Do the Tales Get Taller?

As a younger sibling of two myself I do have some sympathy with Harry's plight as "spare".

It's not confined to aristocratic families. I was annoyed by the narrative some years ago about Ed Miliband "stabbing his brother in the back" by not subsuming his own independent political career into David's.

I also feel the same about those younger siblings born into dynastic farming, fishing and other business families who aren't going to inherit the business but are expected to provide cheap labour at least until they can get away to lead independent lives, which may lead to estrangement from actual family for not "pulling their weight". There's a difference between being a willing participant in a family business and simply wanting to remain close to your family.

I feel even worse for those whose very existence is to be a source of organs and tissue for a chronically ill older sibling. where emotional pressure may be brought even into adulthood to forgo an independent life.

H&M are hardly in conspiracy with our government to keep the real news out.
The whole thing is a monumental mess up of gigantic proportions and is going to be talked about because people need to talk. To censor that would be rubbish.
Feel free to start a current news thread if you're worried we aren't in touch enough with other events.
What people choose to comment on doesn't mean they aren't paying attention to important stuff.

Thanks Blondiescot.

Two final points (I hope) strike me. First Harry makes a big thing of being guided by his mother's spirit. Not sure how his current behaviour fits with her expressed wish to have him as William's wingman. Secondly his father made a joke about Harry perhaps not being his son. To my mind this is on a par with my parents often telling me that at least I knew I wasn't adopted because they would have sent me back! It's called a joke, it's what families do.

Germanshepherdsmum

She grew up though, didn’t she? Accepted her role and got on with it - as well as excelling at equestrian sports and bringing up level-headed children for whom she refused to accept titles. What a difference.

Absolutely - and has earned the respect of many for doing just that.
PS: Good to see you back again, GSM. You have been missed.

I thought it was well established that Harry had mental health problems and made an effort to make mental health one of his issues?

IF Harry e is on the verge of having a mental health crisis - is the reporting of all this ethical?

It is the same with Britney Spears atm, it isn't ethical reporting.

and the sad thing is, I am just as guilty of listening to it all and forming an opinion for those 10 minutes

Harry has lost the plot, he is behaving appallingly. Idiot on every scale. Best to ignore attention seekers like him. I must admit, I thought he was better than this, how wrong I was.

Callistemon21

nadateturbe

^And I hate the way that this sort of thing keeps the real news out of the way.
Sunak must be delighted^.

I'm sure. Headline news, like we've nothing more important to talk about.
I do not believe they're telling lies.

I'm sure his tales of how he lost his virginity, his tales of Army life and other stories are true but much of what we perceive as true for one sibling may not be the whole truth as perceived by another.

Why tell at all?

Of course there are different perceptions of truth. We're getting it as H sees it. If the RF aren't willing to speak that's their problem.
I prefer to have compassion for someone who is obviously deeply troubled.

That was in reply to Grandma70s.

She grew up though, didn’t she? Accepted her role and got on with it - as well as excelling at equestrian sports and bringing up level-headed children for whom she refused to accept titles. What a difference.

I'd really like to stay well clear of this. It's all about people who have little if any impact on my life and I'd prefer to keep it that way. Besides, all we've seen of the book so far is the salacious pieces that have been picked up by the media and spun in order to sell papers. It is, of course, a weapon of mass distraction: if you get the people in a lather about people with little impact on their lives, especially those whose role is determined to be that of scapegoat, maybe they won't get into a lather about the government's mishandling of the economy.
Might it be wise to wait for the book to see these salacious snippets in context?

Anyway, for what it's worth, here's what I think about what's been revealed so far. A presumption has arisen, no doubt carefully managed by the palace PR department, that whatever Harry or Meghan say that casts other members of the royal family in a dubious light must be a lie, since members of the royal family (Harry excepted) are demi-gods, infinitely wise and incapable of ever doing or saying the wrong thing. Is Harry lying when he tells of William hitting him and knocking him down in what sounds like an act of blind rage which he regretted shortly afterwards. I find it disturbing that the future king might have a violent temper, contrary to the image being carefully constructed by the PR department, preparing the people to accept him as a devoted family man.

The other thing that made me laugh, and did actually make me a little sceptical of the man, was the bit about the spiritualist who purported to be passing on messages from his mother. Supposedly, Diana's spirit said was pleased that Harry was living the life she would have wanted for herself. Which was actually pretty much on the button, I thought. Diana really, really wanted to live among the über-rich of Southern California, shopping on Rodeo Drive and being invited to all the best parties. She was never going to get that married to the heir to the throne of course; her job was to defer to her partner and stay two steps behind like her father-in-law, not be forever trying to steal the show.

I remember Princess Anne once saying that she spent much of her childhood/youth feeling anger and resentment at coming second.

Iam64 The estrangement and other threads provide details of family rifts, many longstanding. Generally, responses reflect a level of understanding of the complexity of family relationships. The RF has generations of dysfunctional relationships. Good parental role models are thin on the ground. Add the peculiar expectations like 4 year old Prince Charles shaking hands with mummy when she returned after a long absence, children growing up in the public eye, the Shakespearean competitions to be most popular, leaking of private info to chosen press outlets etc etc - no wonder emotional and psychological stability isn’t their bed rock

Precisely. Best said thus far.

Let's hope he's purged himself once and for all.

nadateturbe

^And I hate the way that this sort of thing keeps the real news out of the way.
Sunak must be delighted^.

I'm sure. Headline news, like we've nothing more important to talk about.
I do not believe they're telling lies.

I'm sure his tales of how he lost his virginity, his tales of Army life and other stories are true but much of what we perceive as true for one sibling may not be the whole truth as perceived by another.

Why tell at all?

^And I hate the way that this sort of thing keeps the real news out of the way.
Sunak must be delighted^.

I'm sure. Headline news, like we've nothing more important to talk about.
I do not believe they're telling lies.

Iam64

GagaJo

OnwardandUpward

And yes I imagine the tales can get taller. The only limit is their imagination (and life span)

You've only got to read the tales about family problems on gransnet to realise that the things Harry is saying aren't actually tall tales. They're just tales of families with problems. Plenty just as bad on here from GN members. Why should the royals be any different? If anything, you'd expect them to be worse, given the crazy lifestyles they life.

Exactly so.
The estrangement and other threads provide details of family rifts, many longstanding. Generally, responses reflect a level of understanding of the complexity of family relationships.
The RF has generations of dysfunctional relationships. Good parental role models are thin on the ground. Add the peculiar expectations like 4 year old Prince Charles shaking hands with mummy when she returned after a long absence, children growing up in the public eye, the Shakespearean competitions to be most popular, leaking of private info to chosen press outlets etc etc - no wonder emotional and psychological stability isn’t their bed rock

I completely agree.
Two of the most insightful posts IMO, amongst the record breaking attention this sorry tale has provoked on GN.

^ Anymore of this and I will be forced to get the vacuum out and do something useful with my day^
I did but I've finished now (although the stairs need doing and the decorations need to be put in the attic).

Blondiescot

vegansrock

There should be a separate Royal Family section as I’ve lost count of the number of threads about them. I keep hiding them , then they seem to multiply.

That would be a great idea - maybe GN should take note!

Yes please! Or at least a separate 'Here is my opinion on Harry and Megan' thread, so those of us who are not the least bit interested may avoid it. I keep accidentally opening threads about H&M because the title does not give a warning give a clue about the subject. Anymore of this and I will be forced to get the vacuum out and do something useful with my day

Since we lost our beloved Queen I have little interest in the RF and even less interest in those who have left it, I do however have a great interest in using the headlines to make my points about Estrangement.

In all honesty, I have no interest at all in the Royal family but I do find it interesting how many people view certain members in a good/bad light. All of this for me, does bring to mind the saying 'There are three sides to every story, your side, their side and the truth'!

I agree Labbielsen and the truth always comes out in the end.

True!

Also, no matter what mistakes anyones family have made, no one's Mother can pop them back in her tummy for another go, so it doesn't really achieve anything to focus on the problems. It would be better to actually commit to trying to grow as a person who looks to the future instead of the past.

An analaogy: Who as a farmer mourns the crop of the years before and doesn't sow new seeds to make a better future or learn how to make changes for the better? There is a time for mourning, but if that was all the farmer ever did, if he constantly raked up the failures of the previous years and grew so consumed with those that he failed to break up new ground and plant new seeds, he would grow nothing, achieve nothing and be not a farmer.

When my kids were little I read them a book called The Crow and Mrs Gaddy. I hope that everyone reads it and learns the lesson!

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