The Royal Wedding looms ahead

[viii]

From everything I've read about her, or seen in interviews/TV, she seems absolutely lovely. I hope she does become Queen, I've got no ill will against her. 

[Beermeet]

Something to always remember in those sorts of circles ( not just the Royals either).....

They sleep around. Openly in their circles.  Private parties we'll never know about.  Harry got busted and reigned right in, all is well.  He was photographed naked as well as dressed in Nazi gear for Halloween after all.  Covering each others asses. It's a carefree environment with little consequences.  Money and power, things we do not have on that level make what they do acceptable on a different level than "us" in our lives.  

[singsingsing]

24 minutes ago, Beermeet said:

It's a carefree environment with little consequences.

Really? It sure doesn't seem that way to me. It seems like a miserably stifling environment.

[Palimpsest]

6 minutes ago, Beermeet said:

Money and power, things we do not have on that level make what they do acceptable on a different level than "us" in our lives.  

Actually, I find this - and cheating - still unacceptable.  I couldn't give a shit about a naked single Harry cavorting with women, but a married Harry - yuck!  

8 minutes ago, Beermeet said:

as well as dressed in Nazi gear

He was very young then but that was dreadful.  And completely unacceptable.  Especially as the Royals have Nazi connections that they would much rather have us forget.  Not just Phillip's sisters who married Party members, there were other cousins.  Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha for one, Victoria's grandson.  He was a member of the Reichstag.

Also, it was a fancy dress party with the theme of "Colonials and Natives."  As tacky and as racist as you can get - but that is the milieu the royals found acceptable.

42 minutes ago, viii said:

I hope she does become Queen, I've got no ill will against her. 

Oh, I expect Camilla will become Queen.  She's done a very good job so far and will continue to do so.  Also the determined vilification of Diana over the years has overcome a lot of ill feelings towards Camilla. 

Diana's reputation has been completely trashed, and I feel sad for her sons.  She was troubled and a bit unstable, yes, but not severely mentally ill.  There's a godawful book out there, written by a journalist with no mental health background, who presumed to diagnose Diana posthumously as being bi-polar or having border-line personality disorder.  Highly unlikely, if you know anything about mental illness, but it sold quite a few books.

 

[viii]

The vilification of Diana has been horrible. I think she definitely had her issues, and I never liked how she was always painted the victim in the war between her and Charles, but I think overall she was a sweet woman that went through a lot of hell and did her best to love her children and put them first. 

And I also doubt that members of the royal family are allowed to go and sleep around with multiple of people within a circle. Perhaps that was once the case, but I truly believe that if Charles, or William, were sleeping with a bunch of women on the side, not only would the Queen put an end to it, but it would been leaked to the public. I think the royal family is held to a very high, stuffy regard. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

1 hour ago, Beermeet said:

They sleep around. Openly in their circles.  Private parties we'll never know about. 

They're probably also members of that "facebook" type network for the super-rich/famous.

[nausicaa]

6 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

There is a whacking great schism in the Anglican Communion, especially over same sex marriage.  A lot of the African and Far Eastern churches are very against it.  We could see the whole thing split apart.

Are you sure your church isn't actually Reformed Episcopalian - that split was official a few years ago.  As it is, the American Episcopalians are being naughty little rebels and are well ahead of the curve.  There are also rebel CoE vicars but I don't think it is official policy. 

Don't know much about Reformed Episcopalian--my church isn't one. I know the Episcopal church broke apart a few years ago and the more conservative churches that don't recognize same-sex marriage are now "Anglican" churches.

We are naughty little rebels! (And keep getting hand slapped for it by the larger Anglican Communion). We were put on probation for our support of LGBT+ issues. Even though everyone has long looked the other way about many Anglican bishops and priests from parts of Africa practicing polygamy. We are told since it's a global communion we need to be accepting of cultural differences. Apparently that train don't go both ways...

At every international conference we get lectured and finger wagged (while they still take all our money and have us fund the bulk of the Episcopal humanitarian work, but I digress...) Anyway, the Canadians are catching up to us!

[Beermeet]

36 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

They're probably also members of that "facebook" type network for the super-rich/famous.

Ooooo....do tell

2 hours ago, singsingsing said:

Really? It sure doesn't seem that way to me. It seems like a miserably stifling environment.

Seems like both to me.  

[ViolaSebastian]

Wonder if there's any truth to this...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5692879/Meghans-100-000-wedding-dress-revealed.html

[singsingsing]

28 minutes ago, Beermeet said:

Seems like both to me.  

I'm not sure how an environment can be both carefree and miserably stifling at the same time, but I guess I could understand a miserably stifling environment with the illusion of being carefree...

13 minutes ago, ViolaSebastian said:

Wonder if there's any truth to this...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5692879/Meghans-100-000-wedding-dress-revealed.html

If this is true and it was leaked without her consent, that really sucks.

As for the dress, it would be lovely if not for the insane sleeves? What's going on there, exactly? 

[ViolaSebastian]

If it is her dress, I feel like it's inappropriate for a noon church wedding. And usually I don't care about stuff like that, there's just A LOT going on there.

[Cleopatra7]

1 hour ago, viii said:

The vilification of Diana has been horrible. I think she definitely had her issues, and I never liked how she was always painted the victim in the war between her and Charles, but I think overall she was a sweet woman that went through a lot of hell and did her best to love her children and put them first. 

And I also doubt that members of the royal family are allowed to go and sleep around with multiple of people within a circle. Perhaps that was once the case, but I truly believe that if Charles, or William, were sleeping with a bunch of women on the side, not only would the Queen put an end to it, but it would been leaked to the public. I think the royal family is held to a very high, stuffy regard. 

Diana reminds me of “poor little rich girl” Barbara Hutton, the Woolworths heiress in that both cam from broken homes where they were undereducated and taught that their only worth was in how much money they had and being Mrs./Lady X to a rich man. If nothing else, the lives of both women illustrate why that approach to raising a daughter is faulty.

 I don’t know if Diana has been trashed in the media since her death so much as the fawning personality cult that surrounded her in life has receded (which included a dead serious call for her to be given the Nobel Peace Prize posthumously) and the popularity of the Windsors has risen. When Diana died, Queen E2 was seen as cold and indifferent, whereas now she’s seen as everyone’s favorite posh grandma. Even if Charles will never be a terribly charismatic figure, he’s seems to be portrayed much more favorably than he was in the nadir of the 1990s, especially now that he can play the role of doting grandfather. At the end of the day, Charles and Diana were just two people who were ill-suited for each other who got married for reasons having to do with social status/obligation and tradition. It’s a story that happens all over the globe all the time, but their story was broadcast to an audience of billions and as touted as a “fairytale” come true. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

32 minutes ago, ViolaSebastian said:

Wonder if there's any truth to this...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5692879/Meghans-100-000-wedding-dress-revealed.html

Nope. That looks entirely photoshopped to me. Yep. Found the original photo:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5484307/Markle-choose-wedding-dress-British-label-Ralph-Russo.html

[ViolaSebastian]

2 minutes ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Nope. That looks entirely photoshopped to me. Yep. Found the original photo:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5484307/Markle-choose-wedding-dress-British-label-Ralph-Russo.html

I meant about the dress being hers--I realized it was (badly) photoshopped. 

[SapphireSlytherin]

I can't imagine she would wear anything that's already been on a runway, though.

[Beermeet]

@singsingsing

So, for example, Prince Charles found his birthright to be stiffling, right?  Not into it.   He also slept around and led a cush pampered party lifestyle and his birthright helped him to afford that lifestyle, unlike us commoners.  He also benefitted from being a Prince in the sleeping around department.  I'd bet he wouldn't trade it for a day job at Taco Bell, ya know?   Get it?

[Beermeet]

2 hours ago, viii said:

The vilification of Diana has been horrible. I think she definitely had her issues, and I never liked how she was always painted the victim in the war between her and Charles, but I think overall she was a sweet woman that went through a lot of hell and did her best to love her children and put them first. 

And I also doubt that members of the royal family are allowed to go and sleep around with multiple of people within a circle. Perhaps that was once the case, but I truly believe that if Charles, or William, were sleeping with a bunch of women on the side, not only would the Queen put an end to it, but it would been leaked to the public. I think the royal family is held to a very high, stuffy regard. 

I definitely think this type of thing is outdayed now and do not think Harry or William would do such things or have.  Thank goodness.  

[Beermeet]

Seeing as I don't live in the UK; question to those that do or are in the know "word on the street" style:

How is Meghan recieved?  As an American, actress, bi-racial and just all of it.  This is a first, yes?  

[singsingsing]

48 minutes ago, Beermeet said:

@singsingsing

So, for example, Prince Charles found his birthright to be stiffling, right?  Not into it.   He also slept around and led a cush pampered party lifestyle and his birthright helped him to afford that lifestyle, unlike us commoners.  He also benefitted from being a Prince in the sleeping around department.  I'd bet he wouldn't trade it for a day job at Taco Bell, ya know?   Get it?

Sure. I think we just have different definitions of 'carefree'. I'd probably call what you're describing 'privilege'.

re: Meghan's dress. The article is very vague. It claims straight out that the dress in the photo(shop) is hers, yet the only information actually provided is that it's being made by a certain designer, how much it costs, and that it's 'heavily beaded'. I would not be surprised if they just grabbed a photo of a dress from that designer that seemed to fit the bill. Like @ViolaSebastian said, it doesn't look like the sort of dress one would wear to a noon wedding. I feel like the designer at the very least would have guided her in the right direction.

It also honestly doesn't seem to fit with her overall style that I've observed, like... at all. But hey.

[ViolaSebastian]

38 minutes ago, Beermeet said:

Seeing as I don't live in the UK; question to those that do or are in the know "word on the street" style:

How is Meghan recieved?  As an American, actress, bi-racial and just all of it.  This is a first, yes?  

Honestly, the only grumbling I've heard about her from my British side of the family (and it was one, older family member) was a complaint that she was raised Catholic. 

[TatiFish9]

1 hour ago, Beermeet said:

Seeing as I don't live in the UK; question to those that do or are in the know "word I on the street" style:

How is Meghan recieved?  As an American, actress, bi-racial and just all of it.  This is a first, yes?  

I  wonder too. I rarely find people in my little corner of the US who want to talk Royals. However, I had one person say she was a gold digger and another say she was old (age) b-level actress (career), why her? That's about it. I thought both resposnes were mean spirited. That made me wonder if Brits felt the same. Hope not.

[PennySycamore]

Here's a link to an article on Vogue.com that may be of interest:  

How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are Honoring Princess Diana on Their Wedding Day

It has an adorable picture of a toddler Harry on his mother's shoulders.  Diana's siblings will all be in attendance at the wedding and Lady Jane Fellowes will give the reading.  The engagement ring that Harry gave Meghan included two of Diana's diamonds.

[mango_fandango]

Omigod that photo of Harry is adorable!! 

[CaricatureQualities]

6 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

There's a godawful book out there, written by a journalist with no mental health background, who presumed to diagnose Diana posthumously as being bi-polar or having border-line personality disorder.  Highly unlikely, if you know anything about mental illness, but it sold quite a few books.

True true, no argument here,...but I still love Hitch. Is it Christopher Hitchens you are referring to or someone else? He was particularly scathing towards Diana. 

@Beermeet & @singsingsing, I think being a royal comes with privilege most of us could not fathom while also being incredibly stifling to a point most of us can't imagine. I personally would never want to be a royal, I think I'd take the job at taco bell before I would marry into the royal family... that would scare me more than a common existence working a service job. But that is actually the life I know and someone born into (that level of ) privilege might not give it up (it is what they know.) 

My mom is a huge Diana lover and from a young age I remember her declaring/lamenting "she ruined her life" [when she married Charles and became a princess].

[ladyamylynn]

If we're allowed to play fantasy dress up, I would love to see her in a structured satin gown and wearing the Teck Crescent, my personal fave tiara.