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Meghan and Harry vs. the Royals
Divas alert!
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As reported by The Daily Beast yesterday, Harry and Meghan are mightily pissed now that they have been told by the queen they can’t use the name “Sussex Royal.”
In their extremely grand announcement, published on Friday evening on their website, the couple claim the royal family and government have no “jurisdiction” over the word “royal” overseas.
Then, having established that they have the perfect right to use the name overseas, and despite all the plans to market themselves—and make lots of money doing so—they go on to say say they “do not intend to use ‘Sussex Royal’ or any iteration of the word ‘Royal’ in any territory (either within the UK or otherwise) when the transition occurs Spring 2020.”
While Meghan and Harry are presumably trying to demonstrate how incredibly conciliatory and reasonable they are being, the actual impression is that they got their asses owned by the palace officials in the negotiations about their future branding.
The whole of the document has an air of grievance and wounded self-assertion about it, including noting that “while there is precedent for other titled members of the Royal Family to seek employment outside of the institution, for the Duke and Duchess a 12-month review period has been put in place.”
This seems to be an entirely unnecessary and rather mean-spirited dig at Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Again: They are PISSED about this.
Harry and Meghan will not start a “foundation” either, the website message notes, but will “develop a new way to effect change and complement the efforts made by so many excellent foundations globally.”
Huh?
The announcement also makes clear how “saddening” it has been to let go of their British staff, and none-too-subtly fingers Prince Charles with the blame, saying the funding used to come from him.
The message also makes clear that they feel entitled to “effective security” to protect them and Archie—referring to “the shared threat and risk level documented specifically over the last few years.”
The announcement, bizarrely, feels the need to underline that Harry remains sixth in line to the throne, and says that the couple will keep their HRH titles but not use them.
While it’s not entirely shocking that baubles such as British titles should continue to draw Harry and Meghan’s eye, the fact that this allegedly forward-looking couple should so overtly reveal their vanity is bizarre, foolish, and damaging.
It’s reminiscent of the nonsensical way Peter Philips made his (soon-to-be-ex) wife Autumn renounce her Catholic faith so he could keep his place in the order of succession, leading to him being widely mocked in society circles as “King Peter.”
Harry and Meghan go on to claim, absurdly, that the public should check their website for “factual information.”
More accurately, we would say, the public should check Harry and Meghan’s website to see whatever news Harry and Meghan see fit to make public about Harry and Meghan. This is called PR, not “facts.” Anyway, “digital channels” will be refreshed to keep everybody informed of the “next exciting phase.”
The tone is very this-is-all-about-us, and sort out that damn lighting. We shall see if their pissed-off tone mutates into something more ugly and public in terms of familial conflict.
However angry they are, it also seems Meghan and Harry are also set on making the best out of the situation.
Jessica Mulroney, one of Meghan’s close friends, registered the charity sussexglobalcharities.com last Wednesday through her own charity, the Mail reported.
Invictus and Out
Prince Harry is due back in the U.K. on Friday, to attend the legendary Abbey Road studios with the Invictus Choir and Bon Jovi, to record a fund-raising single ahead of this year’s Invictus Games.
The action is presumably intended to demonstrate Harry’s commitment to the Games. Indeed, Harry and Meghan’s statement specifically says, “As founder of the Invictus Games, The Duke will proudly continue supporting the military community around the world through the Invictus Games Foundation and The Endeavour Fund.”
But some within the organization aren’t so sure.
The Sunday Times quotes one “disillusioned supporter, who has given help worth many thousands of pounds,” as saying: “I am just bloody angry... There is this expectation that we go out and flog ourselves and find support bringing in cash for Invictus. He could make this a whole lot easier if he did something as well. He could text anyone.”
Well, Harry has texted someone. There’s a spoof one between Harry and Bon Jovi posted on the Sussex Royal Instagram page ahead of his Abbey Road date on Friday.
What’s most interesting is not the cringeworthy attempt at PR but the string of negative comments appearing alongside, suggesting that Meghan and Harry have lost control of the Instagram page.
Maybe the departure of those dedicated 15 staff members in the UK has something to do with it?
Kate’s big survey
Meanwhile, somewhat less dramatically (and playing a much cozier, gentler PR game), Kensington Palace posted a sweet picture on Twitter and Instagram of Kate Middleton holding the hand of a little girl at a Cardiff children’s center.
The image accompanied a message of thanks to parents who had contributed to the “5 Big Questions” survey Kate has spearheaded. It read, “You have helped start essential conversations about early childhood.” The findings would “provide a vital source of information for the early years sector, helping it to better understand public perceptions of the importance of the early years, and the first-hand experiences of parents, families, and carers.”
Elsewhere, Prince William spoke at the Five Nations rugby tournament about lambing with his entire family in Norfolk, reported the Mail.
Welsh farmers were “seriously tough,” said William, as he watched Wales play France at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Prince George and Louis loved lambing (the latter especially the tractors). Charlotte “wasn’t sure at first.”
Watching the detectives
A “highly respected former Royal protection officer” has questioned Prince Andrew’s pizza alibi for the night he allegedly had sex with teenage trafficking victim Virginia Roberts.
In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, the officer says he believes the Prince may have returned to Buckingham Palace in the early hours of March 11, 2001, when he says he was with his family after taking his daughter Beatrice to Pizza Express in Woking.
The officer has agreed to speak to the lawyers acting for Epstein’s victims, the Mail says.
Royal fashion watch
In the week that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were forced to officially give up using “Sussex Royal,” Harry popped out to pick up sandwiches. To do so, he rocked—as so many Hollywood types do while incognito among the great unwashed—a classic celebrity-camouflage uniform of baseball cap, jacket, and jeans.
This week in royal history
In one sense, Prince Charles and his then fiancée Diana Spencer seemed just bashful next to each other on February 24, 1981, the day they announced their engagement. But that day also included that notorious phrase of Charles’—“Whatever in love means”—which has come to echo down the years. *Long sigh*
Unanswered questions
What will Harry and Meghan rebrand themselves as? And will lawyer Gloria Allred succeed in convincing Prince Andrew to speak to the FBI? This week she sent an American-style school bus to cruise around Buckingham Palace with a message on the side—“If you see this man please ask him to call the FBI to answer their questions”—followed by the FBI’s number and Allred’s website.
