Royal author Robert Jobson says photos of Harry and Meghan 'together being happy' is a clever tactic
Lifestyle
Royal author Robert Jobson believes the happy photos released by Harry and Meghan are a "knee-jerk" clever tactic on the latest episode of the Right Royal Podcast.
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Courier-Mail
a day ago
- Courier-Mail
Prince Harry's wild palace comeback plan for Archie, Lili
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News. There is a brilliant British expression: The marmalade dropper. That one is standing in one's kitchen at breakfast time, looking out over trellised delphiniums and Marks and Spencer garden furniture, and you hear some news so startling a jar of the Waitrose's finest Oxford pip-free slips through your fingers out of deep shock. So I'm warning you now. Put down all condiments, sauces, dressings or hot drinks. Get this: Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex reportedly sees a future where his children could return to the UK and become official working members of the royal family. Yes, him. The world's only royal refugee, a man who chucked in palace-dom and the possibility of ever being proudly tasked to open the Perthshire Agricultural Show, who painted the Windsors as emotionally constipated, self-serving egoists, who told us at exhausting length about the commercial-grade suffering that he endured as a paid up representative of the Crown. Him. X He, reportedly, thinks that – despite having earned tens of millions of dollars rubbing his family and laying bare the inequities and humiliations of monarchy and despite his kids having been to the UK once in the last five years – his kids could one day become paid up, front row members of Crown Inc. I'm not sure we've had a piece of news this bizarre and defying all logic, reason and good sense since, Prince Edward (remember him? Thin, suited, bears an increasingly haunting resemblance to Prince Philip if he had ever joined a book club?) got the idea to do a royal version of 80s game show It's A Knockout. Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh attends the 2025 Chelsea Pensioners Founder's Day. Picture:MORE:'Lonely': Insiders lift lid on Harry's sad life On Thursday The Guardian, which normally stays well clear of breaking any news about Crown Inc aside from pointing out the tens of millions they squeeze out farm land they acquired during a joust in 1484, took a break from extolling the virtues of wind farms and tahini to get into the royal reporting game. (Personally, I love both.) The Guardian ran a piece reporting that Archie and Lili were forced to wait six months for new passports after the late Queen died and that Harry and his wife Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex feared the delay was because 'UK officials were dragging their feet because the passport applications included the titles HRH (His/Her Royal Highness) for both children.' A source close to the Sussexes said that 'the king hadn't wanted Archie and Lili to carry the titles, most of all the HRH, and the British passports, once created, would be the first and perhaps the only legal proof of their names'. However, the Duke of Sussex wanted 'to keep the HRH titles for his children so that when they grow older they can decide for themselves whether they want to become working royals, or stay out of public life'. MORE: Prince Harry's $200m UK secret revealed Prince Harry wanted 'to keep the HRH titles for his children so that when they grow older they can decide for themselves whether they want to become working royals'. Picture: John Stillwell –Marmalade, meet floor. Of all the things that you can imagine the duke noodling about in Montecito as he did the composting or was assuming the lotus position, his children having or wanting a future that would see Buckingham Palace merrily tasking them with a few lighthouse-related outings or some mid-tier midlands military patronages is madness. It would be like a committed vegan considering whether their adored offspring might one day get into farm to table butchery. The members working royal family, the fundamental indignity of the pathological hierarchy of it, the monarchy, the mandatory involvement of his most nemesis the British media duly recording every pat pleasantry during an away day to Sheffield – isn't this everything Harry has been pushing back against? Has repeatedly criticised from the global bully pulpit of Netflix and from the pages of a Guinness World Record setting book and interview after interview? Even aside from this, what makes the duke think his kids would be allowed to rejoin the merry old house of Windsor? Archie has not lived in the UK since he was about six months old; Lili has only been there once. She is not believed to have ever met William or Kate, The Princess of Wales or anyone with any sort of main character energy here. Prince Harry holds his newborn daughter Lilibet. Picture: Instagram Harry and Meghan pose for their Christmas card last year with Archie and Lilibet. Picture: Alexi Lubomirski/The Times Why would they want to sacrifice their independence and freedom for a country and institution they have no connection with? Nor, you would have to imagine, would the British people be that jazzed about two people with thick Californian accents turning up to host garden parties who don't know what Hobnobs are. That the palace or the British people would accept the young Sussexes as representatives of the Crown is nigh-on impossible to swallow. Even then, even if these obstacles were somehow surmounted, there is the biggest of them all – would William let them? That the palace or the British people would accept the young Sussexes as representatives of the Crown is nigh-on impossible to swallow. Picture: Jim Clarke/AFP By the time Archie and Lilli are firmly in their 20s he is likely to be running the show and King. As a friend of his told The Daily Beast last year, he 'absolutely f**king hates' Harry. Does that sound like a welcome-with-open-arms situation to you? Even today, royal cousins are essentially barred from being allowed to be working members of the royal family. Since 2012, when Charles put his plan in action, four deeply regrettable words have echoed up and down the Buckingham Palace halls – 'slimmed down royal family'. At another time Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie as HRHs and 'blood princesses' would have been shoe-ins to never have to work real jobs and to live lives where they spent the hours of 10am until 2ish on any given Wednesday cutting ribbons at Women's Institute meetings and visiting donkey rescues on behalf of the palace. Instead you can find Beatrice York on LinkedIn, a regular London gal in her 30s with a very good career in the software biz. Princess Beatrice of York and Prince William in Ascot, England. Picture:Beatrice and Eugenie have not been allowed out onto the palace balcony to exercise their waving muscles since 2019. Who knows. Maybe by 2045 the royal family will be desperate for fresh faces and Prince George, as he preps for the throne himself, will be dead keen on his American cousins being called up to bolster the flagging royal ranks. Maybe Archie and Lili will be keen to embrace their British heritage and want to devote their lives to dutiful public service. For the time being though, you can safely pick up the marmalade again but be warned. There is one thing we can say about Harry – the duke never fails to surprise us. Or the palace. And maybe the same goes for the next generation, in Montecito and London. Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and commentator with more than 15 years' experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles. Originally published as Prince Harry's wild palace comeback plan for Archie, Lili
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Sky News AU
The six major swipes Meghan Markle took at the royal family up until June
Meghan Markle stepped down as a working member of the British royal family more than five years ago, but she continues to take brutal swipes at the firm. In fact, the Duchess of Sussex has publicly made no less than six jabs at her husband Prince Harry's family this year, and it's only June. Meghan's return to Instagram on New Year's Day, her first time back on social media since 2018, provided the main platform for her many prods. The Duchess's Netflix lifestyle cooking show, With Love, Meghan, and her podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, served as her accomplices. Here's a look back at ten times Meghan made a not-so-subtle stab at her estranged in-laws this year. Passionately parched In February, Meghan unveiled the launch of her lifestyle brand, As Ever, previously American Riveria Orchard, through an Instagram video. The Duchess suggested the firm previously prevented her from sharing her passions during her time as a working royal. "Cat's out of the bag," Meghan, who cut a casual figure in jeans, said in the clip. "I'm shocked we've been able to keep this a secret for so long." Meghan said those who followed her axed lifestyle blog The Tig in 2014 would know she has "always loved cooking and crafting and gardening". "This is what I do, and I haven't been able to share it in the same way for the past few years, but now, I can," she said. Cryptic contempt All eight episodes of Meghan's awaited lifestyle series With Love, Meghan debuted on Netflix on March 4 and appeared to be riddled with swipes. The Duchess's first reference to her exit from royal life came in the first episode as she introduced her first guest, makeup artist Daniel Martin. '(Daniel) has just been in my life for the before, during and after , shall we say,' Meghan said cryptically. Free from constraint While the ex-working royal appeared to steer clear from directly slamming the royal family in her show, viewers were quick to find small clues in the episodes about the Duchess's current feelings towards her in-laws. In one episode, the Duchess appeared to hint at her frustration towards the constraints of her former life and suggested she lacked 'creativity' during her brief stint as a working royal. 'I just want to raise a glass to you guys. This feels like a new chapter that I'm so excited that I'm able to share, and I've been able to learn from all of you," she said. 'And here we go, there's a business! All of that is part of that creativity that I've missed so much.' In the trenches In April, Meghan opened up about the early days of her relationship with Harry in her first-ever podcast appearance with friend Jamie Kern Lima. The Duchess used the moment to make a jab at the media intrusion the couple endured when they publicly confirmed their relationship in 2016. She claimed she and the Duke were "in the trenches" in those early days. "You have to imagine, at the beginning, it's all butterflies – but then we immediately went into the trenches together," she told Kern Lima on the The Jamie Kern Lima Show. "Right out of the gate, like six months into dating." Sky News presenter Gabriella Power discussed the moment with To Di For Podcast host Kinsey Schofield, who called the characterisation "absurd" and "over-the-top". Working woes In an interview with the New York Times in April, Meghan appeared to make another dig at the firm as she responded to a question about work. "I need to work, and I love to work," the Duchess said of why she continues to put herself in the public eye despite facing criticism. Prince Harry's wife said she had worked from the age of thirteen, only stopping when she became engaged to Prince Harry in 2016 and quit her job as an actress. Vexed over visions In the seventh episode of her Confessions of a Female Founder podcast, Prince Harry's wife was joined by Cassandra Morales Thurswell, founder of the beauty brand Kitsch, and the pair discussed all things business. They covered "how grit, intentional design, and a scrappy mindset were essential in transforming a humble start into a thriving global business". Speaking about balancing motherhood and business, Meghan appeared to take a swipe at the monarchy and her short stint as a working royal. 'Before I was a mum, I'm going to give a speech with a baby on my hip. I had a whole vision,' she said. 'Then you fast forward, granted I had a lot of external things happening by the time I had both pregnancies and (both) babies. 'But it was not the way (that) I envisioned it."
7NEWS
4 days ago
- 7NEWS
Meghan Markle shares delivery room twerking video to celebrate daughter Lilibet's birthday
Turning four is a big deal and Meghan Markle is celebrating daughter Lilibet achieving the milestone with an Instagram blitz of intimate photos — and even a video of her and Prince Harry dancing in the delivery room on the day she was born. In an extraordinary insight into their private lives, the former senior royals can be seen in a viral TikTok-style video busting a move. Meghan and Harry are known to fiercely guard the privacy of Lilibet and Archie but appear to have changed their tune. Clutching her very pregnant belly and with an IV port in her left arm, in the video, Meghan looks calm and happy as she twerks to The Baby Momma Dance by Starrkeisha from 2013. Prince Harry also makes an appearance throwing down his best dad moves. SEE THE VIDEO IN THE PLAYER ABOVE Meghan joked that the dancing was a last resort to bring on the birth, given Lilibet was a week overdue at the time. 'Four years ago today, this also happened. Both of our children were a week past their due dates… so when spicy food, all that walking, and acupuncture didn't work - there was only one thing left to do!' Meghan wrote alongside the video. Meghan has also shared a photo of a touching moment between Prince Harry and his then baby daughter lovingly making eye contact and another of the pair barefoot and dressed casually walking on a dirt road while holding hands. 'The sweetest bond to watch unfold. Daddy's little girl and favorite adventurer,' she wrote. The first social media post in the birthday photo blitz was of Meghan, apparently on a boat, make-up free and with windswept hair cuddling Lili. 'Happy birthday to our beautiful girl! Four years ago today she came into our lives - and each day is brighter and better because of it. Thanks to all of those sending love and celebrating her special day!' Lilibet is Meghan and Prince Harry second child, their first, Archie, is two years older. She was born on June 4, 2021 — a year after the pair's infamous 'Megxit' from the UK and royal duties. Her full name is Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, a nod to Prince Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth and his mother Princess Diana.
