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I'll be honest, never in a million years did I ever think we'd see the press turn on a son of Diana like this.

I wonder what the Sussexes give her to keep her on their side. She's gotta be the only "reporter" left from Meghan's Suits days.

Orig anon who sent in Lainey's comments. I continue to read her posts even though I can't stand her personally because it's such a clear window into Sussex thinking, planning, and frustrations.

From what I remember reading, Lainey was pretty positive toward Kate from the time of the wedding for about a year, even though she often referred to Kate as "Katy Cambridge". But then Lainey got progressively snarkier and meaner, and more personal in the snark; she was nasty about George from the time he was just a baby (from the Australia trip, when he was less than a year old: "This kid doesn’t just sit around burping and sh-tting. When they bring him out, he is there to be seen, and when he’s seen he’s either smacking kids in the face or trying to injure wildlife"). And she started a whole "Where's Lupo?" snark about their dog.

I think part of is that Kate, by Lainey's standards, is boring, unfashionable, and private, in other words terrible for gossip -- which meant she was primed for Meghan, the anti-Kate, who was going to "modernize" (aka celebrify) the BRF with leaks, pap walks, merching, and endless drama. And Lainey has always had a Mean Girl quality to her (evident in her comments about Kate from the start), which Meghan shares, which comes across as jealousy for the privileged life that Kate has always had -- a loving, stable, well-to-do family willing and able to send their kids to fancy private schools, take them on amazing international trips, buy them posh apartments, etc; which, by the way, is also the kind of life that Ben and Jessica Mulroney had, separately (growing up) and together. But then Kate levelled up that privilege considerably, but without providing any goodies -- drama, pap walks, leaks -- for gossips like Lainey. And I think it was Tiaras & Houseplants/Plant who said that Lainey and Meghan each saw themselves as outsiders and disruptors, resenting Kate's privilege but also wanting that sort of privilege (status and $$$$) for themselves.

I also think that once Lainey realized some time after Megxit that she backed the wrong horse, it was too embarrassing to admit, so she's just doubled down.

Meghan doesn’t support anyone unless there’s something personal in it for her.

Remember how she ignored her father and his health issues until the DM made a stink about it and public opinion started calling her out?

Remember how she never showed up for Harry at any of his hearings or court days?

Remember how she disappeared when Harry was promoting Spare?

Remember how she disappeared when Scobie was under fire for both Endgame and Finding Freedom?

Remember how she ignored and refused to visit her father after his heart attack and hospitalization?

Remember how Sussex PR said nothing about Kate’s and Charles’s cancer diagnoses, not even a “condolences, this sucks, we’re thinking of you” message? (Edited - someone reminded me there was a statement about Kate.)

And then remember how she showed up within 48 hours of Uvalde to visit the families?

Remember how she showed up to support Serena at Wimbledon and the US Open only when she played in the final?

Remember how, when The Queen was brought home to Buckingham Palace, Meghan arranged for a pap to take her photo when she was right behind Charles as the supportive daughter-in-law? Never mind that she’d spent the whole summer will they/won’t they about visiting The Queen at Balmoral. Never mind that her tantrum about going to Balmoral kept four people from getting to Balmoral in time to say goodbye to The Queen.

Remember how she showed up to The Queen’s installation to lie in state as the grieving granddaughter with the lowest curtsy out of all the women? Remember how she showed up to The Queen’s funeral as the most heartbroken, most upset, most saddest granddaughter?

Remember how, instead of going on her honeymoon, she and Harry attended a garden party with Charles and Camilla, and the PR Meghan had issued saying they delayed the honeymoon to do the garden party?

Remember when the BRF agreed to give Camilla the headlines for an important speech on domestic violence but Meghan went ahead and papwalked at the National Theatre to have the headlines instead?

Nope.

Harry still holds minor petty grudges against William from childhood.

Perhaps.

"Now comes the bill. This was an 11-week, 45-day trial, running from January 19 to March 31, with combined actual costs estimated at up to $53.4 million (the two sides filed budgets of $25 million and $26.6 million, sums Nicklin branded “manifestly excessive,” approving recoverable budgets of roughly $5.5 million and $5.9 million).

"Under the loser-pays rule, Harry and his co-claimants must now bear their own colossal spend and pay millions toward the Mail’s. And there is a live grenade still rolling around the courtroom floor: If Nicklin makes findings of serious misconduct over the fabricated-statement allegations, the Mail can seek costs on the punitive indemnity basis, blowing past the cap entirely."

https://www.thedailybeast.com/prince-harry-humiliated-as-judge-dismisses-all-charges-in-his-daily-mail-lawsuit/

Yikes.

That was happening long before Megxit.

I think the risk has been raised. This is a rough summary so far:

The will they / won't they BS just made them (and unfortunately the BRF) look like drama queens. It didn't do their brand any good.

The deliberate and public bad-faith briefing by the Sussex camp ("Harry's staying at the palace" when they knew he couldn't) made a load of sympathetic reporters look like fools and consequently they'll be less cooperative in future.

The Richard Eden "WhatsApp group" reveal has shown the hypocrisy of both the Sussexes and the media. Going forward, any PR narratives they put out will be less powerful and more questioned.

The court loss (and Harry's petulant response) has been massively damaging to both his reputation AND his bank balance (LOL to shared marital debt - Markle must be fuming)

Invictus has been a footnote. This week has been a disaster for them PR-wise. On one hand they've barely been mentioned - when they should have been reaping good headlines - and on the other their patron has seen nothing but drama and humilation, for nearly a week.

The talk is that if Harry doesn't raise sufficient funding THIS WEEK, that Invictus 2027 might be *postponed* (ultimately cancelled), resulting in Harry being booted out as patron.

As a follow up to Eden's reveal that reporters are fed stories by the Sussexes, Charlotte Griffiths went on record to prove that they deliberately plant stories to make the palace look bad. She states that the Sussex camp first leaked the "Royal Over-Seas League" meeting to her (and the DM ran the story) only for them to then run to the Telegraph wailing that they were horrified it had leaked and that it must have been the palace. This - officially and on the record -SHREDS any vestige of integrity they had left. Who would want to work with such backstabbers?

The other shocking tidbit put Harry in the orbit of Bill Cosby - using his social cachet to administer unknown substances to young women, as a test of trust. This is all kinds of wrong and will 100% come up in divorce proceedings

Bonnie Tyler died. These two are a menace 😉.

This was meant to be a triumphal return tour for the Sussexes. They were meant to reburnish their royal credentials with a stay at the palace and a photo with Pa, but in the end it's been a humiliating disaster. My feeling is that Harry will be booted from Invictus soon. That will be the death knell for the Sussex brand. "As ever" is dead, Archewell is reportedly having problems, Sentebale is suing Harry, Africa Parks is an ongoing horror, they have a mountain of debt (two court cases, "As ever" stock, mortgage) and their reputations are in the gutter. Money making opportunities are thin on the ground. If Meghan was smart, she'd cut and run because she can dump most of the above on Harry. It would also be a great excuse to wind up "As ever", without losing face.

Strategically and personally (IMO) Markle's best option would be to divorce Harry right now - lord knows he's gonna be hard to live with after this legal loss. That was his last crusade and he lost hard. I don't think he'll give up and I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to appeal, shafting them for yet more money.

She can claim all sorts of reasons as to why the marriage has irretrievably broken down and she can really make herself out to be the victim: his paranoia over security, his obsession with the press and never ending lawsuits, his (well documented) drug taking and poor character. Griffith's article is the cherry on top as it demonstrates long-standing abusive patterns.

I don't think there will be much left after a divorce, but I don't see them making much money if they stay together (even if she monetises the kids). Other than the ten-year rule, this feels like the opportune moment to pull the trigger. What do you reckon?

BONNIE TYLER?!?!

On one hand, a bankrukpt and desperate Harry is very dangerous for Charles (more than for William, IMHO). He could write or say whatever atrocity he fancies, like Charles got Diana killed or whatever. And no father wants to see his son broke and desperate.

On the other, if he sets a precedent Harry is going to use this card to get money from him again and again.

I honestly don’t know.

On the one hand, no. Charles can’t pay this, because Harry literally sued the press and the monarchy needs the press to survive. The optics are atrocious, because it’s basically The King paying off the press.

On the other hand, yes. Harry is Charles’s son and Charles probably feels some responsibility to help, not unlike how The Queen helped Andrew pay for Virginia’s lawsuit, especially if it’s true that the Sussexes are in dire straits financially and especially considering that many, many people believe Charles is already supporting/paying for Harry.

And while I see your point that this could embolden Harry to say more things or write more memoirs, Harry’s own reputation is in very serious tatters. Oprah has been debunked with 17 lies. Spare has been debunked with more lies and falsities, not to mention it also has a Harry-written disclaimer that he has a bad memory and he confesses to a lot of substance abuse. Then we have this DM lawsuit, which revealed in court under penalty of perjury that Harry has lied about a lot of other things too, including being the media’s source for many leaks and gossip about his family.

Please, he clearly is way more stupid than we all think, this is a man that likes ballet, reading and gardening, was the heir to the throne and by all hopes and means was meant to be as close to perfect as possible. But somehow, it is so annoying and unpleasant that by the time he was 30, multiple women declined his advances and were adamant that they wouldn't marry him, regardless of the prestige of his position. Then he had to go and groome a teenager and having her being so clueless and her family basically selling her off so he could have a wife. I understand that for a lot of the new fans Charles and Camilla were star crossed lovers that weren't aloud to be with each other because of "duty", that's far from the truth. Camilla was done with Charles being an asshole and went and married APB. They reignited their "romance" after Harry was born.

So yeah, Charles is stupid, arrogant and deprived of any emotional intelligence, because anyone less self-absorbed would have worked hard to make sure their kids understand their positions while being loved. Charles was too busy trying to mend a reputation that was pretty much ruined and forgot he was the single parent raising teenagers and then he fucked up so badly that we now have this spectacle of arrogance.

Don't get me wrong, Harry is an asshole. He is reaping what he planted. But assholes aren't born, they are made. And Charles has been a clueless asshole since way before he married Diana. Apologies for my rant.

It's still part of being firmly committed to the Will They/Won't They. She'll be WT/WTing from the afterlife.

Or maybe someone is contractually obligated for X number of articles per day. Russell Myers wrote both today's piece ("King hopes to meet..." ) AND the one three days ago that said BP called the Harry chaos "tiresome" ("King has no plans to alter his diary...").

"She'll be WT/WTing from the afterlife."

Whether it was paracetamol or dr*gs 😒 such jokes aren’t even funny, in that moment CG should have questioned him at least on her mind, my instant reaction would have been to say: with how many women he has done the same ritual? What the f*ck is this pill? Joke or not, his sense of humor it’s disgusting, etc…..