I suppose The Crown has primed me to distrust palace courtiers, but I think it’s possible Harry had been trying work something out for a while, got significant blowback from the courtiers, and finally got fed up and decided to make a preemptive announcement. And now the courtiers are trying to save face by claiming the family was “blindsided.”
And, let’s be fair, pre-marriage Meghan was a solid B-list actress, and I say that with respect. It’s a really tough business and she worked hard to break through and get a recurring role on a reasonably popular TV series.
This reminds me of the movie Arthur (the first one). His family wanted him to marry woman from a rich family. But he meets and falls in love with a waitress. On the day of the wedding to the heiress, he calls it off. His family threatens to cut him off from any money. He talks with the waitress about being poor. His grandmother hears it and says no relative of hers will ever be poor (and have a job). Arthur debates whether he should take the money (saying he has had money his entire life but always been happy and the waitress says she has never had money but generally been happy). As she is ready to drive away from the church, his grandmother says she will not offer the money again. Arthur walks over to her car, talks with his grandmother briefly and then comes back to the waitress as the grandmother drives off. He tells the waitress that he turned his grandmother down. Then pauses a moment and says she wanted us to have dinner with her. But they were having tuna fish sandwiches (part of the being poor talk earlier) so he turned her down. He took the money. As he says he wasn’t crazy so he took the money.
I don’t see Harry and Meghan having to truly work for a living. I can understand why they would want to be out of the spotlight (and at least with respect to Harry, he was born into it and didn’t get the option of picking being a royal). But with Bill having kids, Harry is pretty far down the line. As I think Andrew showed, when you are down the line of succession, people are really just looking for you to screw up (and screw up he did). So getting out of the way a little (as much as you can being a royal) makes some sense. If they wanted to, I think they could go under the radar. But they would need to make some efforts to do so. If they are really interested in actually doing that is another issue though.
The financial rewards of being in the Royal Family are certainly significant, but I don’t see why Meghan should be “grateful” for any of the rest of that nonsense.
When people are given something from someone else I believe they should be grateful. In this case Megan has been given means to a lifestyle that most can only dream of. She knew what she was getting into. Of course it ins’t always easy but the mature and respectful thing to do would to not complain or look for sympathy.
Allegedly, Meghan is already back in Canada where they left Archie while they returned to UK to ‘resign’. I think the whole thing is very sad, and I must say, I fear Prince Harry’s mental health will suffer at some point.
There’s an interesting article in Harpers Bazaar today. It states that the step back wasn’t a surprise to the RF and they’ve been working with the Queen, etc, since fall. They were pushed into releasing it sooner than planned as The Sun (British tabloid) had gotten hold of the info and was getting ready to print.
Also no one is incensed or incoherent with rage.
Their website - SussexRoyal - has a lot of info on what their initial plans are, how they’ll be funded, their living quarters at Frogmore, security, etc.
It’s one thing to be in discussions about this and releasing a statement of how you want things to proceed. I don’t buy the sun argument for a minute as this has been rumored for a while and would not be big news.
There are and have been royals who live a quiet life with real working jobs. That you don’t hear about that they don’t accept money from the crown.
If Megan were a regular 30 something living on even a generous salary, say a couple of hundred thousand a year, then yes - the delta between her pre-Royal lifestyle and what she’d experience as Harry’s wife would be significant. But that wasn’t the case here. She was an actress with money of her own and a lifestyle that included rich and famous friends, travel and glamorous parties, events. She had 99% of the fun, glamour and trappings with perhaps less than 1 percent of the hassle.
Horrific tradeoff. Very little upside in exchange for incredible constant pressure and downside.
The Sussex couple must cost the government in excess of 20 million dollars, annually. Meghan did not, and can not, sustain that level. The servants alone- maids, cooks, nanny, gardener, handyman, laundress, valet, dresser, hair stylist, social secretary, press secretary, and of course the security, the use of the mansion and utilities thereon, not to mention the travel. Her lifestyle will take quite a plunge if she is financially independent.
Again, it’s not an apples to apples comparison. Megan could not support all that staff full time but if she weren’t a Royal, nor would she have needed all that. Security, especially, but also social secretary, press secretary, valet, laundress, etc. are only needed in conjunction with a Royal lifestyle.
I’m linking the article mentioned above. If this is true, I don’t think the Palace, or anyone, can claim they were “blindsided.” Maybe they hadn’t approved the official statement or its timing, but this seems to have been in the works for a while, and I think it makes perfect sense to get ahead of the story if, in fact, it had been leaked to The Sun. It’s like selling first pics of your baby to People … control the narrative.
Heck, maybe it is all a win win. The Kardashians have proved that there is no such thing as bad publicity. H&M AND The firm get media attention for days!
I’m amused by the vitriol. It amazes me how much people can care about the lives of complete strangers.
They’re obviously in love , have an adorable new baby and have made a decision on how to best live their lives. I for one hope they gave a wonderful life together.
As for the Queen - get over yourself.
I don’t buy wanting to be out of the spotlight much. Didn’t Meghan release a clothing line in September? Is that something Royals do? And would anyone have cared about her clothing line if she hadn’t married Harry? I do think she relishes the fame and publicity, as long as it is favorable to her.