Not a big fan of Harry & Meghan - nor do I plan to watch this documentary - however, I am surprised about the hate leveled against them. Compared to some of the bad behavior demonstrated by the rest of the royal family - including affairs and sexual misconduct - decamping from royal life seems pretty benign.
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If the single-purpose hate accounts have been continuing to incite the kind of negativity I’m seeing in this thread despite H&M stepping away from the royal family, then it makes more sense to me that they’ve chosen to speak out at certain points.
Earlier this week in the Parents of 2023 thread there was a discussion about the impact of social media posts announcing acceptances on others. There were those who felt it was important to be considerate of others, particularly if they are in a stressed, emotional state while others said that it was best for people to avoid triggers and to unfollow people or do whatever one needed to do to remain emotionally healthy. But H&M don’t really have that choice to just unfollow some British tabloids or bots. If they go to the drugstore, it’s on the covers of tabloids. If they scroll the Yahoo or Google or Apple News, there are reports about them. Even standard newspapers have reporting on the latest on-dits, such as in the New York Times.
Even though earlier in this thread I expressed my distaste for their airing of grievances, I can understand why they may feel compelled to do so. If everyone’s always maligning you even when you try to stay out of the public eye, then you might as well go back in to try and tell your side of the story. And if anyone had asked me last night or this morning if this is how I’d feel right now, the answer would have undeniably been “No.”
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Do you think they are trying to stay out of the public eye? They’ve given public interviews, written books, have very lucrative deals with media companies, publicly opine on US politics and divisive social issues and so on. They are public/royal figures who have repeatedly taken aim at the royal family, which really meant the Queen, a beloved and iconic woman. As the saying goes, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Personally I’ve always seen Meghan as disingenuous and an opportunist.
As far as the documentary? Hard pass for me. Why anyone cares what these two have to say is beyond me. They could live very ordinary lives. They choose the drama because it makes money for them plain and simple. Look at Prince Edward and his family. Or Princess Eugenia and Princess Beatrice. It can be done but H&M have zero interest in pursuing that type of life. I do feel sorry for Harry because his poor choice of bride has resulted in estrangement from his family.
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These royals don’t have both social and traditional media gunning for them. I don’t think their choices can be compared.
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Ok, I’m 2 episodes in and found it interesting that the Royal experts talk about how vital the British press is in keeping the public interested in the Royal family and the monarchy. How the monarchy continues to exist, in large part, because the British citizens allow it to - and getting along with the press is a big part of that.
And then Harry talking about being told never react to the press and telling Meghan the same thing. It suggests an intriguing dance between the monarchy and the British press. I always thought the monarchy (and the Prime Minster) could do more (and could have done more in the case of Diana) to protect the Royal family from the press, but maybe none of those parties really want anything to change 
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The tabloids in the UK have targeted all of the royals at certain times.
They are horrible and predatory. They tapped their phones, have lied and manipulated stories. No royals have been spared.
Including the Sussex’s. I’m in no position to say whether or not their press coverage has been more of less worse. But the press picks on those it thinks will sell papers and at times all of the royals have been the brunt of their efforts.
What the Sussex’s have done is fight back instead of ignoring.
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One can only hope that these apples fell far from the family tree, which does so far seems the case. Lest one has forgotten, neither of their parents shied away from dubious ways of making a few quid. And say what you want about Harry, at least he’s not a pedo. Allegedly, as my lawyers have instructed me to include.
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From what I’ve read over the years, Princess Diana sometime tipped the press of where she’s to be. I think it’s a love hate relationship with the press. She also refused secret service after her divorce.
She refused protection from SO14, aka Royalty Protection. She had private protection.
Secret Service, in the context of protection, is an American agency.
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I’ve watched the first episode. Do I care about “these two”? Well, as much as I care about other people, yes. I have no personal emotional investment. I definitely don’t have any ill will toward them.
What I do find interesting is the hostility directed at them. I see it In two perhaps broader ways.
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A question of submission for a traditional institution. We’re seeing this in many aspects of our lives like marriage/families/personal autonomy. I think about “Keep Calm and Carry On”. I’ve always liked that expression. However I see it as encouraging resilience of the individual, not conformity for conformity’s sake.
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Use of social as well as traditional media access to further certain narratives for power/monetary gains. In my opinion there lies the crux of a lot of our collective angst. Click bait headlines and frankly, lies have been used to manipulate our emotions and thoughts. I believe the symbiotic relationship between the British media and the Royal Family is being threatened and we’re going to witness the fallout.
Agree. I believe “coordinated for profit efforts” and “single purpose hate accounts” are not only real but a very harmful manipulation of social media. As I shared on a different thread, I’ve been on Twitter for over ten years. At some point I found myself checking ‘trending topics’. Often I would just skip over stuff I had zero interest in.
But something I have noticed, a lot of the ‘hate tweeting’ is done by accounts with seemingly single-focused aspersions. All one has to do is look at the profile of the account. It’s strange to me to see someone tweet a dozen or more unflattering takes on people they don’t know on a daily basis. I can’t help but wonder what the ulterior agenda is. It’s one thing to tweet an opinion or observation. It’s another when many, many accounts churn out negative stuff directed at certain individuals.
So while I understand the fatigue of many when it comes to this topic, I believe the situation/controversy has greater implications.
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I think people in general dislike people who spread lies.
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Thanks to those weighing in after watching the show!
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I also agree with those saying that they could live a quiet, private life if they really wanted to. Choosing to live in the Land of Celebrities (albeit, not L.A.) is doesn’t exactly promote that you want to be left alone - especially since they’ve pretty much bulls-eyed where they live, between this doc. & the Oprah thing.
I don’t think Americans really care about them and their every move that much, nor would most of us wonder what they were up to if they chose to lay low and raise their chickens.
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I’m not planning on watching nor do I follow any royalty. What is shocking to me is the hate on CC here and in the media for them. None of us know them and none of can confirm what might be truth or lies.
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That’s the point, these lies hurt people, I can think of one, Kate Middleton. She’s becoming my favorite Royal lately.
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It is amazing what a couple who demand privacy will do to make money!
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Yes lies hurt people. Including all the lies and racist, misogynist abuse online about MM. Kate is well protected by the palace PR machine and the tacit bargain with the British tabloids to give her positive coverage. Meanwhile an army of bots and algorithms and profiteers spread hatred of MM.
I am reminded of how Monica Lewinsky tried for years to retreat from the public and live a quiet normal life. But even before the days of widespread social media, she was relentlessly pursued and her efforts to make a new beginning were publicized and ridiculed. She finally realized that she needed to return to the public arena and “reclaim her narrative” or she would forever be defined by others. She’s been pretty successful at that in my opinion, despite people saying “why doesn’t she go away.”
I think that Harry & Meghan are in a similar spot where there is no realistic scenario where they could lead a quiet, private life and be left alone. Not when there is so much money to be made attacking them. So they have chosen to fight back and tell their own story. And I don’t begrudge them their efforts to make money. For one thing, I’m sure their private security costs are enormous and that they are recipients of lots of death threats and threats against their children. At least they are paying their own way.
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Kate is well protected by the PR machine, what a laugh, have you heard of the term Waity Katie? If you Google enough you read some forums they gossiped that the Middleton sisters are like wisteria, they are climbers or social climbers.
From my understanding, Kate Middleton is a nice person. Megan Markle shouted at her staff, Kate had to intervene. Then Megan Markle invented the incident of racism to combat it, who wouldn’t believe her. Even my hair dresser believes it’s 100% true. Why so many people working for MM quit over the years? Did you know MM was living with somebody when she first dated Harry, is that cheating, opportunist, who knows? Did she bring it up in her podcast?
Here is another example that the Royal family bent over backwards to make her family feel welcome, the Queen invited MM’s mom to Sandringham house for Christmas, they didn’t invite Kate Middleton family like that. Is that racism too?
https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/queen-elizabeth-invited-meghan-markle-mother-christmas
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I’m not interested in debating the merits of the specific attacks on MM. I’m just saying that she and Harry have a right to defend themselves. Nobody is forcing anyone to watch the Netflix show or buy his book. And apparently 2.4 million views in the UK tuned in to watch on launch day, exceeding the number who watched Season 5 of the Crown on the first day. Harry & Meghan documentary series gives Netflix a ratings hit - BBC News
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You chose to believe the lies and so be it and that’s the point, Kate Middleton never complains, while these 2 are blasting on TV. I have a lot of sympathy for Kate.
I’m not debating why people in the UK are watching the Netflix shows either.
When I first visited Windsor castle, the Uber guy, a minority guy, was so proud of Megan Markle, that’s from our brief conversation. Now I’ll bet you nobody will bring her up anymore, but UK is a multicultural country, so there will be people interested in watching to see what they have to say. That’s my guess, but who really knows.
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