Royalty Thread #8.....A Pregnant Pause

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The picture of the Sussexes does not look like H&M's silhouettes to me. Harry looks beefy which he was certainly not at the time. And that doesn't look like his head. The ones in the picture could be anyone.
 
An interesting look back at British royal family Christmas cards over the years. :)

https://www.eonline.com/photos/23281/royal-christmas-cards-through-the-years/814736

There are apparently former Xmas cards with Prince Charles, Diana PofW and their young sons that have been sold at auction by individuals, unsurprisingly.

skatesindreams said:
I miss Sweden so much!
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Are you from Sweden, or you used to live there, or you vacationed there recently? Or perhaps you fondly recall a skating event there?
 
taf2002 said:
The picture of the Sussexes does not look like H&M's silhouettes to me. Harry looks beefy which he was certainly not at the time. And that doesn't look like his head. The ones in the picture could be anyone.
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Really? It looks like them from the back to me. Prince Harry probably has his suit jacket hanging open, like he usually does. :lol: Harry and William are two male members of the House of Windsor who share none of the sartorial style and polish of their great-great uncles David (Duke of Windsor) and George (Duke of Kent). :D

We know the b&w Xmas photo is of the Sussexes in any case. It's more like an art picture by the photographer, and not meant to be a straight-up routine snapshot. It was made for the couple and they know who they are. ;) :p It just so happens that they decided to share this photo with well wishers as their Xmas card this year, apparently because their wedding is the biggest and best thing that happened to them this year, and they must like the photo. :)

Maybe this iconic photo is more memorable:
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entert.../meghan-markle-reception-dress-royal-wedding/

I'm not referencing you taf2002, but a lot of people (at least online, and including Meghan's less than sweet half-sister) don't like the Sussexes chosen Xmas photo and make no bones about not liking it. :lol: It's so crazy this OTT agita surrounding everything Meghan does, and indeed her very existence on planet earth. :drama: The tabloids really can not get enuf of snidely dissing the Duchess of Sussex.

Speaking of certifiable:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/roya...y-christmas-card-trevor-engelson-royal-family
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/meghan-markle-prince-harry-nicknamed-13743559
These stories and suppositions are so cray cray... So Meghan's wedding invite card/photo with her former husband is now supposed to be 'exactly the same' as the wedding eve Frogmore fireworks photo with Harry. NOT! The only similar things are the stylistic theme of taking the photo from behind the couple and the fact that Meghan is in both pictures. The one with Harry and Meghan is taken at Windsor with fireworks; they are standing with hands grasped and arms cradling each other and it's their wedding eve. The one with Trevor is taken on a beach with swimming attire (theme of their 3-day wedding getaway in Jamaica); Trevor & Meghan are seated with Meghan leaning against Trevor but their arms and hands are not intertwined from behind. Plus seriously, the only people who care appear to be jealous haters and perhaps former friend(s) of Meghan who sold that Trevor/Meghan wedding invitation to the tabs in the first place.

I would attribute the similar styling of the photos to the photographers more-so than to Meghan! I'm sure there are plenty of never-before-publicly-seen photos of all of the royals and especially of H&M's royal wedding that the public will never get to see.
 
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FWIW - sometimes when you don't like something it doesn't mean anything other than you don't particularly like it. No ax to grind, no feelings involved. I think Harry & Meghan are beautiful people, I would rather see their faces instead of their (to me anonymous) backs. But I don't mean to criticize either of them.
 
I didn't like their holiday card either, didn't say holiday to me at all, too personal for something that's supposed to be a greeting to others, including more formal associates and such, not just friends. And I would have had the same reaction had it been William and Kate's card. Thought Charles and Camilla the same, not quite as personal as Harry and Meghan, but while it's a lovely portrait of them, doesn't say holiday to me.

I mean I see the family shots for the holidays, but do regular people send out a holiday card that is a romantic picture of themselves? I wouldn't do that.
 
Jenny said:
I didn't like their holiday card either, didn't say holiday to me at all, too personal for something that's supposed to be a greeting to others, including more formal associates and such, not just friends. And I would have had the same reaction had it been William and Kate's card. Thought Charles and Camilla the same, not quite as personal as Harry and Meghan, but while it's a lovely portrait of them, doesn't say holiday to me.

I mean I see the family shots for the holidays, but do regular people send out a holiday card that is a romantic picture of themselves? I wouldn't do that.
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I've seen people use their wedding photo for a holiday card since it was the biggest event of the year; but I've never seen a picture of the couple facing away from the camera. That seems to be more of a "save the date" or the photo you send with your thank you card after the wedding. To me, a holiday card should be warm and inviting, so facing away is, IMO, an odd choice. But it's fine- we'll surely see warm family photos in the future.

Charles and Camilla's photo isn't warm and inviting like the Cambridge's, but a pretty typical posed family photo I see when I get cards from others. Not having kids makes it harder to do the casual "look how fun we are" photo.

But, holiday cards aren't a contest.
And if they are, I lost. We didn't even manage to get one out this year, so they all beat me.
 
The pictures aren't the front image of the card, it's on the inside. The front image is something more seasonal. My father used to get one from Charles for Princes Trust work, it was usually a watercolour of the Highlands in the snow.
 
My heart goes out to Harry and William. The paparazzi, at the very least, contributed to the tragic death of their mother and still, they injure them with social media now an additional thorn. William's children's every mood have been analyzed since babyhood and the wives every dress, and gesture debated with much of it just nasty. Sure they are public figures but really - there is no excuse for this ignorance. Lord help them when Harry and Meghan's child is born. I don't even want to think about that!
 
Exactly @puglover. It's just simply OTT, especially in the age of social media. I've seen so many crazy public comments on Youtube videos and even on Kensington Palace Twitter announcements. I don't tend to click on Daily Mail's trivial mostly made-up articles anymore, with ridiculous comment sections. All Harry & Meghan were doing on the South Pacific tour was representing the Queen and being themselves. They got lots of positive coverage and a very warm welcome from the people in all of the countries they visited. And then once they returned to England, a negative backlash against Meghan ensued full force.

The negative backlash may be partly due to the fact that the tabloids had gotten so used to people clicking on articles for 16 days about everything Meghan and Harry were doing on tour. And suddenly the Sussexes were back in London under the radar not being seen, except for occasional appearances. So the trivial made-up stories began to appear, but this time with a vicious slant against Meghan. And then the tone veered into negative stories about rifts and tensions. I think it's mostly made up stuff. There's only so much that's actually known about the royals personal lives. What goes on behind-the-scenes between royal family members is definitely difficult to confirm. If staffers have been leaking, there's only so much they would know, and some of it is surely exaggerated and embellished if it's being purposely leaked.

All families have their ups-and-downs, and their difficult interactions. But the British royal family is so much larger than life, with a lot of courtiers, staffers, royal journalists and observers involved in the ongoing drama. The nasty tabloids can make it all a circus and/or a living nightmare. Every royal has generally undergone periods of OTT scrutiny and raking in the tabloids. Right now, it's pretty excessive against Meghan for a number of reasons. Some of it is very vitriolic and unstable, but hopefully it will soon dissipate. Certainly, someone in the palace gave media outlets the ultimatum to stop providing the Markle family with a venue for their vicious whining against Meghan. So now the negative 'insider source' stories against Meghan have taken the place of the Markles. Probably Harry & Meghan had steeled themselves to weather some of this noise from the tabloids, but if sources are leaking from inside the palace, that indicates something going on of a palace intrigue nature.

Here's a reasonable light touch take by Chris Ship in his ITV Royal Rota series, episode 6:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9COGNur7xMI
 
AxelAnnie said:
That holding your baby bump bugs the $hit out me too. I think it is an affect adopted for effect. We all know she is going to have a baby.
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Don't women commonly hold their baby bumps?

That's my impression in any case - largely dependent on seeing so many celebrities do so at awards event and such. I've not been pregnant myself, nor much in the company of pregnant women.

I thought it was either a protective/natural instinct, or just cool to feel the baby moving around.
 
Japanfan said:
Don't women commonly hold their baby bumps?

That's my impression in any case - largely dependent on seeing so many celebrities do so at awards event and such. I've not been pregnant myself, nor much in the company of pregnant women.

I thought it was either a protective/natural instinct, or just cool to feel the baby moving around.
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No, most women do not "cradle" their bump. Celebs do - but that has become a "thing". And, you don't need to hold on to feel every little move. You feel them from the inside :).

My daughter who has two kids, and is an LCSW, CLE. What she does for a living is give parenting with newborn classes, and pre and post pregnancy classes and private consultations.

I called her and asked if "cradling " is common. She said nope, not in her experience.

The baby and the bump grow quite slowly....so it is not like all of a sudden you have 20 lb thing stuck on your front. Unwieldy sure, but generally one needs their hands for other things LOL.
 
I really do not think anyone can generalize about how individual women may touch or refrain from touching themselves in public during pregnancy. :p And indeed, each pregnancy for every woman can progress differently too, with variant moods, feelings, appetite urges, etc!

The Duchess of Sussex yesterday visited the Royal Variety Charity's Brinsworth House nursing home facility. It's a home for former entertainment industry professionals who are ill or down on their luck.
http://madaboutmeghan.blogspot.com/
http://meghansmirror.com/royal-styl...meghan-visits-royal-variety-brinsworth-house/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs7u5800LQc

Meghan seemed to enjoy the time she spent chatting with the residents and engaging with the staff. It's surprising to see her wearing a floral print, as she doesn't tend to wear many prints. Also the dress appears to be more spring/ summer and thus unseasonal for December. Perhaps Meghan wished to wear something bright (for the residents) and a cooler fabric for herself (to keep from overheating). I like the styling of the dress, and I do like form-fitting maternity wear. But I think this dress would be more suited to be taken in and worn after her pregnancy in the spring/summer months. Plus, the dress wrinkles quite a bit and appeared to pull tight around her back and mid-section with the moving around she did visiting the residents.

Her coat, shoes, clutch, hair and accessories are lovely and it's nice to see Meghan out and about. Tomorrow is the Queen's annual Christmas lunch, but there are unlikely to be full views of what everyone wears.

Now this sounds strange. Due to some kind of glitch (or was it hacking interference), Meghan's former Instagram account appeared suddenly online for a few hours yesterday morning. And then it was taken down again.
https://www.eonline.com/news/997728/here-s-why-meghan-markle-s-instagram-mysteriously-reactivated (re Omid Scobie's comment, sure it was Meghan's choice to shutter her social media accounts, but she did it because of her relationship with Prince Harry which was more important to her than freely engaging with the public. If she was not anticipating joining the royal family, her choices surely would have been quite different)

I do miss Meghan's fun, well-curated Instagram (and especially her Tig lifestyle website). I would have loved to get glimpses of Meghan's posted Instagram comments again, if I'd known about the brief reappearance. All that's available now are rather bland, generic, equal time photos of various royals on Kensington Palace Twitter.
 
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Christmas Day in the UK: A very nice outfit from the Queen on the walk to church, and excellent festive princessing by Kate.

I also like Viscount Severn, who always looks like he would rather be anywhere else no matter the location.
 
This is the cutest Instagram video! I don't know how this shot was captured (during Meghan's December visit to the Royal Variety Charity Home), but it brings a smile to my face. Baby Sussex is very active, and seems to be announcing to the world: 'Here I Am!' :lol: Whatever, the baby's gender, he/she is bound to be a live wire. :D
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrkAN_olYLj/

Meghan and Harry will surely make delightful parents. I hope Meghan is enjoying the final months of her first pregnancy, and I hope everything proceeds smoothly. There are reports that Harry and Meghan may utilize Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey (where the Countess of Wessex gave birth to her two children). It's reportedly much closer to Windsor and easier to reach by car. Sophie, Countess of Wessex experienced a difficult birth with her first child, Lady Louise, and the Frimley Park Hospital staff is credited with saving Sophie's life:
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a25757871/meghan-markle-frimley-park-hospital-birth/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6555463/Meghan-baby-hospital-Sophie-Wessex.html
 
^^ Yes, that patronage has been widely expected, as well as prematurely revealed by an excited staffer at London's National Theatre (due to what's being described as an IT blunder).

More news about the Duchess of Sussex's first patronages will be officially announced today:
https://twitter.com/byEmilyAndrews/status/1083286022178459648

And the annoucement has just been made:
https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

The National Theatre (@NationalTheatre); The Association of Commonwealth Universities (@TheACU); Smart Works Charity (@smartworksHQ); and The Mayhew Animal Home (@TheMayhew). All four organizatons appear to be thrilled and excited about the Duchess of Sussex's announced involvement. And from what I know about Meghan (having read her own writings and watched past interviews, etc.), she definitely gets fully involved with everything she takes on in life. IOW, she has spoken in the past about wanting to be hands-on with humanitarian projects, and not just a figurehead.

I love the comments on this KP Twitter announcement of H&M's upcoming visit (January 14) to Birkenhead:
https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1082275618417459201 :lol: :encore:

What's been happening to Meghan lately and how she's carried herself reminds me of these Cardi B lyrics:
Knock me down nine times, but I get up ten
Knock me down nine times, but I get up ten
Yeah, but I get up ten

A look back at highlights of Meghan's amazing year, with photos from the South Pacific tour that I hadn't seen:
http://madaboutmeghan.blogspot.com/2019/01/year-in-review-2018-part-one.html#comment-form
I don't recall hearing about M&H's meeting with the young New Zealand woman, Eva McGauley, who started a charity (Eva's Wish) to aid victims of sexual violence. Sadly, Ms McGauley died in November from the rare cancer she was diagnosed with in 2015. The picture of Meghan hugging this selfless, caring young lady brings tears to my eyes.
 
Also announced today is a visit the Duchess of Sussex is making today to one of her patronages, Smart Works Charity:

https://twitter.com/SmartWorksHQ

She's there already: https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1083325246504091648

The Duchess of Sussex obviously took a lot of time behind-the-scenes doing research and background work before making a decision on these four charities, which represent causes that are important to her and that she's fully in tune with. Kudos and best of luck to Meghan in her work with these organizations.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-f...st-patronage-revealed-national-theatre-makes/
 
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