fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #4944 ]

See, this is what I don't understand.

MM is exploiting taxpayers! How dare she!

*MM and PH decide to leave and make their own money*

HOW DARE THEY LEAVE! HOW CAN SHE BE SO ENTITLED AS TO WANT TO MAKE HER OWN WAY IN THE WORLD THE WAY SHE KNOWS HOW TO!?

She cannot win. I know very little about the public duties she was expected to fulfill, but from what I saw, she seemed to be doing them as much as Kate? In fact, on of the first criticisms I saw of MM is that she liked to get up early and get to work right away and that it didn't align with how the rest of the royal staff worked. They hated her American work ethic.

From the little I've seen of her, she seems nice enough. I just don't know where the venom comes from (besides the racism).

NA

I am not really for or against Meghan Markel but I think she's made a number of gaffes along the way that just prove she's not really that special, she's just a Hollywood social climber. That doesn't make her inherently evil but it does expose her for being very self centered and making PR moves solely to benefit her.

The issues with Meghan imo get muddled because people get too exercised about her "betraying" the royals or whatever. I'll try to write down the ones I remember and provide some links:

1) Moving to Canada - Canada is part of the commonwealth, aka a group of nations that were colonized by the UK in the past. They and the other nations in the commonwealth are legally independent but they are still heavily tied legally to the royal family. Technically Queen Elizabeth II is still their head of state.

When Meghan and Harry tried to move to Canada after "cutting ties" with the royal family, they would have been drawing on Canada's legal obligation to provide them with taxpayer funded 24/7 security. At this point Meghan and Harry had made a huge stink about how they didn't want to be part of the royal family anymore and how suffocated they felt in the UK.

Therefore when they floated the idea of moving to Canada and forcing the Canadian taxpayer to recognize their royal status after they went through a public row to disconnect from the royal family, it seemed incredibly gauche at best and narcissistic at worse. It also inflamed political tensions in Canada: it turns out a lot of Canadians are actually very angry that Elizabeth II is their head of state and when Meghan and Harry showed up there was a very loud group of people yelling that they shouldn't have to protect a royal family from a country that legally recognized Canada's independence a long time ago: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/05/prince-harry-meghan-markle-canada-royal-family/

God bless the Québécois and their pointed little heads.

2) Not a loyal friend - Meghan recently threw a long time friend of hers under the bus for having "white privilege" and getting into an argument with a blogger where she threatened to make a complaint about the blogger (an influence based in Toronto) to the companies she worked with Again, this move is seen as gauche especially since Jessie's kids were given large parts in Meghan's 2018 wedding. https://pagesix.com/2020/06/17/meghan-markles-friendship-with-jessica-mulroney-was-over-before-white-privilege-controversy/

https://www.monstersandcritics.com/celebrity/heres-what-jessica-mulroney-said-to-sasha-exeter-that-got-her-fired/

3) Acting against the interests of her husband's family and institution - She did the same thing Princess Diana did and gave a very frank interview to the British press. Personally I don't think this is a big deal but obviously the royal family is very PR obsessed and they want to manage all messages going out. Meghan doing this sort of thing is directly in opposition to the interests of the family she married into: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2019/10/31/behind-scenes-meghan-markle-duchess-tells-bryony-gordon-vulnerability/

4) Using a charity as a pro-Meghan propaganda machine - Meghan complained about how being in the public eye all the time is incredibly hard and that she's being unfairly targeted by the press. All of this while she was supposed to be on a charity mission to South Africa. Again, shades of Princess Diana who was also a self serving person who used charity events to get in front of a camera, direct attention away from the people the charity is supposed to be helping, and on to her. I think this is typical self centered Hollywood narcissism to bring along jouranlists to tape you while you pretend to do charity stuff but it appears that for the UK and the Commonwealth they expect a higher standard of behavior from their royals: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/meghan-markle-stiff-upper-lip-harry-and-meghan-an-african-journey-2019-10-21/

5) Meghan Used to be a Yacht Girl - There's a trend in the international film industry that women can become "yacht girls" where they prostitute themselves to celebrities during parties or film festivals like at Cannes. Their goal is stated to become a prized mistress to or even snag a husband from this supposed pool of celebrities. There have been rumors for years that Meghan worked as a yacht girl and that the UK had the info scrubbed after she got engaged to Prince Harry. I don't think there's anything wrong with sex work and I don't begrudge her taking on the oldest job in the world but to some people it looks gauche to troll for a husband while fucking other guys.

6) Meghan doesn't like her son - When looking at photos of Meghan out on a walk with Archie she holds him very carelessly and seems more interested in making sure that she's son out with a royal grandson.

That's just what I remember off the top of my head. IMO Meghan Markle is a very selfish creature that does things exclusively for PR and that she treats her husband and son as tools to get rich off them. However I don't hate her and if Harry is okay with this arrangement where he and Archie are only props to Meghan, well, that's his prerogative and he is an adult after all.

Meghan still isn't on Diana's level though. Princess Di confessed that she once threw herself down a flight of stairs while pregnant with Willian because she felt like Charles wasn't paying attention to her: https://www.cheatsheet.com/health-fitness/why-princess-diana-threw-herself-down-stairs-while-pregnant.html/

Throwing yourself down a flight of stairs while you are pregnant and intend to keep the baby is remarkably evil. You can say a lot of bad things about Meghan but she never did that.

DA

What I got from this was more about you than about Meghan. I got a commenters who is obsessed with royals, hated Princess Dianna for some strange reason that I can't fathom (only thing I can figure is you hate her for not toeing the line and staying a royal, even though her husband was having an affair and the entire royal family was awful to her) and has transferred that hate to Meghan. Also, you are stupid enough to believe tabloids. And you don't seem to understand how celebrity works and think that Meghan and Diana weren't doing charity work when in fact they've both done a ton of good in spite of also being celebrities and being on camera.

AYRT

Diana was Diana. I don't think she was evil though she did evil things like throwing herself down a flight of stairs while pregnant. Diana was mentally ill at a time when mental illness was taken even less seriously then it is now. She wasn't totally responsible for her actions, she needed help treating the bulimia and self harm and dear old Liz was too jealous and short sighted of Di's popularity to help her get that help.

However I also think that Diana is overly lionized. She was still an aristocrat and was still part of a royal family, the ultimate vantage point of privilege in the entire Western world. It's hard for me to work up a tear when she had so much privilege and so many people in her situation are able to make do in significantly more awful circumstances.

Diana was a mixed bag. She was only human.

Tabloids are interesting for the stuff they report, and for the stuff they don't. The fun part is trawling through them and deciding what's a lie or not. If celebrities are going to insist on selling portions of their lives to People et al. for a buck then I'm going to have fun at their expense. It's not like they don't get compensated for the stories tabloids run.

Meghan is who she is. So long as she isn't abusing her husband or son then she can do as she likes. She isn't any different from the other Hollywood creatures and in fact I think there's something to be admired about her in how ruthless she is in climbing her way to the top. She doesn't let anything get in her way, not her friends or her family and she'll use anyone and anything. I am very sincere when I say that is deeply admirable, it's a level of focus and hunger for success that few people get to pursue.

Oh my god you're an asshole who's jealous as fuck and a petty little bitch

I hope you end up old and alone, because you must make everyone around you miserable complaining constantly about other people having so much more than you and never being satisfied

NAYRT Everything the AYRT said seems rational and not driven from envy. MM isn't the shining princess you're desperately trying to make her, sorry. Suck it up lollipop.

You're totes NAYRT. Totes.

One, I don't object to people disliking Meghan Markle, but I do think it's ridiculous for people to act like the royal family is this great wonderful institution that she's sinning against. For instance, "acting against the interests of her husband's family and institution" - why should I care about that? I can understand why it would cause tension between her and her husband's family, but I hardly see why that should matter to me or why we should automatically assume that it's such a big deal that she did something the royal family disliked. You even say you don't think it's a big deal but you still included it on your big list of Meghan's Misdeeds, presumably because it would make the royal family angry - but I don't care at all about whether the royal family is angry. If there's emotional tension between her and the royal family, that is their affair to sort out, not mine to make Meghan Markle the villain.

Second, I think the kind of vitriol that I see from the gossip magazines and blogs towards Markle is ridiculous and I don't trust it one bit. It seems incredibly partial and I would not consider taking it at face value the way you do here.

Third, the tone of this post is unbelievable, and making these kinds of arch statements about how you're not really judging her and you're fine if Prince Harry is happy with the selfish whore who's only in the relationship to take advantage of him is absolutely ridiculous. Claiming that Meghan Markle does not love her son because of the way you judge her body language in pictures. Claiming that she's evil and self-centered for having PR people on a charity trip, which you acknowledge is not uncommon. Saying that people in the UK have higher standards for their royals, like Prince Andrew wasn't infamously close friends with a deceased trafficker of underage girls. Acting like there's no other possible explanation for why people in the UK would have a different view of Markle, and no possibility that anyone in a position of power would want to make her look bad and damage her reputation.

Just fucking absurd.

AYRT

Lol calm down. There's no reason for you to care about any of it. For some people it does matter though, and you were wondering why there were people who didn't like Meghan. These and other reasons are some people have beef with Meghan. Whether or not you agree doesn't actually have much to do with it, these are commonly cited reasons on gossip boards and such where celebrities are picked over and discussed. Some people really stan the royal family which is...cute I guess. But what can you do.

Tabloid gossip is delightful by the way, you should try having more fun with it. Celebrities benefit from these pieces too, it almost feels unfair not to give them a good look over.

Of course Meghan Markle is a selfish whore. But most Hollywood actresses are selfish whores, that's what makes the furor around her so funny. Her behavior is completely acceptable and common in her social circles. The idea that Meghan is worth freaking out over, by the people who do freak out about her, is absurd. It would be like getting into a tizzy about Gwenyth Paltrow and her alternative health scams. And the royal family got rolled by her of all people? That's impressive and she has genuinely accomplished something remarkable by getting Harry as quickly as she did and exploiting her position and background for maximum exposure and sympathy. She's effectively invincible in the court of public opinion. She is unironically a genius at how she's managed this.

People don't go to Hollywood because they want to do artistic things, they go there because they're narcissistic and want lots of money, influence, and attention. If they don't want those things then they get out fast. They are narcissistic creatures to the core.

The only thing that makes Meghan stand out from other actresses is how ruthless she is. Lots of them try to walk the walk but Meghan successfully netted herself a prince, has consistently kept herself and her family in the tabloids (ensuring cash flow as tabloids give kickbacks for receiving these PR info packets), and she and Harry are getting paid 6 figures per speech to talk about meaningless fluff to airheaded socialites that want to hear empty words. It is remarkably impressive what she's managed to do, her family is set for life if she invests wisely. I'm sure that she has a good investment advisor to look after her assets.

Meghan is a social climber and a typical Hollywood creature. She's incredibly successful and very impressive. I'm very eager to follow her exploits from here and I'm eager to see where she goes from here.

Your misogyny is showing

Go fuck yourself

NAYRT This really isn't misogyny. There really are people out there like this both men and women.

Of course Meghan Markle is a selfish whore. But most Hollywood actresses are selfish whores

This is bog standard misogyny.

You seem to agree with a lot of the framing of why people hate Markle, even where that framing is transparent horseshit. Again, you literally said she doesn't love her son based on body language in pictures. WTAF is that.

Tabloid gossip is delightful by the way, you should try having more fun with it. Celebrities benefit from these pieces too, it almost feels unfair not to give them a good look over.

Tabloid stuff can be fun and there are times that I do enjoy it. I also think that there are things tabloids do that are massively fucked up and bad, and one of those is when there are vitriolic campaigns against specific figures. And the idea that she's "invincible in the court of public opinion" seems slightly odd, when you are also laying out a number of extremely negative widespread opinions about Markle largely derived from the tabloid press and blogs. Seems kinda strange!

And the other problem I have, to reiterate, is that it seems like this level of skepticism and hostility is very selectively exercised. You say that all Hollywood actresses are selfish whores (which, that's a weird statement on its own, tbh) but you seem to have a special vitriol for Markle. You acknowledge that the royal family isn't perfect and that going against the wishes of the royal family doesn't intrinsically make someone a bad person, and that being a social climber is hardly unique to Markle, and yet still the reflexive construct seems to be Markle bad Middleton and the rest of the royal family good and you don't seem to have any objections to people framing it that way.

AYART

I think you started out with good points, then devolved.

1) Solid argument, from the little I know. But it seems that this was rectified with the move to LA, which, again is incredibly maligned by people who seem to care a lot about hating Megan. Which is confusing to me. Do you want her in the Commonwealth using taxpayer money or do you want her living independently off of her monetizing her fame which is what celebrities do?

2) I don't see where MM did anything wrong from the links you gave. She was friends with a person who then did some racist things that got herself fired. "Being a loyal friend" has its limits when that person does racist shit. People with power NEED to call out those who do and say racist things. It's how things change and get better.

3) The frank interview she gave wasn't all that controversial from what I saw. She acknowledged things were hard for her without vilifying or calling anyone out. Getting heated about that interview says a lot more about the people reacting than it did about her, IMO.

4) Again, my confusion? I thought that the charity work in South Africa was part of the work she was supposed to be doing as part of the royal family. Yes, it made her look good. It also made Harry and the royal family look good. And it was hard work. Things that benefit you that you like doing can also be hard work. And why is it "pretending" to do charity work if she was there actually doing it? The press was to promote more than MM.

5) WOW. Why is it so easy for some to believe that a black woman is a prostitute and slut? Hmmmm.

6) WOW WOW WOW. This is saying a LOT more about you than it is her.

American work ethic

I completely agree that MM can't win, but I think that one might be more a culture clash than work ethic per se. Americans tend to have a very different sense of when an average working day should begin and end, and when normal waking up times and bed times should be. That said, it should be up to her staff to fit round her, and if they weren't willing to, you have to ask why....

Because this isn't the 18th century and servants aren't indentured with no fucking rights. She wakes up at 5am, if she expects her staff to be there for it then for them it's a 4am wake up or earlier if they’re commuting. Why should they do that?

...because it's their job? and the work hours should be in their job contract and they should be being properly recompensed for that? and if early hours are a problem for some workers, then staff should be hired that are also early birds?

SA Plus 'American work ethic' my arse. Lots of people have strong work ethics of all nations including the UK.

I was remembering a specific article and quoting the title directly. Found it here: https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/meghan-markle-work-ethic/

[ SECRET POST #4944 ]

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