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I just finished reading Spare by Prince Harry.
As I’ve stated before on BC, I was a big fan of Meghan in Suits.
My impression of Prince Harry for years has been that he’s a spoiled, pampered fool.
After reading this book I can easily believe that Rupert Murdock and his ilk have shaped that opinion. It would seem that, at least in that regard, I’m no better than those who have allowed Fox News to convince them that hating trans people is a fulfillment of Biblical instructions.
Harry, and those who helped him write the book, made an excellent argument that a profit-driven unfettered press, combined with a fairly dysfunctional Royal family, left him no choice but to get away.
One thing he said hit me quite hard. He contended that the cost of having a Royal family was quite minimal given the income from all the tourism that they generate. I also didn’t realize that the families pay the majority of the expense for Royal weddings and funerals.
I still don’t understand why the paparazzi are allowed to blithely invade their privacy in the UK, the US, and Canada. I also wasn’t aware of the huge amounts of money the paparazzi are paid for their photographs. . .often six figures.
This book left me an even bigger fan of Meghan’s -- and hoping that Harry can find a way to have peace with his family and a life without the flashbulbs that killed his mother.
Jill
Comments
Harry's Flying Instructor
Took on the press in social media the other day. They had "quoted" him as rubbishing Harry and he said that they straight-out lied and twisted everything he said to suit their agenda. In fact he had great respect for Harry (he taught him to fly Apache choppers in Afghanistan) both as a pupil and a man. He said that he felt very foolish for having believed the lying assurances of those interviewing him.
Why anyone would believe Fucks News, any other Murdoch outlet or the other British tabloids is beyond me. Another trenchant critic who gets a free kick every time he opens his mouth is Piers Morgan, who was sacked from a British TV channel for racism. His beef is that he tried to date Meghan (pre-Harry) and she rejected him, so he has never forgiven her.
The media rub their hands over anything derogatory about Britain's royal family because they normally don't fight back. I think one reason they hate Harry and Meghan is because they do .
I think many of the older
I think many of the older people in the UK dislike Megan and Harry for "airing their dirty washing" in public. The royal family only usually engages the media at charity and public events. Look what happened when prince Andrew thought it was a good idea.
Megan started giving them stories and making accusations, knowing that they would not answer back.
It is like punching someone you know will not punch back. She and Harry are making huge amounts of money off the back of being royals. I just wish that Harry would have his royal status revoked if that is even possible.See if Netflix is interested then.
There is an age dived though. The younger "Twitter" generation side with Megan and Harry. Although, with many of us struggling to pay our energy bills in the UK, we find it hard to feel sympathy for a couple worth 60 million.
Leeanna
Consider Just One Cartoon
The mental cruelty inflicted on them is demonstrated in just one cartoon that was published in the press. Days after Archie was born a cartoon appeared showing the couple leaving the hospital with each of them holding the hand of a chimpanzee.
There's also the fact that Meghan resigned from her career where she was making $500,000 a year in salary plus I assume several times that in appearance and advertising fees.
In many ways she took an economic step backward marrying Harry. If she was that kind of gold digger there are much richer veins to dig, with far fewer negatives.
Celebs sign up for a certain amount of nonsense under the law. Perhaps I feel so strongly about them because I've been there and done that. I twice had to sue for defamation. I quickly learned that because I was in the paper so often for what I accomplished I'd become a public figure, which gives people the right to malign you to a degree. During the second trial it came out that the paper who had printed the libel had sent a copy of the article to the person who slandered me so that he could make sure his side of the story was "fairly" covered. That opportunity was not given to me.
Suing for defamation is like trying to dig yourself out of a hole.
I suppose once you've been front page news a few times and find out how much of what is printed is incorrect you become jaded.
Perhaps the younger people have a more positive view of M&H because they get their news from sources other than the tabloids.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Hi Angela, I think it is many
Hi Angela, I think it is many "girls" dream to marry a prince. She now has a title. I don't think it was for money although the net worth of 60 million she has been partially cashing in on being married to a member of probably the most famous royal family in the world.
Harry is Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel. Meghan took on the equivalent title of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex. If Harry had not been given a Dukedom by the Queen to mark his wedding, he would likely have kept his title since birth of Prince Henry of Wales. Meghan would have been titled Princess Henry of Wales, just like Princess Michael of Kent is styled.
Complicated stuff. The British press can be vicious when they scent a story. I never saw that chimp cartoon in a newspaper. I was Whatsapped it by an idiot colleague.
Disgusting racist crap. To be honest. I really don't care about the royals. When Megan said she was a woman of colour it surprised me. I never knew about her parents. I did have an American explain to me recently about the "one-drop rule" . Not really a thing in the UK
Leeanna
The one drop rule
I never understood the "One-Drop Rule". If these perfect pure, Aryan genes
are so superior, then surely they could kick the asses of any lowly untermensch
genes that make their way into the mix. Just as my mom's German genes have
dominated my 1/16th Jewishness to the point where I am fully a White Person
(Well except for my Italian ancestry, which makes me fall short of their
self-serving "Nordic ideal") The best way for racists who believe in stuff
like this to ensure that their bloodline remains 100% pure, uncorrupted
by inferior DNA is to fuck their mother, which they do anyway...
Let's not kid ourselves. Nearly everything about how we define ourselves
is a "social construct". Self-aggrandizement masquerading as science
(See: The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen J. Gould...)
~hugs, Veronica
"Government will only recognize 2 genders, male + female,
as assigned at birth-" (In his own words:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lugbpMKDU
I never understood why race
I never understood why race is such a big thing in the USA. When I was told about the "One-Drop Rule", it sort of started to fall into place. My son's American girlfriend told me she thought that the UK was more racist than the USA.
She based this on living in Nottingham for 2 years and hearing a few people say things like going to the "paki" shop and going to the "Chinkie" for a takeaway. I explained that though these were definitely wrong, they were mostly said through ignorance rather than malice. "Paki" was a shortening of Pakistani. They probably like the person that runs the shop. They just don't realize the negative way the word has been used.
She was very PC and would analyse every joke she heard before she laughed to see if it contained anything offensive. Then she would invariably say "That's really funny".
Leeanna
"Race" is basically a myth
The only thing that makes Race a thing is the way gene pools are contained by continents with oceans between them that leads to the appearance of distinct grouping. But to say all people fall within one of 3-4 "races" is like saying all colors on the visible spectrum have to be either red, yellow or blue, as if Eurasians (for example) don't exist. That's why I make fun of it and say (hopefully) shocking things. Like so many other things, what we were told are these rigid racial groupings are really a SPECTRUM with no clear boundaries between these 'either/or' labels we've slapped on everybody. The more we find out about genetics the more we realize there's more significant difference to blood type than the melanin content of a person's skin or the shape of the flesh around someone's eye, the size of there nose or any other pseudoscientific phrenologic or physiognomic flapdoodle. Race appears to be a thing because we've been told all our lives it's this big important thing, but it's bullshit. Cats, dogs and horses are way more knowledgable about the (in)significance of external markings than humans are. We don't see them segregating themselves + excluding others by fur color!
I don't know anything about Megan & Harry or the British royal family. I don't wish them any harm nor do I think they're all that interesting. I just know I'M a Princess according to the science of princessology!
~hugs, V
"Government will only recognize 2 genders, male + female,
as assigned at birth-" (In his own words:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lugbpMKDU
Meghan And Harry
There is a major article in today's (January 26) edition of The New York Times outlining how and why they are subject to attacks not only by so-called "columnists" like Piers Morgan and Jeremy Clarkson (I would just call them wankers) and the gutter media but also to sneak leaks by insiders in the royal family itself, particularly William and Kate, who are not the angels that they are portrayed to be.
The article says that Harry and Meghan have got a raw deal. You may believe this or not, but there is little doubt that the palace has been instrumental in spreading unfavourable coverage about them.
Surely the truth should be paramount in this whole affair, not the gossip and innuendo that seems to be prevailing. I am no protagonist of theirs, nor of the British royal family. I am a republican (small "R" please, not the American variety) but there is a definite stink of over-age fish in what has been reported and everybody deserves a fair go.
Oprah Did Them No Favors
After watching Oprah's roller coaster eye-rolls, I came away from that interview thinking M&H had turned themselves into sideshows.
The concept of royalty goes against my grain. Such things as race, nationality, and heritage are poor qualifiers for positions of leadership.
Harry was lucky in that he was the spare and not the heir. It's obvious that being the heir is a curse that warps you.
Prince Andrew is indicative of the crossroads of too much money and power.
Until just recently I've had almost zero interest in the Royals. I barely could identify the players. To me there have been two Queens of England in my lifetime, one died young singing Bohemian Rhapsody. The other was either a Tiny Dancer or a Rocketman.
The parallels between what happened to M&H and the way I was libeled and slandered for years dragged me into their plight.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
They make their living
like the Kardashians, by just being. The more outrageous the more newsworthy and the more money. Personally, I wish he'd stay in America and keep his mouth shut.
Angharad