Today’s headlines .........

[pulisa]

Their dad will be too busy "saving" his nephews and niece from the inevitable terrible life they will have to endure as a result of being born into the RF. You almost feel he's saying this to get the reaction he craves...but which has yet to come from Pa and Willy?

Ah well...Let's just hope that we're "Spared" from any more of his musings although I believe they had a multiple book deal? Maybe there will be one on "Perfect Parenting"? That would be illuminating.

[MyNameIsTerry]

William's kids seem happy enough. No idea about Harry's since no one ever sees them.

It does seem to be an onslaught to try to get them involved in a very public slanging match. I have doubted the Queen's policy on this but the various interviews have shown Harry & Meghan to be quite incompetent at sticking to their lines and I bet royal support is increasing. No one likes to see one side kick the other mercilessly. But you never enter the world of a narcissist, the lack of response hurts them more. Mus5 be tough not pulling him up for his BS though.

William is getting branded violent with no proof but I expect they will talk to their kids about details they won't reveal in public.

Harry is doing a fair bit of backtracking since the book launch which is making him look silly. But then he's redefining factual in that postmodernist way.

I think he should go non binary next. That would suit him.

[NoraB]

The people I thought of had no empathy or compassion and had no compunction in making your mental health far worse if only to make themselves feel better. Anxiety doesn't create people like this, it's personality.

Personally, I don't see Harry as lacking in compassion.

I despair at anyone writing something and not taking responsibility for it.

I couldn't agree more...

If my wife told me she was having suicidal thoughts and I approached an equivalent of a palace aid of HR who told me to go away I would not stop. I would use my resources to get my wife the help she needed. No one would stop me. I would never forgive myself if I didn't.

Harry's taken his family to live in a different country to get his wife away from our toxic tabloids and their obsession with her. What more do you expect the guy to do?

That's me. So I don't care who you are, I'm going to question your behaviour and actions in those circumstances.

Absolutely, but I find it helps to read the books and watch the documentaries rather than be drip-fed the cherry-pickings of the biased tabloids..

Speaking of 'the book'...

I've read the chapter on the Taliban. (Read it on the lav this morning).

Harry's words on this take up a two pages, but the tabloids cherry-picked a couple of paragraphs. Out of context, they do read a certain way, but that was the point of the exercise. (Context changes things completely)

Regardless of context, I think this is something that Harry should have been very, very careful about because of the potential consequences. (There are hate preachers out there and Harry is who he is).

I saw an interview on one of the talk show channels with James O' Brien where he read out the full chapter. If you didn't know it was Harry he was talking about, you'd most likely feel some differently. James was talking about what the press has done here, which is to "turn it into yet another firework display and another opportunity to attack Harry without having the facts to make an informed opinion".

Isn't behaviour like this one of the things Harry has been complaining about?

[MyNameIsTerry]

I've read that part too. The media have fluffed it up but he did say it and he did further state the armed forces trained him to dehumanize the enemy. I seriously doubt that. I've known soldiers and never heard this. And senior armed forces officers have stated otherwise.

He could have left the number out and I doubt it would have had as bad an effect. The secondary point that British troops are trained to see enemy combatants as less than human is still a big own goal that plays into the hands of foreign forces.

The media certainly over inflate everything, it's how they make money. We all know this. It's not a surprise in the slightest. They love negative, salacious stuff. I read across the media from left & right. You get to know their tricks and who their political affiliations are. They all attempt to steer you towards their narrative hence important to read across the spectrum.

I'm not sure how O'Brien came to that conclusion since The Guardian were the ones who leaked it and hitting Spain early meant it could be seen. It was getting posted up online. Didn't The Guardian access it via a TOR browser? So they saw the actual words. I won't dispute they chopped it down but he's showing his own bias if he believes what he said. The Guardian aren't pro royal surely?

I've since read the actual words. I don't see bragging, as some of the media made out, but I see 25 dead enemy chess pieces. Harry actually wrote this. Maybe not Harry if you left his name out but still an idiot. But the problem I have is its only one of the pieces of a bigger puzzle that when you put them together show a bigger idiot. Perhaps that was O'Briens trick, to read an isolated passage without all the other gaffes and incidents? That's exactly the same as the media chopping a statement to change the context to wind people up. It's just a minimising technique.

He took his wife away from UK media and towards US media. Let's hope he doesn't upset them then since they make ours look tame. But this doesn't address my point in the slightest anyway which was that I would have got her straight to a medical professional right there & then. Anything less is an excuse. No one could stop him if he really wanted to access help for a suicidal wife.

[pulisa]

https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/march...ife-of-obrien/

This is the man who supported Carl Beech. He really wants to identify with Harry having had loads of therapy himself. He puts callers in "Idiots Corner" if they dare to disagree with him and can be extremely patronising to callers who can't take him on. He'd love to get Harry on his Full disclosure podcast, I bet!

[MyNameIsTerry]

I can't believe that Tom Watson is even being considered for the House Of Lords. What am I saying, he will fit right in

[NoraB]

I've read that part too. The media have fluffed it up but he did say it and he did further state the armed forces trained him to dehumanize the enemy. I seriously doubt that. I've known soldiers and never heard this. And senior armed forces officers have stated otherwise.

I don't know. My husband is ex-army so I'll ask him. What I do know is that armed forces swear an oath of allegiance to the King and I imagine that any senior officer who publicly defends Harry (in the current climate) is asking for trouble.

He could have left the number out and I doubt it would have had as bad an effect.

Totally agree.

Perhaps that was O'Briens trick, to read an isolated passage without all the other gaffes and incidents?

Surely what matters is him proving that the tabloids cherry-picked to suit their agenda? They wanted to make it look like Harry was bragging about killing Taliban, but this is not the case at all.

From what I've read so far, Harry 'writes' compassionately about his father, brother, and even his step-mother. He writes of not being able to 'hug his grannie' because it wasn't the 'done thing'. Charles wasn't allowed to hug his own mother so it stands to reason that he has problems expressing love for his children in a physical way. Even so, Harry writes compassionately and lovingly about his father, and so-much-so that I've actually thawed a few degrees towards the bloke!

For the record, Charles' 1994 biography did not hold back on the contempt he felt for his parents and their part in his deeply unhappy childhood. In contrast, Harry writes that he was a happy child who felt loved by both parents. (What Charles lacked in hugs and kisses, he seemingly made up for in words).

Harry's telling the truth when he says that Camilla had her eyes on marriage and The Crown from the very start and that she's 'dangerous' (I'd say her history speaks for itself there) but he also appreciates that Camilla is (and always has been) the love of his father's life, and that she makes him happy - something that both boys appreciate, despite the history with their mother.

So far, the book isn't living up to the press hype.

He took his wife away from UK media and towards US media.

Except that the US media gives less of a crap about them..

I checked a few American tabloids (the other day) and only saw one article about Harry. (Meanwhile, they're all over the British press!)

The Sussex's are providing a much needed distraction to Charles and Camilla as they crack on with their plans for the biggest coronation the world has ever seen!

Can't pay ya bills? Never mind. Grab a flag and come watch 'ol Charlie and the Mrs being paraded through the streets in our bling carriage.

But this doesn't address my point in the slightest anyway which was that I would have got her straight to a medical professional right there & then. Anything less is an excuse.

Harry says that he is 'angry and ashamed' at the way he handled this. (I don't know about you, but I think that owning our mistakes counts for something?).

We need to bear in mind who Harry's family are. It's tradition and protocol above all else. ("Never complain, never explain"). Well Harry complained on behalf of Meghan and was told to 'get on with it'. He writes that he felt 'ashamed' going to his family, telling them that Meghan wasn't coping. Maybe Charles felt the same way when Diana was asking for help? Harry's been influenced by his paternal family for a lot longer than the mother he wasn't allowed to properly grieve for because "crying wasn't an option". On the one occasion where he did break down and cry (away from the cameras), he felt "ashamed for violating the family ethos", so I can see how he might have responded in a similar way when he approached his family about Meghan's MH issues..

Ultimately, Harry's turned his back on his family (and all those perks) in order for his wife to feel safe. But no matter what he does, the vultures will pick him to pieces because this is what human beings do.

The scapegoating with Harry kicked in decades ago, and he's has clearly been gaslighted for years, just as Diana was gaslighted into thinking that she was 'imagining that Charles was having an affair with Camilla'. I can see it as plain as day, but then, I've been gaslighted so I recognise the behaviour, and Harry has my compassion here. It took a complete outsider to make him see that this isn't normal behaviour.

The truth is never easy, especially when it's the RF you're speaking out against. People are paid to protect them, and by any means. How many times has Harry been thrown to the wolves by the press and there's been silence from the palace? Because it's not the 'done thing' to respond to gossip, right? Charles' response to this is to say to Harry, 'Don't read the stories, darling boy'. Yet the tabloids run a story on Kate getting Botox and Kensington Palace releases a statement? (I'd say Harry has a point, wouldn't you?)

No one could stop him if he really wanted to access help for a suicidal wife.

Speaking from personal experience, I can tell you that it's not always that simple.

[pulisa]

I really find it hard to believe that a royal prince couldn't access immediate mental health intervention for his wife. He's not a pleb like us. There are no waiting lists with his own therapist so readily available for advice. They are a breed apart.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree, Nora. I believe you are very passionate about this subject and there are so many areas my views are the complete opposite of yours. I just don't see the things you do, quite the opposite in many cases.

I stand by my beliefs on his lack of ownership and accessing services. I don't believe him and he has said nothing which changes any of this.

I feel sorry for the Queen having to put up with this shite in her final years and with cancer too.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I really find it hard to believe that a royal prince couldn't access immediate mental health intervention for his wife. He's not a pleb like us. There are no waiting lists with his own therapist so readily available for advice. They are a breed apart.

I can pick up a phone and get into a private practice tomorrow if I'm rich. It's a different world. Celebs do it all the time and some keep things private.

Fly back to the US, the country where fast medical access is the norm since the system revolves around money. I'm sure there are plenty of psychiatrists wanting business from mega millionaires.

Fly to any country. The world is open to the elites.