After looking at all the news reports etc I have come to the conclusion that Harry is really stuck in the middle of his wife and the RF. Meghan married Harry very quickly, which can cause difficulties in ‘normal’ families, but with the emotionally constipated RF it was a disaster waiting to happen. If someone like Diana, who had experience of royalty couldn’t cope with the way of life or the hold the courtiers have over proceedings, how could a feisty American. Catherine has only managed it because she and William took a very long time to get her settled into the RF.
Moving to a new country, getting married, having a baby and trying to fit into the RF is a heavy burden, and then being bullied completely by the press is enough to make anyone crack. The daily mail is still dredging up anyone they can to slate Meghan and Harry.
Harry is trying to protect his wife, and according to recent reports, has tried to initiate changes but has been rebuffed at every stage. I would think that seeing the photos on the Queen’s desk didn’t show him or Meghan or their son was hurtful and an indication that they no longer counted. The further photos of the 4 reigning/next in line would surely have pushed home that point.
Harry has slumped down the line of succession, the same thing that happened to Andrew, Anne and Edward. But they had each other to share this change of status and that surely made matters easier.
I think Harry feels very alone and impotent and is trying very hard to change things for his wife, but has had to make a huge fuss to get anyone to listen. If you add in his own personal problems then I am very surprised that he is still trying to go forward instead of just giving up. Perhaps now the RF will abandon their stiff upper lip and treat Harry better than they did Diana.
Sorry for long waffle.
Of course it is all speculation, but like craftyone we have family in the military who have actually served alongside royalty. They signed the official secrets act, they signed to defend Her Majesty, they can say nothing. They are however disgusted by Harry's attitude and behaviour. Why should he rewrite the rule book and get away with it like a spoilt child?
Artdecogran- Thank you for your very sensible post. With all the rants going on about this it's nice to read something that spells it out.
Me too lavenderzen.
All unsubstantiated gossip.
He didn’t choose to be a prince ? Then give up all that goes with the title.
Spoilt brat who needs to grow up.
Luckygirl, Meghan wants to be in full glare of the media. When they don’t report on her as she wants to be reported on, she screams racist. This from a woman who has totally rejected all her black relatives except her mother. And her white ones come to that. I don’t know how you can keep on defending the appalling and selfish behaviour of this woman.
Luckygirl of course it is all speculation, we only pick up what we want to hear and what goes along with our own views.
To expand on your farming analogy, if the farm is vastly profitable, the family aren’t going to be happy if the artist never makes any money from his paintings, spends months waiting for the “muse” to give him inspiration, but then expects the family who work very hard at making the farm successful to pay him and share the profits.
I would be calling a family meeting to point out the unfairness of that.
I don’t think you can compare a child born into a farming family who might not want to carry on the farming tradition, Luckygirl That would be fair enough. PH does not want to live a “normal life” as in the life that most young people of his age have , working long hours in a real job , struggling to pay mortgages, etc.
He wants everything he has ( which let’s face it is an awful lot plus some ) but doesn’t want to put any of the work in .
And on it goes...............everyone having an opinion about something that we know nothing about - we do not know these people; we only know what we hear from the media who are ferreting about to find something negative to say.
I doubt this young man popped his head out of Diana's vagina and said: "I choose to be a prince."!
It is like a child born to a farming family finding that they do not want the farm, they want to be an artist. It causes a heap of anguish when the decision is made, but in the end it settles down. Only this couple are trying to deal with the problem in the full glare of a hostile media.
Maddyone, exactly!
When she made that comment about 'hitting the ground running' I thought that it was incredibly patronising and that she saw herself as the new broom who would sweep the cobwebs away from the RF and be the adored new Diana.
As for not knowing who Harry was when she met him ........! Word fail me!
Harry took this oath when he joined the army, the same oath that my dd and her husband took when they finished sandhurst and which they would defend to the end
"that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her heirs and successors and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty.
H has behaved very badly in not upholding army values and standards. He has let himself down bigtime, lost respect from all directions. What will he have left to cling onto? Just his wife who has him exactly where she planned, isolated from everything that meant something
Interesting comment from her ex “her way or the highway” that’s exactly my impression of recent events, it’s all about her wants.
I wish them well, we will see how Harry copes with her idea of life in the future. In the last few weeks there has been talk of them being “ goodwill ambassadors” for charities using their Royal status. Maybe that will be possible although I don’t see it sustaining a jet set lifestyle, Harry certainly does not make money out of Invictus.
He appears to be totally besotted with her and now she has given him the son he was said to have long wanted.
He will never give her up.
Whether she will do it for him will be revealed in the fullness of time.
Oh dear, by saying he has been bullied by William, Harry is making himself even more unpopular and looking even more stupid. I'm sure it is Meghan encouraging him to say these things although he was a bit of a whinger even before her time. Maybe it's time to have the "tell all" interview then H&M can well and truly show their true colours and invent every grievance under the sun to get their own way. By doing so they would become the most hated couple in the world.
I agree JenniferE. It is indeed very sad. How long will Meghan hang on to Harry once they’re living in Canada I wonder.
It gives me no pleasure at all in being proven right about Meghan, but the clues were all there from the beginning.
She rejected her family, her father, ex husband, and any friends who had served their purpose. I remember her half brother saying something like “she will be a disaster for the royal family “ but it was dismissed as the ramblings of a jealous sibling.
I believe she had no intention at all of trying to fit in with royal life, and now Harry appears to have been issued an ultimatum from her.
I suspect they will get most of their wishes granted at the meeting today.
All very sad .
Annie, you have hit the nail on the head. The kind of life that H+M want is anything but ordinary. Sparklefizz, you too have made a pertinent post.
Those who are saying there’s vitriol on here are living in cloud cuckoo land. As I have said before on another thread, if H+M had wanted to live a quiet life away from the royals, if they wanted to live quietly somewhere else such as Canada, they could have had their beautiful wedding but refused the titles, refused the money, refused Frogmore Cottage, refused the duty, but no, it was all lapped up. Meghan arrived in Britain saying she was going to hit the ground running, but a mere couple of years later she’s unhappy, saying that Harry’s family have made things so difficult for her so she can’t thrive. Well the way I see it, Harry’s family have given her everything she wanted including a most beautiful and most expensive wedding, a beautiful home renovated at our expense, a title (something money can’t buy,) an eye watering amount of money, and the fame she craved, but it was not enough for this woman (who is not a young woman but is nearly 40) and it was not enough because Meghan wanted to be queen bee. Now she’s threatening Harry’s family with a tell all interview if she doesn’t get what she wants, and it is being reported today that the person behind all of this IS Meghan.
And of course the British people are, in the main, unhappy and bemused by all of this. Having seen how Harry’s family have bent over backwards to welcome her, and now seeing Meghan wanting to make money off the back of her royal title is especially unpalatable to many people. They should have refused the titles, the house, and all the money, and gone to live quietly somewhere, and the public would have accepted that, but no, Meghan wants it all, and more besides.
It is not possible to cherry pick jobs and live the life they lead.
Sorry but I can’t begin to feel even the tiniest bit sorry for Harry.
He and his wife are just coming across as a pair of spoilt over indulged brats who want their cake and eat it.
I think that it's come to a head because they want public lives but without the restrictions placed on them by the monarchy. This is clearly an opportunity to market the royal brand but they are restrained. Apparently they are lining up Oprah in case things don't go their way. I think that it's going to be very hard for a dignified way forward as the contradiction of what each side wants and expectations are at variance.
He won’t give up his titles, they are needed to make money and stay in the limelight.
The Duchess of Sussex or Mrs Mountbatten Windsor ?
I agree Anniebach and even if they paid the market rent for Frogmore at 5K a month that is not exactly a normal rent and it is before a bill is paid.
Anniebach - he will never be able to live a "normal" life, even if he gives up all royal titles and funding from the Duchy he will still be followed and photographed wherever he goes.
Living in Frogmore 6 months of the year , having millions
from the Duchy is not an ordinary life.
Someone close to Harry has said that whilst many children look at castles and dream of being a prince or princess Harry was always in the castle dreaming of living an ordinary life and as far as he could see Harry never grew out of that.
I don't think it would be Harry "telling all".
Online it's now reported that Harry feels terribly torn (I bet he does!), that Meghan has said she can no longer continue (after all, she has given it such a long run!!! (sorry - sarcastic face) and also that Harry feels bullied by William.
William just doesn't come across as a bully and I really don't think that is the case.
I feel extremely sorry for the pressure Harry is being put under by his wife.
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