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


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Prinsara said:
For those who would like to read Vickers' article to make up their own minds, the whole thing can be found here. Since he is a respected biographer and not a tabloid journalist, I was skeptical of claims he was advocating for Harry to abandon his wife and child, whatever people wish to infer.
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I don’t think Hugo Vickers is advocating for Harry to abandon his family - to me he meant that Harry AND Meghan/Archie...

I agree with so much - well, really, all of the article, but especially the below:

Aside from his duties, his own father has proven through his activism that it is perfectly possible to be a member of the Royal family and use your platform to stand for something and effect change.
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But..what they want are to be business people...

But Harry and Meghan wanted something different. The gilded life with all its expectations and restrictions was, supposedly, not for them and so a break clause was granted, with the Queen’s support and blessing.
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And, they have have been bought...
 
The Sussexes went to Netflix with a number of proposals and Netflix liked them and signed them up for an undisclosed sum. That doesn't mean they own the couple body and soul at all. Otherwise anyone who signed a contract with a very large company would be shackled for their lifetime.

And talking of being shackled for life, being a Prince (or anyone of inheritable status) is an accident of birth. Babies don't choose who their parents are or into which way of life they are born.

Harry was unhappy with life as a senior Royal (and how his wife was treated by the British Press.) So he left. I don't happen to think that being born into a certain ruling family inevitably means that you have to live a life sentence serving them if you are miserable most of the time.
 
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Anyone that has transplanted home and family across the miles away from everything they've known, knows that there are many, many adjustments to be made. Nothing is familiar. Nothing feels like "home" yet and there's a period of homesickness that makes you wonder if you've made the right move.

Harry and Meghan and Archie have been in California what? Six months? Seven tops? From where I sit, they've done good for themselves so far. They've bought a home. They've paid off Frogmore Cottage and are living financially independent. They've signed with Netfix with a deal. This is amid a pandemic too and in a time of isolating and social distancing. That, to me, is adjusting pretty well so far. They may have made a few mistakes in our eyes here and there but they're in the position to make their own decisions on things now.

I really don't see any move coming in the future of any of the Sussexes returning to the UK except for what they said they were going to do. Spend part of the year in the UK at Frogmore Cottage. They have left working as royals for the "Firm" and I think that is permanent and there's no going back.
 
I think there has been whispers of this for a while - so it was among the shows pitched around. I think the tabloids referred to it as Meghan and Harry saving the World.


Many questions popping up -
1. what will be Archie's involvement as this is part of the package
2. What will be the British royals involvement?
 
It may not turn out to be a totally "reality TV" kind of thing. This weekend, the cast of the "Father of the Bride" movies (Steve Martin and Diane Keaton) reunited for a sequel that is now airing on Netflix's YouTube Channel which you can watch for free. Its not just a movie though. There is a mission behind it.

"Today, Netflix announced that most of the cast of Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride Part II will be reuniting for a special event to benefit Chef José Andrés's World Central Kitchen, a charitable organization focused on providing meals to disaster victims."

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/l...that most,providing meals to disaster victims.

Its very possible that the philanthropic work the Sussexes plan to do will be tied into something along these lines. It wouldn't surprise me at all and actually, I think its a grand idea. ?

Just an other side of the coin view. ;)
 
If they really have agreed to be filmed for a reality style "documentary" or the like as they go about their business of celebrity philanthropic activists that will damage their claims that they want privacy (even though I know it's not the same as paparazzi photos) and give the tabloids an excuse to analyse every little thing they put out there and make a mockery of claims Harry hates cameras in his face.

Not to mention the last time with Tom Bradby didn't exactly work wonders in getting the public on their side and came across as tone deaf. Not to mention completely overshadowed the good work they were promoting with the tour. Although maybe their new PR people will notice that more this time. Of course take everything with a lot of salt with these two so it may be competely false.

I don't see anything wrong with 99% of Vickers article, I agree with a lot of it, Harry has seemed a bit lost in some of the videos. Whether it's temporary finding his feet after a big life change (they haven't stopped making huge life changes for 4 years) and that can catch up with anyone.

As for him advocating Harry abandon his wife and son? It doesn't say that. It's pretty ambigous. And comes across as a kind of flippant line before the ending. Meghan is unlikely to want to come back and stay out of political style activism, Harry can't really do half in, half out. I think the only way he'd come back is in the hypthetical event of a divorce and he may not rejoin the working royals even then and would be different than simply "abandoning" them in that case anyway.

I don't think he's ruined his career and reputation over it or anything. He's not the first journalist to dance around the "if Harry comes back, how and why would that be?" issue.
 
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AC21091968 said:
I am taking this a pinch of salt, given that it's coming from the Sun and Daily Mail. I would not believe it unless there is a statement from Netflix or the news is coming from BBC, ITV or Sky.
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Yes, a very large pinch of salt.
 
When the money runs low the Sussexes will be forced to accept more and more dubious offers in order to provide them with an income. Either they take these offers or they return to the royal fold, or accept to be funded by the PoW which will come with a gagging caveat - probably the best solution to have leverage and control over them. I would be surprised if Harry were to return alone for any meetings with the family and advisors. I think that Meghan would be reluctant to allow this and be sidelined in any negotiations. The whole thing has become terribly tawdry. What a shame that Harry has blighted his grandparents late years with his selfish, egoistical behaviour. He is certainly doing no honour to The Queen.
 
Curryong said:
The Sussexes went to Netflix with a number of proposals and Netflix liked them and signed them up for an undisclosed sum. That doesn't mean they own the couple body and soul at all. Otherwise anyone who signed a contract with a very large company would be shackled for their lifetime.

And talking of being shackled for life, being a Prince (or anyone of inheritable status) is an accident of birth. Babies don't choose who their parents are or into which way of life they are born.

Harry was unhappy with life as a senior Royal (and how his wife was treated by the British Press.) So he left. I don't happen to think that being born into a certain ruling family inevitably means that you have to live a life sentence serving them if you are miserable most of the time.
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That’s fair...although, I still don’t think they gave it enough time (not even a year and a half). Also, out of curiosity - why didn’t Harry go on his own before he met Meghan?

IF it’s true about H and M signing on to do a reality show of the sort described above, I think it’s hypocritical of them. I agree with Ingrid...except I’ll add that, apparently, what the Sussexes really wanted was control over how much of their lives they were willing to share..not real privacy. They want to control the media (hence their only cooperating with those favorably inclined to them), they want to control access to them, etc...



Ingrid Seward, Editor of Majesty magazine, said the couple were 'hypocritical' for agreeing to the reality series after they left the UK for the US for greater privacy. It is extraordinary. This is exactly what they said they wouldn't do,' she said.
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No idea if true or not. Still waiting on the other endless interviews and shows they have claimed would occur over the years...

Anyways we see these kind of documentary style programs often. William has one to be released this weekend. So a documentary focused on, let’s say, relaunching Invictus after a global pandemic could be interesting.

But we shall see.

Betsypaige said:
That’s fair...although, I still don’t think they gave it enough time (not even a year and a half). Also, out of curiosity - why didn’t Harry go on his own before he met Meghan?
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You typically have a lower threshold for stuff once you have a family of your own. Most people aren’t going to tolerate the same things as they grow in life. We clearly haven’t no idea what was going on but a single Harry likely just sucked it up. Then life changed and priorities shifted.
 
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Betsypaige said:
IF it’s true about H and M signing on to do a reality show of the sort described above, I think it’s hypocritical of them. I agree with Ingrid...except I’ll add that, apparently, what the Sussexes really wanted was control over how much of their lives they were willing to share..not real privacy. They want to control the media (hence their only cooperating with those favorably inclined to them), they want to control access to them, etc...
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I really think the problem was , without rehashing everything, was knowing that everyone was allowed to make money off their images and coverage - why they themselves were not allowed to.
So basically they wanted to became the sole owners of the Harry and Meghan commodity. However notoriety doesn't work like that.
 
Curryong said:
The Sussexes went to Netflix with a number of proposals and Netflix liked them and signed them up for an undisclosed sum. That doesn't mean they own the couple body and soul at all. Otherwise anyone who signed a contract with a very large company would be shackled for their lifetime.

And talking of being shackled for life, being a Prince (or anyone of inheritable status) is an accident of birth. Babies don't choose who their parents are or into which way of life they are born.

Harry was unhappy with life as a senior Royal (and how his wife was treated by the British Press.) So he left. I don't happen to think that being born into a certain ruling family inevitably means that you have to live a life sentence serving them if you are miserable most of the time.
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He has the right to leave and to the pursuit of personal happiness, but why does he insist for example on remaining the captain general of the Royal Marines when he left his royal life and his own country of birth behind him? It is disrespectful to the service, especially if the natural outcome of Harry's involvement in US politics is to become a US citizen eventually and renounce his allegiance to the Queen.
 
ACO said:
You typically have a lower threshold for stuff once you have a family of your own. Most people aren’t going to tolerate the same things as they grow in life. We clearly haven’t no idea what was going on but a single Harry likely just sucked it up. Then life changed and priorities shifted.
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That’s a good point....and Harry is allowed to change his tune, just like any of us.

Claire said:
I really think the problem was , without rehashing everything, was knowing that everyone was allowed to make money off their images and coverage - why they themselves were not allowed to.
So basically they wanted to became the sole owners of the Harry and Meghan commodity. However notoriety doesn't work like that.
Click to expand...

But, that’s life as a Royal...which I suppose is the point. Did Harry always hate not just the public life (involving paparazzi and media in general), but also the fact that he couldn’t make money off his image? Because that latter seems to me to be a very recent thing. I don’t recall ever reading about him having issues with people cashing in on his image.
 
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Mbruno said:
He has the right to leave and to the pursuit of personal happiness, but why does he insist for example on remaining the captain general of the Royal Marines when he left his royal life and his own country of birth behind him? It is disrespectful to the service, especially if the natural outcome of Harry's involvement in US politics is to become a US citizen eventually and renounce his allegiance to the Queen.
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This one must have escaped me since I didn't realise he still was. I would have thought that only working members of the family have these sort of positions?

The captaincy general/colonelcy certainly has an illustrious pedigree. Only monarchs or their spouses. The duke was really honoured by this appointment.

Interestingly Edward VIII relinquished the post after he abdicated. The Prince of Wales or the Duke of Cambridge would be suitable replacements.
 
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ACO said:
No reality series. Denied by Sussexes.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1310549800446820352
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No reality series doesn't mean there's not gonna be a documentary at some point :flowers:

Since I heard about the deal with Netflix I expected them to have at least one little something where they are on the screen, showing what they're doing, and things like that. Nothing surprising here.

But I don't think we'll see anything even resembling a "reality tv show" format - I can't help but remember the documentary "The Final Year" on Obama's foreign policy. It was wonderfully made, very interesting and focused completely on his - and his team's - work and not on their personal life, which shows it CAN be done. I just don't think the Sussexes have anything as interesting as this to show, but they could find a nice balance between showing their charity work and personal life.

Not to mention it's not like a format like that is foreign to the royal family. There's "Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70" and "The Real Camilla: HRH The Duchess of Cornwall" (which are both very interesting, showing a bit of them, but still keeping their private life private).
 
:previous:

:previous:

Thank you for both your replies.
 
Fem said:
No reality series doesn't mean there's not gonna be a documentary at some point :flowers:

Since I heard about the deal with Netflix I expected them to have at least one little something where they are on the screen, showing what they're doing, and things like that. Nothing surprising here.

But I don't think we'll see anything even resembling a "reality tv show" format - I can't help but remember the documentary "The Final Year" on Obama's foreign policy. It was wonderfully made, very interesting and focused completely on his - and his team's - work and not on their personal life, which shows it CAN be done. I just don't think the Sussexes have anything as interesting as this to show, but they could find a nice balance between showing their charity work and personal life.

Not to mention it's not like a format like that is foreign to the royal family. There's "Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70" and "The Real Camilla: HRH The Duchess of Cornwall" (which are both very interesting, showing a bit of them, but still keeping their private life private).
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I agree but the press claimed a reality series instead of the typical documentary format that’s constantly used. So in that respect, yes it’s was denied.
 
Chris Ship has also tweeted (two linked tweets) in refuting the claim that the Sussexes are starring in a reality TV series, but also indicating what the future projects are roughly.

Chris Ship @chrisshipitv
Reports that Harry and Meghan are planning a fly-on-the-wall @netflix series in their own home (The Only Way Is Sussex and Meet The Markles are two names I’ve seen suggested) are not at all true - according to people we’ve spoken to on the Sussexes’ team [Television emoji]
10:29 PM · Sep 28, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

Chris Ship @chrisshipitv
Replying to @chrisshipitv
So @netflix says there are only two series confirmed:
“The couple already has several projects in development, including an innovative nature docu-series and an animated series that celebrates inspiring women but we are not disclosing any of the programming slate at this time."
4:57 AM · Sep 29, 2020·Twitter for iPhone​

https://twitter.com/x/status/1310654843766353921

Russell Myers (Royal Editor for Daily Mirror) however, appears to be more sceptical. He retweeted Max Foster from CNN.
Russell Myers @rjmyers
Reality show versus fly-on-the-wall docuseries [Face with monocle]
12:57 AM · Sep 29, 2020·Twitter for iPhone​
https://twitter.com/x/status/1310594414557966336

Edited: I have added Russel Myers' tweet
 
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