health ect so it is easier for them to be sorted. Legacy patronages that have held royal patronages for years and military appointments especially are done by the HM with her private secretary.

All engagements by the royal family are done as representatives of the sovereign. It makes no difference if you are cutting a ribbon to open a primary school or opening the parliament of Australia, you are there as the appointed figurehead of the Queen. The same goes for lieutenant governors.

Anne, Andrew and Edward have by no means disappeared. Simply take a look at their engagements list - however note that it is not a good indicator of how much work they actually do. As many royals work in office as well. There visibility in the press is also a bad indicator of their actual work load. Eventually media interest fade - it happens to everyone.

There is a unwritten rule among the royal offices and movie premiers and sporting events - they don't do many of them. So the royal family as a whole will only do about 3 a year. It just looks like they are showing up for freebies , the same with award ceremonies, sporting events, pageants and parties and such. I couldn't find a creditable news site about the clash of the Marines engagement and the Lion King - but essential if it is true and Harry was already committed to it he should have gone. They could simply have split up for the evening.

 

[Claire]

I was recently told that HM and her private secretary have a annual sit down with every royal that carries out engagements in her name. Their private secretary present as well. When I heard this - I kind of though that it was like a performance review. They discuss how the year went and what was good and what could have been done better. And that foreign trips the Foreign Office would like them to undertake ect and what patronages are been looked at that the Queen feels might be a good fit for the royal to undertake. So essentially they ensure that everyone has something to do and work is as evenly as possible distributed.

Second to this private visits with the Queen are scheduled - this is when she has the Crown off. She is there as mother, cousin or grandmother. I am told that these visits might not even happen in the palace - so I am thinking over lunch, in the stables or when on walks. And the royal can open up about what is on their mind and so can the Queen. If they want to have more time with the kids, really work on one patronage as they feel they can make a real contribution ect. This would be the forum.

I through this was interesting as Meghan and Harry had a forum to voice their concerns and they might have done just that. And that forum appears to be the yearly review.

 

[Denville]

No. This is is wrong. She was welcomed by huge numbers of British people with great enthusiasm. Any suggestion otherwise is a smear on the good people of this country.

She was welcomed in the same spirit that any royal bride would be.. IMO. Ie some royal watchers who are very enthusiastic about the RF were really pleased and ready to welcome her.. Most people just thought of it as a royal wedding coming up and weren't that excited.. People IMO aren't THAT into the RF unless there is an event, like a wedding, or a scandal/big fuss like the war of the Waleses. I don't think that people were one way or the other with MEghan except for ardent Harry fans or ardent royal fans...but it would be the same whoever he married...Once she was married it was then up to her to do the job and see how she worked out, but while she did well at first and I think got some admiration and good press for enthusiasm, she also got criticism..But again that's to be expected.. Kate has gotten criticism and so did her family but a lot of it was in her courtship days and now she's settled into life and is admired for her low key but increasing work rate... and to be honest, with Meghan bowing out of royal life after little more than a year, Kate has the field to herself....
But Meg and Harry began to react badly to any criticism within the first year or so, and began increasingly it seems to do things that gave the press an excuse to have a go at them...

 

[Denville]

Well thankfully such decisions fall with people with an actual inside understanding. And not armchair royal experts who dont grasp much of what they read. And have a clear bias.

Patronages aren’t handed out and taken back like toys by the queen. Harry and Meghan’s patronages beyond the ambassador role are not the place of the queen to revoke. And certainly not his military ranks. Harry has done nothing for the military to demote him for.

Self-pleasure? You think they went to lion king for date night. You do get royals attend movie premiere frequently even the queen. The lion king premier was a fundraiser for the Protect the pride foundation. It was a mix of Harry’s conservation work and a nod to their trip to Africa. It wasn’t a well we date night move that you paint it. Or piers Morgan seems to.

The BRF is not the queen and heir situation. The others don’t sit in the shadows and quietly support. They never have. The entire family is out there supporting charities and being a face for them. No one but their critics expected Harry to vanish into shadows and support William quietly. Andrew Edward and Anne never did why would Harry?

but they do.. Anne does a lot of work, but it does not get that much coverage and while she's now admired for her hard work she was not that popular iwth the press or people years ago. She just got on with things and did indeed quietly support her mother..

 

[sm1939]

Im a little bit confused about the whole suing news papers and saying people are picking on them ......wasn't it her own family that started all this negative press ? ..why doesn't she go after her family as well for lies ? I know the newspapers are awful, but her family didn't help matters, Not like her lovely mother who is I think comes over as a lovely woman/ Mom x

 

[carlota]

is this for real?!

https://twitter.com/markle2020

the website, MeghanForPresident.com, looks remarkably similar to the sussex one and quite official, but taking it with a grain of salt as if it was official it would be all over the british media.

the site is encouraging people to 'Vote For A Write-In Candidate'.

Besides the names on your ballot, you may be able to write in names of other candidates. Most states let you write in votes for president, U.S. senator, and U.S. representative. They may also allow write-in votes for governor and other state offices.

Check with your state election office to find out the rules for your state. If you check using your state’s election website, enter “write-in candidates” in the search bar.

usa.gov

there's even a hashtag... #BelieveInMeghan

 

[Betsypaige]

is this for real?!

https://twitter.com/markle2020

the website, MeghanForPresident.com, looks remarkably similar to the sussex one and quite official, but taking it with a grain of salt as if it was official it would be all over the british media.

the site is encouraging people to 'Vote For A Write-In Candidate'.



there's even a hashtag... #BelieveInMeghan

It looks real...but, the tweets are protected, so I can’t see them....not that I’d want to. The account has no followers, so....

 

[Alison H]

Not like her lovely mother who is I think comes over as a lovely woman/ Mom x

Doria has behaved impeccably ever since Meghan and Harry first got together. She has not put a foot wrong, and no-one's got anything but praise for her. I think she's great.

 

[REAL COUNTESS]

There is a German saying, HOCHMUT KOMMT VOR DEM FALL. (....)they harder they fall. Maybe the next tweet will read MEAGHAN FOR QUEEN. really this commend will be removed swiftly since it will be viewed as negative. Give people the chance to judge for them self's.

 

[ACO]

It looks real...but, the tweets are protected, so I can’t see them....not that I’d want to. The account has no followers, so....

It is clearly a spoof site.

 

[HereditaryPrincess]

She was welcomed in the same spirit that any royal bride would be.. IMO. Ie some royal watchers who are very enthusiastic about the RF were really pleased and ready to welcome her.. Most people just thought of it as a royal wedding coming up and weren't that excited.. People IMO aren't THAT into the RF unless there is an event, like a wedding, or a scandal/big fuss like the war of the Waleses. I don't think that people were one way or the other with MEghan except for ardent Harry fans or ardent royal fans...but it would be the same whoever he married...Once she was married it was then up to her to do the job and see how she worked out, but while she did well at first and I think got some admiration and good press for enthusiasm, she also got criticism..But again that's to be expected.. Kate has gotten criticism and so did her family but a lot of it was in her courtship days and now she's settled into life and is admired for her low key but increasing work rate... and to be honest, with Meghan bowing out of royal life after little more than a year, Kate has the field to herself....
But Meg and Harry began to react badly to any criticism within the first year or so, and began increasingly it seems to do things that gave the press an excuse to have a go at them...

Meghan actually garnered a lot more interest in the royal family from young people, which is something that other brides haven't had so much (apart from very famous brides like Diana) - especially young people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Many people who said they previously had no interest in the BRF or who shared more republican (in the English sense!) views were now taking an interest in Meghan and the rest of the royal family.

 

[QueenMathilde]

is this for real?!

https://twitter.com/markle2020

the website, MeghanForPresident.com, looks remarkably similar to the sussex one and quite official, but taking it with a grain of salt as if it was official it would be all over the british media.

the site is encouraging people to 'Vote For A Write-In Candidate'.



there's even a hashtag... #BelieveInMeghan

Well I tried to subscribe out of curiosity. I doubt she'd be happy as president - no one gets more negative press than the president. It's part of the job.

 

[Sandy345]

I think this is just idle chatter in the media about Meghan running for president. Considering the two current US presidential candidates are of advanced age, I don't think any political run, if any, will be imminent.

 

[Somebody]

Meghan actually garnered a lot more interest in the royal family from young people, which is something that other brides haven't had so much (apart from very famous brides like Diana) - especially young people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Many people who said they previously had no interest in the BRF or who shared more republican (in the English sense!) views were now taking an interest in Meghan and the rest of the royal family.

While Meghan indeed attracted 'new' fans, I am not sure that truly extended to 'the rest of the royal family'. And her actions of late more likely pitched the new recruits against the royal family instead of resulting in a larger group of supporters/followers of the BRF.