Harry & Meghan 10: Even Less Relevant to the BRF

[viii]

I would never want to live in California, let alone the US. 

[Jackie3]

33 minutes ago, viii said:

I would never want to live in California, let alone the US. 

I can't afford California's taxes, so I wouldn't live there. That's not much of an issue for Harry and Meghan.

I can understand your reluctance to live in the US. So many countries offer more for its citizens, including the UK! But Harry and Meghan don't have to worry about healthcare or other social supports.

Still, if my wife wanted to live in the US, Santa Barbara is a fine choice! I can see why it would be far preferable than a vast, bat-ridden castle, either in rainy London or freezing cold Scotland. The bat poop alone would make me want to move! There are colonies of this creature at Balmoral:

FYI, California is not just desert. Far from it. In reality, it is a vast state with a wide range of climates/landscapes. It has ice, snow, hills, gorgeous mountains, vast agriculture, incredibly redwood trees, ice. . . it's enormously diverse. Northern California is like a completely different country.   California also far larger than England.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Jackie3

[AmazonGrace]

Skiing and surfing on the same day is not "seasons", it's more likely to be "geography"

[tabitha2]

Not even mentioning man made problems Every single place on earth has it natural beauty, natural drawbacks, natural selling points  and natural dangers.   The fact that California is over due for a massive earthquake is enough to keep me away though.  I rather have foggy moors and ancient ruins than the earth open up under me without warning.

 

 

 
 

Edited July 11, 2022 by tabitha2

[prayawaythefundie]

5 hours ago, Jackie3 said:

The bat poop alone would make me want to move! There are colonies of this creature at Balmoral:

Just a guess but I think neither Harry nor any other royal ever had to clean bat poop from the living room floor at Balmoral Castle. The bats are probably hanging in some attic or barn to sleep. It‘s not l like they crave contact with humans.

[tabitha2]

Right? I think they are actually cute extremely useful and relatively harmless. 

[louisa05]

7 hours ago, Jackie3 said:

 

In the winter, there is plenty of snow only 45 minutes from Santa Barbara! They can easily experience all four seasons. This is part of what makes Santa Barbara so magical. They can ski and surf on the same day!

 

Oh, FFS. Are you on Twitter tagging everything with #Kween #SussexSquad? 

[Four is Enough]

21 hours ago, anjulibai said:

f I don't think of Maryland as my home. 

I was born in Maryland, and except for about 20 years in PA, live in Maryland. I was born in Western Maryland.. and raised there. But for more than 30 years, I have lived in Baltimore, which sucks big time. I will never consider Baltimore my home..

15 hours ago, SoSoNosy said:

II used to follow a blog called The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor

I SEVERELY miss that blog!

[viii]

8 hours ago, Jackie3 said:

FYI, California is not just desert. Far from it. In reality, it is a vast state with a wide range of climates/landscapes. It has ice, snow, hills, gorgeous mountains, vast agriculture, incredibly redwood trees, ice. . . it's enormously diverse. Northern California is like a completely different country.   California also far larger than England.

Yes thank you for the unnecessary lesson. I have traveled to California before. I spent two months there. I know how lovely it is. Still don’t want to live there. 

[AmazonGrace]

Count me in as another notch in the wouldn't-want-to-live-in-California column. Anywhere with the heat waves really. I think if the heat didn¨t kill me it would probably make me want to die.

Wouldn't it be fun to have a real live bat cave in your home?

Edited July 11, 2022 by AmazonGrace

[tabitha2]

https://batworld.org/
 

They are an amazing group!  Takes a lot of compassion to be so devoted to these maligned little creatures. 
 

 

[just_ordinary]

On 7/9/2022 at 2:56 AM, tabitha2 said:

While the Queen can’t legally stop family members from naming the baby anything they want It’s a very strong and old tradition and a matter of great respect in the BRF to run baby name through the monarch to see if  they approve of the parents choice. It’s reportedly why Beatrice is named Beatrice instead of Annabel and Why Princess Margaret was not named Ann like her mother had wanted.  

That might have been true for her grandchildren, but if you look at her great grandchildren, the standards are definitely different. I doubt she really cares apart from the direct line. 
Times have changed even behind the walls if BP. 

Order of Satorial Splendor was AMAZING!!! The sister blog about HMTQ‘s jewels is great as well. 
 

If H&M would have left the royal fold in a different way, they most definitely had been financially supported for their new home wherever (from private funds). The only reason he has to tap into his inheritance is, that his family is not willing to pay for them after they felt betrayed and sold out. There are lots of hurt feelings and varying recollections on all sides. H shouldn’t be surprised and man up. Pay for your own life. No one can have it all.

[Coconut Flan]

Unilateral decisions frequently do not work well with other family members.  Negotiating to something everyone is comfortable with can take time and effort and can be messy.  We do this all the time in our family though and it's quite worthwhile.  I don't think Meghan ever saw that in action and learned the skills necessary.  It doesn't look as if Harry had much experience with it either.  They expected other people to simply bow to their wishes without any give and take.  

After they then chose to lash out publicly after not getting their way 100% and they've landed in a nearly irretrievable situation.  I don't think they have a clue that they will need to apologize for some of their errors and behavior and that it isn't a one way street on reconciliation.  

Edited July 11, 2022 by Coconut Flan

[tabitha2]

I truly believe Harry was spoiled  and coddled first as his mothers baby boy, the one she could have more control over and worried for more and then who wants to be strict with a motherless 12 year old and he was the cheeky, handsome rascal don’t you know?  Plus he became well Aware of the adoration he was given by a certain segment of the public and probably got a bit big headed.  
 

 

 

 

[LilaMae]

52 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

Unilateral decisions frequently do not work well with other family members.  Negotiating to something everyone is comfortable with can take time and effort and can be messy.  We do this all the time in our family though and it's quite worthwhile.  I don't think Meghan ever saw that in action and learned the skills necessary.  It doesn't look as if Harry had much experience with it either.  They expected other people to simply bow to their wishes without any give and take.  

After they then chose to lash out publicly after not getting their way 100% and they've landed in a nearly irretrievable situation.  I don't think they have a clue that they will need to apologize for some of their errors and behavior and that it isn't a one way street on reconciliation.  

From the moment they announced they were leaving this was clear. In the original version of their leaving statement, there was a paragraph which stated:

"The provision of armed security by The Metropolitan Police is mandated by the Home Office, a ministerial department of Her Majesty’s Government, responsible for security and law & order. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are classified as internationally protected people which mandates this level of security. As As stated on gov.uk, “No breakdown of security costs is available as disclosure of such information could compromise the integrity of these arrangements and affect the security of the individuals protected. It is long established policy not to comment upon the protective security arrangements and their related costs for members of the Royal Family or their residences.”

So clearly they didn't do any research and just expected that they would be given whatever they want.

Harry is still dragging the UK Home Office through the courts in some petulant rage about losing his royal security. God knows how much taxpayer money he is wasting.

[viii]

2 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

If H&M would have left the royal fold in a different way, they most definitely had been financially supported for their new home wherever (from private funds). The only reason he has to tap into his inheritance is, that his family is not willing to pay for them after they felt betrayed and sold out. There are lots of hurt feelings and varying recollections on all sides. H shouldn’t be surprised and man up. Pay for your own life. No one can have it all.

This is untrue. The moment they stepped back and stopped being “working” royals, they lost their “wages”. Nobody gets paid for a job they’re not doing. Their loss of income had nothing to do with them opening their mouths. 

[tabitha2]

His Dad and Gran would have helped him as needed from their own funds I am very sure. 

[MamaJunebug]

I like bats. If anybody has a child who likes all animals and would like to know more about bats, I heartily recommend the child’s book “Stellaluna” One can supplement it with a Stellaluna plush toy.

More on-topic, but non-Californian, what are people’s opinions of Lady Colin Campbell’s book about H&M? I know, it’s not new, but I only recently got around to reading it  TIA!

 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

21 hours ago, Jackie3 said:

 

In the winter, there is plenty of snow only 45 minutes from Santa Barbara! They can easily experience all four seasons. This is part of what makes Santa Barbara so magical. They can ski and surf on the same day!

 

In the immortal words of Basil Fawlty, that must be rather tiring.

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by QuiverFullofBooks
Double posted

[viii]

12 hours ago, MamaJunebug said:

More on-topic, but non-Californian, what are people’s opinions of Lady Colin Campbell’s book about H&M? I know, it’s not new, but I only recently got around to reading it  TIA!

She’s as reliable as the Daily Mail. 

[tabitha2]

Most likely gets her info  from the cousin of the housekeeper who works for some noble who knows one of the Royals in a big  of game of telephone. 

[LilaMae]

I'm more interested in the book Tom Bower is writing about Meghan. He's written a lot of books previously (including on Prince Charles) and has been sued by quite a few of his subjects and won all of them. He's apparently good at getting people to talk.

[MamaJunebug]

Thanks all! I’ve been hearing about Tom Bowers & will follow. 

[just_ordinary]

20 hours ago, viii said:

This is untrue. The moment they stepped back and stopped being “working” royals, they lost their “wages”. Nobody gets paid for a job they’re not doing. Their loss of income had nothing to do with them opening their mouths. 

@tabitha2 already said it, but that’s exactly what I meant. Charles very probably would have been happy to regularly send some pocket money and help out. They have enough private money and I can definitely see him or maybe (big maybe though) HMTQ opening their purse. (HMTQ might only be inclined to help out her own offspring though.)

H really should have employed a bad ass financial advisor. With that much money as “starter capital” they should have been able to live comfortably off the interest. I mean his mother died 25 years ago. Who knows how much it actually was when they left. In those spheres it only ever gets more. That’s 25 years of growing your wealth. Even if not the whole sum was real money (like the jeweller), let’s say just half of it was money- that’s still over the threshold when money miraculously grows. And on top is the inheritance through Queen Elizabeth, the Queen’s mother. Even though I have no idea if that has ever been confirmed and how much it was. I have really no idea how you can fuck up so spectacularly with such a cushion. Or he just exaggerated greatly again. They have a tendency to do so.

[EmCatlyn]

On 7/10/2022 at 11:55 PM, prayawaythefundie said:

This is absolutely not royalty related and probably very petty of me. I should let it go but you keep bringing it up, so I can‘t:

It may astound you but not everyone in the world would want to live in California. Many of us like having four distinct seasons and not being surrounded by drought, forest fires & way too many gun-carrying idiots. There are many beautiful places in the world and people do not need your pity for living in Britain (which is far more interesting in landscape, climate & culture from my point of view than California) or anywhere else. For me personally, California is nice for a holiday but that‘s it. There, I said it. Sorry for that, friendly Californians. 😅

I know what you are going to say „but Harry and Meghan like it and … “. Good for them! I would just like to inform you that the rest of the world might not feel like they have been excluded from paradise just because they don‘t get to live in Montecito or anywhere in the Golden State. 

I have never wanted to live in California, but I am fine with Harry and Meghan being happy there.  I am not sure, however, that they like it because of the weather.  I think what they like is the opportunity to be near other celebrities.  (There are other areas with great weather where they could live just as well—possibly for less.)