Forget the girls, it’s simmering tensions between brothers William and Harry that are at the heart of the frostiness between the two royal power couples
EXCLUSIVEBy Emily Andrews, Royal Correspondent7th December 2018, 10:15 pmUpdated: 8th December 2018, 11:25 am
Oh, Emily! When are you going to learn you’re a fool for doing Meghan’s bidding??
FOR two weeks all eyes have been on the “difficult relationship” between royal wives Meghan and Kate.
But today the Sun can reveal the simmering tensions between brothers William and Harry are at the heart of the frostiness between the two couples.
HARRY accusing Wills of trying to “wreck his relationship” with Meghan after he voiced concerns over her;
MEGHAN feeling rebuffed when she tried to befriend Kate;
RIVALRY between the brothers’ over palace appointments, and;
HARRY’S desire to protect his wife at all costs after not being able to do so for Princess Diana.
From being young boys united in grief to building Britain’s modern monarchy together, the brothers could not have been closer.
Until now.
For insiders say it is problems between them, dating back to when Meghan, 37, appeared on the scene, that are fuelling the fallings-out.
And Harry’s over-protectiveness of his wife — and refusal to see reason — is the main cause of the chasm.
As one courtier told me: “It’s my opinion that Harry feels he couldn’t protect his mother, so he’s going all out to protect his wife.
“This is his way of atoning.
“He will brook absolutely no criticism of Meghan — and he is so sensitive he often sees criticism or negativity where there isn’t any.”
Using the memory of mummy dearest when all other PR strategies fail….
Of course, the brothers have locked horns before. William, 36, was said to be furious with Harry, 34, for getting caught on camera stripping in a Las Vegas hotel room six years ago.
Can you blame William, though? Harry was old enough to know better…
But they always turned to each other when times were tough — the only people who could truly understand their lives.
The first hint of friction came after William was introduced to Meghan, 37, when she was staying at Kensington Palace.
Once she’d returned home to Canada, Wills sat Harry down for a chat — meant as brotherly advice.
He knew Harry was already head-over-heels for the US star but wanted him to take it slowly.
A well-placed source said: “William told his brother they knew nothing about her background, her intentions, what she was really like.
“He just wanted to stress that becoming part of the Royal Family is a massive undertaking and the pressure and scrutiny is unrelenting. Was Meghan the right one?”
The chat did not go down well.
“Harry went mental,” said the friend. “He accused his brother of trying to finish his romance before it had begun. The brothers’ relationship has not really recovered.”
The Sun understands other senior members of the family also “had concerns” and voiced them to Harry.
A royal source said: “Meghan hoped Kate would show her the ropes. But, equally understandably, Kate was busy. She didn’t have as much time for her as Meghan would have liked. They were at very different places in their lives.
Meghan felt rebuffed… all these stories about her not listening and being demanding simply just aren’t true! It’s Kate’s fault!
Harry did not take this lightly and spoke to William about making Meghan feel welcome. William, of course, took his wife’s side — after all, she was following his lead.
In February, the Fab Four appeared on stage together for the first time to talk about their Royal Foundation charitable work.
Host Tina Daheley asked them: “Working together as a family, do you ever have disagreements about things?” Cue nervous laughter.
Meghan looked down, Kate fiddled with her hair and they left it to William, who answered with a very direct: “Oh yes.”
Harry then joked that there are so many clashes that “they come so thick and fast.” When asked if they’d been “resolved”, Wills jokingly replied: “We don’t know!” Could he have been thinking about Harry’s new role as a youth ambassador for the Commonwealth? Wills’ nose was reportedly put out of joint when the Queen gave the plum job to his brother instead of him.
Afterwards William had to be cajoled into doing anything for the Commonwealth, say courtiers.
But aides point out that if he’d wanted to veto Harry’s appointment, he could have done so. However, the tension didn’t help matters, coming as it did before May’s Royal Wedding.
Ah, yes, William, future Prince of Wales and likely future Head of the Commonwealth, is jealous of Harry’s made up position of Commonwealth Youth Ambassador….
Meghan’s father Thomas Markle was about to pull out of walking his daughter down the aisle after it was revealed he had posed for paparazzi pictures. Calm but collected, Meghan decided her team should say nothing publicly and cut him off.
However, William — having lost his mum — couldn’t understand ignoring a parent, whatever they’d done. He thought Meghan was making a mistake.
Meghan is said to be far less intimidated by the royals than might be supposed. At a recent gathering of senior family members, including Meghan, one well-placed aide remarked: “All their IQs put together would not equal hers.”
The bolthole is used to entertain friends like Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas — now her husband — Serena Williams and George and Amal Clooney.
William and Kate also swerved a board meeting oft he Royal Foundation this week, leaving Harry and Meg to go alone.
They also missed the Christmas Party, with one insider saying: “it ‘was a shame’ they didn’t attend.”
The source added: “Not only were Harry and Meghan there, but they went to the staff Christmas party afterwards.
“It was a very jolly affair. It’s a shame that William and Catherine did not turn up.’”
Then Wills and Kate turned down an invite to the Castle of Mey with Harry, Meghan and Charles in June. And while the Cambridges holidayed with Zara and Mike Tindall, Peter and Autumn Phillips and their kids at Balmoral in August, Harry and Meghan were absent.
I would bet that they’re going to put her on further lockdown again to ensure it doesn’t happen again. That’s my thought for now.
Or another article will be released in the UK tabs shortly to reinforce the notion that Meg’s “unannounced” pr stunts aren’t appreciated within the royal family.
Either way, Megs is angling for a fight she can’t win.
“Because the house always wins. Play long enough, you never change the stakes, the house takes you.“ Danny Ocean, Ocean’s Eleven
Oh, I definitely think her control-freak tendencies are part of the problem. But after yesterday, you’ve got to wonder what the RF did after those pictures to ensure a repeat doesn’t happen again. Like, did the staff get a reprimand for driving to and arranging that “unannounced” event? Megs didn’t take the underground or a bus to get there, so someone else was responsible for making it happen.
Are we going to get another ten-thousand-yard, dead-eyed, fembot stare next week? Or one that looks even worse?
All of the palace staff Christmas parties will be coming up soon. She doesn’t have that many chances for more “unannounced” visits to possible charities before it’s time to head to Sandringham.
I have to wonder if the Queen, Charles, and William were happy about her unannounced visit. With everything going on and given that recent tit-for-tat escalation that went on this past weekend in the UK papers, I wonder how well her “unannounced” visit was received by other royals in charge.
It looks to me like she is trying to reassert her image–and merching–with that visit. Am wondering if she went to this discussion against the wishes of senior advisers because the focus should have been more on Will & Kate’s visits to the military & their families. Kind of wondering if we’re now going to see another release of stuff this weekend on Megs.
Makes sense. I asked my cards if she was truly pregnant and got a resounding yes, so it’s not a surrogate or fake bump for why the bump keeps looking like that. Also got a money opportunity card at the root, so you may be very right with this one.
When you consider that most belly cupping is either done standing or in the final months/trimester of the pregnancy, then you realize that video really is something else.
Harry did speak at the memorial. He essentially read a speech clearly written by her. He spoke of her commitment to menstrual health. At a memorial for a friend the proceeds of which support a school in Africa. Now here is the real story of MM’s “menstrual health” activism. She gave an interview in VF in September of 2016. She claimed to be working with a group in India on building a school for girls and said she would be going to India in January. The story was a complete fabrication no such project existed. Celebs can spout off whatever and no one takes them seriously but a royal GF is something different so now she was held to account for this “visit”. So first through her pr she claimed it was too dangerous to visit India. But that was also BS so her firm K and C quick arranged attendance at a conference and a quickie visit to an factory that makes reusable menstrual pads. MM got all dressed up in an elaborate sari and got her photo op.
Now about this charity. It was founded by a young woman who subsequently received a Queen’s Young Leadership Award this past year. Yes at a ceremony Meghan attended. And never mentioned this woman whose work she has been taking credit for. The idea was to found enterprises for rural Indian woman. And a market need was menstrual pads because in rural areas there are no stores to buy pads at. Hence the factory.
So Meghan writes a essay that appears in Newsweek Online. She misses the purpose of the charity claims it is about stigma not enterprise. And she never mentions the name of the charity so people can send donations. And her solution to the issue of women not having menstrual pads? The readers of Newsweek – primarily white affluent suburbanites – should discuss menstruation at dinner. Seriously you can finds this joke online.
So there is Meghan Markle’s idea of being charitable. Dress up, photo op, pr stunt and then never do anything about the issue again but brag forever about it. She did the same in Rwanda. Photo op in a lifestyle magazine called Rwanda Glam and never got involved with the issue again.
Obviously, Meghan wants to memorialize herself, even at someone else’s memorial.
I think Harry did the “oh, isn’t my wife so great” rendition at this event because things between him and his wife aren’t so great at the moment. Why talk about how you’re wife is so great when it’s not the right moment, unless you desperately need everyone else to think so?
So let me get this straight. Meghan wanted to get into politic and
humanities to help change the world so she thought the best way to do
that was to to become…an actress??? She started out right by studying
international politics or what ever in college. But I think she realized
it was really hard and slow moving, often disappointing work during her
internship. I just don’t understand how she made the leap to actress.
Until recently being a celebrity was a terrible way to get into
politics. In the late 90/early 2000 it would have been laughable to
think an actor/celeb would be good in politics. I think she decided she
didn’t want to do any of the hard work it takes to actually make a
difference in the word and realized she just likes the attention
I suspect Megs is working the refs (Queen, Philip & Charles) to get them to allow her mother to be there. I don’t believe Doria is going to be there. I suspect Doria probably doesn’t want to be there either. But Megs feels she has to keep her names in the headlines, and she had her first Christmas at Sandringham last year with her poo emoji hat. She’s running out of things that will create headlines since she’s burned through all the “firsts” already.
I’d be very surprised if it did happen though. Like, the only way to prove it would be if Doria attended church with the family on Christmas Day, and I can’t see that happening.
1. She looks pregnant. You can see some weight gain in her face and boobs. Yes, she sticks out her belly for maximum press coverage, but she looks pregnant.
2. I suspect she lied about how far along she was when she announced. I think she was 10 weeks maximum, if that, when they announced. I think that has thrown people for a loop since the announcement said she had passed 12 weeks when she probably hadn’t, which confuses people because she doesn’t look that pregnant. She said she was second trimester during the tour and she definitely didn’t look it.
3. I don’t exactly believe the Suits rumors at this point. I need more proof than a closed Facebook group. That kind of thing–IF it’s true–won’t be verified until, perhaps, years later.
4. Yes, the British royal family acknowledged the pregnancy after it was announced. Harry & Megs just didn’t get the glowing congratulations that Will & Kate or Zara & Mike received.
5. Megs went to “The Secret” church, remember? It’s literally about thinking about what you want. Your actions don’t seem to matter as much as long as you’re thoughts are about what you want. Megs probably thinks that as long as she thinks about having a baby then the baby will automatically appear and be healthy.
6. Janetti posts all sorts of shit. Just because he posts a joke doesn’t make it true.
7. Like AHPF said a few weeks ago, Megs has no problem flouting the rules because she’s pregnant and knows that she has her “meal ticket.” Megs is legit pregnant.
8. I’m sure the RF paid for the IVF. The IVF was cheaper than her tour wardrobe when you think about it.
9. The tour pregnancy announcement solely has to do with the famewhore qualities that have been exhibited this entire relationship. No surprise there when you think about it.
10. Dumb people do dumb things all the time. Yes, it is hard to understand when you have a functioning brain that can understand logic and that actions have consequences. But dumb people–specifically the two dunderheads planning on becoming parents–tend to make dumb decisions. Everything that has happened with this relationship–and particularly this pregnancy–is an epic tale of DUMB! Find out you’re pregnant? Drink champagne without food on a flight to Canada. Feel stressed going to a night time engagement while stoking pregnancy rumors? (Allegedly) Take some Xanax for a nice glazed eye look. Worried about changing your trademark hair look because of some baby growing in your womb? Screw that and straighten your hair for the umpteenth time again. Worried about some weird jungle virus (Zika) that could damage your baby’s health? Pfft. Whatever.
The tour is kind of funny in a way. The schedule actually looked great (Invictus, Commonwealth Canopy, scholarships, aboriginal schools, etc…) and the Irish tour was decent, so the royals were probably shocked out of their minds when it turned into a belly-cupping self-promo fest. I mean, they were literally told about the pregnancy THE DAY BEFORE.
Oh, I think she’s pregnant. I don’t think Megs is as far along as she said she was when it was announced. I think she was probably 10 weeks along maximum when it was announced, and I’m not super convinced she was even that far along when she announced.
I suspect Will and Kate’s attitude probably has to do with a number of things, such as:
Will and Kate have a number of reasons not to be super happy about the situation.
I suspect what galls people behind the scenes even further is Megs lack of regular health precautions while pregnant. What is known and suspected at this point includes:
Drinking (champagne without food on a solo flight to Canada)
Partying at Soho House, which includes more drinking.
And that’s just what I can think of offhand. Will and Kate likely know more, and they’re probably appalled. They know what it means to keep the mother and the baby healthy during a pregnancy. Megs clearly isn’t doing the same. Meg’s recklessness is appalling. And it clearly speaks to the reckless attitude she would have when she’s a mother.
So I’m not surprised that Will and Kate haven’t issued a public congratulations. They’re probably still bracing for impact for another episode of assholery from the Duchess of Mean!
Good point. It probably was a combination of things. We’ve all been watching Harry and Meghan’s ongoing Hollywood-ization of the brf with open-mouthed horror, wondering how they were being allowed to do all this. I’m glad that someone finally put their foot down.
The tour really was beyond the pale. They were supposed to represent the country and the royal family, while promoting royal initiatives like Invictus, the scholarship program, and the Commonwealth canopy, and instead they promoted themselves and their bump.
Because she’s had good press even when she’s done inappropriate things like bellycupping on the tour. Why highlight the plight of a place like Dubbo, Australia, when you can make the press write about your self-referencing banana bread.
Yeah, she’s not an axe-murder. She’s not like Trump where her actions are contributing to the devastation of the planet or cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants and refugees.
But she’s not doing what she’s supposed to be doing as a royal. She should be highlighting the work of other people. Demonstrating respect for hosts and host countries instead of making everything about herself like this:
I’m still wondering if we’re going to end up getting Remembrance Day bellycupping. Will the BRF bench her to prevent it? Can they bench her? Or will they allow her to go with the expectation that she not bellycup? Which she will probably violate that rule because honoring vets is not as important as drawing attention to her own belly.
I almost think she’s manipulating her stomach muscles in that picture. Her belly looks so weird and that dress looks so tacky.
“Can Meghan keep her hands off Harry for just 5 minutes? I get they are in love and happy, and that’s great. But stop trying to distract people by acting all cute and instead focus on what’s really important: the charities you’re visiting and the people you’re meeting.“ – Submitted by Anonymous
Were they offended by her bellycupping? I imagine that they all were. I think her behavior makes it obvious that she and Harry aren’t going to get sent on another tour together.
Fingers crossed that they give the Sussexes their own Twitter and Instagram accounts as soon as possible so we can watch them implode all the more easily.
The Bondi beach charity is the only one that has gotten any press at all, and that’s because they really put on a show. Flying Doc got a little press because of the childbirth demo, but got buried under banana bread news. Kudos to both charities for really trying to get their names out there.
I think that’s it. She met with the Kookaburra Kids yesterday, but that got buried under “pacing herself” news. The indigenous school got embargoed and no one paid any attention to it because of the banana bread. They had lunch at a place that also helps the indigenous, but I didn’t even catch the name, just the menu ingredients. The rest of the events were not charities, just “programs” at different places–Formula 1 something, inclusion whatever at the girls’ school she visited, and something about microgreens. There was so little attention paid to any of these events that I don’t even remember the names of the programs or much about what they did. Oh, wait, there was the rugby Girls Can program. I do remember that name, but mostly because it was so ironic in light of the fact that Meghan couldn’t throw that ball.
The sugars are desperately trying to spin her crap fashion into “seriousness” and “work focus,” but it’s ridiculous because the only thing Meghan is promoting is herself–her pregnancy (binders, comments, presents, belly-thrusting), her relationship (constantly escalating pda), her culinary skills (banana bread, food events), her celeb friends (Serena and Gillian Anderson clothes). You need a magnifying glass to even notice any of the charity work.
This is the kind of thing you do when you’re extremely desperate for attention. Her fans think this shit is cute, but she has no other way to tell people how far along she is and that makes it pathetic.
There is a reason royals don’t show PDA (along with them being old school and private about there lives) it draws attention away from the work. Every headline on this tour is about them touching each other or lovingly looking into each other’s eyes. What is a dubbo, what is there plight, what’s happening with there people. I don’t know because of BANANA BREAD. Your job is not to be cute. It’s to bring attention to things so people can help/support those issues. Your constant touching and cuddling under umbrellas is not modernizing the family or bringing them into the 21st century, it’s DISTRACTING! They need tot stop acting like teenagers in there first relationship and grow up. Your marriage is also a job it time you start doing it. Maybe if you would have stopped for 10 seconds to think about that before you got married you would have known it’s not the job you wanted. STEP UP, OR STEP OUT!
I think she’s with him for the press and the self-actualization aspects of this. She finally gets to be famous and admired, like she has always wanted.
When she’s getting that self-actualization (Nottingham, the wedding, now), she’s happy with him and looks “in love.” When she’s not getting it (her family messing things up and whatever happened when her mom visited her) she’s angry and is no longer “in love.” He’s a conduit to her self-actualization.
It’s ALL self-promo about Meg’s biography and her cooking and yoga hobbies. It’s the Tig Tour, complete with recipes! It’s the one royal tour that makes me grateful that there’s a huge time difference and I can sleep through most of it.
Really? Really? That’s what we’re doing in our spare time? Pushing out farts and cupping your stomach. Dude we get it you’re pregnant. Stop trying so damn hard. I’m done, I knew she would do this but I wanted her to prove me wrong.
I know! I went “wait, she changed from a navy dress into an IDENTICAL navy dress????” But it turned out it was black. The macaroni necklace was the best part of that outfit, imo.
This looks very sloppy to me. The clothes are sloppy. The coverage is all fluff. I thought maybe she was dressing sloppily because this was her “I focus on the substance of the tour” trip (those binders!), but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The substantive stops are not highlighted at all (and, as in the case of the aboriginal school, are sometimes shoved out of the way), which is a shame. Part of it is that they have so many events they all kind of blend into anonymous handshaking and cute kid pics, but part of it is that the charity stuff is treated as just background to Harry and Meg’s love story.
She met an after-school rugby program for girls and she doesn’t play rugby. The program is ironically named “Girls Can” and Meghan showed everyone that some girls actually can’t.
They were supposedly going to clean up a beach (which would have been great for awareness), but then they didn’t get to clean up. This reminds me of the drought-awareness stop in Dubbo which turned into a deluge. Both events became”Meghan and Harry hold hands as they meet with cute kids and eat,” which seems to be the theme of the tour.
The social cafe visit (they help indigenous kids) turned into a Tig-friendly food tasting with the chef. I don’t think we met any of the indigenous kids.
The aboriginal school was embargoed and thus overshadowed by her banana cake. Kudos to Emily Andrews for actually getting interviews from the kids.Yes, it was a rote”she’s a role model” quote, but at least the kids got some visibility.
“You’re really speaking my language” is the new “it’s amazing.” She’s saying that to everyone. I really admire how she manages to turn other’s people work into a statement about herself. This takes real talent.
I wouldn’t say there’s no work involved. It’s different work from a regular 40-hour per week day job. All the normal “work” happens behind the scenes. Tour is regular pr work, and I’m sure there are a lot of publicists who could tell you that they do “work” even if it’s not work similar to your own.
Harry and Megs aren’t doing a good job of that work though. They’re supposed to be highlighting Australia and charities and the good work of other people. But they’re just making it all about them.
But I have to admit, I AM hoping Jess shows up to an engagement in her skin-tight spandex and trout lips. The brf is safe in Will’s hands and these two baby-sex-cake baking idiots are hella entertaining. It’s like a Keeping Up with the Kardashians spin-off.
I think they usually send out press releases to that effect. Harry and Meghan’s press releases are just different.
It appears to me that Meaghan is changing how the KP press officers that work for Harry and Meaghan perform their PR. PR for W&K is still typically work focused in a traditional royal manner. However, Meaghan and Harry’s PR seems to be taking a turn towards typical celebrity PR tricks.
Even Rhiannon Mills, Sky News’ royal correspondent, commented on Monday that the royals typically did not make such announcements before major events or tours in order to not detract from their work. In other words, the baby announcement on Monday was not normal for the BRF.
House of Brat 