Prince Harry and Meghan Markle thread

Not a critique of Osaka herself alone but I do think it is a dangerous trend that celebrities and media people can vilify the press as mental health bullies for asking the same questions which is essentially doing their jobs. Haz is much more guilty of this and we’ve called him out on it before.

Asking questions is the central point of journalism and a media that can only parrot the approved statements of the influential is doomed and dangerous.

while this might seem a bit dramatic for sports and celebs it is the popular coverage which supports a lot of the reporting of our investigative presses.

Ultimately, the press are people too and most of the time they are doing their job in the boundaries of a reciprocal system with the celebrity. I think we should be wary of the implications of blanket branding them as ghouls, liars and manipulators.

this is a struggling industry and the sussexes suddenly deciding they didn’t want to allow photos from one particular paparazzi agency forced a lot of people out of work during Covid (though notably they do photos for others.)
Ultimately it’s no real skin off the nose of the French open, Piers, Osaka, the royals or H&M but it is no paycheck for the reporters who get paid by the story or the picture as is growing standard in the industry and I think this class dynamic isn’t really discussed at all.
I can definitely see the analogy betweenv Osaka’s refusal to do press for an institution she’s taking part in (the French open) and MM’s ( the BRF) but I think it is a bit harsh on Osaka as I get she is young and under a lot of pressure at a highly competitive level whereas MM is a well-aged bird who apparently found smiling and going on holiday too challenging :lol:
Harry probably thinks a free press is just as bonkers as that other thing he was talking about the other day ;)
 
Diana lived in a time before social media, she was and is elevated to sainthood status. The major difference between Diana and Meghan is glaring and irreparable for Meghan. Regardless whether one is a fan of Diana, Diana actually had (at least in public) a charming magnetic personality and radiated warmth and kindness. Publicly she fulfilled her royal duties. I'm not aware of any reports of her berating servants or elbowing Charles in the gut to be first to greet somebody. She did embarrass Charles when she danced on stage once but the public ate it up. Charles was annoyed that the public LOVED Diana so much and the cameras glommed onto HER instead of him in many cases. While Diana said a few things in interviews, she wasn't constantly publicly in "pity-poor-me" victim mode.

I'm sure there are many Meghan stans who buy Meghan's claims of BRF racism etc as a "I won't suck it up and take it" when it comes to filling royal expectations, and as such say she is a strong and brave person. Because that's what they want to see and conveniently discard her own actions/statements that refute her own claims. Meghan's stans eat up her BS. They can't afford not to. She will be protected by the Oprah's of the world and media no matter how refutable her claims are. To question Meghan is to question themselves.

Even after Diana and Charles' divorce the public still loved Diana. What confuses Meghan is that the public still loved Diana after the divorce (essentially the divorce of the BRF) and Meghan wonders why ME GAIN shrines aren't being built in her honor all over the globe. The public saw Charles as an awkward, cold, not very personable guy and could understand why the relationship between him and the personable and warm Diana broke apart.

On the other hand, Harry and Meghan are two peas in a pod and Harry said "whatever M wants M gets", a 180 degree difference from Charles' relationship with Diana. To this day Harry seems ga-ga over Meghan. Much of the public can't understand why Meghan loved every minute (and the zillions of perks) of being part of the BRF during the two years they dated and then after wedding, her every whim catered to, adored by her husband etc--THEN splitting off from the BRF--coupled with the EXPECTATION of the BRF financially supporting them even after the split. If any of Meghan's claims are true, wouldn't it have been a thousand times easier for age mid 30's Harry to find a pair of balls and lay down the law with the BRF's supposed "abuse" of Meghan rather than split off? NO! After the idiotic things Meghan said, like "Not many people have asked me if I'm OK" or "I'm only existing, not living", how did she expect the public and British media to react??? Since she was such great actress (cough cough) was she just acting how she loved everything?? It would have helped her case to show she wasn't in love with being the center of attention all the time.

How can you go from adoring and CHASING the spotlight to crying about the lack of privacy? And then STILL chasing the spotlight from your 19 bathroom mansion? Her biggest supporter is a 67 year old ex talk show host. Where are all of her popular A-lister friends to support her? She lives among them. Meghan is slowly imploding. And like a true sociopath, she'll still be whining and demanding pity when she falls into the persona non grata gutter. And KATE will be Queen (consort), not Ms-Poor-Me, though she gave it one helluva try.

THIS!!

Although Diana had her flaws there is absolutely NO comparison with MM!
 
THIS!!

Although Diana had her flaws there is absolutely NO comparison with MM!

Other than both were wives of a Royal and used their husbands’ wealth/connections to move up. While Diana was an aristocrat, she did not have a world stage until she married Charles. While MM was an actress, she needed Hazz to elevate her to the world stage. Diana and Hazz seem very similar in personality and behavior IMO.
 
Right, the irony is Piers behaved the same way when he walked off his set. Can’t stand the heat I guess...

Either way it has nothing to do with MM, other than the fact that they are both women of color. He would have been better off staying out of it or not mentioning H&M at all. It makes him seem obsessed and fuels critics who believe he is racist and misogynist.

I think it’s not about women of colour that Piers is protesting. It’s about evading responsibility but wanting the reward and that’s right up H & M alley.

I think next I will tell my boss that for the sake of my mental health, I will not deliver my report on time as deadline is just making me depressed and sad. And the review meetings! My god! Such hostile questions! I will skip them too!

PS. No disrespect to people with real mental illness and I reserve my sympathy for them. But I just feel mental illness has become an easy get out of jail card to evade responsibility. Just like the race card. And am speaking as a WOC.
 
Is someone a little worried they will be asked not to use their duke and duchess titles? They will still have Earl and Countess of Dumbarton!

 
If it’s off topic as you say in each post, then why post it here? As another attempt to derail *that* thread, I suppose :rolleyes:

Sorry not sure what you mean...I’m not trying to derail any thread. I thought it was appropriate to post here since he mentioned H&M. And I agree with his critics on Twitter that they are different situations. I think both can be true.
 
Is someone a little worried they will be asked not to use their duke and duchess titles? They will still have Earl and Countess of Dumbarton!

The same article also says Methane is "inundated with offers" because she is a duchess.
:lol: I'm adding that to my collection of MM fake descriptors: philanthropist, sought-after actress, top model, inundated with offers.
 
It’s ironic, but she’d have looked much more like the strong, independent woman she claims to be if she hadn’t used the titles in the US. If they do get taken away she’ll look foolish.

exactly. If she didn’t want to be associated with the RF because they were “racist”, cold, uncaring for her mental health etc - why take the titles??? Oh that’s right...thats all she has to merch!!!! $$$$$
 
A bit lost on Osaka's drama, so I can't comment on it.:noworry:

On our topic, some of us will learn about Silent Birth! :biggrin:

A source recently told New Idea that the couple is planning to have their child through silent birth, "Meghan and Harry feel they've been through enough in their own lives and are anxious to start over with their baby girl, and that means giving her the most peaceful entrance possible into the world," the source stated.

WHAT IS SILENT BIRTH?
According to The Church of Scientology, reported by The Bump, the words that a newly-birth child hears during its labor may have an impact throughout its life that's why they want to eliminate any noises...

L Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, explains the importance of silence during birth. Giving birth without any noise can avoid "engrams" which is "the impressions formed in the brain because of "physical pain or painful" experiences."

"Maintain silence in the presence of birth to save both the sanity of the mother and the child. And the maintaining of silence does not mean a volley of sh*ts", Hubbard wrote in his book "Dianetics"





Actually I had a silent birth w both my kids but just because I actually didn’t make much noise but it wasn’t by choice it just happened
After I give birth to my DD my x heard a midwife telling another one she couldn’t work out how advanced the labour was as I was not making any noises
I think it might be a reaction to pain as it was the same when i burnt my arm and broke my leg
I personally think that there should be no pressure, you do what your body tells you to do: scream, sing, whimper...
And MM must remember that natural births cannot be closely planified and the focus should be on a healthy, safe mum and healthy, safely delivered baby
Are they know going to jump onto the scientology bandwagon? Then Hazza is removing himself further from the sucession
 
I think it’s not about women of colour that Piers is protesting. It’s about evading responsibility but wanting the reward and that’s right up H & M alley.

I think next I will tell my boss that for the sake of my mental health, I will not deliver my report on time as deadline is just making me depressed and sad. And the review meetings! My god! Such hostile questions! I will skip them too!

PS. No disrespect to people with real mental illness and I reserve my sympathy for them. But I just feel mental illness has become an easy get out of jail card to evade responsibility. Just like the race card. And am speaking as a WOC.

Exactly, it is a horrible precedent to set if everyone who claims depression or mental illness can use it as an unchallenged excuse to get out of doing something they don’t want to do.

Again I know nothing about this tennis player. But if she’s on the court at that level then she has performed for years in front of thousands of people without a problem. I wouldn’t call that crippling shyness. Speaking to the press may be well out of her comfort zone but that shouldn’t give her an automatic pass on doing what everyone else at that level has to do.
 
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