THAT dress.

Nothing wrong with being self confident Anniebach MM will need that for the life she will lead.
Good luck to them and bah humbug to the nay sayers

Iam64 I agree. It is not exactly heartening.
I am more left wing than many here and am not a royalist but people actually seem to be willing their marriage to fail. She has earned her own money and he did not choose to be born a Royal and has had heartache in his life. They have not suddenly taken up charitable causes to look good, they obviously genuinely care.
Give them a break and wish them well. It isn't difficult.

Mawbroon I very much doubt that Cassandra intended her comment to be repeated eight times! That sometimes happens on social media due to some sort of glitch. It often does on Facebook and it can be embarrassing if you don't realise immediately.

Perhaps Megan is a woman who doesn't welcome advice, she does seem very sure of herself and is a tv actress so possibly an inflated ego

If talking about foodbanks and Hitler is predictably cliched, then so is spouting the "politics of envy" line.

In the old days, the monarchy bled the people dry in order to finance their wars with other countries and other ridiculous extravagances. I imagine, up to a point, most of their "subjects" just put up with it because to protest would have been very dangerous.

Is it not right, seeing the massive inequalities in our society and the very dismal lives that many people are living, even when they work hard, that there is uneasiness about these matters?

I have no issue with MM being American, mixed race, a rich and successful actress or anything else. The royal PR machine (or even other members of the royal family) seem to have chosen not to give her any advice as to the inadvisability of demonstrating this type of conspicuous consumption and I wonder why. If people believe that the sort of relatively modestly priced outfits that Kate wears indicates an "ordinary" lifestyle then they are, in my opinion, rather naive, but it serves the royal family well that they do.

The first mention of ‘food banks’ has now taken over from the first mention of Hitler, ( expecting that one anytime though) and it is getting ridiculous.
So, if anyone spends £14,000 on a new car GoldenAge should they think again,( because of people using foodbanks) etc and where does this all end?
It becomes the politics of envy, that’s what.

Well said Bridgeit

As the OP, I apologise for stirring up such a flood of vitriol. I am certainly not anti-monarchist and I wish the couple every happiness in their marriage. My intention was to point out what a massive PR blunder that dress was ( or more specifically the release to the press of its "value").Surely someone in "The Firm" could have advised the poor woman how not to put peoples backs up. She had started well and announced her intention of devoting herself to good works---and then this. What a blooper.

To those of you who are bemoaning the supposed price of MM's dress, & everything else that goes with the Royal Family, why not look to yourselves first , do you all give a sizeable portion of your income to charities or someone down the road from you? Do you share your homes, cars , clothes & incomes with someone who has less than you, or do you wear the best you can afford etc etc? Everything in life is an accident of birth, we are the survivors or victims of our circumstances . Yes so many things are unfair , even the poorest of people in this country are wealthy compared to many countries where people are starving. Many people with money are horrible narcissistic peeople, as are many people from all walks of life, but there are so many people who are caring & generous & I think the young royals do at least have a fantastic attitude in realising this & use their position to do some good... they are as much entitled to their own private lives as as you or I. Just like every single one of us we didn't ask to be born & inequality is a terrible thing but fortunately some realise this & try to play a part in improving things when & where they can. YOU cant alter who or where you came from , neither can they ?think on

Friendly

BB, it's a while since I commented on this thread so I've forgotten what I might have said to make you remind me that words can be abusive. Especially as I do know this already. Could you enlighten me, please?

Prettypolly I can’t believe you said that
Yes Baggs words can be abusive
This thread has certainly shown the worst side of bitchiness I cannot equate the kind caring words of you all to gransnetters in trouble, to the awful bitterness spewing out of some people’s mouths It just shows how some people have a VERY nasty side to them
What is upsetting you all... because she’s American, because she’s a commoner because she s an actress , or could there be a racist element would there have been all this bitterness if he was marrying the blonde haired blue eyed Chelsea why was Diane the darling of the world and this girl doesn’t even get the chance to start
Makes you realise charity really does start at home for some people
Opened my eyes to the other side of some posters ?

suzied....*what on earth do you mean by saying ‘ the monarchy doesn’t bring in tourism apart from the dead ones’ ? What dead ones?* I mean tourists come to see the old buildings and castles associated with long dead monarchs not to see the current one. Actually they come more to go shopping because of the weak £ and visit our free galleries and museums. Italy has way more ancient buildings and cathedrals than here and isnt a monarchy. But that’s not what this thread is about. I’m not a monarchy fan but I like the dress and Meghan .

Haven’t seen the dress. Think she’s fab. And him. Both lived a life. Done stuff.. they’ll be fine, or not. It’s all fine.

Apologies - MM has now stepped down from her role as Global Ambassador for World Vision.

Rhinestone I don’t know what you mean by “the Americans had Princess Grace”
They had a middle range film actress called Grace Kelly who caught the eye of and subsequently married a very minor European royal.
At which point she took Monegasque nationality.
And cassandra making the same ridiculous assertion eight times in succession really does not give it additional weight.
Who are you to tell someone what they should or should not do with their money?

Goldenage before you bandy words and phrases like obscenities and this Hollywood circus, perhaps you should find out a bit more Meghan Markle. Firstly when the engagement was announced, she also announced she was giving up her acting career to focus on women's healthcare worldwide.

MM is a serious women's advocate and it started when she was just 11 years old. She watched a sexist advert for washing up liquid on TV and decided to write to three high profile women including Hillary Clinton, and Proctor and Gamble, the company responsible for the advert. She received replies from all three women, and P&G changed the wording in the advert from Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans' to People all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans. That was the start of her commitment to women's issues and she's remained involved, combining her campaigning with her acting career for over 20 years.

More recently she's been a Global Ambassador for World Vision for several years and some of the issues with which she's involved are the stigmatisation of menstruation in young girls in India and the clean water initiatives in Rwanda (she turned down an invitation to attend the BAFTAs to volunteer in a refugee camp in Rwanda). In countries like India education stops for more than 100 million girls who can't afford sanitary products when they start their periods. MM works with the Myna Mahila Foundation which is a fantastic charity in India that makes sanitary products. It also trains women to make these products to sell, so that they can set up their own small business and generate their own income for the benefit of their families and communities. The Myna in the name comes from the myna bird because talking about health education is a large part of charity's work. I sponsored 2 girls so they have sanitary products for a year and can go to school.

MM was a counsellor at the One Young World Summits in Dublin, Ireland (2014), and Ottawa, Canada (2016), where she delivered a talk alongside the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about gender equality. She is a UN Ambassador for Women and in 2015 gave a speech on International Women’s Day about gender equality that got a standing ovation. She has written for Time magazine about the stigmatisation of menstruation in young girls. Next month she's going back to India for two weeks to set up a girls’ programme that she's been working on for the past six months.

She finishes filming Suits next spring and then after her marriage will continue focusing on using her celebrity status for her advocacy and charity work. I could go on, but as Harry spends a lot of his time working with charities, I'd say it sounds like a good match.

that was addressed to Rhinestone btw

^ Most of the Americans I know think it’s silly that you still pay money for a figurehead.^
I'm sorry, but she is our Head of State.

Of course, you may not understand, as you have Trump who probably costs only a dime or two and is so well-loved around the world.

Why oh why, are we saying goodbye to our cultured European neighbours, and opening our gates to this Hollywood circus?!
What a very odd statement GoldenAge

I don't remember there being two boxes on the referendum voting form, one for voting yea or nay to Europe and the other voting for Prince Harry to marry an American.

But perhaps I needed to go to that optician's.

suzied....what on earth do you mean by saying ‘ the monarchy doesn’t bring in tourism apart from the dead ones’ ? What dead ones?

My first comment on this thread, it seems to be a bit of a vinegary view of things to moan about her dress, either the style or the price of it.
Did anyone here moan about Diana’s clothes?
Or Kate’s?
She may well be a breath of fresh air within the royal family.
I am a rebuplican at heart but see no point in knocking new members of ‘the firm’ they are ( or seem) very happy, so good luck to them.I don’t suppose that life is all roses round the door either.

I've just read this entire thread and I have to agree with the OP, £56,000 is indeed an obscene amount of money to spend on a dress although I doubt she actually paid for it, it would have been loaned. More importantly in my opinion is the bad publicity it would be sure to generate. Ms M is not being well advised or perhaps she ignored the advice, who knows? Either way, she is reaping the whirlwind on GN.

Tegan that was suggested some hours ago but, oddly enough, those that have carped loudest and longest about cost of the dress v donations to charities, haven't been back on to confirm that they'll be drinking tap water and eating dry crackers this Christmas and giving the difference to good causes. Wonder why?

...I hope that people who are complaining about the cost of the dress etc are giving money this Christmas to the homeless etc instead of wasting lots of money on food, booze and unnecessary presents...

I think she's lovely, the dress is lovely [if somewhat unusual] and the photos are lovely. I don't really regard myself as a Royalist but I do sometimes think that, if we hadn't had a royal family over the centuries we wouldn't have castles and stately homes and churches and cathedrals to visit. ok I realise they were built using the blood sweat and tears of commoners.......