Just call me Harry. (Everything Harry & Meghan)

[taf2002]

The conspiracy theorists are out there saying they deliberately announced now before Eugenie announces her baby’s name to take the spotlight away from her yet again.

Eugenie has had 5 days to announce her baby's name & she still hasn't. IOW you snooze you lose.

 

[MsZem]

Eugenie has had 5 days to announce her baby's name & she still hasn't. IOW you snooze you lose.

In Denmark they don't announce royal baby names for months, until the christening. It would be so if this happened with the UK royals.

Eugenie is said to be close to Harry, or at least she was. I hope they still have a good relationship.

 

[MLIS]

Eugenie and Jack are said to be living at least part time at Frogmore Cottage at Harry and Meghan’s invitation, so hopefully that relationship is still solid. (I think that’s a great solution, by the way, that house recently underwent a lot of renovations to make it the right place for a young family, nice to know it’s being used and not just sitting there).

I will say that after announcing Meghan’s first pregnancy at Eugenie’s wedding, I would understand if Eugenie felt a bit irritated that this second announcement is coming right after she had her baby. I mean, it’s totally irrational, but even if you can understand the timing of the first announcement (they were about to head out on a massive tour of Australia and wanted to get ahead of the news before it leaked out) it does feel like they’re constantly upstaging her. And sure, everyone should just live their lives and babies come when they come and no one is entitled to the “spotlight,” but I can for sure see Eugenie rolling her eyes. Just for a second. Nothing to make a federal case about or complain to anyone other than Jack, but just for a second.

 

[canbelto]

How far along do you guys think Meghan looks? I think 5 months.

 

[kittyjake5]

Every woman carries differently but she looks about 7 months to me. At five months my baby bump was considerably smaller than Meghan. Maybe twins? No due month was announced.

 

[JJH]

Since Meghan shared the information that she suffered a miscarriage in July, it's unlikely that this pregnancy is as advanced as her baby bump size might suggest. Her body just seems to display a baby bump in an unconventional way. During her pregnancy with Archie, I remember that the tabloids were full of photos and commentary about her unusual baby bump. Sidebar comment: I can't figure out why the articles keep stating this is her second pregnancy when it must be her third since she had a miscarriage with her second.

 

[sk8girl]

Now that we don't have novellas being posted over and over in both threads, is it time to put Harry and Meghan back in the royal thread? Or are they really not royal anymore? (I'm not good at remembering all the details but I think they are technically still royalty.)

I don't have a particular opinion about which thread they should be in, but yes, they are absolutely still royalty and still members of the royal family. He is still a prince and they are still duke and duchess, amongst other titles. They just resigned from being senior working royals, which included giving up the HRH title only.

 

[MacMadame]

The Guardian weighs in on Meghan's win in court:

It will come as a surprise to some, but even Meghan has a right to her privacy | Alan Rusbridger

The high court has ruled in no uncertain terms that a public interest defence isn’t about the public being interested

www.theguardian.com

 

[kittyjake5]

I agree with the article. What a debacle the Tabloid caused by publishing that letter.

ETA: Meghan, Harry and Oprah.

Oprah Announces First Sit-Down Interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Since Their Engagement

Oprah Winfrey was a guest at Meghan and Prince Harry's royal wedding and now lives near them in California

people.com

 

[antmanb]

The Guardian weighs in on Meghan's win in court:

It will come as a surprise to some, but even Meghan has a right to her privacy | Alan Rusbridger

The high court has ruled in no uncertain terms that a public interest defence isn’t about the public being interested

www.theguardian.com

Yep, I totally agree and I still think it was genius (as I said when it was first reported) that she was relying on the copyright she owned in the letter as a secondary argument in case the privacy ones failed. In fact the judge upheld all of it.

But you do have to wonder now that we've left the EU what will happen with privacy rights in the UK.

 

[skategal]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/harry-meghan-royal-duty-buckingham-palace-1.5919854

Harry and Meghan not returning to royal duties.

I’m looking forward to their Oprah interview.

 

[kittyjake5]

Buckingham Place official statement

Buckingham Palace statement on The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed to Her Majesty The Queen that they will not be returning as working members of The Royal Family. Following...

www.royal.uk

 

[skatfan]

Prince Harry gets a tour of LA from James Corden. Well done!

An Afternoon with Prince Harry & James Corden

Now that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are settled into Southern California, James Corden thought it was time to show his friend Prince Harry the sights. Fr...

youtu.be

 

[ribbon]

Prince Harry gets a tour of LA from James Corden. Well done!

An Afternoon with Prince Harry & James Corden

Now that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are settled into Southern California, James Corden thought it was time to show his friend Prince Harry the sights. Fr...

youtu.be

part of this would be perfect for promoting Invictus (the army course). Harry looked like he was having fun and was impressively fit. But, instead the whole segment seemed to be a promotion of Netflix. This is where they will draw critics from the UK...the Americans will likely accept it without issue.

 

[taf2002]

part of this would be perfect for promoting Invictus (the army course). Harry looked like he was having fun and was impressively fit. But, instead the whole segment seemed to be a promotion of Netflix. This is where they will draw critics from the UK...the Americans will likely accept it without issue.

Did you really mean the whole segment? I didn't pick up on that. If that makes me naive so be it. Which part was endorsing Netflix? The serving of tea on the bus? The conversation about stepping down/stepping away? Stopping by the fresh prince's house? The obstacle course? I guess I'm just a dumb American. I accepted it for what it was - entertainment.

 

[ribbon]

Did you really mean the whole segment? I didn't pick up on that. If that makes me naive so be it. Which part was endorsing Netflix? The serving of tea on the bus? The conversation about stepping down/stepping away? Stopping by the fresh prince's house? The obstacle course? I guess I'm just a dumb American. I accepted it for what it was - entertainment.

It’s entertaining but there’s a reason he’s there. I used to work in PR at a college so maybe I see things thru that lens.

He casually mentioned Meghan and he watch Netflix after putting Archie to bed. He defended the Netflix show “The Crown” as fictional entertainment with some insight into the reality of royal life.

Harry and Meghan have a big Netflix deal and will be needing to promote their documentaries - doing entertaining things with James Cordon gets Harry on the American media radar - other shows like Good Morning America or Today or even E! will show the entertaining clip and then inevitably say “and Harry and Meghan have been busy, creating content for Netflix...”

It will come up on Oprah in March and I’m expecting a People cover story soon too that will say it.

It’s promotion, which is fine and normal and smart if they want viewers!

But, it’s going to be hard for Harry not to talk about his family, and he runs a risk of the media focusing on his comments about that and then he’s got a similar problem he had in the UK.

 

[MLIS]

Yeah. I mean, every guest who goes on James Corden or any other talk show is promoting something. That's why those shows exist. It doesn't mean they talk about the specific project the entire time, but it's all part of the machine. I think Harry is still figuring out how to thread that needle ... the truth is he's famous because he's royal, and people are going to want to talk about that. This is their way of getting their side of the story and their perspective out, and he's walking a fine line between their claims of wanting their privacy and needing to promote himself if wants to make money. I'm not sure they're always successful in finding that balance, but no one ever anticipated they would leave the royal family at the beginning of a global crisis that changed everything. It's taking some time.

 

[skatfan]

part of this would be perfect for promoting Invictus (the army course). Harry looked like he was having fun and was impressively fit. But, instead the whole segment seemed to be a promotion of Netflix. This is where they will draw critics from the UK...the Americans will likely accept it without issue.

I noticed the couple of mentions of Netflix, but it wasn’t overdone.

@ribbon - a US public doesn’t much care that Harry talks about his famous family and connections.

Having his good friend Corden give him his first big coming out was very smart. It made him sympathetic and likeable.

 

[Judy]

Prince Harry gets a tour of LA from James Corden. Well done!

An Afternoon with Prince Harry & James Corden

Now that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are settled into Southern California, James Corden thought it was time to show his friend Prince Harry the sights. Fr...

youtu.be

The tea trolley was . I have to finish listening to it.

 

[starrynight]

Harry used to hate the Crown and said that he'd make sure the series was shut down before it got to issues addressing his life. But anyway.

Celebrities that have a product they produce like music or films can rely on those products for promotion. But Harry is now more of an 'influencer' like a Kardashian or a Jenner - the product to promote is himself. The reality of promoting yourself as the product is that it requires constantly putting yourself out there and inviting people in.

I think the difference with the royal model is that when Harry has money to make and products to sell, all public appearances are going to be hinged on business interests. Even these documentaries and podcasts are going to be all about money and ratings, as Netflix will need a return on their enormous investment and advance payments to Harry. I don't know if charity with a $200million + pay day is really public service. It's just celebrity culture.

But there is certainly a huge appetite for celebrity culture. Beats me why people love the Jenners and Kardashians, but enough people seem to do and hence they have become extremely wealthy and famous from it. It's likely that enough people will enjoy Harry and Meghan's celebrity to enable them to make a career from it in the same way.

The thing that will annoy me is if Harry & Meghan start acting holier than thou about it. Honestly, the incredible wealth and platform they have is based on a system of extreme inequality and hereditary privilege. They are not self-made people and a part of the 0.001% of privileged society. So a bit of humility would go a long way.

 

[Judy]

Omg I was howling. James . That was awesome.

 

[Judy]

Harry used to hate the Crown and said that he'd make sure the series was shut down before it got to issues addressing his life. But anyway.

Celebrities that have a product they produce like music or films can rely on those products for promotion. But Harry is now more of an 'influencer' like a Kardashian or a Jenner - the product to promote is himself. The reality of promoting yourself as the product is that it requires constantly putting yourself out there and inviting people in.

I think the difference with the royal model is that when Harry has money to make and products to sell, all public appearances are going to be hinged on business interests. Even these documentaries and podcasts are going to be all about money and ratings, as Netflix will need a return on their enormous investment and advance payments to Harry. I don't know if charity with a $200million + pay day is really public service. It's just celebrity culture.

But there is certainly a huge appetite for celebrity culture. Beats me why people love the Jenners and Kardashians, but enough people seem to do and hence they have become extremely wealthy and famous from it. It's likely that enough people will enjoy Harry and Meghan's celebrity to enable them to make a career from it in the same way.

The thing that will annoy me is if Harry & Meghan start acting holier than thou about it. Honestly, the incredible wealth and platform they have is based on a system of extreme inequality and hereditary privilege. They are not self-made people and a part of the 0.001% of privileged society. So a bit of humility would go a long way.

I don’t get the Kardashians and don’t follow that at all. I’m pretty sure Harry and William would have liked to be given a choice in their lives.

 

[starrynight]

I don’t get the Kardashians and don’t follow that at all. I’m pretty sure Harry and William would have liked to be given a choice in their lives.

Fair enough.

But I think my sympathy will always lie more with those who didn’t choose to be born into poverty or disadvantage versus those born into an incredibly wealthy ruling class.

Regular people in the UK are suffering a great deal at the moment. So I’m sure they are not the target audience for a poor little rich boy play for sympathy.

 

[clairecloutier]

So will we see Harry and Meghan at the Oscars at some point?? This is my question.

 

[Judy]

Fair enough.

But I think my sympathy will always lie more with those who didn’t choose to be born into poverty or disadvantage versus those born into an incredibly wealthy ruling class.

Regular people in the UK are suffering a great deal at the moment. So I’m sure they are not the target audience for a poor little rich boy play for sympathy.

I agree. Nobody gets to choose where they are born and if they are born into poor, middle income or rich parents.

 

[becca]

Fair enough.

But I think my sympathy will always lie more with those who didn’t choose to be born into poverty or disadvantage versus those born into an incredibly wealthy ruling class.

Regular people in the UK are suffering a great deal at the moment. So I’m sure they are not the target audience for a poor little rich boy play for sympathy.

And its not just that if Harry wasn’t born royal they wouldn’t be having a Netflix deal. His royalty has given him profound opportunities. Let’s point out he is still choosing a life of celebrity. However it is his life and he was always going to be a celebrity.

 

[Judy]

And its not just that if Harry wasn’t born royal they wouldn’t be having a Netflix deal. His royalty has given him profound opportunities. Let’s point out he is still choosing a life of celebrity. However it is his life and he was always going to be a celebrity.

I guess it would be on their terms. There is no doubt the British tabloids are very toxic with their coverage. I know I would have fled personally. I would not fit into that lifestyle at all lol.

 

[starrynight]

The amount of power Harry and Meghan have given a bunch of trashy red top rags is also interesting to me. These are publications that mostly talk about celebrity boob jobs and weight loss (just spend a second on The Sun website and you'll know what I mean).

And what people say on the internet is hardly indicative of the real world. Heck there can be an article like 'Man saves puppies from burning house' and half the comments will be 'you suck'. lol

I'd probably understand more if it was just media attention full stop that was the issue and they wanted to leave the spotlight. The original plan of living quietly in rural Canada made way more sense. But it's clear that they are now gunning for major fame in the USA and to effectively set up a second royal court with these interviews and partnering with enormous deals with the major media/entertainment companies.

I think both of them like the attention and spotlight way more than they would like to admit. If they just wanted a career change, I think they should be honest about it. Whereas, the blame game has just negatively impacted Harry's family and home country.

 

[taf2002]

And its not just that if Harry wasn’t born royal they wouldn’t be having a Netflix deal. His royalty has given him profound opportunities. Let’s point out he is still choosing a life of celebrity. However it is his life and he was always going to be a celebrity.

A lot of rich entitled people don't give a crap about charity or service. H & M's profound opportunities are being used for good. If they happen to get something out of it for themselves i.e. having pleasure & joy in their lives or Netflix deals about their foundation is that such a horrible thing? Without their celebrity none of that could happen. Sheesh, some people, not mentioning any names, won't be happy unless they are suffering or being villified.

 

[starrynight]

I think it's more the culture of celebrity worship that is strange to me.

It's that undercurrent that somehow these incredibly rich people who do professional 'charity' for $200 million pay checks are somehow worthy of adulation or are better than the common folk. Can it even classify as charity in these circumstances? It's not a case of 'giving back', it's actually just using charity to take - and not a liveable wage, it's an extraordinary amount of money.

But there's obviously some kind of big appetite for this if charity can be monetised to the point where Netflix and Spotify find it to be a good business deal to pay such incredible sums of money for it. The whole thing is just cynical big business which capitalises on the wish of regular people to do better by the world.