I get that we are in the last week ahead of the London Marathon, of which Heads Together is the charity of the year, but the royals really should have spaced out their mental health stuff better. Because two interviews, a video, a documentary interview, and four engagements all in one week was just poor planning. They did a flurry of mental health engagements in February after announcing they’d be doing lots of mental health engagements leading up to the Marathon, but then didn’t do any mental health engagements for a month and a half, and then drop all of these things in one week. Poor planning. Anyway, after Prince Harry‘s interview in which he discussed his own mental health issues following his mother’s death, Prince William also has a new interview about mental health (which is a joint one with Harry), a new video about mental health (with Lady Gaga), and he attended an engagement yesterday for the BBC documentary ‘Mind Over Marathon’ which has an interview with him about mental health.
Let’s start with the joint interview with Harry, since that dropped first yesterday morning. William and Harry did an interview with CALM for their magazine in which they spoke about Heads Together and mental health.
What do they hope to achieve with Heads Together?
-
William: “Catherine, Harry and I have all been working through our charitable work with organisations dealing with the military, young people, addiction and homelessness. One thing that was clear to us was how many of these issues have a mental health concern at their root, but people can’t and won’t get help because they are ashamed of what people might think. For me, the tipping point came when I saw the impact of suicide through my work as a helicopter pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance. My first call out was to a male suicide and I was told there were five suicides or attempted suicides every day in East Anglia alone. When I looked into it I was shocked by how bad this situation is – suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK – which is absolutely appalling. I hope that through Heads Together and with CALM we can show how to tackle this – by helping men feel they can open up about pressures they are going through and get the help they need.”
-
Harry: “We will all go through tough times in our lives, but men especially feel the need to pretend that everything is OK, and that admitting this to their friends will make them appear weak. I can assure you this is actually a sign of strength. Since working with the rehabilitation unit in the Army, and my work with injured servicemen and women in the Invictus Games, I’ve realised just how important mental fitness is for men and women in the armed forces too. Some people experience issues connected to their military service but often it is related to things they were dealing with before they signed up. I think it reflects the increase in mental health problems across society. The support we can provide servicemen and women is getting better – as is our understanding of the issue. Since we launched Heads Together I’ve met inspirational people who’ve given me confidence that we can all crack this together and make talking about getting help for our mental health as normal as talking about our physical health. Let’s remove the stigma to give people from all walks of life the confidence to be able to seek help and direct them towards the right support for them.”
The British and the “stiff upper lip”:
-
William: “For too long there has been a taboo about talking about some important issues. If you were anxious; it’s because you were weak. If you couldn’t cope with whatever life threw at you, it’s because you were failing. Successful, strong people don’t suffer like that, do they? But of course – we all do. It’s just that few of us speak about it. Attitudes are changing and this is being helped by high-profile people talking about their experience. Men like Professor Green, Freddie Flintoff and Rio Ferdinand have led the way and made films for Heads Together showing the conversations they have had about pressures on their mental health. The recent interview with Stormzy about his depression was incredibly powerful and will help young men feel that it’s a sign of strength to talk about and look after your mind as well as your body. There may be a time and a place for the ‘Stiff upper lip’, but not at the expense of your health.”
What insight have their jobs in the military given them about masculinity and mental health?
-
Harry: “The military is a complex picture as on the one hand there is an incredible sense of brotherhood and belonging between you and your mates. You’ll do anything for each other, scrub each other’s boots, drag each other through the mud, anything. Yet, on the other hand, this support for each other hasn’t, up to now, included looking after how your buddy is feeling and thinking about things. When you’re serving you look after your physical health, your training and your equipment, but not your head. There’s definitely been a misplaced sense of pride that has got in the way of people in the military community talking about their mental health and getting help. It’s changing now and i’m proud that this is part of the Heads Together campaign. Hopefully if men see soldiers talking about mental health, it will give them the confidence to do the same. At the end of the day we all want to be as physically fit and robust as possible; keeping on top of our mental fitness will not only prepare us better for the days ahead, it will make us better people too.”
-
Wiliam: “Sometimes, emotions have to be put to one side to get the job done, but if you have been through an especially traumatic or stressful situation it is essential to talk it through after the event. If you don’t acknowledge how you feel it will only bottle up, and could reassert itself later as illness.”
What do they do if you get stressed?
-
William: “In my work with the East Anglia Air Ambulance you never know what you will be called out to and we see things each day that can really take their toll. If I’ve had a tough day at work I talk to my friends and colleagues about it. We’re encouraged to talk it through with each other and to let someone know if we are feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope. It really is as simple as that – if you are feeling overwhelmed, having a conversation with someone can really help.”
On gender taking hold in early life and what values and ideas of masculinity would William like to instill in George:
-
William: “Catherine and I are clear that we want both George and Charlotte to grow up feeling able to talk about their emotions and feelings. Over the past year we have visited a number of schools together where we have been amazed listening to children talk about some quite difficult subjects in a really clear and emotionally articulate way – something most adults would struggle with. Seeing this has really given me hope that things are changing and that there is a generation coming up who find it normal to talk openly about their emotions. Emotional intelligence is key for us all to deal with the complexities of life and relationships.”
[CALM]
While the biggest killer of men under 45 is suicide, the group with the highest suicide rate is men over 45, in both the UK and US.
BTW, that “number” of schools William and Kate have visited together in the last year? Two – Stewards Academy in 2016, and Mitchell Brook Primary School in 2017.
I wish William had elaborated on the gender thing when it comes to George and Charlotte. Like, allowing and supporting them discussing their emotions is great, but a dude who can talk about his emotions but still treats women as second class citizens is still toxic.
Next let’s talk about William’s video with Lady Gaga. In the video, William, in his home in KP, and Gaga, in her home in LA, video chat about mental health and Heads Together and Gaga’s open letter about PTSD.
Did anyone else cringe while watching it, or was that just me? I think the whole thing came off really contrived, and didn’t add much in terms of what they said – it was just a rehash of things, especially from William. I would have rather they been in the same room to just chat (although I understand that may not have been feasible), because I was really distracted by the production of the video – like, don’t pretend the cameras just caught you chatting, we know this is heavily produced, so cut the coffee stuff and stop shaking the camera.
As with any and all videos the royals make that have photos in them, let’s chat about the photos. The four photos on William’s desk are L-R: a black and white photo of Harry and William wearing glasses (which appears to be a previously unseen image from this official photo set); one of the first photos of George taken by Mike Middleon (this one); a previously unseen black and white photo of William and Kate from their wedding; and a black and white photo of a lab (did William have a lab growing up or do they have another dog other than Lupo? Or did William just keep a stock photo because he liked it? Because that’s not Lupo).
Yesterday, April 18, William attended a screening of Mind Over Marathon, the BBC doc about the London Marathon. In an interview for the doc, which airs on Thursday in the UK, William spoke about his shock at losing him mom.
-
On still feeling shock over Diana’s death after 20 years: “The shock is the biggest thing. I still feel, 20 years later about my mother, I still have shock within me… People say shock can’t last that long, but it does. You never get over it. It’s such an unbelievably big moment in your life that it never leaves you, you just learn to deal with it.”
-
Accepting that it’s okay to have emotional pain helped him process it: “You try and understand your emotions a lot more than probably someone who’s just lived life without issues, and that’s quite critical. It’s explaining to them what those emotions mean, why they feel like they do. Once you start rationalizing a little bit and you understand, Okay, so I’m a little angry or a little down or a little upset about something, then you can kind of relativize it and sort of deal with it.”
-
His reasons for being involved with mental health: “I have my own reasons for being involved in mental health: What happened to me and my mother when I was younger. It all comes back down to mental health.”
[People]
Kate Middleton also says words in the doc, but so far it’s only talking to marathon runners about their battles. Kate told a mother who has been training for the marathon while raising two kids: “I don’t know how you find the time!” And commended her and the other runners for being open about their battles, saying: “You’re the heroes really, because you’re standing up there very bravely telling your stories. We hope to shine a light on people like you, because I think that’s what the public need to hear.”
First we must discuss the most pressing matter of The Great Royal Dog Mystery!
Because those were exactly my sentiments. I’m leaning torwards either a) new dog and didn’t tell anyone. Look how much they hated/begrudgingly gave up Lupo’s name! Which I always find slightly odd because people love talking about their pets! B) random stick pic becuase the Obama meeting showed they use as impersonal pics as possible
Lady Gaga ft was terrible and william’s comment “everyone has Mental health” WTF??! Gaga at least seaodnaome good things.
Not much to add on the MH front but I agree they need to time things better because now it just looks like William is trying to hone in on Harry’s goodwill
The photo of the dog seems to be a black and white photo.It looks as if it is reproduced from an older photo, so guess it could have been a dog from his grandparents
We haven’t seen Lupo for a while, not since the Vogue cover shoot.
#whereisLupo
Haha
I thought Lupo was put down. Didn’t he have a dog from his time in Wales put down for no good reason?
I think that was the search and rescue people when they closed the station–not W’s personal dog, and he probably had nothing to do with it.
William repeats the same stuff. It’s a terrible scripted conversation that has no authenticity. Zzzzz.
I laugh at how secretive and paranoid he is about even the photos in his home and what us plebs see of it. Good God, man.
I had to laugh at the sentence “…having a conversation with someone can really help”.
It’s fascinating how William can talk about such personal things like mental health, trauma, the own past and not saying anything personal at all,how he felt, what had helped him, not only as an helicopter pilot! The art of talking but not saying anything at all.
Yup, start with ‘having that conversation’ with your nearest and dearest – they will recommend you see your GP. So you attend your GP, then wait months for a Community Mental Health Assessment (over 2 year waiting list in some areas, I used to work in Psychology and it was appalling). THEN you get your assessment, they sound good but you never hear back from them. Chase up via your GP and in the end get offered group therapy which you have already made clear you cannot do because you have SERIOUS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES and can barely leave the house let alone interact with others without having a meltdown. Lose faith in the NHS that anyone is willing or able to help. So yeah William, ‘having that conversation’ really helped didn’t it?
Now I’m not saying it won’t help some people. I just feel there is a big huge, massive difference between feeling a bit sad or low at times and the reality of being unable to get out of bed, feed or wash yourself, cutting and self harming, crying constantly and wishing for death and suicide attempts. Ask for help yes – please – but you need specialised help, and there isn’t the specialised help available in the most part. I’d love to see them tackle the funding gap, or at the very least acknowledge that their ‘mental health’ discussion is a very different one from the scenario I describe. It’s great William can talk to his colleagues about feeling a bit messed up after doing his job. Most people with mental health problems cannot hold down a job, and have many, many other stressors he will never experience or even understand.
Yes, but conversations about healthcare funding are political, and we all know that the BRF can’t ever be political. And in that sense, mental health services is probably too complex of a cause for the royals to tackle –because it’s all moot if you can’t talk about the economics of it all.
I will say, though, that they’ve partnered with organizations that provide vital mental health services in the UK, and that’s a very good thing–that where this campaign has real potential affect change.
This campaign has never acknowledged the various types of mental health maladies or their severity. Someone with schizophrenia likely won’t ever recognize they have an illness, let alone talk about with someone.
I think the type of mental health talk therapy that Will does at his job..is more of a debrief with this colleagues & team lead…esp if it was a particularly stressful patient to deal with? But you are correct ABC, they are not addressing the funding and service gap for mental health treatment for more severe cases. I guess Heads Together’s main goal is to just “start a conversation” and get people to be open to seeking out more informal support like disclosing to their loved ones that they are not feeling happy..or something….?
William is the master of glib. It’s all he knows and it’s all he chooses to proffer. I doubt that he is burbling with the desire not to hold back, with deep felt thoughts. I imagine he is grateful for easy and accessible platitudes. Well, okay, not really grateful for anything.
William, imo, is simply not credible. His talk of seeing things while working for the air ambulance sounds so phony, and all that jabbering as others have said is just a bunch of words that say nothing. I was taken aback by Lady Ga Ga’s comment about being a ‘fan’ of his work, supporter might have been a better word. I don’t know much about Lady Ga Ga but Billy is just a titled babbler with too high an opinion of himself, and totally just pr’g his way thru life. This, of course is only my take on this rather silly and pointless little confab.
Perhaps it’s a bit unfair to see Billy’s talk of what he has seen in his ‘work’ as an air ambulance ride along as phony but I do. It just seems another way for him to try to go ‘I’m just like y’all’. A talking point.
Of course whiny entitled bill middleton do want to ride on Prince Harry coattail hard work dedication and love by the people. Who better to pretend with than an out of touch ‘American’ celebrity. Wasn’t even smart to partner with a just as talented British one.
Willnot is so insincere entitled, lazy and hate the people, why would anyone want to listen to him or about his middelton kids. He sure do a better job promoting private citizen – useless pipa middelton wedding and as decoy for hen party – than he could ever do for charities, the Bristish/ C’wealth citizens or the world. Go back to hiding whiny!
William had a black Labrador in his teens called Widgeon.
There were pictures of Lupo being carried by Kate back to KP after he tried to board the helicopter that took them Cornwall last October.
Well, that sounds more plausible than my option 🙂
Thank you. I didn’t know for sure but I thought it may be a photo of an old dog he used to have.
The most shocking noticeable thing for me in this whole post is to see lady gaga in normal clothes..
Me too! At first, I didn’t even recognize her!
As I said in the Harry post, I’m glad William is doing interviews. Yes, the interview with Lady Gaga was staged and awkward, but if he had to choose a celebrity, she’s a good one as she has a loyal following and a rather vocal, socially aware fan base. I agree that releasing everything the week of the marathon is poor planning. It’s an overload, and some will undoubtedly get lost in the other news that is happening this week. Spreading it out would have been far better as you’d have a new headline every few weeks. William isn’t very open but his comment about why he chose mental health is very telling – to me, it’s not only about his mother’s death, but also the struggles of her own mental health and the difficulties of the contentious divorce.
Well said.
I think I had a side of cynical with my oatmeal. I find William lacks charisma and authenticity. He’s just sprouting out words with no passion or conviction behind it. William needs to understand that it’s okay to open up a bit. Understanding his perspective or showing family pics is okay. I think he’s afraid if he opens up, people would want more. I think ot would decrease the demand of candid (ahem, staged) pictures of his family.
It’s well known that I’m a Harry sugar, but I find William and his hand in this disingenuous. Even his interaction with Gaga was stilted. Imagine if it were Harry and Gaga…
Thanks for the detailed post, KMR!
I totally understand what your saying, but I.don’t think William is even capable of it. Harry’s ease with people and charisma is a gift that not many possess. When Harry does things like the podcast it plays to his strength, turns out great, and works for him.
William’s issue is that he doesn’t possess those gifts. And that’s ok. We can’t all be like that, but he needs to find what will work for him.
And like anything else, if he worked full time doing engagements, was prepared, and cared about royal duties and the people he met, people would be able to look past an awkward video.
+1
++2
whiny speak of upper lip…this from one of …in the highest order and entitled – to speak from notes that was as phony as he and chutney. He is so very lacking, lame and insincere.
H
Prince Harry is so very sincere, caring ‘down to earth’, geniune he loves his people. The same CANNOT be said about lazy entitled waste of the bill cannot lambridges middeltons-who are more costly to the taxpayers/Duchy.
Wills has no charisma and seems strangely detached from every aspect of his life except for the drunken ski party where he was with close friends and models. The Gaga interview was only saved by seeing Gaga dressed as Kate. He was probably reading a prepared script that had been handed to him just before the interview.
He just isn’t a good spokesman for this topic. His people are brainstorming situations and events where they can simply plug him into the scene, he can spout his two or three catch phrases and then scurry back to wherever he goes. Also, I almost feel ill when he brings up having a hard day on the air ambulance. He took off weeks if not months at a time when he had that “job.” He never worked a holiday, leaving the crew without sufficient staffing. And I don’t believe he was ever anything more than a bystander as others did the work.
This guy is so phoney and disingenuous.
Even if he is just a part-time bystander, he’s probably witnessed some pretty harrowing stuff in the field.
– “I think he’s afraid if he opens up, people would want more.”
I think (and this is unabashed arm chair psych) he maybe feels he’s given a great deal of himself–his childhood, his most intimate family traumas, his mother– against his will for his entire life, and is determined not to give one bit more than he has to now.
And I don’t think he needs to honestly. Look at the Queen for instance. She does not let the public in the way Harry has, and most people would say she’s been a good monarch. He just needs to find what works for him and then do it. We can’t all be like Harry. If he put his head down and worked hard he’d be ying to Harry’s yang.
Well said.
He also doen’t seem to like the public. It’s probably a trauma caused by his mother’s death, how she died and that after that incident, it didn’t stop. He couldn’t do his own things (Harry included). Perhaps, he has nobody to talk to who could really understand him. If he could solve this mental pressure on him, he could concentrate on being king in a far more carefree and optimistic way. I would wish him this peace of mind.
+10000
lobbit, I agree with you. Very insightful!!!
If William is trying to ease people away from the stiff upper lip way of coping with stress/sadness, etc, that is good. However, just explaining the harrowing things he’s seen in his role with Air Ambulance is good, but not enough.
I do agree, that he cannot bear to reallly discuss the loss of his mother and how it impacted him, but it’s his choice, isn’t it? Still, even a few words would be more helpful.
I also agree with those who have so succinctly posted that having a bad day and feeling temporarily stressed, or saddened, is a far cry from having a serious mental illness. That needs clarification by Heads Together and its mission.
I will give William a thumbs up for his attempts. Harry, as has been pointed out, has athe personality and empathy to be right out there in a very charismatic way. William, with a different personality, can’t make quite a splash like his brother, but his impact will be important, too. He’s apparently trying to find his way. I hope he can continue to do so.
I think you and Carter are exactly right. William’s been ‘on’ in every public interaction his whole life. It’s perfectly acceptable that work and personal life need to be separated. I agree that if he took his work seriously, prepped properly, and upped the numbers a good deal of the critique would disappear.
That’s very insightful
Other than the loss of his mother, how is this different from any other royal heir? They’ve all been “on” since the day they were born, all have had their childhoods on display. Several of them raised by parents in a sham marriage (JC and Sofia) or marriages where one/other/both parents are involved in many extra-marital affairs (CG and Silvia, Albert and Paola). Or raised by parents who were far more interested in each other than in their children (Margrethe and Henrik).
Can I add a dash of skeptical and suspicion to your oatmeal, Rhiannon? I couldn’t even watch the video; the stills told me all I needed to know. I love Lady Gaga and adore how she’s bringing attention (and love) to causes that are personal to her such as bullying, mental health and body image. William has a barrier or wall surrounding him; he doesn’t know how to let that wall down and until he does, he’s always going to come across as insincere.
Also, if I was video chatting William and he did that kind of close-up, I’d jump because it would feel like he’d crossed the “personal space” line!
Last (and I hope that it’s okay that I publish this here…let me know if it isn’t): I submitted my story to the website The Mighty: a site dedicated to those with chronic illnesses, disabilities and even anxiety. It is where individuals can share their stories to educate and let those know that they’re not alone. Well, I was notified last night that my story was accepted and I’m now a contributor! Here is my story (a very condensed, glossed-over version) and I’m already thinking of other topics (ones that are not so Sunshiny). Enjoy!
https://themighty.com/2017/04/sharing-my-story-heart-lung-transplant/
Now Harry and Gaga? That would be unbelievably amazing! Love her voice (her Super Bowl performance was phenomenal)
Good for you, Kimothy. I am in the midst of writing a proposal for a freelance assignment and am just taking a break by visiting this blog. When I have a moment, I will be happy to read your work!!! So proud of you!!!
I’d like to piggyback on what I wrote earlier. In fact, it was the first thoughts I had yesterday when I saw this and it was, “William can’t wait 24-48 hours after Harry gets praise upon praise by the press (and be trending on social media) before he butts in like, ‘okay that’s great about him but look at meeeeee!!!!!!”
Hence why I thought this video chat was insincere on William’s end.
Its a good read, Kimothy. Thanks for the link. Yes, you should consider something ‘less shiny’ eg
• How you found work, how you and colleagues have adapted (if they have). I recall your (previous?) supervisor behaving poorly. Had that happened in Oz she would have been out the door. So I’m wondering if there is any discrimination like that?
• Daily challenges.
• Fears and aspirations, and how a transplant shapes them.
• Family – how a family shapes itself when one member has a serious health issue.
I think you could do a series of articles.
Omg Jen! You just made my head explode! LOL! Now I’m going to be doing even **more** noodling around! Thank you! (((HUGS)))
If you (or anyone) can think of other topics you think I should write about (transplant? Body image due to transplant? Scoliosis? Stutter/Stammer? Another angle?) please let me know! Thanks! 🙂
William is as exciting as his beige parlor
The woman on the far left of the last photo appears to be wearing the same dress that Kate wore when the Obama’s visited them at KP.
I thought the same thing!
Ugh, the Kate Effect.
Very telling that there are no photos of PoW or HM visible on that desk. HM used a photo of William in his EAAA uniform during her last Christmas broadcast to reinforce the line of succession and the fact that William was working after all the bad press he’d been getting. I’m certain there are photos of the RF in the room but none used to convey a message of family unity and yet a photo of Widgeon is there? Of course you cannot under estimate the power and strength garnered from pets when coping with mental illness but…..Interesting.
Not every video the royals make have photos of all their family members. Charles has done many videos without photos of Camilla or the Queen in them – in fact, I don’t remember seeing any video of his with a photo of Camilla in it. HM changes out her photos, too. So I don’t think it’s a big deal that there weren’t photos of HM or Charles.
I think it’s telling at the moment as there is an awful lot of speculation about William’s relationships with the RF and there has been for the past six months. He knows as well as anyone that a strategically placed photo could put to bed all that negative comment but he chose not to? As I say I think that is significant especially given that since time immemorial Royal pictures and photos have been analysed for the messages that they convey. It’s almost one of the most major roles of a historian to interpret what’s actually being said and what’s tacitly implied.
What Mrs BBV is saying is really important in how the family communicates.
I’m so used to these signals that it’s the first thing i look for when seeing public addresses given by royals in this format.
Usually, if they have nothing to say or no public discussion, they leave it bare. They simply have lots of flowers/plants/ decorative items.
Charles is still selling Camilla to the public. It will be a few more years before her picture appears next to him. He tests the waters with his christmas cards, but i think his PR made a decision to limit this type of signalling regarding Camilla.
Depending on the national conversation throughout the year, or trying to reinforce a particular point, HM and Charles use background pics to signal a message to the public.
Eg the press speculates that Charles either never sees George or insn’t close at all. Cue an unseen picture of George + Charles in his next PSA.
HM uses different pictures of different family members in similar ways. Workshy Wills prompted a very prominently displayed picture of William in her next PSA. Not to mention suddenly being papped with them ( Balmoral) and bigger than necessary part in documentaries celebrating her 90th.
If William doesn’t pick up on this form of family communication, he will invite unnecessary speculations about his family relationships.
A royal tumblr initially said the wedding photo was actually HM + Philip, and you really couldn’t see WK + G. Harry wasn’t very clear either, the dog was very prominently placed which subliminaly indicated that the most important thing to W is the dog and a distant second all the other people and definitely not Charles or Charlotte who were all missing. Now that we know the wedding picture was WK, the assumption is that he doesn’t care for them either.
Just to be clear, this type of signalling is kept to the royals rather than inlaws. I wouldn’t expect to see the Middletons or Parker-Bowles or Bowes Lyons or Mountbattens etc.
Although the Queen Mother had the tact of a sledge hammer and just went around her homes turning face down the pictures of those she was p*ssed off with, well so the story goes.
What a story her photos within photos would have told had she been left unchecked and to her own devices. Probably for the best she never uttered a public word on anything apart from ‘Don’t the flowers look and smell lovely?
I enjoy the stories of aristos hiding anything decent around their homes ahead of any visits from Queen Mary because otherwise she gifted them to herself.
I really wish we could know more about the Queen Mother. What we already know is deliciously tantalising.
On a different note, have you seen this recent unvailing of the refurbished Castle of Mey?
https://cotedetexas.blogspot.co.uk/2017_02_06_archive.html
Scroll to the midpoint of the page.
The blogger walks us through a history, which is fascinating, but i love what Charles has done to restore and upgrade whilst maintaining it in her style.
I think he will do a great job with Balmoral whivh is long overdue an upgrade.
That blog is just glorious. Some people just have so much taste it’s overwhelming. I think PoW has an incredible eye and as soon as you said Castle of Mey I thought Dumfries House. He’s also very clever at knowing his limitations and asking for help. I also really like Camilla’s sister Annabel’s interior design work. She does cozy English country house very well.
He will make a spectacular job of Balmoral, BP and Sandringham because he’s very good at combining commercial with the aesthetic and so exacting in his attention to detail. He’ll without embarrassment call in every favour he can within his incredibly rich contact list for the honour of a wine & dine in BP in return for unlimited donations. I applaud him for it. He uses private money for these projects which ultimately are for the good of the nation.
BP especially needs a rocket putting under it and he will get in done…..tastefully and within budget.
I am absolutely in awe of Cotes research. Thank you for sharing it. Xxxxx
I live only a couple miles from the Castle of Mey and have been several times (usually just the coffee shop for lunch as admittance is pricey). It is GORGEOUS and well worth a visit but do check the website to see if it is open as its closed an awful lot! The tours are with local guides who are usually very entertaining and it’s so homely inside, I can understand why Charles enjoys his visits each year. My favourite is the gardens, love them and they grow / use / sell their own veg, prices are really reasonable £1 for an enormous bag of potatoes or rhubarb etc. Even writing about it I’m itching to go back, should be open soon, I’ll see on Friday when I drive past.
I like the part of the blog about Grey Gardens. I saw the HBO show years ago and became fascinated with the house and family. CotedeTexas shows details of the house I haven’t seen anywhere else.
ABC: have the gardens recovered from the floods?
Mrs BBV: i love that blog. I stumbled upon it several years ago, and i’m addicted. The lady does immense research into every single post she makes, points out details you might never have appreciated, tells you why they work in a room etc. She discusses every element of a room as well as the exteriors and gardens. If there are historical elements, you get the background to that too.
Her posts on the various royal residences are superb, but she is generally excellent on historical points.
The only thing she doesn’t like is Mid-century furniture which she feels won’t stand the test of time.
And Ellen Degeneres’s habit of buying period houses and plonking mid-century furniture in it.
She’ll blog about it, but you can feel her distaste in her writing.
I now have very grand ideas about my humble abode and how to furnish it.
The only bone to pick with the site is that it links to a shopping page that doesn’t deliver outside the USA.
I guess i’ll have to make do.
Speaking of wining and dining with Charles, not sure how i know this, but £50K will get you an invitation to a private dinner at BP hosted by Charles and Camilla. Money goes towards his projects. I think he holds one every quarter, guest numbers are limited, so it’s not a huge reception of meet and greets, but a rather intimate dinner. Don’t know how much to sit at his table, but i’m going to find out.
Hera we’ve been rebuilding our Victorian house. To keep a very long story short because we’ve been to hell and back with the stress of it all I gave the project manager a picture of the main hall at Sudbury Hall and said that’s what I want for my hall, stairs and landing but with a Victorian influence. Anyway the Sudbury Yellow paint arrived and OMG it’s almost fluorescent. We had to swap in all for Dayroom Yellow instead. This is exactly what I love about English country houses. You can take a room from a great house and then use it’s theme scaled down to your own needs. I don’t have a great eye or the confidence for interiors myself but I have an uncanny talent for pinching other people’s ideas and adapting them to suit our modest space. Mood boards literally have become picture boards of interiors in other people’s homes I want to copy! Xxx
My opinion is not ‘reaching’. It’s analysis of factual information given what has gone before and what has been presented in a photograph that will be analysed the world over. Props and photos are always commented on. Why should this be any different?
You might not agree but it’s my opinion and I would appreciate you not being quite so confrontational in your tone. Just because you don’t agree with me you can put your opinion across without degenerating me and mine.
And, where was Charlotte’s photo? Did I miss something?
I thought last Christmas was the great pic of she and Charles? I thought it was signaling Charles as heir apparent. I love their subliminal messaging through pics.
He could have easily had the pic of the Queen, Charles him and George taken last yr. but nope the dog pic gets pride of place?
Christmas 2016 was Charles and Camilla in Croatia.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/prince-charles-camilla-2016-christmas-card-a7467276.html
2015 was a cute card too
http://us.hellomagazine.com/royalty/2015121728850/prince-charles-camilla-christmas-card/
I don’t know if these were official vs. private but got out to public view.
2015 has to be my favourite ever Royal Christmas card. The look of love, contentment and peace after all they’ve been though to get there. Gorgeous.
Oh me too, Mrs BBV!! Genuine happiness shining from both of them. That level of sheer content cannot be faked, no matter how hard you try.
LOL I can’t bring myself to watch that Gaga video – William being William, it was probably cringe worthy. Good effort, though!
Ok, so he is trying. A grade of B Minus from me. The idea of having people talk things out with colleagues, or trusted family members and friends is ok, but there’s much more to good mental health than that. Have the HT trio ever actually mentioned talking with a therapist? A professional? I’m sorry, but I don’t recall. That should be hammered home as much as feeling free to talk with close friends/family.
And, there are so many different illnesses that need to be discussed. Having a bad day, or few weeks, is a far cry from being severely depressed, anxious, or finding out one has another type of mental illness.
William is advising men to move away from the stiff upper lip, but he appears to have trouble doing that, himself. He doesn’t have to spill his most personal issues, but something is lacking with his affiliation with the campaign. Kate’s, as well. Harry is moving in a far more helpful direction. His personality is different, though.
I do want to give credit where credit is due and it appears to me that William is trying . His steps are baby ones. But, he’s making them. I encourage his personal growth.
As for photos on his desk, I also wondered where this loving dad’s picture of his little girl was? I agree that including photos of his father and grandparents, and brother would have been a truly lovely touch. And, where was Diana’s photo? Am I being too picky? The dog seems to have gained far more prominence than those whose photos he does not wish to share with the public. Or, maybe, they are never there. Who knows?!
‘Reading’ image construction has been around a long time; the scene is meant to send messages, even if one is “I’m not giving you any more of my personal life. Just focus on what I’m saying about mental health.” Who could blame him, or anyone for that matter? Any pics will be analysed to death. William would have been better off to have no images on the desk.
The video is stilted eg the formal addresses of title and stage name, Gaga giving of herself but William appearing personally untouched by mental health issues. As others have said, there’s a big difference between feeling sad, and debilitating anxiety or depression; a big disconnect between ‘talking’ and being able to access appropriate professional help for as long as needed.
I don’t accept that royals do not lobby. They do lobby for things affecting themselves eg exclusion from complying to FoI comes to mind, as does getting a second dollop of funding for BP repairs.
I thought the interview with Lady Gaga was ok. She was much more sincere. Williams excitement seemed to come more from who he was speaking to rather than the content.
In his speech at the documentary wrap up, I really noticed the low pitched timbre of his voice – very nice to listen to, but yes, he has perfected the art of talking without saying anything of substance, as someone said previously. Really too bad. Mental health is clearly nothing to be trifled with. I feel he should stake his interests elsewhere and leave this niche to his brother.
She’s a performer and knows how to come across. I am sure she prepared for this, too.
William does not read his briefs and probably thought, “Oh, I have experienced sorrow and sadness, ie mental health issues — so I will be able to do this. Just go with the flow, so to speak.
I don’t know. I hate coming down too hard on him. He does seem to be trying and I have a place in my heart for any kid who loses a parent. That pain must be brutal and surely does not go away. Any loss is horrible. Grief counseling helps, but if one thinks grief goes away totally, forget that!
KM-related takeaways
1) A woman with two housekeepers, multiple nannies, a personal trainer, and who basically doesn’t work cannot understand how a (likely working) mother of two has time to do marathon training.
2) She’s stuck on “shining a light” and cannot think of anything original to say. At least she wasn’t keen to shine a light this time.
She often uses ‘brilliant’ and ‘amazing’ as go-to words, along with old favourites, such as the patronising ‘well done’ and of course, finding the time. Ugh.
Or “as a mother”….
Because either in her mind people who haven’t had kids don’t know to emphasize, it’s a few key phrases someone told her to use or it’s the only way she knows how to relate to someone
Ah, yes, the ‘as a mother’ card. I interpret it to mean, ‘I would know better than you because I have children, I am a mother’; there is an implicit ‘I am better (than a childless woman)’ locked in that phrase.
William has not began dealing with his mothers death. When he does it will be a flood gates. William needs to let his walls down. If he does the Middleton’s will be very angry, they have coddled him from the beginning.
Just because you let your children
speak freely about there feelings, you have to be strong to listen and guide them. I don’t think they are?
The Middleton’s have a particularly good line in obsequiousness, so no, I wouldn’t think they are ‘guiding’ William, at least in the way you mean. They are panderers. I agree with you re. William’s grief not remotely being dealt with. Meanwhile, he’s bashing everything in sight as a mechanism of sorts.
I know it’s really harsh to say, but what are the depths of William’s grief? We assume it’s really bad. What bothers me more is that he is willing to parlay everything about Diana into sympathy for him.
Also, there is an assumption here for both sons that there is grief pathology, unlike the rest of us non-snowflakes who endure grief and then get past it because that’s life.
What struck me is that the emotion he still (and constantly) feels is shock regarding Diana’s death. Can anyone please give any insight as to why that emotion is numero uno for William? Do you think that’s really it or do you think it’s a cover-up/other emotions should be the main one on his mind? (I’m not being snarky. I’m genuinely curious.)
I’ve had many transplant friends die and some very much out-of-the-blue. While yes, when it happened I was initially surprised but has been even a few years since they passed. Do I feel sad and miss them from time to time? Of course. Shock? No but perhaps that’s because of my life, what I’ve seen/been exposed to, etc.
Thoughts?
The shock is bullshit. It’s been 20 freaking years and the feelings are not that intense now. I understand his father got them help as well.
So this is so much drama when the reality is that people move on naturally. My guess is, as always, he’s using his mother’s spectacular death for his own purposes. The fact is, people get over it after 20 years, daddy got him help, but hey, he is so special. It just goes to show that he has no idea about the process of grief whatsoever but he’s willing to use Diana’s death to excuse him from life. He is not willing to honour her with scads of meaningful work.
Thanks Maven, glad it’s not just me who was confused over that “shock” answer from him. In fact, in the “5 stages of grief” list, shock isn’t even there. I think it’s a stage he made up to justify his using his mother, nearly 20 years after her passing.
The five stages of grief thing has an interesting history. It was originally a well-researched, scientific study about the emotional life of the terminally ill. The grief refers to the patient’s grief about their own impending mortality. That does follow a surprisingly consistent schedule of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. When the study went mainstream, it was initially misunderstood to mean the grief that people feel for the loss of a loved one. It worked well enough and gave people a vocabulary and freedom to discuss what had before been taboo so experts went with it.
I don’t know what William means by “shock” either, but it doesn’t sound as though he’s worked his way to acceptance yet, does it?
Very interesting, greymatters, thank you! I think that explains why I understand grief so well (or at least have a good comprehension of it) and why I’m scratching my head over William’s “shock” reaction, nearly 20 years later.
Graymatters, I’m going to do a little name dropping, something I know you don’t approve. When I lived in Chicago I attended a couple of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross lectures and met her and was good friends with her next door neighbor in the University of Chicago neighborhood area. She says the one emotion that every one experiences who is faced with loss is anger and many, maybe most, never transcend that emotion to advance to acceptance. Her work was motivated by the horribly dismissive way physicians and other health care professionals used to treat the terminally ill.
W may never have the impetus or interest to move beyond anger.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. And you’re forgiven for the name-dropping, since I shared this bit of knowledge with my ever-so-glamorous cat who relies on me for all her intellectual stimulation.
And I think you’re right. W so often seems angry, maybe the unresolved anger from his grief spills over into other areas of his life. But this is, as someone is sure to point out, unsubstantiated speculation at best.
Well, we treat ‘royalty’ as if they are special snowflakes, from bowing to them to funding their extravagant lifestyles. We as a society privilege them over others so it makes sense that their grief must be more deeply felt.
Diana is a convenient scapegoat because William’s failures can be blamed on her death: poor performance at school/uni, failure to do well at RAF, incomplete course at Cambridge, half-baked EAAA job. Do I think he is still ‘shocked’ by her death? No. That would be odd after 20 years because everyone of us eventually adjusts to loss. Grief is a natural part of life. But William needs to hold onto that grief and twist it towards providing the reason for his own failures. Invoking her memory as often as the brothers do is bound to invoke public sympathy and make both men less accountable.
Haven’t they always “used” Diana as a leaping point for HT? Her story was remarkable in many ways–the beautiful, wronged princess with all the fairy tale accoutrements: a villain (Charles), faux revenging prophet (Diana’s brother at the funeral) and the press who hunted her until the very end. But no Prince Charming, so her pain and tragedy will live on forever.
I really don’t know how to express my underlying cynicism about the motivation for HT except that never feels like it’s on based on genuine understanding of the devastation of psychiatric disorders. I guess they felt Diana was so loved that her pain would be instantly recognisable. Another shortcut to authenticity.
They are aware of the public’s long-held affection for Diana, and the residual goodwill that has come their way as her ‘boys’. But you can also see the impatience people feel with these men who evoke Diana when needed. I could understand if they had told everyone at the start of HT that their mother’s psychiatric problems led them to get involved in mental health, and then focused on specific issues that the eight partners specialised in. But that would mean reassessing the Diana narrative, so no go.
They will never admit to their mother’s psychiatric issues or that it may have led to their interest in HT because that re-shapes the Diana narrative to one of troubled princess rather than wronged princess. They focus on their unresolved grief which they classify as a pathology. Whether they are just blind to reality, have become used to evoking Diana to excuse themselves, or are immersed in a PR exercise, I have no idea.
MavenTheFirst you all but read my mind. Today is my little sister’s birthday, she died years ago. I simply remember her, as I do my brothers who have also passed on. If William really wanted to honor his mother he would grow the hell up, and get on with his calling in life. Far be it from me to put a time limit on grieving but having had many many deaths in my family, and some due to grief over serious and ghastly emotional pain which they dealt with in ways that were all but suicidal. It seems that Diana and the love and admiration people had for her is Billy’s trump card. However, her death took place years ago and the younger generation didn’t even know her some of them anyway so he’s going to maybe come up with something else that makes him a special victim, suffering beyond any normal person since he’s so very special.
Rhiannon, I didn’t eat oatmeal this morning but I’m thinking a lot of cynical went into my coffee.
Looks like BP borrowed KP’s staff. They’ve been tweeting a lot of spelling mistakes lately. “Artic”? *eye roll*
https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/854711833688772609
Ha I totally gave them grief for that! Yes, I wish Twitter would get an edit function, I make mistakes when typing fast but I’m not representing a professional organization.
The Daily Mail said that William facetimed Lady Gaga from his study. If you look at the pictures in the article, you can see that it looks like the same room that the Obamas were photographed in when they came to dinner. If you compare the paintings on the wall, it looks they same as well as the large ottoman/coffee table. The couch that Kate and Michelle Obama sat on was removed and the desk was placed there.
If that’s the case, the pictures on the desk were placed there temporarily and we don’t know what photos he likes to display. They probably came off the piano. I guess it’s just another example of how the Cambridges and their secretive and insulated world.
It’s very obvious this is the drawing room used to receive the Obamas.
All the furniture remains the same, except for the desk at which William is sitting whilst other big pieces of furniture have been removed.
This is the room when the Obamas visited.
http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/160423_gma_moran2_16x9_992.jpg
Sofa on which Kate and Michelle are sitting has been removed, ditto lamps, console immediately behind them. I’d imagine they also removed the shelf console along the wall to fit film crew/lights etc who are filming William as he talks. The film crew would be right along the wall.
William is facing the far wall with the offensive ‘negro page’ painting.
In the past, we were told that a different room was William’s study. He has filmed a few PSAs from it. This room is very sparsely furnished, and it’s only distinguishing feature is the 2 portraits of previous Cambridge title holders on the walls, who are Queen Mary’s parents.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/11/17/1416223328304_wps_3_dmvidpics_2014_11_17_at_1.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-As4oKmnvXuQ/VGt7E3MT-gI/AAAAAAAAN68/oFdou1JltG0/s1600/william%2Bkp%2Boffice%2Bsave%2Bangry%2Bbirds.jpg
Here is another photo of the study facing the other way. You can see clearly a picture of WK in the background in a frame with a different coronet than the coronet of the frame of so-called WK wedding photo in this Gaga facetime.
http://cdn.24.co.za/files/Cms/General/d/1174/9eda35672c114762b6dce2f3986c259b.jpg
Better still, here is a snippet of a video of William in the study room. You catch a glimpse of both sides of the room with distinctive desk seen behind William in his angry birds PSA also behind the reporter sitying across from William.
https://youtu.be/2r_XXlq44kw
Btw, this story he is telling about Peter, Zara and himself? According to Peter it never hapoened. Peter was asked about it during interviews for Queen’s picnic on the mall and he said bluntly that it never happened.
Thanks for the details and pictures. Remember, Williams said “Everyone has mental health and that has greatly improved mine! (Somewhere else, I read that the room is part of the offices they established at Kensington, but who the heck knows anymore?)
I wonder who in the BRF decided that being secretive added to their mystique…anyone care to address?
Indeed.
Personally, this secretive squirelly behaviour makes me think they are hiding something bad.
There is simply no need for it, and they are very bad at hiding the fact that they are secretive and squirelly.
Totally agree, Herazeus! I imagine there are a lot of strange and funny things going on behind the scenes.
The study i’ve linked is an upper room in their apt. You can see the corner of the outside wall of the Gloucester apartment which is at 45 degrees to their block. The KP offices are in Diana’s apartment which doesn’t have any such connecting block plus the light and furnishings in those rooms is totally different.
Harry has hosted Michelle and her daughters there for tea. The various charity meeting engagements as well as pre-India reception by WK are held there.
A few years back, Harry took part in a bbc doc with military wives choir as part of wounded veterans, and he was interviewed in those offices.
All of this makes me think that the desk in the drawing room was merely a prop. Ditto desk accessories.
I’m glad to read this. I thought while watching a little bit of the Gaga video that some poor intern had to scramble at the last minute to make that room look “homey” and “lived in”, but I scratched that thought to me being unduly snarky.
I personally am of the opinion that the BRF considers the unwashed untitled masses to be beneath them, and unworthy to know anything about such special and ‘chosen’ ones. Or, they think that being mysterious and unavailable intensifies the mad rush to get picture or bits of info. The ‘firm’ I believe considers itself to be ***the*** creme de la creme of the ‘royal houses’. Unfortunately, unless people are drunk on the kool aid having Andy crash thru a gate, Billy and Sophie braying like donkeys over the tube strike tends to cause people like me to conclude that they are hiding even more ugly than has been reported in the papers. Get too mysterious and out of reach, be seen in obscenely expensive clothing and jewels given the economic climate can get to be rather offensive then work its way up to a determination to unmask the special ones and take a closer look at what return there is for the money spent by said unwashed masses. Image must be controlled because that’s all the ‘firm’ has going for them.
Willy has a study? Bwahahaha! Why? The deception is totally offensive. Let’s see his man-cave.
So, now a new post about William’s involvement with grief.
My heart goes out to all of you who were touched by Harry’s message. I said nothing because I have been disturbed by this co-ordinated release of pain.
Someone in comments mentioned how Harry’s message made all the difference. And why didn’t this happen last year, at the inception of the programme when it would have had so much impact. Why, indeed?
This is the year of an anniversary of Diana’s death, the anniversary that seems to have been chosen by someone to place her back into the spotlight. There’s going to be a statue paid by others. Suddenly there are recollections of her, especially by her boys. Not last year, when the HT launching would have shown a powerful raison d’etre, but a year later.
I find it disturbing. To me the revelation of motivation looks like another PR ploy and push, creating an event surrounding Diana’s death. Someone planned the slow release. I don’t think it’s about HT at all. It’s a concerted effort to elevate, validate and centralise the boys and their lifestyle and behaviour. It’s just more PR with Diana as the justification. Frankly there is no reason in tradition that this year is more special than all the others. So why is it being pushed?
Good point.
With all the Diana-centric docs, commemorations etc planned by William and Harry, i feel as if this is a deliberate parading of their private grief for PR points.
I doubt even the most rabid Diana fan wants them to parade their grief especially after being forced to do so as children.
I’m extremely cynical about all this.
After an empty and muddled year long HT campaign, they’ve hit on the Diana card as a way to get PR for HT, and still they don’t delve into mental health with any depth.
The Gaga facetime was all platitudes and not much else.
“It’s a concerted effort to elevate, validate and centralise the boys and their lifestyle and behaviour. It’s just more PR with Diana as the justification.”
Insightful. And if correct, a stunning, self-serving piece of public manipulation. It seemed curious that William released his version of pain a few days after Harry; so nicely timed. Regardless, W+H have been willing partners, if not drivers, and certainly not pawns in any PR effort. So, Maven, your thoughts take you to the above assessment that seems plausible given both men’s – they are no longer ‘boys’ – patchy press and reluctance to take on significant workloads. It would indeed be cynical; the symmetry the 20th anniversary provides is probably the last, best shot of playing the Diana card in the way you suggest: elevate, validate and centralise.
I can certainly foresee a revision of the Diana narrative on W+H’s terms; the two documentaries with W+H’s hand-picked choice of interviewees indicates a re-shaping of events to cushion, or negate, uncomfortable realities about Diana. They really should let their mother rest in peace.
+1
The positive:
– Harry. I don’t see how this campaign in particular did him any favors, but on speaking of PTSD and the mental health issues that soldiers face, his eloquence speaks volumes on how invested he is on the issue.
– Lady Gaga, despite the stilted interview (I’m noticing a trend here …), also comes off as invested and informed about mental health issues. She has been open about her own struggles and including her was a good idea.
The cynical
– I only watched a little bit of that Gaga video because it is cringe worthy, but from what I saw, William seemed to be more gaga about Gaga than mental health issues.
– I hope the poor, overworked intern who set up the room Will filmed that video in doesn’t get in trouble for using a stock photo of a dog.
The negative:
– All of these releases are beyond poor planning. This is a student at the end of the semester trying to turn in his late assignments and any extra credit to hopefully go from a D- to a B+. I said above that I don’t think this campaign does Harry any good because it’s more of Kate and William trying to garner his goodwill to cover up their mediocre efforts. They may as well have called in Ed Sheeran while they were at it.
I don’t like coming down so hard on all of this, but I’m with the ones who find this “campaign” to be a royal demonstration of slacktivism – all talking points, no foot work. Maybe, hopefully, someone was inspired to be open about their struggles and if so, that’s wonderful and I hope they get the support they need. But if Will and Kate do a campaign like this again, they need to truly study up and dive in beforehand so they can best present beneficial information, resources for those suffering and those who want to help, and most importantly, be able to show genuine concern and support for those that the campaign is targeted towards. If they don’t want to come off as “political”, then they need to either figure out how to present it while staying neutral -OR- be ready to fall on that sword and say “This is a serious issue and we can use our positions to do some good.” But pick what tack to take and do it going forward.
Sorry about the rant. My frustrations at the use of a serious topic as a goodwill point just boiled over as I was typing.
I’m right with you.
I wrote a long rant to a friend about this gaga video and this overall sudden parade of their grief that no one asked for.
I feel horrid about it because we’ve demanded a much more authentic approach, but this feels like the diana card invoked once too often.
It’s a sad state of affairs when we’re questioning the motives behind all of the Diana talk, isn’t it? Under normal circumstances, I would understand using their grief as a way to connect with others.
People are much more aware these days of PR moves and are more hardened to looking for motive. And they don’t like being taken for fools, especially by obvious PR that overplays its hand eg Pippa’s upcoming nuptials, increased Diana articles.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4426660/I-LIKE-Royals-calm-cold-slightly-heartless.html
Enjoy! Xx
‘Nor do we need to have an all-out PR offensive on the inner workings of Harry’s tear ducts just to soften us up for the inevitable announcement of his engagement to the jobbing actress Miss Meghan Sparkly-Pants – who is positioning herself nicely to become the royal bleeding-heart-in-chief the moment the ring is on her finger’.
You know several times today I have typed my version of this opinion and the deleted it as too cynical and spiteful but I really think there is more than a grain of truth in it.
It does smell fishy, Mrs BBV. I do believe you have a great sniffer. Needing a great spiller :).
As someone said a while ago, inauthentic seems to be the name of the game.
Maven, on the whole I try not to be too cynical but Blair & Campbell made ‘suspect everyone, trust no one’ my mantra on public life. Shame really because now it’s in my mind it’s seems so obvious and of course in June after the election when he announces his engagement to Princess Sparkle, as I call her, I’m going to be of the view we’ve all been done up like kippers. It’s got grubby spin all over it I’m afraid.
I rarely read a dm article, I’ll go over and peruse their headlines but I did the Harry one. It’s what’s been missing from their campaign all along. I actually even read some of the comments which I haven’t done in forever and you’re not alone. A lot of sentiments echo that, that this is essentially putting Harry back in the good will of the people for when they make their engagement announcement, it’ll be more palatable for the people.
I saw some header with Meghan going to the wedding now-maybe this is a control study to see how people react?
The barrage of Diana related articles, even William and Harry bringing it up now. It’s too much
And let’s be honest, the royals are playing the long game
Did mr.bbv get your pics?
Yes Sarah he did……I have sent an email to KMR asking her how best to share them with you all. He was quite overwhelmed with the scent in the air and what an oasis of peace and calm it was considering that KP was so busy today as he’s in the middle of London during Easter holidays. He literally was the only person in there. He has video footage and masses of photos for me to share. The KP gardeners have done an awesome job.
That’s an odd article. I’ll tell you, all I got from it was a barely concealed disdain for Megan Markle wrapped up in faux fed up with royals on the mental health bandwagon.
If the working royals didn’t contribute something personal to a campaign that they pledge is so important to them, people would (rightly so imo) call foul. Damned if they do damned if they don’t. You’d have to believe yourself a cut above the rest of humanity to not let this crap get you down on a daily basis. Which, obviously they do.
Ray…..as a supporter of the RF I’m trying not to get too down that I might have had my emotions played a bit this week. I’m really being pulled in all directions with my thoughts and feelings about how things have moved so fast with their Mental Health project when for most of the last year it’s been like nailing jelly to the wall.
I know you’re right about damned if they do, damned it they don’t but this niggle just won’t go away at the moment.
I thought the article took a dig at Meghan too .The comments in the DM article are so mean and spiteful to Meghan mostly.
And Angelina Jolie. The insults thrown at Meghan and Angelina were completely pointless and unnecessary.
Can’t stand Katie Hopkins but that is a very long piece and she makes some excellent points, particularly in regard to their privacy. In fact, I seriously doubt she wrote the entire thing. I think she drew the straw to have it put out under her name. But the points about how will they complain about privacy later, etc. have been made by other media members in other contexts. This is Will’s big delusion — he gets to reveal things and use the media and play on the public as he pleases and they can ask him for nothing.
The part of their privacy thing that is hypocritical is when they complain about certain pap pics and not others, based on whether they set up the pap stroll or not. But there is nothing wrong with consenting to telling a story about yourself and then being upset when paps and reporters dig into your private life. Just because you’ve shared a part of you doesn’t give anyone else the right to dig into other parts of you.
Setting up one part of your life in a perfect PR push and then expecting no one to question that or further look into it is exactly the same as the pap stroll thing but instead in print.
QEII has not been on the throne for 75 years, so Katie Hopkins is clearly an idiot. But also, she’s an a-hole for making fun of people with mental health issues – and clearly she doesn’t understand that not everyone has family or friends who are willing to support them with their mental health issues. Also, why the need to insult Meghan Markle and Angelina Jolie? What was the point of that? I also think it’s stupid that just because someone chooses to share something about themselves that they cannot then be upset when others pry into what they want kept private. Sharing a part of you is not an open invitation for everyone else to take other parts of you.
Katie Hopkins is paid for ‘journalism’ that gets a reaction. Total click bait. She is indeed a horror who despite being a mother of three seems not to have a maternal bone in her body. Her pieces do tend to bring out the most extreme reactions in readers but this article is very odd from her.
Not least because only a year ago she had a very dangerous and ground breaking operation on her brain to manage her epilepsy which was causing her massive physical and emotional problems. Whilst it was mainly a success it’s not all been the outcomes she hoped for.
It’s almost as if she’s been told to do a hatchet job or that someone else has done the hatchet job under her byline? Yes it’s her style of contentious journalism but it doesn’t quite add up either. And it’s easy to pick holes in her wrong use of facts and assertions as you’ve noticed.
My antenna is off again.
I’m with you Ray.
Sorry to post again but I wonder if William isn’t using this mental health crusade not just for good and awesome pr since it’s a very important issue, but also to hide/deflect attention from his own inner struggles. Hiding in plain sight so to speak, talk in cliches, count on his title, and people might just see that as ‘opening up’ and allowing others in. Maybe all that talking is drowning out some serious pain. No, I don’t feel sorry for him, I think he’s a jerk but he’s still human. I think I feel a bit guilty over dismissing his talk of what he has seen in his ‘work’ as phony:(