Meghan and Harry 5: Oprah, Racism, and Gossip! Oh My!

[just_ordinary]

They only have a small window to secure all those things. They know it, they deliberately take steps to keep people interested in their projects. They work hard to build their preferred narrative. And it’s needed. Most of their ventures are not build around competence but their celebrity factor. The book, the podcast. Netflix could be different if they could produce some really good stuff that enough people like and not just because they like them. Archwell is still a pretty muddy thing. Is it paying them a salary or will all donations go to charity? If they cook in too many pots the power might go out bevor evtl one dish is really ready. Who is going to be in retested in them in two years? After baby girl is born, assuming they want shill out the children to drum up interest. Only when there is something going on with the BRF and it’s all speculation if they turn up. It has already started. We get longer periods when it seems no one is interested in them. The Archie Papwalk wasn’t interesting enough to cover (and isn’t it interesting that they didn’t sue anybody for showing his full face?). They are desperate enough to announce every „private“ congratulation or similar to the BRF. 

[viii]

I don’t understand the point of Archwell. It’s supposed to be a charity foundation I think but they put all their personal stuff on there? Like it’s not social media... 

[Xanariel]

1 hour ago, viii said:

I don’t understand the point of Archwell. It’s supposed to be a charity foundation I think but they put all their personal stuff on there? Like it’s not social media... 

I think that Harry and Meghan themselves might not be entirely sure, because their original plan was knocked off course before they even had a chance to get into gear. 

Sussex Royal looked to be the original vehicle with Archewell perhaps the charity arm and social media perhaps continued on their original account in line with their plan to entwine royal duties with commercial activities. 

But that plan got slapped down, they were unable to use 'Royal' (which we know they were mad about because they released that statement about the Queen not owning the word) and they had to scramble for a new vision of what their 'brand' was going to look like going forward, with Archewell now having to carry what they might originally have wanted to spread out across different platforms. 

[viii]

Meghan clearly loves social media and has long before she got with Harry. I don’t understand why they just don’t change their sussexroyal Instagram name and use something else so they can keep posting. 

[VGL]

1 hour ago, viii said:

Meghan clearly loves social media and has long before she got with Harry. I don’t understand why they just don’t change their sussexroyal Instagram name and use something else so they can keep posting. 

I think it has something to do with the fact that SussexRoyal instagram was started while they were working royals so it's not technically their instagram account.

From what I understand, Archewell is set up as a not-for-profit.

[Xanariel]

1 minute ago, viii said:

Meghan clearly loves social media and has long before she got with Harry. I don’t understand why they just don’t change their sussexroyal Instagram name and use something else so they can keep posting. 

Yeah, it definitely is weird - I'd originally predicted they were going to start up a new Instagram account straight away and use that as a starting point for their new projects, considering they utilised it so prominently as royals. 

I guess there's a number of things that could be in play. They may find it awkward to have social media after publicly criticising its effects on several occasions (though I'm pretty sure the Cambridges have also spoken about social media while running an Instagram account). They may want to wait until an opportune moment/job to publicise. Or they will first want to make sure that they will exceed the social media milestones they hit as part of the BRF to head off any claims that they are solely relevant as royals, not celebrities in their own right. 

But I do think that it would benefit them to have the accounts again. 

[viii]

https://people.com/royals/archies-birthday-to-kids-in-nz-meghan-markle-and-prince-harry-donate-200-beanies-to-kiwi-families/

Harry and Meghan donated 200 beanies to New Zealand families that escape domestic violence in honor of Archie's 2nd birthday. The organization posted a thank you to them. Nice gesture! 

[just_ordinary]

On 5/8/2021 at 7:27 PM, Xanariel said:

Yeah, it definitely is weird - I'd originally predicted they were going to start up a new Instagram account straight away and use that as a starting point for their new projects, considering they utilised it so prominently as royals. 

I guess there's a number of things that could be in play. They may find it awkward to have social media after publicly criticising its effects on several occasions (though I'm pretty sure the Cambridges have also spoken about social media while running an Instagram account). They may want to wait until an opportune moment/job to publicise. Or they will first want to make sure that they will exceed the social media milestones they hit as part of the BRF to head off any claims that they are solely relevant as royals, not celebrities in their own right. 

But I do think that it would benefit them to have the accounts again. 

I think there are two more reasons at play. 
(1) their every move is being mocked and scrutinised. They might want to wait till they are not as much in the line of fire.

(2) I think they are unsure in what way they want to build it. Focused on their charity- then an Archwell account would suffice? A private charity account where they cover all their philanthropic ideas? With or without personal statements (that would very much sound like lecturing to some and let’s face it neither is known for world class speeches -I mean who is? But they will be measured accordingly.)? Mixed in private content? They backed themselves into a corner here. Calling people to make hard decisions for the environment while living in a multimillion dollar villa, with grounds that need extensive watering, using private jets... their private life does not really reflect what they preach. Which is true for the majority but they are in the unlucky position that, at the moment, they are under the looking glass. 

[viii]

https://people.com/royals/prince-harry-therapy-truman-show-dax-shepard-interview-armchair-expert/

Interesting new article. It doesn't really say anything too new, but it does confirm that Harry hated royal life before Meghan was ever on the scene, so I think the narrative of her splitting him up from his family can finally stop. He disliked the entire circus long before he knew her. 

Quote

"It's the job right? Grin and bear it. Get on with it. I was in my early 20s and I was thinking I don't want this job, I don't want to be here. I don't want to be doing this," he said. "Look what it did to my mum. How am I ever going to settle down and have a wife and family, when I know it's going to happen again?"

He also mentions that Meghan encouraged him to go to therapy, which is good because damn. Thoughts like this are so dangerous and borderline paranoid. I understand he went through a horrific ordeal when his mother died, but I feel like the paparazzi in general is better now than it was in the late 90's and early 2000's. There's no guarantee of something happening like this again so it's good that he's getting therapy to process what he went through and will hopefully stop projecting his fears on to his family. 

[Xanariel]

20 minutes ago, viii said:

https://people.com/royals/prince-harry-therapy-truman-show-dax-shepard-interview-armchair-expert/

Interesting new article. It doesn't really say anything too new, but it does confirm that Harry hated royal life before Meghan was ever on the scene, so I think the narrative of her splitting him up from his family can finally stop. He disliked the entire circus long before he knew her. 

He also mentions that Meghan encouraged him to go to therapy, which is good because damn. Thoughts like this are so dangerous and borderline paranoid. I understand he went through a horrific ordeal when his mother died, but I feel like the paparazzi in general is better now than it was in the late 90's and early 2000's. There's no guarantee of something happening like this again so it's good that he's getting therapy to process what he went through and will hopefully stop projecting his fears on to his family. 

I found this a bit of a weird interview to be honest. 

First of all, he was saying back in 2017 that he'd been in therapy for a few years and specifically credited William for it, saying that he sat Harry down and told him what he was going through wasn't normal. Maybe it didn't work out, but it seems weird that Meghan had to encourage him to go to therapy when he'd already done a campaign specifically extolling its benefits. 

Secondly, he discusses feeling trapped as a royal and hating doing the work. But while I fully get him hating the press attention...Harry was the one who chose to be a working royal? He left the army, didn't join any of the programs to retrain servicemen for civilians, but instead joined the royal rota before William was even a full-time royal. He never racked up particularly high engagement numbers either, so it didn't look like the BRF press-ganged him to fill a gap. 

Also, saying that being a prince sucks while also throwing a tantrum that your son wasn't made a prince isn't likely to draw massive amounts of sympathy from the peasants you wanted to pay for his security. 

But I do agree that anyone acting like Harry was torn away from his family by a scheming Meghan is deluded. He was very happy to tear into his father on live TV and he's had problems with William for a very long time. 

Edited May 13, 2021 by Xanariel

[just_ordinary]

Adding that both specifically said they want to scale back but not leave the BRF completely- they wanted to collaborate and go on tours on their behalf when asked to do so. The tone only changed when they realised that wasn’t ab option. Suddenly, the BRF was toxic too (not just the press).
I mean, their own words already make me wonder when exactly this revelation had set in. But my biggest pet peeve is that he continues to profit (if not financially than in the biggest celebrity currency: publicity) by dragging along his family. He uses them to gain attention. The fact that he comes from a pretty dysfunctional family is hardly news. The thing is, he has nothing else that guarantees him publicity. His family is still his fall back option. The trump card. I wonder if he realises that it’s pretty sad he has nothing else. I mean, he could have talked about the pressure building up over the years. That earlier therapy has helped but it wasn’t enough. Why bring out your father’s parenting, while not me mentioning your mother, but at least it’s his own experience. Why he thought he had to link this to the relationship his father had with his parents is beyond me. That is something for his therapist and his confidants. Hanging out your dirty laundry is a stupid move if you really want to move on. I think the Oprah interview was a slippery slope. I am actually disappointed. The headlines they create themselves could be so much focused on their projects, but no he has to make it about himself. If anything it makes him look desperate and petty.

I have said it before and I will say it now. Harry is struggling with finding his new identity. Let’s see how his own endeavours go. Meghan is definitely at an advantage here and I think she has a better vision of how she wants to go forward and how to accomplish that. 

[DalmatianCat]

I wonder if quietly, between themselves, William and Kate are preparing all three of their own children for both a career of their own choosing, but also to be the monarch one day if the brother or sister ahead of them chooses to pass on it that way they never have the resentment that Harry seems to have. As in, I can see them being fine with George saying, “I know that I’m the oldest, but I’d really rather be a (fill in the blank). Let Charlotte have the throne.”

And Charlotte saying, “yes, please, I’d love to!” 

For the British posters...would something like that go over well? 

[Pecansforeveryone]

I am American, not British so my two cents probably aren't even worth that. I can't imagine it going over well. I think the British monarchy is far to steeped in tradition just for the sake of tradition to say it's fine to swap heirs the way one swaps lunches. Of  George could abdicate in favor of Charlotte. They couldn't force him to accept the throne. However, before it was final I imagine there would a good deal of begging and pleading for him not to abdicate by all around him. 

[Xanariel]

I doubt that kind of "throne-swapping" would be accepted, but I do think that there would be support and advice if George did feel that he didn't want the throne, with a possible preparation of Charlotte if need be. 

But Kate seems pretty invested in her kids' education, and I think there'll be far less resentment if Charlotte and Louis are able to go off and have their own separate careers. 

A lot of the issues with Harry seem to stem back to the fact that he's...just not that bright. He didn't get good grades at school despite every resource being available to him, and outside the army there weren't a ton of jobs he could do that were particularly prestigious. When he left the army unexpectedly, being a working royal was really all he had as back-up (and his numbers were quite pitiful, so he didn't even really do that much). 

I think he probably felt quite stuck, and that fanned his bitterness about being forever No.2 at best. 

[VGL]

17 hours ago, Xanariel said:

I doubt that kind of "throne-swapping" would be accepted, but I do think that there would be support and advice if George did feel that he didn't want the throne, with a possible preparation of Charlotte if need be. 

But Kate seems pretty invested in her kids' education, and I think there'll be far less resentment if Charlotte and Louis are able to go off and have their own separate careers. 

A lot of the issues with Harry seem to stem back to the fact that he's...just not that bright. He didn't get good grades at school despite every resource being available to him, and outside the army there weren't a ton of jobs he could do that were particularly prestigious. When he left the army unexpectedly, being a working royal was really all he had as back-up (and his numbers were quite pitiful, so he didn't even really do that much). 

I think he probably felt quite stuck, and that fanned his bitterness about being forever No.2 at best. 

I read somewhere that Harry left the army when he did because if he had wanted to stay longer or advance any further, he would have to write some tests or exams and he didn't want to do that.

 

 

[EmCatlyn]

On 3/12/2021 at 5:52 PM, MamaJunebug said:

(In my best QE2 warble) Ohhh, hellow there!

OK, enough of that.  Hello! I vaguely definitely remember reading that the entailments weren't absolutely automatically assigned to male relatives; my source was somebody on the old Republic Of Pemberley website who took issue with Emma Thompson's line in Sense & Sensibility 1995 that "property goes from father to son, not father to daughter." I think one of the examples she might have provided was Lady Catherine duBourg herself.  Who knows.  But anyway. Fun to think about, since I'll never have to really think about it.

....

(Just discovered this discussion.  Sorry to join in late.)

The situation in Sense and Sensibility (the novel) is different from what is described in the movie.   The novel explains that the uncle who has the fortune has the power to leave the money anyway he likes, but plans to leave it to his nephew (Mr. Dashwood, father of the Dashwood girls).  The nephew is invited to live with him so that his wife (Mrs Dashwood) will keep house.  The plan is always that the property will go to Mr. Dashwood, and the expectation is that it will not be entailed.  However, the uncle is enthralled by his nephew’s grandson (the four-year-old son of the obnoxious John Dashwood and his more obnoxious wife Fanny).  So he has the bright idea of creating an entail so the property will pass on whole to the cute little boy.  (This makes it impossible for Mr Dashwood to take money out of the estate to provide dowries for his daughters.)  In other words, the issue here is not that property usually goes from father to son but that there is a recent entail.  Mr Dashwood had expected the money to come to him without any restrictions and he would probably have divided the property in some way to benefit the girls because his son already had a substantial inheritance from his mother’s side.

Regarding Lady Catherine De Burgh, the bulk of her fortune is the “jointure” from her husband and probably only held for life.  The person who will ultimately inherit is her daughter.  Lady Catherine probably had a good dowry as the daughter of an earl, but the De Burgh fortune goes to her daughter because we are told explicitly there was no entail.

(Getting off my hobby-horse now.)

[EmCatlyn]

On 4/11/2021 at 12:18 AM, Anna Bolinas said:

Just married a grandchild into that line. Her granddaughter Victoria Eugenie, youngest daughter of Princess Beatrice, married the Spanish king Alfonso XIII. The Spanish may bear the name Bourbon, but they still have Hapsburg blood in their veins (Alfonso's mother, for instance, was a Hapsburg). Incidentally, Victoria Eugenie's English blood brought hemophilia into the Spanish royal family, just as Princess Alix of Hesse's English blood brought hemophilia into the Russian imperial family. As others have pointed out, the lack of marriages between the English royal family and the Spanish/Austrian royal family was primarily because of religion. It would've been rather hypocritical for Victoria to turn up her nose at the inbred Hapsburgs considering she and Albert were literally 1st cousins--his dad and her mom were siblings.

Victoria also allowed first cousin marriages between her grandchildren. Prince Henry (son of Victoria, the Princess Royal and Empress of Germany) married Princess Irene (daughter of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse). Princess Victoria Melita (daughter of Prince Alfred) first married Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse (son of Princess Alice); and after they divorced, she married a different first cousin from her mother's side, Grand Duke Kyril of Russia. Princess Maud (daughter of Edward VII) married her first cousin on her mother's side as well, Prince Carl of Denmark (son of her mother's older brother, Prince Frederick). So let's not pretend like the English were so above marriages between 1st cousins.

Cousins marrying was considered a good thing in the nineteenth century, not just among royals and aristocrats but in most social classes.  Such marriages were ways of keeping property in the family.  But they were also a way that the couple could know each other well before committing to a marriage.

Because men and women were largely kept in separate spheres, a man and woman might not really get to know each other very well before marriage unless there was a familial connection.  So of course people married cousins who they got to know and fall in love with. And parents who loved their daughters and worried about their vulnerability in marriage might feel reassured that the girl was marrying a relative they had known a long time and they felt they could trust.  None of this had anything to do with royal lines or political marriages.  

While Victoria may have been critical of specific in-bred families (I’d have to look it up), there was no disapproval of cousins marrying in general in that time period from anyone.   (Charles Darwin was married to his first cousin, to give a typical example.)

[klein_roeschen]

On 5/14/2021 at 3:42 AM, Pecansforeveryone said:

I am American, not British so my two cents probably aren't even worth that. I can't imagine it going over well. I think the British monarchy is far to steeped in tradition just for the sake of tradition to say it's fine to swap heirs the way one swaps lunches. Of  George could abdicate in favor of Charlotte. They couldn't force him to accept the throne. However, before it was final I imagine there would a good deal of begging and pleading for him not to abdicate by all around him. 

And in that the Royals aren't any better than fundies in insisting their girls are only becoming mothers and homemakers. George's path is set since the moment of his conception and you need to be very strong and set in your choosing a different path for yourself when it includes upsetting not only your family, but a whole country system. I don't envy him and another reason I dislike royality. It strips a child of choosing his own path for life.

On 5/14/2021 at 9:27 AM, Xanariel said:

A lot of the issues with Harry seem to stem back to the fact that he's...just not that bright. He didn't get good grades at school despite every resource being available to him, and outside the army there weren't a ton of jobs he could do that were particularly prestigious. When he left the army unexpectedly, being a working royal was really all he had as back-up (and his numbers were quite pitiful, so he didn't even really do that much). 

I think he probably felt quite stuck, and that fanned his bitterness about being forever No.2 at best. 

And that's another mistake of his family. If they would have raised him for a possible life outside being a working royal, he would be better equiped now and maybe would have taken his education more serious. But he was only raised to be a working royal and now doesn't know how to life outside of that.

[MamaJunebug]

9 hours ago, EmCatlyn said:

(Just discovered this discussion.  Sorry to join in late.)

The situation in Sense and Sensibility (the novel) is different from what is described in the movie.   The novel explains that the uncle who has the fortune has the power to leave the money anyway he likes, but plans to leave it to his nephew (Mr. Dashwood, father of the Dashwood girls).  The nephew is invited to live with him so that his wife (Mrs Dashwood) will keep house.  The plan is always that the property will go to Mr. Dashwood, and the expectation is that it will not be entailed.  However, the uncle is enthralled by his nephew’s grandson (the four-year-old son of the obnoxious John Dashwood and his more obnoxious wife Fanny).  So he has the bright idea of creating an entail so the property will pass on whole to the cute little boy.  (This makes it impossible for Mr Dashwood to take money out of the estate to provide dowries for his daughters.)  In other words, the issue here is not that property usually goes from father to son but that there is a recent entail.  Mr Dashwood had expected the money to come to him without any restrictions and he would probably have divided the property in some way to benefit the girls because his son already had a substantial inheritance from his mother’s side.

Regarding Lady Catherine De Burgh, the bulk of her fortune is the “jointure” from her husband and probably only held for life.  The person who will ultimately inherit is her daughter.  Lady Catherine probably had a good dowry as the daughter of an earl, but the De Burgh fortune goes to her daughter because we are told explicitly there was no entail.

(Getting off my hobby-horse now.)

So many thanks for this! Obviously I’d either never digested or noticed that. Now you have. me happily preparing to re-read S&S !!   

[HerNameIsBuffy]

We're going to need a new thread anytime, anyone have a good title?

[Xanariel]

5 hours ago, klein_roeschen said:

And that's another mistake of his family. If they would have raised him for a possible life outside being a working royal, he would be better equiped now and maybe would have taken his education more serious. But he was only raised to be a working royal and now doesn't know how to life outside of that.

...Except I don't think the royals did really raise Harry specifically to be a working royal. There already were efforts to allow previous siblings a life outside the BRF by the early 2000s;  Edward was supported in his efforts to run a production company and they got Andrew his trade envoy gig. That those didn't work out wasn't really the fault of the BRF itself, more due to the men themselves - and I think the same applies to Harry. 

He went to Eton, one of the top schools in the country that regularly produces Oxbridge entrees. Every effort was made to help him get good grades, including cheating. His brother, the actual heir, didn't just go to St Andrews and earn a degree, but was permitted to hold down a job as a rescue pilot and delay joining the royal working rota for years. Harry was admitted into Sandhurst, despite his abysmal grades, and given every opportunity to carve out a career in the army. 

None of the royal children are like fundie offspring, prevented from education and sequestered from connections that could help them succeed in the outside world. It's actually a little offensive to suggest that, when their educational opportunities vastly outstrip what would be afforded to most children across the UK. 

Harry's inability to stick to a normal job, a job that he had every help to get and succeed in, is really not down to anyone but himself. The only difference between him and any other nepotistic drop-out across the country is that his dad was able to get him a royal job as back-up rather than a delivery driver at his parents' shop or a tea boy at his uncle's office. 

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Xanariel

[DalmatianCat]

2 hours ago, Xanariel said:

...Except I don't think the royals did really raise Harry specifically to be a working royal. There already were efforts to allow previous siblings a life outside the BRF by the early 2000s;  Edward was supported in his efforts to run a production company and they got Andrew his trade envoy gig. That those didn't work out wasn't really the fault of the BRF itself, more due to the men themselves - and I think the same applies to Harry. 

He went to Eton, one of the top schools in the country that regularly produces Oxbridge entrees. Every effort was made to help him get good grades, including cheating. His brother, the actual heir, didn't just go to St Andrews and earn a degree, but was permitted to hold down a job as a rescue pilot and delay joining the royal working rota for years. Harry was admitted into Sandhurst, despite his abysmal grades, and given every opportunity to carve out a career in the army. 

None of the royal children are like fundie offspring, prevented from education and sequestered from connections that could help them succeed in the outside world. It's actually a little offensive to suggest that, when their educational opportunities vastly outstrip what would be afforded to most children across the UK. 

Harry's inability to stick to a normal job, a job that he had every help to get and succeed in, is really not down to anyone but himself. The only difference between him and any other nepotistic drop-out across the country is that his dad was able to get him a royal job as back-up rather than a delivery driver at his parents' shop or a tea boy at his uncle's office. 

 

This makes it seem like Harry was probably not actually upset with the Royal Family itself, but his own self and lack of knowing how to focus and find meaning in life. 
I wonder if he’ll eventually feel frustrated with Meghan also because she seems focused and driven (similar to his grandmother, brother) and she may not cut him much slack when he can’t settle down on one project or idea.

I know he was passionate about Invictus and would probably like things like the Wounded Warrior project, but if he needs to bring in money to support his family he’ll have to branch out beyond just charity projects and so far I’m still puzzled as to what he has going on that can sustain interest.

[Xanariel]

34 minutes ago, DalmatianCat said:

This makes it seem like Harry was probably not actually upset with the Royal Family itself, but his own self and lack of knowing how to focus and find meaning in life. 
I wonder if he’ll eventually feel frustrated with Meghan also because she seems focused and driven (similar to his grandmother, brother) and she may not cut him much slack when he can’t settle down on one project or idea. 

Honestly, over the past few years it's become apparent that Harry has a lot of frustration and anger in his life, coupled with some serious immaturity, and I think he's pretty difficult to deal with in general. 

He's obsessed with reading what people are writing about him, to the point of getting upset over public comments on online articles. He actively fights to get attention on his terms - demanding extra roles as part of the BRF, sitting down to numerous interviews - but then lashes out if it doesn't go as he wants. That's not a great outlook for someone actively seeking to remain in the public eye. 

I find it pretty troubling that Meghan stated she was reliant on Harry to guide her in being a royal, and Harry did jackshit to actually talk her through what to expect, including not even letting her know she'd need to curtsey.  Harry was publicly praising William years ago for telling him there was nothing wrong with needing help for his mental health - yet his wife was basically suicidal, and not only was he "ashamed" to tell his family and get her proper help, but apparently she's encouraging him to get help? 

It's like Harry gets to be endlessly cosseted by the people around him, but not only does he rarely seem to extend the same courtesy to them, but he actively flips out on them when things aren't going his way. So if he and Meghan did disagree over anything, I think he'd get sulky and bitter pretty quickly. 

Finding Freedom related a cute anecdote where Harry and Meghan were at his friend's wedding where she didn't really know many people there and wasn't familiar with the hotel. The press snapped pictures of them on the balcony and in the pool, and Harry became apoplectic with rage and was raving at the Palace to bury the pictures. It mentioned that Meghan had never seen Harry so angry before and was concerned by it - so she's the one trying to cheer him up and make him happy while he thunders around, rather than him looking after her at this event. 

That's not a pretty great relationship dynamic, and if I was Meghan, I'd be a little worried about how quick Harry is to blame any problem on his life on other people not doing enough for him rather than any failings on his part. 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Xanariel

[viii]

@Xanariel I really appreciate your posts. I don’t always agree with them but I always find them interesting and respectful. 

[klein_roeschen]

3 hours ago, Xanariel said:

...Except I don't think the royals did really raise Harry specifically to be a working royal. There already were efforts to allow previous siblings a life outside the BRF by the early 2000s;  Edward was supported in his efforts to run a production company and they got Andrew his trade envoy gig. That those didn't work out wasn't really the fault of the BRF itself, more due to the men themselves - and I think the same applies to Harry. 

He went to Eton, one of the top schools in the country that regularly produces Oxbridge entrees. Every effort was made to help him get good grades, including cheating. His brother, the actual heir, didn't just go to St Andrews and earn a degree, but was permitted to hold down a job as a rescue pilot and delay joining the royal working rota for years. Harry was admitted into Sandhurst, despite his abysmal grades, and given every opportunity to carve out a career in the army. 

None of the royal children are like fundie offspring, prevented from education and sequestered from connections that could help them succeed in the outside world. It's actually a little offensive to suggest that, when their educational opportunities vastly outstrip what would be afforded to most children across the UK. 

Harry's inability to stick to a normal job, a job that he had every help to get and succeed in, is really not down to anyone but himself. The only difference between him and any other nepotistic drop-out across the country is that his dad was able to get him a royal job as back-up rather than a delivery driver at his parents' shop or a tea boy at his uncle's office. 

 

I don't mean to be offensive and we deeply agree that outside of the tiny group of very priviledged families, these opportunities are impossible for almost any child, inside and out of the UK. And maybe if, instead of giving him so many help and chances and what not and let him fail in school would have lead to a different Harry than today.

But my comparison of the heir in line and fundie girls stand. Because for both of them, their is only one path laid out and no alternative from that. William may have had the years at university and after to enjoy some carefree time after, but when it was time to get settled in his duties as future Prince of Wales and eventually King, he followed that path. We will never know if he contemplated to quit that role or if his upbringing prohibeted that kind of thoughts, given how duty- driven the BRF is.