The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 9: August 2023 - July 2024


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Meghan still carries that British Royal Family aura that helps her stand out at these events. I have nothing negative to say but it's good for the hospital and its children's programs to get attention from the press even if by association with a person also famous, in the USA, only by her association to the Royal Family in the UK.

It's a win-win situation for both Meghan and the hospital.
 
Personally I feel no celebrity visiting kids matters, apart from those actors who dress up as superheroes. Visiting adults in hospitals seems more meaningful to me if it it is done, at least if the celebrities have some time to actually talk rather than just to take a photo. Or if either visit comes with some kind of other benefit like the celeb paying for the hospital food that day to be a bit better! Royals visiting can be seen as government attention to hospital conditions, even if the royals themselves don't exactly directly have something to do with the matter. Meghan isn't doing this however.

But my views are colored from me being from Finland and I don't this anyone here would love visits of strangers, let alone photos from hospital! Hopefully the people being visited have requested this in advance with every celebrity.
I appreciate you have a different perspective and I can understand why some people may not be personally comfortable with these visits. But some of these kids think it's just really cool to see famous people. I've seen this personally with some of the more well-known hospitals in the Boston area that attract quite a few celebrity sponsors (albeit, in large part from the sports world). If they/their parents have consented to participating in the visit, and from my understanding they have to, what harm does it do? It's not going to change their prognosis or the difficulties of their treatment but it might bring them some joy. And it's also not just Meghan - a cursory glance at the hospital's Instagram suggests that they have a lot of celebrity partnerships/engagements.

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Naturally, I'm sure they'll be extreme outrage against Samantha Markle for bringing up HRH The Princess of Wales in her vendetta against HRH The Duchess of Sussex in the midst of the former's cancer battle. Counting down.................
It is not interesting. The lawsuit isn’t interesting, Samantha hasn’t brought anything interesting in her book or her lawsuit, and I might add that a lot of people will just shrug off this impertinence - to bring The Princess into such a vulgar subject.
 
Even if HRH The Duchess of Sussex went to the hospital for PR purposes, so what? People donated to the hospital because she participated in the program. I 100% believe that people being helped is a good thing, regardless of the spirit it's being done in.

No one would dismiss any of the BRF's philanthropic efforts because they're doing the job that the British people are literally paying HM The King to do.
 
Even if HRH The Duchess of Sussex went to the hospital for PR purposes, so what? People donated to the hospital because she participated in the program. I 100% believe that people being helped is a good thing, regardless of the spirit it's being done in.

No one would dismiss any of the BRF's philanthropic efforts because they're doing the job that the British people are literally paying HM The King to do.
The only thing that can be hold against her going to the hospital is the strong suspicion that she has something to gain personally, as opposed to the real royals.
 
As the moderation team has stated many, many times, this thread is to be used to discuss current events of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Rehashing old news, such as their departure from the royal family and relationships with other family members, is off topic in this thread and many posts have been deleted for this reason.

Additionally, current events should be sourced from reliable sources which are detailed on page one of the thread.
 
Harry did something with BetterUp. I had to copy-paste, I am unable to reproduce such pompous statements.

“Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex and Chief Impact Officer (CIO) of BetterUp, hosted an insightful conversation with CHRO’s at BetterUp’s Uplift Summit in San Francisco. He was joined by organizational psychologist and BetterUp’s Chairman of the Center for Purpose & Performance, Dr. Adam Grant and Cisco’s Chief People Officer, Kelly Jones. This year’s summit, which centered on courageous leadership, provides a unique forum for C-suite leaders, business executives, and HR professionals and advocates.
The session, Beyond Burnout: Transforming C-Level Stress Into Strength, examines how C-level leaders manage the unique pressure of their roles, build resilience, and foster a culture that supports sustainable performance. The trio dove into the psychological toll of leading through uncertainty, sharing personal anecdotes, evidence-based practices, and forward-thinking policies aimed at helping leaders thrive amidst the pressures of today’s world and modern corporate life.”

 
The session, Beyond Burnout: Transforming C-Level Stress Into Strength, examines how C-level leaders manage the unique pressure of their roles, build resilience, and foster a culture that supports sustainable performance. The trio dove into the psychological toll of leading through uncertainty, sharing personal anecdotes, evidence-based practices, and forward-thinking policies aimed at helping leaders thrive amidst the pressures of today’s world and modern corporate life.
Prince Harry has never worked in a traditional workplace, nor has he held a traditional job, nor has he studied organizational behavior or management at the undergraduate or graduate level.

He has no discernible experience with writing policy, corporate or otherwise. I am at a loss for why he and Mindy Kaling were chosen for this if it was in any way a serious exploration of academic management issues.

I’d truly love to know which “C-Level leaders” were in the audience for this one.
 
Genuine question since I didn't see the BetterUp presentation: how much was HRH The Duke of Sussex discussing his own personal experiences? He could very well have been mostly moderating the discussion while the actual business leaders gave the lion's share of the advice.
 
Genuine question since I didn't see the BetterUp presentation: how much was HRH The Duke of Sussex discussing his own personal experiences? He could very well have been mostly moderating the discussion while the actual business leaders gave the lion's share of the advice.
There’s an article in the DM that says the ticket holders were somehow confused because the program and Harry’s participation were not clear. And the panel wasn’t streamed. Let me look for the article, I’ll edit this post with it.


Here:
 
The Sussexes announced two new shows at Netflix in “early stages of production.”

One is a cooking show for Meghan, the other a show about polo for Harry.


Harry and polo is a good fit. Meghan and cooking is OK--no worse than a lot of celebs who purport to be knowledgeable in the area. Maybe she's a great cook. These programs aren't about the BRF so that is good.
 
There’s an article in the DM that says the ticket holders were somehow confused because the program and Harry’s participation were not clear. And the panel wasn’t streamed. Let me look for the article, I’ll edit this post with it.


Here:
Harry is there to add profile to the event. It is what he is paid for and there is nothing wrong with that. I can't imagine that he has much to add other than his personal experiences with stress and addiction, and perhaps being a cheerleader for Better Up programs.
 

Meghan Markle Will Officially Launch New Lifestyle Brand American Riviera Orchard This Spring​

A source told PEOPLE that the venture "will reflect everything that she loves — family, cooking, entertaining and home décor"
By Janine Henni and Erin Hill
Published on April 11, 2024 02:17PM EDT

Meghan Markle is preparing to unveil more of American Riviera Orchard.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, will officially launch her new lifestyle brand later this spring, PEOPLE understands.
[...]

A series curated by Meghan will highlight the fun of cooking, gardening, entertaining and friendship, and see her serve as an executive producer. The series will be produced by The Intellectual Property Corporation, part of Sony Pictures Television, under showrunner Leah Hariton, who produced Selena Gomez's cooking series Selena + Chef, which first aired on MAX.
[...]

The news dropped after a source exclusively told PEOPLE that Meghan was "excited" about American Riviera Orchard and its budding online presence.

"Meghan finds the name American Riviera Orchard perfect. It feels authentic to her. She can’t wait for the website to launch," the source told PEOPLE. The insider added that the brand "will reflect everything that she loves — family, cooking, entertaining and home décor."
[...]

 
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Harry is there to add profile to the event. It is what he is paid for and there is nothing wrong with that. I can't imagine that he has much to add other than his personal experiences with stress and addiction, and perhaps being a cheerleader for Better Up programs.
Yeah. At 1600 dollars the ticket I would expect a better organisation of the event.
 
Yeah. At 1600 dollars the ticket I would expect a better organisation of the event.
I’d be curious about that ticket price. My own experience of these types of summits hosted by companies is that the price is a face value, but not what people end up paying. Most of BetterUp’s big clients were likely given blocks of tickets, and others were probably used by sales teams to host prospective clients. If that is the case here, Harry being used to raise the event profile makes complete sense and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that as a money-making endeavor.

It’s the statement from their office that was the silly and over the top part to me, where it implied Harry himself was there to discuss “the psychological toll of leading through uncertainty, evidence based practices and forward-thinking policies.” Having anything worthwhile to say on these topics requires some combination of work experience at that level in a corporate environment and academic study on the topics and Harry lacks both of these.
 
The only thing that can be hold against her going to the hospital is the strong suspicion that she has something to gain personally, as opposed to the real royals.
Celebrities visit hospitals--it's done all the time to increase the profile and highlight the work of the institution. An event needs to be filmed/photographed in order for profiling to happen. It's what the BRF do as well. Is there a difference? If Meghan were paid to appear, that would be an issue, but I can't see that happening in this situation. If Meghan is overtly seeking donations for Archewell, that would be a problem, as she is there to encourage donations to the hospital--but there is no suggestion that Meghan did this. I can see two possible gains for Meghan from this event--being a positive example of a caring and concerned public figure and garnering good PR, and collecting photos and footage for a Netflix film or some such thing. The monetary gain from the latter, if any, would be indirect. Is she trying to replicate Princess Diana's public persona in this regard? Is that why it is easy to be cynical about this visit? Then again, is every hospital visit by a royal, working or non-working, an attempt to replicate Princess Diana? I don't think so. I am usually quite critical of Harry and Meghan's behaviour, but I can't criticize Meghan for doing this kind of thing.
 
Celebrities visit hospitals--it's done all the time to increase the profile and highlight the work of the institution. An event needs to be filmed/photographed in order for profiling to happen. It's what the BRF do as well. Is there a difference? If Meghan were paid to appear, that would be an issue, but I can't see that happening in this situation. If Meghan is overtly seeking donations for Archewell, that would be a problem, as she is there to encourage donations to the hospital--but there is no suggestion that Meghan did this. I can see two possible gains for Meghan from this event--being a positive example of a caring and concerned public figure and garnering good PR, and collecting photos and footage for a Netflix film or some such thing. The monetary gain from the latter, if any, would be indirect. Is she trying to replicate Princess Diana's public persona in this regard? Is that why it is easy to be cynical about this visit? Then again, is every hospital visit by a royal, working or non-working, an attempt to replicate Princess Diana? I don't think so. I am usually quite critical of Harry and Meghan's behaviour, but I can't criticize Meghan for doing this kind of thing.
Thank you for such even handed response. [.....]
 
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A number of posts have been deleted because although the initial discussion was relevant, subsequent posts became increasingly off topic.

Please resist the temptation to drag up old events because it inevitably ends up derailing the thread and then results in a large number of posts being deleted. Time to move on.
 
Prince Harry has never worked in a traditional workplace, nor has he held a traditional job, nor has he studied organizational behavior or management at the undergraduate or graduate level.

He has no discernible experience with writing policy, corporate or otherwise. I am at a loss for why he and Mindy Kaling were chosen for this if it was in any way a serious exploration of academic management issues.

I’d truly love to know which “C-Level leaders” were in the audience for this one.
Mindy Kaling was there as well? Why on earth? What would she (or Harry) know about organizational development? I’m sure they want to use Harry, so I could see him host or moderate- with information given to him in advance - but I’m flabbergasted about Mindy. I really enjoyed her show “The Mindy Project” but cannot see how that relates at all.
 
Harry was an officer in the army for ten years so he would have knowledge of commanding service personnel and organising them. Mindy has been a longtime screenwriter and producer in some stressful environments like producing TV shows. She also received a Tony as producer of a Broadway show.
 
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Harry was an officer in the army for ten years so he would have knowledge of commanding service personnel and organising them. Mindy has been a longtime screenwriter and producer in some stressful environments like producing TV shows. She also received a Tony as producer of a Broadway show.
Mindy Kaling maybe best known as an actress on the American version of "The Office", but she has worked as a producer/showrunner for more than 10 years on multiple TV shows for Netflix, HBO, etc. As a producer/showrunner, she is the boss and has responsibility to raise money, set budget, hire/fire personnel, etc. Of course, it is more glamorous to hear about leadership/management from someone like a Mindy Kaling, than the manager of a paper company.:p
 
My graduate degree is in Management, with a focus on organizational behavior. The majority of my career has been focused on helping C-Suite leaders with issues related to these topics.

I say from that background that Mindy Kaling and Prince Harry’s professional experiences are, at my most generous, only tangentially related to any of the issues the press release claims the panel focused on.
 
Harry and polo is a good fit. Meghan and cooking is OK--no worse than a lot of celebs who purport to be knowledgeable in the area. Maybe she's a great cook. These programs aren't about the BRF so that is good.

Harry and polo is a good fit- but seriously- who is going to watch a show about polo?

It’s a niche sport for the rich. That’s it. I’m not even sure I’d know it existed if I wasn’t a royal watcher and hadn’t watched Pretty Woman. Lol It’s not a sport many people play or follow.

Meghan cooking- eh. There are tons of cooking shows out there already by people with an established reputation for good cooking and/or people with frankly a much better resume, bigger star power in terms of actual accomplishments…..something to actually draw people in.

We’ll see. The best thing I can say is at least they’re not about the BRF.
 
Harry and polo is a good fit- but seriously- who is going to watch a show about polo?
I think it depends. A lot of people would watch a show that was about behind the scenes drama, gossip, and relationships between the wealthy people who inhabit that world, but it would have to have reality-tv style plot lines and scripting. That’s not something I can see Harry or Meghan wanting to involve themselves in, or something most people in the polo world would agree to participate in.

That’s the problem as I see it: the types of entertainment that fit their brand aspirations aren’t things with potential for a wide audience and the types of entertainment they could do with potential for a wide audience would further tarnish their brand.

If it’s just filming the polo cup in Wellington and interviewing the players and enthusiasts, it’s going to have very limited appeal.
 
My graduate degree is in Management, with a focus on organizational behavior. The majority of my career has been focused on helping C-Suite leaders with issues related to these topics.

I say from that background that Mindy Kaling and Prince Harry’s professional experiences are, at my most generous, only tangentially related to any of the issues the press release claims the panel focused on.
To put it plainly, its not what they know but who they are. Its all about the optics! ;)
 
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