Does everyone have their popcorn ready for Harry & Meghan?

Did you hear Martin Short’s comment to Steve Martin during SNL this week?

“You know Steve, we are like Harry and Meghan. No one’s rooting for us but you’ll tune in to watch anyway.” H and M weren’t amused. :sweat_smile:

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In summary, there is trashing going on on all sides. One of the world’s most dysfunctional privileged families.

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In terms of trashing one’s own family, one of the arguments H & M are making is that the Royal Family has made a devil’s bargain with the British press. They need the press to help maintain popular support for the Royal Family as an institution. So they need overall positive coverage. But in exchange they permit negative coverage of certain members. The tabloids can’t sell their papers and generate clicks without clickbait. My impression is that Harry alleges that members of the staff even planted some negative stories about Meghan and did nothing to discourage others.

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That explains a lot. And makes sense from the perspective of the monarchy and tabloids. I guess it’s a win win for everybody but those on the receiving end.
And I think this is where the line those two have attempted to draw by saying negative things about the institution but not family. I kept hearing them always trying to make the distinction of the two.

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I watched an episode of 60 Minutes from November 27. They showed a gentleman who has done a lot of good by spending his wealth in Mozambique, but hasn’t sought fame like Harry and Meghan. He’s kind of the antithesis of H&M. Unlike H&M, he doesn’t publicize HIS name, but the name of his project.

I think what many disapprove of H&M for, is their constant publicity seeking… interviews, books, trying to get sympathy from everyone etc. They try to make it all about them.

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I totally get it and feel the same.
However, they operate within their context. And in that context lending celebrity voice to charity is what they do. That’s what every member of his family does, what generally celebrities do (think about all of those famous actors who work for UN and lend their famous faces to different causes). I truly think they believe they can do a lot more good this way than in some obscurity.
Now personally I find this entire rich people giving handouts publicly beyond distasteful and would rather see people do charity work anonymously. But than I think these super rich have nothing better to do in life, so they think running around at events dressed like princesses is what life is about. I would most certainly enjoy that lifestyle and wouldn’t even call it work if you ask me. :wink:

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I don’t believe most of what Meghan claims. She said she never followed the royal family, didn’t really know anything about how things were done. Fine, but then when asked how she learned about Harry, she said she googled it. She didn’t know what a ‘walk about’ was, but didn’t google that. She never followed any media but suddenly read everything bad about her. She said there was no ‘princess’ school to learn how to do things, but couldn’t she have hired a consultant?

They felt unsafe at Windsor or Kensington Palaces? So they went away with friends for the weekend to get away from it all?

I do agree that it is hard on her mother and friends who didn’t ask for the publicity and don’t really benefit from it (except getting to go to the wedding and meet the Queen).

Many people have sudden fame and take the good and try to leave the bad. Obama’s rise was very sudden. His girls had a very different life than they would have if they’d stayed in Chicago, but they got to meet famous people, got to travel the world, attended very good schools (which they did in Chicago too), have birthday parties in the White House, etc. Were their every moves scrutinized? Yes. Could they ride their bikes over to friends’ homes? Not without a big black bulletproof car following them. On the whole, I’d say they got a good deal.

I do give Harry credit for admitting he made lots of mistakes, like dressing in a Nazi costume. Now he needs to be a little more understanding of the rest of his family.

I don’t think H&M will be invited for Christmas dinner this year.

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Could not care less

My personal favorite: “I needed to learn a lot, including the national anthem.”

Ok, I get that. When asked how she learned, she said: “Oh, I googled it.” OK. So far, so good. I’ll buy that. Then she continues, “I sat there and I practised and I practised and I practised.”

Keep in mind that this is an actor who needed to learn pages of dialogue on a weekly basis. God Save the Queen has precisely 29 words in the first stanza (and everyone knows the 3rd and 8th lines - God save the Queen! - so we’re down to 21 words) and has the same tune as a song every American knows - My Country, ’Tis of Thee. This is a 5 minute project at most. :grin:

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See, I totally believe her. I think the amount of rules is hair rising. No matter what she did, she failed. Remember the Wimbledon drama? Something over dress code or seats… I could see why you wouldn’t even think to google most things because it’s inconceivable that there could be a rule about it!
Unlike Obama kids though, they were expected to do public appearances constantly. They were adults, not kids, so they could get away with less. And media was most definitely out to get them. So if somebody is trying to play “gotcha ,” they will succeed.
The part about “me too,” I could see she was oblivious. It’s just how does one want to see this fail - an American who doesn’t get this is a no no topic, or an American who is out to destroy monarchy by flaunting rules. I mean I don’t understand why anybody should believe the worst in people. I am for benefit of the doubt in most circumstances.

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:slightly_smiling_face:yep, embarrassing, but my kid’s first college decision comes out on Wednesday and since this is my first rodeo at it, I can’t sleep. I am terrified he gets into nowhere. This been a great way to kill brain cells. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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If you are looking for a distraction on TV, I recommend Tulsa King, Yellowstone, or (if you are a Tim Burton fan) Wednesday over H&M.

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I need to get away from CC board and do something productive! :slight_smile:

Agree. I also don’t believe she didn’t know what a “walk about” was. You see the Royals doing that all over the news. The curtsy…so, she never saw anyone curtsy on the news? She couldn’t have googled it real fast on her phone? She fibs a lot and thinks we will just buy it.

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Well sure but now it is ‘God save the KING’. Why did they change it when she just learned the words?

Definitely out to get her.

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I feel empathy for Prince H for losing a parent at such a young age, very traumatic and can really mess one up. Other than that it’s very hard to relate to them since I’ve never lived in a palace and had to work a job from 9-5. I also think they can’t relate with average people like us- that is why they keep sharing their stories with the world thinking we can sympathize with them.

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They had to do something to gain financial independence, and this show and Harry’s book are how they chose to do it. I hope now that they have their millions they will stop publically litigating the past. I don’t think they are trying to bring down the monarchy, I think they want a public acknowledgement of wrongdoing and apology from the RF, and that’s not going to happen.

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Harry and Meghan can learn a thing or two from this Royal Saga. I’ve been following their story for several years and I can vouch that the Japanese press can be as vicious as the British tabloid. The Japanese public have been against this marriage from the start and their hostility towards this couple is shocking.

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One of my closest friends lived in Canada for several years. She doesn’t buy into Meghan’s lack of knowledge re the RF. She just grinned and pointed out that Meghan’s future mother-in-law’s face graced all the money Meghan used to pay for things during the six years she lived and worked in Canada. My friend said maybe if Meghan hadn’t lived in Canada, she might be more believable, but fact is she did live there.

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I am just watching this now. I think maybe she was somewhat naive but if you haven’t experienced it, I’m sure it gets scary real fast actually being in it (reports of people trying to break in to her home, death threats just in a few episodes). And add in the racist rhetoric in media I think that should have been enough - I respect him for leaving frankly. He made a good point when he stated she’s mixed race, his kids are mixed race so not only does he love her, but how will he stay quiet and allow that to happen with his kids too. He felt it was his primary job to protect his family. He said when his kids grew older, they’d look back and say how did you handle this. And I agree with that. It was not just regular paparazzi but the racial component in media that made it worse. What does it say to all of society and your wife and kids if you just tolerate that? I’m also ok with them doing the show because it’s a bigger conversation in a way than just Harry and Meghan.

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