When the Sussexes were away for six weeks, magazines and tabloids, including those in the US and elsewhere, were starved of real royal glamour and gravitas royal news. They mostly resorted to old tidbits of stories culled from the Duchess’s closed Tig. Of course, there were other members of the Royal Family going about doing all sorts to solicit attention, but that seemed not enough. The people they wanted were nowhere to be seen.
So when they released their Christmas card, they lapped that up like a gift from Father Christmas to them. Except that the Daily Mail sought to spoil the fun by claiming the Duchess’s photograph was photoshopped, according to their so-called ‘expert’. That invited the person, Miss Janina Garvinka, who took the photograph to protest to that tabloid.
The Sussexes returned from Canada over the weekend and without waiting to catch a breadth, went to the Canadian High Commission to thank the people of Canada for their warm hospitality. Within 24 hours, they issued an Instagram statement, which has managed to knock off major world news off top headlines.
When one considers that the Sussexes are nowhere near ever being the King and Queen Consort of the UK, the reaction by the general news media has been quite reactionary and over the top. One would also think, they have decided to disconnect from their own family. Almost all the usual suspects are behaving like it is the abdication of the throne, which they will never go near.
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These are the same people who have been snipping like dogs on the sidelines at everything the Duchess, especially does. They usually point to the Duke’s line of succession and imply that they are not relevant to the future of the Royal Family.
So why the over the top reaction today? For a couple who do not matter in their calculations, the Daily Mail alone has seventeen pages of nonsense on the couple. It has become the big front-page story everywhere, even the Financial Times has reported it. They are complaining just because the Sussexes want to be in a position to earn money and not rely on the Royal Family.
The Sussexes are not really leaving the Royal Family, not at all. They are advocating a new way of working within the family and not rely on the largesse of Prince Charles and the Queen. They must be tired of the constant references to being paid by taxpayers to lavish a princely ‘lifestyle’ by journalists. A ‘lifestyle’, which they are abused by journalists, who are bereft of any sense of justice, where the Duchess is concerned. In any case, there is no such thing as a ‘lifestyle’.
The Sussexes will continue to serve the Queen as now and when needed by the British Government. They would continue with their patronages and charities. However, they want the freedom to harness their human resources to live their lives, earn and pay their way.
They want the constraints of the rigid non-responses to the abuses the Duchess receives to be unshackled, so they can respond better. Now they cannot. They want to take on projects that can benefit other people and earn payment from it to invest in their Sussex Royal Foundation, where people are employed and more could be employed going forward.
Prince Andrew had another type of scheme, where a setup he had got percentages from companies the unit matched with successful investments. He was still a working royal, but because he was not honest enough to announce to the public of the percentage scheme, he got away with it, although the press knew about and kept it under wraps. Everyone was quiet about it and there was no ‘open’ North America link to it.
Britain is a conservative country, where the rabid royal lovers think anything new and different is sacrilegious. The new thinking put forward by the couple, as usual, is being misinterpreted by the news media, as they did with the Southern Africa Tour documentary. Needless to say, it is up to the Royal Family to discuss with the Sussexes to reach a conclusion for the benefit of both sides. When the Queen pops off, Prince Charles and Prince William are going to find it very difficult to sustain the level of respect and interests she has over so many years generated and maintained. Of course, they would need the Sussexes to generate worldwide interests.
The downside to the Sussexes statement is that some idiots, including the excuse for human being, Piers Morgan, have taken to the airwaves to blame the Duchess for splitting the Duke from his family. How anyone with a head screwed on their shoulders would come to that conclusion, is beyond the pale.
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No one is asking why a very modern couple has decided to change the way they feel and work in such an archaic institution. If the other couple is happy with the status quo, that is their business. After all, they are waiting to change the curtains at Buck House and certainly okay with their lives, especially when nothing much comes from them. However, it does not seem to be for the Sussexes.
If the Sussexes want to tweak their roles within the family, why can’t they be accommodated? The Duke cannot divorce his family, but there has to be a new way to bring fresh thinking into the Palace at the beginning of a new decade. They can bring a fresh perspective to the monarchy.
For all the opprobrium in the right-wing press today, it is the lives of three people – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Master Archie – that should matter to any outside observer. The Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William are covered and okay. The same suspects tell the Sussexes they are just minor royals, yet they are seething with synthetic angst for the change they want.
I think they should persist to get the best out of any discussion that is taking place. It is their lives, not anyone’s’. British people are always afraid of anything new. Perhaps this would be a right royal saviour after the Queen.
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