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What do you think about Harry and Meghan’s decision?

Hemlock65

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I'm curious to know what everyone thinks about Harry and Meghan's decision to step away from
royal duties and to work to become financially independent?
 

DaveNV

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Given how far from the throne Harry is now, (what is it - six or seven people ahead of him?), I'd think he'd want some way to feel validated for his family. He's never impressed me as being much of a "taker," and seems more interested in being a productive member of society. Considering how completely unreasonably he and his wife have been treated by the UK Press, moving to Canada seems like a really good idea. Good for him for stepping up and taking control of the direction of his family's life.

Dave
 

CanuckTravlr

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I am not sure if this thread will be allowed to continue, since it is a potentially contentious political issue, at least in the affected Royal realms, such as the UK and Canada. In the interim I will add my two cents' worth.

I have no problem with them wanting to sort out a role for themselves, whether it includes or excludes official Royal duties. However, I personally feel that their public announcement was in very poor taste. There was apparently no prior notification to either his brother, Prince William, his father, Prince Charles, or even HM The Queen. Nobody likes to be blindsided in negotiations. That tactic rarely works well in business, let alone personal family matters. It smacks less of a dedication to public service and more to one of self-indulgence and self-entitlement, IMO.

I think it is an admirable goal when they talk about wanting to become "financially independent", and are prepared to give up the 5% of their current income that comes from the allowances for Royal duties. However, I must shake my head when I read that their concept of being financially independent includes continuing to receive the 95% of their income that comes from the personal properties of the Prince of Wales. Plus they want to continue to use their Royal Warrants in their ongoing operations.

One further issue is that Canadian taxpayers will have to fund the considerable expense of providing RCMP security for them while they are here in Canada. Yet they are so far down the line-of-succession that they have no formal status here under the Canadian Monarchy's rules of succession. We recognize their titles only as British courtesy titles.

So If they want to be "independent", then good for the two of them. But I am not sure they fully understand what that actually means. Sounds to me more like a classic case of wanting to have their cake and eat it, too. I have always been fond of Harry, but I am not impressed right now!
 
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VacationForever

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He should be relieved of all "royal" duties and allowed to live his life as a private citizen with his wife and reside wherever they want. He has something like $25M and Meghan has $5M so they are not hurting for money. None of the British tax payers nor the "crown" should be paying a single dime for their existence. He can afford to pay for his own security if he so wishes. I have nothing against the 2 of them but I get exhausted seeing that they are constantly in the news.
 

Hemlock65

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I am not sure if this thread will be allowed to continue, since it is a potentially contentious political issue, at least in the affected Royal realms, such as the UK and Canada.

Oops, it wasn’t my intent to start a political debate. I was definitely seeing this from a royal scandal type viewpoint
 

geekette

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So many factors I am uneducated about (royal obligations and so forth elude me), but I respect a guy that walks away from a strong family to protect his wife and child. His mother died being chased by paparazzi and they are after his wife next, actively being quite cruel and many types of disrespectful. He stood up for them and got them out of a bad situation, at great personal cost and family angst. I wish them the best.
 

rhonda

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I read an article (sorry I didn't save the link) that described the Monarchy as "The Firm." It suggested that every business needs to, at times, carefully pare down the chiefs at the top. It also suggested that Charles was activity seeking to do just that ... an idea backed up by many articles found searching a key phrase "Charles looking to slim down the working royals to their core essentials".

In that light, if viewing the Monarchy as a company seeking to restructure, to eliminate expenses, to redirect funds from "top level chiefs" to needed areas of development/production ... I think Harry's move is a good intention but poorly executed in terms of timing/communication.
 

rhonda

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CanuckTravlr

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Oops, it wasn’t my intent to start a political debate. I was definitely seeing this from a royal scandal type viewpoint

I fully understand that, but there are a number of posters here that are either British or Canadian citizens. It definitely has political ramifications for us and is not just a "scandal", although I personally think that word significantly overstates the situation.

I have no problem with the stated goals in their announcement, but do have an issue with how it was done.
 

pedro47

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Wow! This thread is still open must because of the year 2020. LOL . Will this marriage, have a happy ending?
 

Panina

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He knew his obligations and the positive and negatives that his life brought. Was she so naive she didn’t realize what she was in for? I wish for both of them, they made the decision before they married.

I wish them well. Financial independence shouldn’t be too hard for them with their contacts and high profile.
 

CanuckTravlr

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I read an article (sorry I didn't save the link) that described the Monarchy as "The Firm." It suggested that every business needs to, at times, carefully pare down the chiefs at the top. It also suggested that Charles was activity seeking to do just that ... an idea backed up by many articles found searching a key phrase "Charles looking to slim down the working royals to their core essentials".

In that light, if viewing the Monarchy as a company seeking to restructure, to eliminate expenses, to redirect funds from "top level chiefs" to needed areas of development/production ... I think Harry's move is a good intention but poorly executed in terms of timing/communication.

While they may refer to it internally as "The Firm", I think trying to equate the Monarchy with a business does a disservice to the citizens of the Royal Realms, such as the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a host of other Commonwealth countries where The Queen is recognized as our head of state.

It would be the equivalent of referring to "The White House", which is a short form used to refer to the Executive branch of the Government of the United States and your head of state, the President, as a business and suggesting that is how it should be run. Both have some aspects of being businesses, but taking the analogy further than that does not do justice to the full role that both institutions serve, IMO.
 

alwysonvac

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I have no problem with them wanting to sort out a role for themselves, whether it includes or excludes official Royal duties. However, I personally feel that their public announcement was in very poor taste. There was apparently no prior notification to either his brother, Prince William, his father, Prince Charles, or even HM The Queen. Nobody likes to be blindsided in negotiations. That tactic rarely works well in business, let alone personal family matters. It smacks less of a dedication to public service and more to one of self-indulgence and self-entitlement, IMO.

They were aware.

From https://www.townandcountrymag.com/s...th-knew-prince-harry-meghan-markle-exit-news/

Sources close to the Sussexes are also coming forward to offer a counter narrative to the reports that Queen Elizabeth was caught completely off guard by her grandson's announcement. Per royal reporter Omid Scobie at Harper's Bazaar, senior aides have reportedly revealed that conversations regarding Harry and Meghan's "future plans and ambitions had taken place internally 'on all levels' for several months in the run-up to their so-called 'bombshell' on January 8." The Sussexes' decision to release the plan came as their agenda was leaked to a tabloid.
 

Chrisky

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Canada does not have a law of royal succession. When the British modernized their law, Canada didn't follow suit because of the perennial aversion to reopening the Constitution. We simply say that whoever holds the office of British monarch is automatically, ex officio, our monarch, And what that means is that anyone who is not the British monarch doesn't have any clear legal status in Canada anymore."
So as far as I see it, if they want to live in Canada, they would have to apply to immigrate to Canada just like anyone else. But if they were will to invest very heavily in Canada, by starting a business and employing Canadians there is a possibility that they could jump the queue in immigrating to Canada. Or since they have money they could just live in Canada for 6 months and then 6 months in the UK.
We also do not recognize titles in Canada. So in the UK Harry would be Prince Harry, but in Canada he would be just Harry.
Their decision opens up a whole can of worms as to who pays for their security. But since Harry wants to live as a regular person, he would have to cover his own security. That could pose additional difficulties, since private security guards and bodyguards in Canada are generally not permitted under federal law to carry sidearms.
I would not want to be in their shoes.
 

CanuckTravlr

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They were aware.​

From https://www.townandcountrymag.com/s...th-knew-prince-harry-meghan-markle-exit-news/

Sources close to the Sussexes are also coming forward to offer a counter narrative to the reports that Queen Elizabeth was caught completely off guard by her grandson's announcement. Per royal reporter Omid Scobie at Harper's Bazaar, senior aides have reportedly revealed that conversations regarding Harry and Meghan's "future plans and ambitions had taken place internally 'on all levels' for several months in the run-up to their so-called 'bombshell' on January 8." The Sussexes' decision to release the plan came as their agenda was leaked to a tabloid.

I have learned over the last 70 years to take anything reported by "royal experts" and quoted as coming from "royal aide sources" with a very large grain of salt. There are lots of agendas at play here. Even if the statement was true, I still think their decision to play it out in the media speaks of immaturity at best. A simple "no comment" until the negotiations were completed would have been more appropriate, IMPO. Unfortunately, like his mother before him, Harry and Meghan complain about their treatment by the press, yet it lets them be accused of not hesitating to use that same press for their own ends.

Many other "royal experts" have said that the Queen, Prince Charles and Harry's own brother were upset at being blindsided by the public announcement and that they had requested him not to do it. It was not that they were not aware of the desire to carve out a new role, which has been done successfully by other Royals in the past. It was the going to the press that caused the reference to being blindsided.

And yes the British press can be mean, disrespectful and downright intrusive and I fully understand Harry's and Meghan's desire to get away from that. But the British press, like some of the less reputable members of the US media have always been that way. Any Canuck, Aussie or Kiwi that has ever visited Britain can talk about still occasionally being referred to as "colonials". Sometimes it is in fun, but sometimes a pejorative. It is what it is.
 
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VacationForever

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He knew his obligations and the positive and negatives that his life brought. Was she so naive she didn’t realize what she was in for? I wish for both of them, they made the decision before they married.

I wish them well. Financial independence shouldn’t be too hard for them with their contacts and high profile.
Hence Chelsy Davy wanted no part of it. Meghan saying that she had no idea... was she really that naived, I think not. Not for me to pass judgment but if Chelsy Davy was told that Harry could become a private citizen, I guess the story would be a little different today.
 

rhonda

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While they may refer to it internally as "The Firm", I think trying to equate the Monarchy with a business does a disservice to the citizens of the Royal Realms, such as the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and a host of other Commonwealth countries where The Queen is recognized as our head of state.

It would be the equivalent of referring to "The White House", which is a short form used to refer to the Executive branch of the Government of the United States and your head of state, the President, as a business and suggesting that is how it should be run. Both have some aspects of being businesses, but taking the analogy further than that does not do justice to the full role that both institutions serve, IMO.
Thank you for the added context and explanation. :)
 

Luanne

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He knew his obligations and the positive and negatives that his life brought. Was she so naive she didn’t realize what she was in for? I wish for both of them, they made the decision before they married.

I wish them well. Financial independence shouldn’t be too hard for them with their contacts and high profile.
I thinking that thinking you know what you are getting in for, and then the realization of what you really got into can be quite different. Also (and I may be wrong) it seems that public opinion in some cases has changed about Meghan. It seems she was very well liked before they got married and the public and/or the press has soured on her a bit.
 

Rolltydr

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He should be relieved of all "royal" duties and allowed to live his life as a private citizen with his wife and reside wherever they want. ...I have nothing against the 2 of them but I get exhausted seeing that they are constantly in the news.

I don’t keep up with royal family comings and goings, so this is just my uneducated opinion based on one news article. I admire them for wanting to lead their lives without press and paparazzi hounding them every hour of every day. That has to be absolutely exhausting and a continual reminder of how Princess Diana died. I also think a ton of money is wasted on the monarchy that could be better spent, although it appears they still want to accept most of what they currently receive. Maybe, they can shake up tradition some and affect some positive change.


Harry - Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Passepartout

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Why should I give a rat's behind about either of them? My understanding is that each of them is already a multi-millionaire in their own right. SO WHAT??? Quick, somebody SELL 'EM A TIMESHARE and INVITE 'EM TO TUG!
 

Rolltydr

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He knew his obligations and the positive and negatives that his life brought. Was she so naive she didn’t realize what she was in for?
.

I’m not sure anyone outside the royal family could realize what they are getting into in that situation. That is a whole different level of attention.


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