Tominey: How dare Prince Harry & Meghan use their Sussex titles online!!

The British media’s visceral scorn for the Duchess of Sussex still catches me off-guard sometimes. Like, it’s clear that they hate everything about Meghan while simultaneously being obsessed with everything about her. It’s clear that they still feel as if they “own” Meghan and the language they use about Meghan in particular recalls the language of “runaway slaves.” The whole thing is creepy and toxic and I wish these people would put down the crack pipes and all get their f–king heads examined. Speaking of crack pipes, Camilla Tominey has another repugnant Telegraph column about how much she hates the Sussexes. This one is focused on Tominey’s reading of Harry and Meghan’s biographies on their new sussex.com site. Like, as someone who likes H&M, I genuinely wish they had a larger digital footprint, so I’m shaking my head at this toxic overreaction to what is basically some minor housekeeping with the Sussexes’ digital operations. Tominey’s piece is basically her snide annotations for the Sussexes’ biographies and I’m only going to do some partial excerpts:

The Sussexes’ rebrand: When they’re in their leisurewear, reading out their WhatsApps from William and Kate on Netflix, they’re “H and Meg”. But when they’re “shaping the future through business and philanthropy” they’re very much Prince Harry & Meghan The Duke and Duchess of Sussex – and don’t you forget it. We’re talking white capital letters in a majestic font on a navy blue background. Serious stuff folks. Why Harry is “Prince” Harry but Meghan is just plain old “Meghan” rather than “Duchess” Meghan is not explained to us mere mortals. Perhaps the former actress would have preferred “Princess Meghan”? Or maybe Duchess is just a bit too Downton Abbey/Wallis Simpson for the down-to-earth American’s liking.

Tominey is mad about the coat of arms: Naturally there is no reference to the dreaded Windsors – beyond the conspicuous use of a Royal coat of arms, which is Meghan’s not Harry’s, obvs. The purposeful prominence of the crest once again lays bare the contradiction at the heart of the couple’s quest to “find their freedom”.

Why are they using their titles?!? Harry once accused William and Charles of being “trapped” in the monarchy but as sovereign and heir to the throne, that’s surely an occupational hazard. What’s Harry and Meghan’s excuse? There is absolutely no reason for these non-working royals to carry on using their titles – not least with an entire website dedicated to telling the world that they are much, much more than mere royalty.

No mention of ‘racist’ royals: Speaking of clans, the “racist” Royals obviously do not merit a mention, although we are reminded of this unwelcoming horror show of an institution in the reference to “Prince” Archie and “Princess” Lilibet, saddled for life by their parents with an ongoing association to their white supremacist colonialist forebears. Well I guess it means they won’t have any problems booking tables at expensive restaurants although if recent experience is anything to go by – being called Prince or Princess doesn’t seem to guarantee you a front row seat at the Super Bowl.

What good works?? Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the rebrand, however, is the tag line on the “Archewell Foundation” page: “Show up, Do good”. While an admirable rallying cry to the masses, visitors to sussex.com could arguably be forgiven for wondering when exactly, apart from the commendable Invictus Games, Harry and Meghan have shown up and done good since leaving the Royal family. Meghan cites Smart Works, which supports women to enter the workforce and the Hubb Community Kitchen at Grenfell – but like Invictus, both initiatives happened when she was in “The Firm”. Since “Megxit”, what have they done? They’ve shown up and done Oprah; shown up and done Netflix; shown up and gone Spare; shown up and sued The Sun, the Daily Mail and The Mirror.

[From The Telegraph]

Oozing bitterness. Smarmy obsessiveness. An unsettling sense of ownership. Incandescent with hatred and racism. And all of this because Meghan uses her married name. That’s it. She’s not using her HRH style, she’s not mentioning the left-behind Windsors and she clearly wants to forget the vile way she was treated over there, but she uses her married name, the Duchess of Sussex, and that alone has driven everyone to madness over there.

The fact that a fairly simple homepage has spawned dozens of moaning op-eds, and furious pearl clutching from commentators, proves that many here literally have nothing better to do. Move on! Touch grass. Find an interesting story. This is all so tediously boring

— Omid Scobie (@scobie) February 13, 2024

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

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