During a time when much of the world is mourning Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, how will the world in years to come judge the media and the Royal Family on how they handled the Sussexes? The focus should be on the People who are lining up to pay their respects, and her children who are having to grieve in public knowing that the cameras are watching their every move. To lose both parents within 18 months is not easy in the public eye. In his own words, Charles technically called him the ‘overseas son’, when he said Harry and the wife were building their lives overseas.
There are some reporters and outlets (American ones in particular) who are focusing on the Sussexes, why, who knows? Are they being paid $$$ by the Sussex PR because some of the articles have been disrespectful towards the Royal Family during the period of mourning? If the US press adore them so much, then they should go home where they are welcomed.
You have some proclaimed reporters who can’t get simple facts right, such as Scotland is in the UK, when Scobie said the Queen would leave Scotland for the UK (as Richard Eden of the Daily Mail pointed out). It looks as if OS can’t remember the countries in the UK, which is odd as he was born in Wales and lives in England. The UM (unofficial mouthpiece) has become forgetful of late it appears, but there are some ‘meetings’ and events you cannot forget as per the rule of law. What else has he ‘forgotten’ recently?
TOS released his statement on the Queen, via the pseudo foundation/charitable entity/business called Archewell, that looked as it had been a hatchet job from the King’s first speech penned by TW.
Rather than a personal tribute, it was used as a speech to claim that he was loyal to the Queen, and to claim he is now honouring the King. Ask TOS what an em dash is, and he would probably scratch his head, yet his ‘statement’ contains a number of them, which is unusual for a personal statement and is a common tool for TW’s statements. The very least he could have done is to write it himself, and it is plainly obvious he didn’t have much input, where even the usual TW trigger/buzz words have been included. The attempt was to look ‘official’ and it doesn’t even sound like Harry! What an insult, that he couldn’t even write his own tribute to his grandmother.
Can one truly say he was loyal when he mounted a legal challenge against the Monarch’s Government? Did he show love and affection when he accused both the Queen and his father of being poor and cruel parents that he said he had no choice but to escape them? Harry the Hypocrite or the Puppet Prince—take your pick?
Compare Princess Anne’s short and moving personal tribute as a daughter to her mother, and she, who like her mother has dedicated a life of service to the Nation. Most importantly she shares this personally with the Nation and thanks everyone for sharing in her loss, that is a united loss. This was is not a point scoring game as to who can write the best tribute, but that is how TOS’s statement appeared. Yes, several people I know felt nauseous after reading it if they managed to make it to the end.
The Queen left Scotland for the last time, and returned to Buckingham Palace last night where she was greeted by her children and grandchildren (plus their spouses). There have been heated debates about who may wear a military uniform at the funeral, where there seems to be a distinction between retiring and quitting. TOS felt compelled to issue a statement via his PR on the matter, stating he didn’t need to wear a uniform to remind the world of his decade of service in the army, yet we all know deep down he wanted to wear his uniform even though many who served with him had little respect for him behind closed doors (they are not permitted to discuss this publicly). We also know that the army let him remain after the Las Vegas incident due to his title, where any other soldier would have been discharged for that kind of behaviour.
As a Nation, we are grieving in our own way and trying to continue, but things have changed. We must adapt, yet it is not easy when we know there are people determined to take advantage of this period of change for their own purposes. The hashtags #GoHomeMeghanMarkle, #GoHome HarryThe Traitor, and #GoHomeHarryandMeghan have appeared and are trending. That is the public reaction and the Sussex PR can’t do much about that.
TW then showed up fully bronzed at BP, as if she was going clubbing in Ibiza. Why would you do that and layer on the fake tan again (is she trying to play a race card again one wonders)? One only does that for the cameras so that they capture a good image. This was a time to look humble and respectful, yet TW failed again because it was about how she would appear on camera that mattered. While I do believe TOS is grieving, is he allowing TW to use this tragic and sad occasion for PR purposes and to help mend the negative press of late? Are they taking advantage of the Queen’s death for their own business purposes? If so, then that is truly repugnant and disgraceful. The Nation doesn’t want them here, yet we must accept the fact they will attend the funeral, but TW should be kept away from the main family in the minds of the masses. It is far too raw and hypocritical for her to be in attendance when TW has publicly denigrated the Queen’s family, the monarchy, and the People of the Nation.
The appropriate makeup for mourning is plain with neutral colours, no bright shades, or bronzing, and definitely no fake tan out of respect. Have you ever seen anyone attend a mourning with full eye makeup and mascara when they know they will cry and it will all smudge? Again, this appears to be for the benefit of the cameras, knowing that they need to pick up her face through a car window. She was accompanying TOS to greet the Queen as she arrived back in Buckingham Palace with the other other grandchildren. Whether or not her presence was welcomed we can only hazard a guess, but for TW this seemed to be another photo op.
There is an emptiness with the passing of the Queen that we knew would happen, but we didn’t expect to be so deep and sharp. Most of the Nation (and the world) were figuring out their lives after Covid-19, preparing themselves for another strain and jabs, and then wondering how they were going to pay for their energy bills with Russia threatening to cut off supplies. Then, her death hit us out of the blue just as children returned to school. This is an emotional time for all of us, and the Princess Royal acknowledged that in her statement, because she does understand and relates to the People, and is down to earth enough to hear what they say and think.
We all knew Prince Philip had been ill and had been prepared for his passing, but had hoped he would have made it to 100. In recent times we saw the Queen looking a little frail, but we hoped it would pass. Having the Sussex propaganda bandied about each week probably did not help, and she had to acknowledge that they had damaged the monarchy. That would have been painful, yet why do the press continue to give them any oxygen? Is it all about the money?
I did meet her once when I was a child, and we will all have our memories of her when she joined us for Christmas each year, and whether we were squabbling over the chocolates as her speech aired. She came home, and the lights were left on to guide her back. Let us hope the media respect this occasion and not focus on William and Harry walking behind her coffin today, drawing parallels with the time they did so with their mother. I suspect that some reporters will fail, and the focus should be on her children who in the public glare have honoured their mother over the last few days—they have done her proud.