Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been making headlines all week, like every week. The latest, this just in, is that they won’t be returning to England for Prince Andrew’s 60th birthday – and the Daily Mail, naturally, is making it out to be like this is some kind of insult to the Queen. Really? We’re using Prince Andrew, friend of the dead rapist pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, to drag the Sussexes now? Is that like saying someone is an asshole because Kevin Spacey didn’t want to be friends with them?
Apparently Harry and Meghan have prior commitments and can’t show up for Andrew next week. Or maybe they don’t have prior commitments and just don’t want to be associated with Andrew’s squick? You’ll note, it was also reported yesterday that Prince William and Kate are taking a break next week as their kids are on school holiday. It’s not known where they’ll be or if they’ll be travelling but isn’t that convenient that they may be out of town for Andrew’s birthday. Is someone going to point that out?
In other Sussex news, Harry’s apparently been in talks with Goldman Sachs for a few months, working on a partnership in support of their foundation, which has yet to have an official name since they’re still working out if they can use “Sussex Royal”. This, of course, follows their appearance at the JP Morgan Summit last week in Miami. And they’ve been side-eyed for courting these relationships because, well, investment banks and financial institutions aren’t necessarily the first establishments that come to mind when you think about social change and integrity. The finance community doesn’t exactly have the greatest reputation. As I’ve been saying, as the Sussexes strategise their future, now that they’re no longer working members of the British royal family, these are the fine points they and their team will have to consider. Getting into bed with that cohort might not be the best look.
Speaking of their team, 15 staffers have been laid off now that they’ve decided to become independent. Which was inevitable. You can’t continue to take funds from the Sovereign Grant for dedicated Sussex employees when House Sussex has quit the team. If those people had kept their jobs, then there’d be questions about why that money is being spent when the Sussexes are working royals anymore.
This week Harry and Meghan visited Stanford, meeting with academics for a “brainstorming session” about their charitable efforts. They flew commercial from British Columbia on Alaska Airlines, a convenient pivot from their recent associations with financial conglomerates, almost as if to say – hey, we’re meeting with everyone, not just the douchebag stockbrokers. (By the way, Goldman Sachs was pretty thirsty with all their Sussex info, non? Perhaps not happy that JP Morgan got so much shine last week?)
And finally, British Vogue posted a video featuring editor Edward Enninful and Meghan as they worked on the issue she guest-edited last fall. It’s definitely a flex – as you’ll see from the stats, it was the “fastest-selling issue” in magazine history and the biggest selling issue in a decade.
I heard that they actually wanted to release this video months ago, when the issue came out, but were advised against it by palace aides who worried that it would have seemed too self-congratulatory, with Edward, or “E” as Meghan calls him, talking about how awesome she is and the female “forces of change” who are on the call with them complimenting her for her work. That’s on brand for the royals. When you live in a palace, literally, you can’t be jerking off to your accomplishments. That’s part of the aristocrat ethos. But then again, these are “upstairs” people who’ve never known the concept of hustle. Hustle is a survival mechanism for everyone who lives or who is from “downstairs”. And, as we’ve discussed, more and more, these days, part of the hustle, especially for the working class, for women, for people of colour, is claiming credit. Who else is going to do it for you?
What’s interesting about Meghan Markle, though, is that she’s both. She wasn’t born to that class but has had to observe their class standards by marriage – which, in a totally meta way, is what you’re seeing in this video. With her “oh my gosh” and that performed sincerity, she’s playing the part of what those ancients at the palace expect. But there’s a moment when someone swears on the phone where she seems to react spontaneously, and they’ve actually not edited it out in this video, and I wonder…
If this had come out before Sussexit, would they have still left that in? We all know that the only person allowed to cuss in the presence of a royal is Royal Prince Philip himself.
