I read they will request government provided security. On a comparable level, Facebook disclosed to investors that it expects to spend 10 million dollars annually to continue to protect Mark Zuckerberg, and I would expect similar costs. Even the Sussex couple may not afford that.
I have a friend who has struggled financially every day of her adult life. It has worn on her.
I was going through a rough patch in my life. My husband had serious health issues, a daughter was struggling with an enormous challenge, my mom had had a series of devastating strokes. My friend casually asked how I was doing, and I alluded vaguely to having problems. She responded, “Oh, good grief. How could you have problems? You’re rich! Try living with no money all the time.”
This seems to be a common refrain.
While not all problems can be solved with financial resources, resources can buy both physical assistance, therapists, and other support to help alleviate (not eliminate) the stress.
If they truly wanted to avoid publicity, they could have stepped back from the duties quietly instead of posting on social media. They could have shed some of the ribbon cuttings, openings and things like that. They could have informed the family first. The family could have worked out and minimized the public profile and royal duties.
Instead, this break is splashed all over the headlines. They wanted publicity and drama. They are not trying to avoid it.
Totally agree with #83
I honestly don’t care if Harry and Meghan “step back” from Royal duties or not. But I do think it was inappropriate to blindside the rest of the Royal Family with their announcement (if in fact that is what happened). I think that the classier move, and the move which would have been much better for family relationships, would be for Harry and Meghan to meet with the Queen, Charles, and William (or whoever is appropriate)and work out an exit strategy they could all live and then making a joint announcement.
Like it or not Harry has been part of a family institution since birth. He has reaped many benefits but has had to live under a microscope. It is fine if that is not the life he and Meghan want. But IMO what they did with their announcement is akin to walking away from a family business with no notice (but with a boatload of money) and leaving relatives to pick up the slack. That is not the right way to treat one’s family or the institution.
Now they have been moved away from the Queen and Prince Wiliam in the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/duke-duchess-sussex-madame-tussauds-removal/index.html
A bit dramatic.
Ha. That’s funny. The shunning has begun.
The palace didn’t have to put out a press release of its own. Was the palace really blindsided? Everyone is trying to win in the court of public opinion.
Have sympathy for the royal family or Harry and Meghan? Maybe I could rank that sympathy compared to the sympathy I have of parents not being able to drive around with the H bomb on their car bumper. LOL
I agree-IF that was what actually happened.
I don’t know why anyone is surprised about this announcement. I believed that Meghan would never really be accepted into society from the moment of the engagement, despite all the platitudes about a “breath of fresh air” and how “wonderful” it all was.
“Other” spouses were raised under the monarchy. Many of them had their own titles. They saw on perhaps a daily basis what royalty and nobility was all about. They learned the history. Meghan, as an American, did not. There is still a big cultural divide between the US and the UK.
As far as “financial independence”, once free from the restrictions of the Royal household, I wouldn’t be surprised if Meghan resumed her acting career.
Meghan is 40 ish now, do you think she wants to be out there grifting with the other d list actors? I can’t see it.
She just turned 38, so she may have a few good years yet acting. IF that’s what she wants to do, if that’s what she has a passion for, if she could find projects she could feel good about.
Despite “stepping back”, there is still an allure about royalty. She won’t be a d list actor. Her name is already too well-known, and it will continue to be.
Grifting??? You may have a career with the British tabloids!
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I think this is the part they might not be able to control though, stepping back but staying royal. Clooney and Winfrey would have zero interest in the wedding of Rachel to a prole. If they really do piss off the firm, they may not be royal at all. As this doesn’t look well handled from either side, it could really be ugly. As it is they have not stepped back in reality, not enough to get real admiration. They just got ahead in the media release game.
If H&M started cutting back on their royal appearances, those who follow the published calendar–and thus the tabloids–would soon be sniping about their laziness and selfishness.
Look at the absurd amount of attention paid to whether or not they joined the Queen for Christmas. W&K also spent Christmas with her parents when George was a baby, but somehow it was not an apocalypse. Of course, M’s mother is a “dread-locked African American,” not a nice middle-class white English couple.
@Sybylla – LOL. She’s front page news around the world. Megan is NOT D-list and ceased to be the minute she married Harry.
No one knows what goes on/went on behind closed doors.