Plan B Forum

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 2:56 pm**

The Duchess of Sussex has returned to Canada to join her son amid discussions over the future role for her and Prince Harry in the Royal Family.

Meghan and Prince Harry had been in Canada over Christmas with baby Archie.

It comes as the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge asked staff to find a workable solution after the couple announced they will step back as senior royals.

The Royal Family was said to be "hurt" at the couple's statement.

Palace sources have told BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond that Prince Harry and Meghan did not consult any other royal about making their personal statement.

In their announcement on Wednesday evening, Prince Harry and Meghan revealed they intend "to step back as 'senior' members of the Royal Family, and work to become financially independent".

They plan to split their time between the UK and North America, while "continuing to honour our duty to the Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages".

The decision came "after many months of reflection and internal discussions", they added.

On Thursday, BBC royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell said the Queen had been in touch with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge.

They all directed senior staff to work with the Sussex household and government to find a solution within days.

It was later confirmed to the BBC that Meghan had left for Canada, said BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond.

Last October, Prince Harry and Meghan publicly revealed their struggles under the media spotlight.

After returning in the UK after their six-week break in Canada on Tuesday, Harry, 35, and Meghan, 38, visited Canada's High Commission in London to thank the country for hosting them and said the warmth and hospitality they had received was "unbelievable".

Former actress Meghan, who is American, lived and worked in Toronto during her time starring in the popular US drama Suits, and she has several Canadian friends.

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 3:45 pm**

Gob wrote:Canada, they are yours, for free!

Why?

I don't follow the travails of "royals," so could you explain why you want to unload these two in particular? (I mean, rather than guillotining the whole lot of them.) What offenses have they committed against you specifically or the British public in general? I gather there has been a lot of drama in the media but I don't know any of the background on this. (Not really interested in googling it to learn the presumably lurid details, but if you have a brief recap I'd appreciate it.)

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 4:06 pm**

I gather that there is some snarking about the (apparent) decision to be half-in and half-out. They don't intend to give up all the royal perks (no matter what the spin). Further, the "making their own way in the world" sounds a bit "oh-yeah-sure" given their status, names and the like - are they going to give it all up, become carpenters and develop a little business in a small town? Will they try to write and publish children's books or adult novels under impenetrable pseudonyms?

It's not their fault that they are not "ordinary" folks. But some ordinary people find their new direction to be rather irksome. It's rather as if Bill Gates announced he was just going to be a regular joe from now on and pay the occasional visit to a McDonald's drive-through in his Porsche 959.

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 4:30 pm**

The idea that the Sussexes would be spending most, if not all, of their time outside the UK seems to have been theirs. Canada seems to be a choice based on previous ties.

There appears to be substantial popular support for the idea of Harry becoming Canada's Governor General. It would be a departure from modern practice (all of Elizabeth II's Governors General in Canada have been Canadians), but appointing a member of Canada's Royal Family would probably be an acceptable departure.

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 4:43 pm**

MajGenl.Meade wrote:I gather that there is some snarking about the (apparent) decision to be half-in and half-out.

Okay, fairynuff, but that decision seems to be connected to:

Last October, Prince Harry and Meghan publicly revealed their struggles under the media spotlight.

A luta continua, apparently.

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 5:33 pm**

The guy grew up watching his mother be hounded to death, literally, by the press. Can't say that I blame him for taking action when he saw signs that history was repeating itself with his wife.

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 6:41 pm**

The brouhaha comes down to this -- Meg and Harry's retreat from "Royal duties" now begins an ever eroding crack in the English Monarchy's multi-billion pound touri$t empire.

The archaic shout of "unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno" no longer echoes throughout the castle walls.

And the times they are a-changin'

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 8:11 pm**

Scooter wrote:The guy grew up watching his mother be hounded to death, literally, by the press. Can't say that I blame him for taking action when he saw signs that history was repeating itself with his wife.

Diana was killed by a drunk driver. The press played a role, certainly, in the sense that they probably would not have taken that car and that driver had the press not been waiting for them, cameras at the ready. But Diana played the press for her own ends and it was at bottom a symbiotic relationship.

I read the British press every day - OK the (usually pretty liberal) Guardian and the (usually pretty reactionary) Daily Mail. I'm not proud of reading the Mail but someone has to keep an eye on what these cretins are thinking.

I can't say that I have seen the apparent racist reporting directed at Meghan. (And I am no supporter of royalty; although I must say that, especially given recent events in the US, I prefer that the head of government and head of state are not the same person.) In fact, never having watched Suits I had no idea who Meghan Markle was nor that she was some portion African American. There were occasional BTL comments in (especially) Daily Mail stories which alluded to it but let's not judge the British press on the basis of the idiots who comment on stories from safely behind a computer screen. When it became clear to me that she was partly African American I thought that the coverage was almost overwhelmingly positive - breath of fresh air, much needed diversity in the royal family - that sort of thing.

It reminded me of how Sarah Ferguson was welcomed when Prince Andrew (aka Randy Andy) chose her: much the same. Not someone with a title like Diana, and thought to be a relatively free spirit. She had a (gasp) past in the sense that she had ex-boyfriends whom MI5 had not liquidated. Of course Sarah Ferguson turned out to have proclivities in the toe-sucking school of thought so was clearly Not A Good Thing. (Nor, for that matter, was Andy but that didn't become clear for a decade or two.)

Take a look at https://sussexroyal.com/. It's eye-poppingly embarrassing. That's not something they worked out over a week or two.

Yes they have a right to live their lives the way they want to. But at the moment it seems to me that they are giving up a tiny portion of their income and making a big deal of it. She is apparently a successful actress. He was by all accounts a good army officer. Good for them. But they should not expect the British taxpayer to support their lifestyle.

Posted: **Fri Jan 10, 2020 8:17 pm**

I admit to a fascination with royalty stuff, but it is mixed with a far stronger stomach churning anger that such BS even exists in the face of continued social injustices in the year 2020. USA manages to get plenty of tourism having never had royal twats, and I’m pretty sure there is enough history and beauty in the UK to draw tourism without the Windsors.

It’s really time to end monarchy everywhere, it’s such a disgusting concept that certain people are better by virtue of birth.

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:08 am**

I like it that the queen always has My C0untry Tis 0f Thee played....

it is nice 0f the 0ld bird t0 humble herself that way....

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 1:30 am**

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:50 am**

*sigh*

It’s always the woman’s fault.

Poor little men can’t make up their own minds.

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 4:30 am**

I posted it as poking fun at the common wisdom that it was the Duchess of Sussex who is responsible for overturning the apple cart.

I believe that as much as I believe that Yoko was an eminence grise who broke up the Beatles.

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:32 am**

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:50 am**

BoSoxGal wrote:It’s really time to end monarchy everywhere, it’s such a disgusting concept that certain people are better by virtue of birth.

End your own - leave other people's alone. That "certain people are better by virtue of birth" is not an idea the British public generally holds. People are often advantaged or disadvantaged by virtue of their birth, even in New England.

I gather there's a school of thought that all people labelled "white" believe they are "better" by birth and begin with a huge undeserved advantage. Perhaps it's time to dust off Dennis Rodman and claim that if Larry Bird had been black, nobody would ever have thought he was a great basketball player. We must bring down whoever is different.

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 6:03 am**

MajGenl.Meade wrote:
BoSoxGal wrote:It’s really time to end monarchy everywhere, it’s such a disgusting concept that certain people are better by virtue of birth.
End your own - leave other people's alone. That "certain people are better by virtue of birth" is not an idea the British public generally holds. People are often advantaged or disadvantaged by virtue of their birth, even in New England.

I gather there's a school of thought that all people labelled "white" believe they are "better" by birth and begin with a huge undeserved advantage. Perhaps it's time to dust off Dennis Rodman and claim that if Larry Bird had been black, nobody would ever have thought he was a great basketball player. We must bring down whoever is different.

You might want to put this on Meade:

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 6:49 am**

MajGenl.Meade wrote:Perhaps it's time to dust off Dennis Rodman and claim that if Larry Bird had been black, nobody would ever have thought he was a great basketball player.

I hate to say it, but Larry Bird stands out as a white guy who was good at what has become almost exclusively a black man's game (don't agree with me? Check the next NBA game on TV; while there are a few exceptions, generally the only white guys on the court are the referees). If he had been black he would probably still have been considered a good player, but the logic then would have been that "those kind of people" are SUPPOSED to be good basketball players.

-"BB"-

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 6:52 am**

TPFKA@W wrote:You might want to put this on Meade:

What the hell is it?

-"BB"-

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:20 am**

A nose guard.

Posted: **Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:27 am**

Joe Guy wrote:A nose guard.

*snert sneeeert* giggle You silly person.

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