Buckele up! How many more times is this going to happen before the palace does something? This was interesting once in Nigeria but if this continues to happen every few months moving forward something has to be done, right? These fake royal tours using their titles and continuing to cross boundary lines with political stances during these trips can only last for so long, right? 🤷🏼♀️ Or does the palace simply keep calm and carry on let them look ridiculous? Also I agree they are def taking the royal schedule into account with this tour so they can get all the press coverage…
What could the King do that wouldn’t make him look resentful and jealous? Just wait until Catherine gets into gear. Her every breath and smile will just obliterate these tours. She knows how and when to make a splash. Remember when she put on that gold sequin dress? Or wore Diana’s choker? It will obliterate these two to the back pages. Just wait. The Sussexes only barely look busy when Windsor is asleep.
Agree….and you’re right, I just miss Catherine so much! Would love for her to wear a vaulted piece when she’s feeling better and just knock us all off our feet
Megan I was thinking the same thing. These fake tours cannot go on much longer. Likewise, the continual use of the titles to make money (see the ARO website) is outrageous. I heard rumors of another Balmoral Summit this month, where King Charles and Prince William (and other senior royals) will discuss M&H’s titles and how M&H will fit into the family moving forward.
I agree that the use of their titles makes things more problematic. H&M are quite pretentious and seem to enjoy posturing. This can give the wrong idea to those they visit. It will be interesting to see what happens and who takes action-my understanding is that Parliament may have to get involved. It will be interesting to watch.
Julie this is my understanding as well. I believe the King can remove the HRH, but the other titles need to be removed via Parliament. I think there is a growing consensus that they are misusing their titles (according to agreements made with the late Queen) and that the titles should be removed. Because they are so disliked I suspect the move would be appreciated by most.
Yes, that is what I have heard as well. That Parliament would have to remove the Duke/Duchess of Sussex titles. If I recall correctly, that has only happened twice before and both cases were aristocrats who sided with Germany in WW1. As they actually took up arms against the UK, Parliament stated that they were traitors and stripped their titles.
As far as the Sussexes go, so far the general consensus has been that Parliament has bigger issues to worry about. But if Harry and Meghan continue to impinge and misuse the titles and popular sentiment is strongly towards taking the title away, Parliament may just decide to act.
I also think the King would have to have an extraordinarily close, trusting and secure relationship with the PM to start that process. The last handful of PMs have come and gone so quickly. There’s no time to develop any relationship. Besides, QE2 bestowed the title on Harry, she saw him leave and never decided to request the title back. It would be hard for Charles to justify why he would disagree with her. The whole point of this ‘separation of powers’ is to prevent this situation.
According to Ingrid Seward, if the Duke and Duchess titles are removed, Meghan becomes "Princess Henry" the way Prince Michael's wife is styled "Princess Michael". It's like married women using their husband's names ex: "Mrs. John Doe". I don't think the BRF or Parliament wants Meghan calling herself "Princess" in any shape or form. I wonder if the BRF would change their titles to say...Duke and Duchess of Windsor (heh heh).
I do not think there is anything that the UK can do. The only possible thing I can think of is a behind the scenes reminder to the host country that Harry and Meghan do not speak on behalf of any country in the Commonwealth or on behalf of the monarch.
I don't think the trips to non-Commonwealth countries are anything much to the RF. The Commonwealth countries, well, that's touchier but they left it to the gov't through its High Commissioner to comment on that one, that is, they don't represent the UK. I think it's funny that on the same day as Meghan announced an "audience" with the VP of Colombia, Daily Mail had an article on Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez having an audience with the Pope. Hey, H & M, maybe that can be next on your bucket list, visiting the Pope? And Vanity Fair, usually quite gushing about H & M's doings, had the headline "Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Receive a Warm, Cheesy Welcome to Kick Off Colombia Trip." Referring to the cheese bread I'm sure but still a cheeky headline.
There is nothing the BRF can do to prevent private individuals from traveling to other countries. As long as there are countries happy to be used for this type of private publicity tour, it will continue. At the most the foreign office can maybe make is clear that they are in no way representing the UK but that is about it.
I was delighted to see you wrote about this Jane and such a wonderful synopsis indeed! You hit the nail on the head- MM is definitely writing the captions/copy for their website. The rest of this trip will absolutely be very interesting!
“According to Harry and Meghan’s website (which I honestly wonder if Meghan writes herself):”…this made me laugh out loud! Because I hadn’t through of it, but it’s so accurate!
I think these quasi-royal tours are so interesting. Colombia gets boat loads of (relatively) free press. Gorgeous places, sparkly NGOs, ‘look at our beautiful and safe country!’ The Sussexes get PR being Royals doing serious work as Humanitarians and get to control every aspect of the trip. They also get to act like celebs and probably have a rider of sorts. No shabby High Commision house with smoking space heaters for them anymore. They can accept whatever gifts they are given privately. I get why they continue to do these, especially since the Wales have stopped royal tours (for various reasons).
Amen! I did see the Daily Mail write up (by the same Nick Pisa who covered their Nigeria trip). As you said, Jane, the Daily Mail didn't run with a headline of their trip (yet) as arrests around Matthew Perry's death a few months ago got the lead. And the photos of armed soldiers--but no adoring crowds--outside the school they visited makes me wonder if most of the people in Bogota weren't even aware they were there. Maybe the crowds will grow as word gets out in the Colombian media?
Apparently, the fact that this visit to Columbia was moved from Fall (yes Jane you were right) to August is the reason why their CEO quit. He was hired 3 months ago and thought that November would be right because he needed time to fully prepare it while Meghan- who gets what she wants (remember?)- had decided that August would be perfect. It must be terribly difficult to work for these two!
Wow, Sylvie, that's interesting! Where did you find that, would love to read about it. That might also explain why Rosa Sanchez's Harper's Bazaar article (I think she's traveling with them) still refers to them attending "Responsible Digital Future, a conference on digital safety" but there's no mention anywhere else that I can find about such a conference. I finally found (I love to research this stuff) a reference on a website to them going to a university to take part in a discussion. Hmmm, I wonder where the truth lies.
I heard it on Neil Shawn's daily news that he put on line 21 hours ago (according to YouTube at the time I am writing); the title is "Fake Tour update" and Neil Shawn talks about Josh Kettler. Shawn generally has good sources and when I read that Jane thought it would be November, it reminded me of what I had heard on Neil Shawn 's YT channel.
Beth I completely agree. He looks particularly unhappy (almost angry) and never smiles. This was really highlighted in the most recent CBS interview. I also use to think Harry was handsome, but over the recent months his face has changed for me.
IMO Harry never smiles and looks angry because he hates cameras in his face and he abhors photographers no matter who hired them. He has vendetta against them, has sued them, and regards them as an enemy. I think The only time Harry has been genuinely happy is in Africa.
Can you imagine being dragged around Columbia in August by Meghan when you could be in complete privacy at beautiful Balmoral? I *almost* feel sorry for him.
I think Harry is unhappy a lot of the time. I do think he loves Meghan and of course, his children dearly, and wants them to be safe and happy. But otherwise, I don't think he particularly enjoys living in California and what his life has become. On the other hand, I don't think he was happy in the UK either. I don't think Harry really knows what he wants or what would make him happy. Imo, he needs to concentrate on healing from the wounds of his parents' unhappy marriage, his mother's tragic death, his jealousy and resentment towards his brother, and learn how to accept all these things and move forward with his own life. I don't think he will ever be happy unless he can find peace within himself. Leaving royal life, the family feud, and his life in the US do not seem to have helped him at all.
I wonder if Meghan had it to do over, if she would change anything. I'm quite sure she is much happier living in Montecito, and think that she planned from the beginning to have a Half In Half Out deal and for them to spend part of the year in California. But nothing else has really worked out as she and Harry imagined. She obviously still wants to 'be royal'. She just wanted to be royal her own way, and not have to share the spotlight. But I wonder if she has any regrets and sometimes wishes she had been more amenable, and could still be involved in all the real royal events.
Replying to myself because I meant to say I believe the Sussexes would be perfectly safe in the UK, at least as safe as anyone can be. It's just Harry's perception that they wouldn't be. I think the US is actually more dangerous, but that is not what Harry believes.
But can a person who always thinks they know best have regrets? I think anything we might think of as regrets, she thinks of as someone else's fault. And I'm sure as time goes on, in her mind, the past is constantly reworked as too how wronged she has been
Looking at the video where the interpreter is explaining the dance to him today, Harry looks like he is trying very hard to be interested. But ultimately I wonder if he isn’t thinking, how is this different from the Royal engagements I didn’t want to do anymore when we left the RF? He looked out of his depth.
It is hard for me to imagine Meghan being happy in her current predicament. She cares too much about what other people think, and right now her reputation is in ruins and she has become a laughingstock to wide swaths of the internet, and indeed the world. Unless she is able to find a project capable of making a cultural impact (like ARO, or her new Netflix show) and then STICK WITH IT, she will become completely irrelevant in short order. A far fall considering the visibility and glowing coverage she received as an actual (instead of fake) royal.
My guess is that a staffer writes the blog posts and proofs the draft to Meghan and Harry for their edits/approval. I work in the comms world (corporate now and previously congressional) and that is a pretty standard process.
If Meghan doesn't write these press releases in their entirety, I have a strong sense that she heavily edits them. In fact, if I had to guess, I would lean towards "editing" because (frankly) it's easier to edit something than to come up with the original statement.
I think it’s a good call that Meghan writes/edits the family website as it does seem a bit gauche to comment on the quality of the eats and drinks when one has a ‘formal audience’ at the Vice President’s ‘official residence’. It’s not really about the food is it?
On a happier note, her fashion choice is an improvement on recent appearances. I love her bag - almost ‘ludicrously capacious’ with lots of room to squirrel away some of that ‘delicious pan de bono’.
Am I the only one who was hoping for banana bread instead? And I too thought that visit was scheduled for November, just before the election because I remember thinking what bad timing they have yet again. I don't think this is any better. Yes, there's a bit of a vacuum because the BRF is off for a month for holidays, but then so too are a lot of people, and it just shows that H&M have to take whatever crumbs are offered, even while everyone else is on vacation in the Hamptons, in Italy, in the South of France, at the cottage, at the lake, etc. I also wonder how many people, even among those who bother to follow sussexdotcom, will understand what a formal audience is. I suspect a fair number might think formal as in formal dress/attire and not understand the rather archaic royal connotation. Also, I'm dying that they're travelling with only Harper's Bazaar as their "pool".
OMG, that website blurb is hilarious! The "coffee, tea and delicious pan do bono" sounds exactly like Meghan's own over-heated prose, and following it up with the VP having a "passion for mental health" just makes the whole thing sound like a parody. I did see a Daily Mail article about a later meeting where they specifically mentioned "bored-looking schoolchildren" in the headline. Ouch! I'm not sure the children looked more bored than Harry did. I will say that she does look better here than she's looked in quite a while. As for the too-large purse, all the better to hold some emeralds. When I saw that they will visit an emerald processing center, it seemed pretty obvious that she's going to try to grift some stones. That might be a big part of the reason for the trip. If QE2 won't let her wear an emerald tiara for her wedding, and if she has to see Kate wear emeralds worth millions of dollars, then she'll be damned if she doesn't get some emeralds of her own.
Delicious cheese bread made me laugh. Thank you for that!
♥️💐
She looks lovely, but man are these two delusional! They hold no power nor influence except in their own minds
Buckele up! How many more times is this going to happen before the palace does something? This was interesting once in Nigeria but if this continues to happen every few months moving forward something has to be done, right? These fake royal tours using their titles and continuing to cross boundary lines with political stances during these trips can only last for so long, right? 🤷🏼♀️ Or does the palace simply keep calm and carry on let them look ridiculous? Also I agree they are def taking the royal schedule into account with this tour so they can get all the press coverage…
What could the King do that wouldn’t make him look resentful and jealous? Just wait until Catherine gets into gear. Her every breath and smile will just obliterate these tours. She knows how and when to make a splash. Remember when she put on that gold sequin dress? Or wore Diana’s choker? It will obliterate these two to the back pages. Just wait. The Sussexes only barely look busy when Windsor is asleep.
Agree….and you’re right, I just miss Catherine so much! Would love for her to wear a vaulted piece when she’s feeling better and just knock us all off our feet
Megan I was thinking the same thing. These fake tours cannot go on much longer. Likewise, the continual use of the titles to make money (see the ARO website) is outrageous. I heard rumors of another Balmoral Summit this month, where King Charles and Prince William (and other senior royals) will discuss M&H’s titles and how M&H will fit into the family moving forward.
I agree that the use of their titles makes things more problematic. H&M are quite pretentious and seem to enjoy posturing. This can give the wrong idea to those they visit. It will be interesting to see what happens and who takes action-my understanding is that Parliament may have to get involved. It will be interesting to watch.
Julie this is my understanding as well. I believe the King can remove the HRH, but the other titles need to be removed via Parliament. I think there is a growing consensus that they are misusing their titles (according to agreements made with the late Queen) and that the titles should be removed. Because they are so disliked I suspect the move would be appreciated by most.
Yes, that is what I have heard as well. That Parliament would have to remove the Duke/Duchess of Sussex titles. If I recall correctly, that has only happened twice before and both cases were aristocrats who sided with Germany in WW1. As they actually took up arms against the UK, Parliament stated that they were traitors and stripped their titles.
As far as the Sussexes go, so far the general consensus has been that Parliament has bigger issues to worry about. But if Harry and Meghan continue to impinge and misuse the titles and popular sentiment is strongly towards taking the title away, Parliament may just decide to act.
I also think the King would have to have an extraordinarily close, trusting and secure relationship with the PM to start that process. The last handful of PMs have come and gone so quickly. There’s no time to develop any relationship. Besides, QE2 bestowed the title on Harry, she saw him leave and never decided to request the title back. It would be hard for Charles to justify why he would disagree with her. The whole point of this ‘separation of powers’ is to prevent this situation.
According to Ingrid Seward, if the Duke and Duchess titles are removed, Meghan becomes "Princess Henry" the way Prince Michael's wife is styled "Princess Michael". It's like married women using their husband's names ex: "Mrs. John Doe". I don't think the BRF or Parliament wants Meghan calling herself "Princess" in any shape or form. I wonder if the BRF would change their titles to say...Duke and Duchess of Windsor (heh heh).
I do not think there is anything that the UK can do. The only possible thing I can think of is a behind the scenes reminder to the host country that Harry and Meghan do not speak on behalf of any country in the Commonwealth or on behalf of the monarch.
I don't think the trips to non-Commonwealth countries are anything much to the RF. The Commonwealth countries, well, that's touchier but they left it to the gov't through its High Commissioner to comment on that one, that is, they don't represent the UK. I think it's funny that on the same day as Meghan announced an "audience" with the VP of Colombia, Daily Mail had an article on Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez having an audience with the Pope. Hey, H & M, maybe that can be next on your bucket list, visiting the Pope? And Vanity Fair, usually quite gushing about H & M's doings, had the headline "Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Receive a Warm, Cheesy Welcome to Kick Off Colombia Trip." Referring to the cheese bread I'm sure but still a cheeky headline.
There is nothing the BRF can do to prevent private individuals from traveling to other countries. As long as there are countries happy to be used for this type of private publicity tour, it will continue. At the most the foreign office can maybe make is clear that they are in no way representing the UK but that is about it.
They are the laughing stock of the world!
I was delighted to see you wrote about this Jane and such a wonderful synopsis indeed! You hit the nail on the head- MM is definitely writing the captions/copy for their website. The rest of this trip will absolutely be very interesting!
agree -- she has always been the one writing the pompous word salad stuff.
“According to Harry and Meghan’s website (which I honestly wonder if Meghan writes herself):”…this made me laugh out loud! Because I hadn’t through of it, but it’s so accurate!
I think these quasi-royal tours are so interesting. Colombia gets boat loads of (relatively) free press. Gorgeous places, sparkly NGOs, ‘look at our beautiful and safe country!’ The Sussexes get PR being Royals doing serious work as Humanitarians and get to control every aspect of the trip. They also get to act like celebs and probably have a rider of sorts. No shabby High Commision house with smoking space heaters for them anymore. They can accept whatever gifts they are given privately. I get why they continue to do these, especially since the Wales have stopped royal tours (for various reasons).
I agree, these tours are exactly what the Sussexes always wanted royal tours to be.
I will NOT be going to the Sussex website!! Thanks for “taking one for the team” and sharing your info!
Amen! I did see the Daily Mail write up (by the same Nick Pisa who covered their Nigeria trip). As you said, Jane, the Daily Mail didn't run with a headline of their trip (yet) as arrests around Matthew Perry's death a few months ago got the lead. And the photos of armed soldiers--but no adoring crowds--outside the school they visited makes me wonder if most of the people in Bogota weren't even aware they were there. Maybe the crowds will grow as word gets out in the Colombian media?
Apparently, the fact that this visit to Columbia was moved from Fall (yes Jane you were right) to August is the reason why their CEO quit. He was hired 3 months ago and thought that November would be right because he needed time to fully prepare it while Meghan- who gets what she wants (remember?)- had decided that August would be perfect. It must be terribly difficult to work for these two!
Wow, Sylvie, that's interesting! Where did you find that, would love to read about it. That might also explain why Rosa Sanchez's Harper's Bazaar article (I think she's traveling with them) still refers to them attending "Responsible Digital Future, a conference on digital safety" but there's no mention anywhere else that I can find about such a conference. I finally found (I love to research this stuff) a reference on a website to them going to a university to take part in a discussion. Hmmm, I wonder where the truth lies.
I heard it on Neil Shawn's daily news that he put on line 21 hours ago (according to YouTube at the time I am writing); the title is "Fake Tour update" and Neil Shawn talks about Josh Kettler. Shawn generally has good sources and when I read that Jane thought it would be November, it reminded me of what I had heard on Neil Shawn 's YT channel.
Is it just me or does Harry never smile anymore?
Beth I completely agree. He looks particularly unhappy (almost angry) and never smiles. This was really highlighted in the most recent CBS interview. I also use to think Harry was handsome, but over the recent months his face has changed for me.
IMO Harry never smiles and looks angry because he hates cameras in his face and he abhors photographers no matter who hired them. He has vendetta against them, has sued them, and regards them as an enemy. I think The only time Harry has been genuinely happy is in Africa.
Can you imagine being dragged around Columbia in August by Meghan when you could be in complete privacy at beautiful Balmoral? I *almost* feel sorry for him.
I think Harry is unhappy a lot of the time. I do think he loves Meghan and of course, his children dearly, and wants them to be safe and happy. But otherwise, I don't think he particularly enjoys living in California and what his life has become. On the other hand, I don't think he was happy in the UK either. I don't think Harry really knows what he wants or what would make him happy. Imo, he needs to concentrate on healing from the wounds of his parents' unhappy marriage, his mother's tragic death, his jealousy and resentment towards his brother, and learn how to accept all these things and move forward with his own life. I don't think he will ever be happy unless he can find peace within himself. Leaving royal life, the family feud, and his life in the US do not seem to have helped him at all.
I wonder if Meghan had it to do over, if she would change anything. I'm quite sure she is much happier living in Montecito, and think that she planned from the beginning to have a Half In Half Out deal and for them to spend part of the year in California. But nothing else has really worked out as she and Harry imagined. She obviously still wants to 'be royal'. She just wanted to be royal her own way, and not have to share the spotlight. But I wonder if she has any regrets and sometimes wishes she had been more amenable, and could still be involved in all the real royal events.
Replying to myself because I meant to say I believe the Sussexes would be perfectly safe in the UK, at least as safe as anyone can be. It's just Harry's perception that they wouldn't be. I think the US is actually more dangerous, but that is not what Harry believes.
I think Harry would be far better off if he would only cease contemplating his navel.
But can a person who always thinks they know best have regrets? I think anything we might think of as regrets, she thinks of as someone else's fault. And I'm sure as time goes on, in her mind, the past is constantly reworked as too how wronged she has been
Good point. Self-reflection does not seem to be an ability either of the Sussexes possess.
Looking at the video where the interpreter is explaining the dance to him today, Harry looks like he is trying very hard to be interested. But ultimately I wonder if he isn’t thinking, how is this different from the Royal engagements I didn’t want to do anymore when we left the RF? He looked out of his depth.
It is hard for me to imagine Meghan being happy in her current predicament. She cares too much about what other people think, and right now her reputation is in ruins and she has become a laughingstock to wide swaths of the internet, and indeed the world. Unless she is able to find a project capable of making a cultural impact (like ARO, or her new Netflix show) and then STICK WITH IT, she will become completely irrelevant in short order. A far fall considering the visibility and glowing coverage she received as an actual (instead of fake) royal.
My guess is that a staffer writes the blog posts and proofs the draft to Meghan and Harry for their edits/approval. I work in the comms world (corporate now and previously congressional) and that is a pretty standard process.
If Meghan doesn't write these press releases in their entirety, I have a strong sense that she heavily edits them. In fact, if I had to guess, I would lean towards "editing" because (frankly) it's easier to edit something than to come up with the original statement.
💯 Meghan is writing the commentary on their website!!! 🤢
I think it’s a good call that Meghan writes/edits the family website as it does seem a bit gauche to comment on the quality of the eats and drinks when one has a ‘formal audience’ at the Vice President’s ‘official residence’. It’s not really about the food is it?
On a happier note, her fashion choice is an improvement on recent appearances. I love her bag - almost ‘ludicrously capacious’ with lots of room to squirrel away some of that ‘delicious pan de bono’.
They are too easy to mock.
Given her "incredible friendship" with the late Queen, she may also have jam sandwiches! lol!
ARO jam of course!
Am I the only one who was hoping for banana bread instead? And I too thought that visit was scheduled for November, just before the election because I remember thinking what bad timing they have yet again. I don't think this is any better. Yes, there's a bit of a vacuum because the BRF is off for a month for holidays, but then so too are a lot of people, and it just shows that H&M have to take whatever crumbs are offered, even while everyone else is on vacation in the Hamptons, in Italy, in the South of France, at the cottage, at the lake, etc. I also wonder how many people, even among those who bother to follow sussexdotcom, will understand what a formal audience is. I suspect a fair number might think formal as in formal dress/attire and not understand the rather archaic royal connotation. Also, I'm dying that they're travelling with only Harper's Bazaar as their "pool".
OMG, that website blurb is hilarious! The "coffee, tea and delicious pan do bono" sounds exactly like Meghan's own over-heated prose, and following it up with the VP having a "passion for mental health" just makes the whole thing sound like a parody. I did see a Daily Mail article about a later meeting where they specifically mentioned "bored-looking schoolchildren" in the headline. Ouch! I'm not sure the children looked more bored than Harry did. I will say that she does look better here than she's looked in quite a while. As for the too-large purse, all the better to hold some emeralds. When I saw that they will visit an emerald processing center, it seemed pretty obvious that she's going to try to grift some stones. That might be a big part of the reason for the trip. If QE2 won't let her wear an emerald tiara for her wedding, and if she has to see Kate wear emeralds worth millions of dollars, then she'll be damned if she doesn't get some emeralds of her own.
Loose gems are duty free everywhere. 😉