The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Transition & Future
Nothing like this has ever happened before, so everyone's flying by the seat of their pants, for lack of a better way of doing it. I get the impression that Harry and Meghan don't really know what they want, and the fact that they ran off before agreeing terms with the Royal Family suggests that nothing's really been thought out properly. Sometimes you do get yourself worked up into a state and, when you've calmed down, you regret quitting your job, dumping your partner or anything else you may have done without thinking it through properly … and, this way, they've got the option to change their minds. I don't know if they'd be welcomed back by the public, though. It would have been more sensible to have said that they were taking time out. Maybe they've been planning it for months, but, if so, you'd think they'd have been more organised about it.
Good sum up. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t really know what they want either. Their actions indicate that imo. Their ill thought out half in, half out proposal is one reason. That they’ve been clearly upset is another. Their hasty way of handling this publicly too speaks to an element of rashness.
It was obvious from the second they made the announcement/put up the website without approval that they hadn’t thought things out. I don’t think anyone thought it was really workable. Just because they had been thinking about a change for awhile doesn’t mean it was well thought out. This wasn’t. They announced with out notifying anyone- and without an agreement in place. They just said what they wanted- announced as fact.
They have clearly been upset- and upset people often don’t make good decisions. The entire way this debacle was handled speaks to that imo. It was incredibly unprofessional. And unnecessarily played out in the public arena. Nothing from what they did to how they did it speaks to people who really thought things through before acting.
Keeping the door open allows them to think things through. While this obviously was not what the family wants- thing is- this wasn’t the end result Meghan and Harry said they wanted either. No one got what they wanted. They acted like kids throwing a public tantrum and really didn’t get anything they wanted either. (I don’t count moving, which is the only thing they got exactly as they said they wanted. No one was going to force where they lived. Even then- they weren’t anticipating paying for Frogmore.)
Now whether Harry and Meghan would be willing to walk everything back- who knows. Even if they wanted to- could be a bit too embarrassing to do a full turn around.
How the public would feel is another issue too. They handled this so poorly, when if they’d exercised some patience, kept their mouth shut publicly- things might well have gone differently.
I’m glad Meghan will be back in the U.K. soon. I never thought she’d “never” return, but I did think she hadn’t loved living in the U.K. I still do think that. They’re in North America for a reason. And the way she dropped the bombshell and left looked bad optically- whatever the reason. It could be interpreted that she couldn’t get out fast enough. So, glad she’s back sooner rather than later.
I do think this mess has cost both of them some goodwill in the U.K. How much and how permanent the damage is- we’ll see.
I find it interesting that quite a bit of the media acts like this result (not working royals at all) was exactly what the Sussexes wanted. If you believe their detailed, yet vague, website, this isn’t even close to what they truly wanted. So it really benefits everyone to leave the door open. Think about what exactly you want. And what is and is not possible. And do it in a professional manner.
