I 100% believe that the Lady should be given the full time to heal away from the public, in peace, as long as needed, as healing is oftentimes physical AND mental. I give her 1000% of grace.
Equally, I, as a WOC, hold a very very safe and supportive space for the Duchess of Sussex and for her healing from the past years and continued attacks she faces. (I experienced contact anxiety just reading and watching everything that was thrown at her since 2016. I cannot imagine the weight of the impact it had on her). All media are playing the generate headlines and traffic game at the expense of very very real people. As everyone behind these headlines, even the one you mentioned above with the different name pronunciation vs spelling, are humans and now, given how media has evolved will have these stories based on opinions and speculations tied to their names and family names for perhaps eternity, generated because of binary approach to generating media revenue.
The lady in Norfolk (i may have gotten the place incorrect) was the top trend on Daily Google Trends yesterday and I saw a few memes and it saddened me as I don't know her, never seen her and heard her speak, yet her character has been presented to me in a negative way, brought into question based on rumors. The media says she is a mother with school aged children and I don't think anyone has stopped to think - wait how is this impacting her and her children- they are not public people.
We forget that real people are behind this and just as we can now consume the constant flow of media 24/7, I can only imagine they have to see their characters being shaped by how we consumed media and are unable to do anything to stop it, even staying silent doesn't help. If they try to reclaim their narrative and defend themselves they are vilified as we saw so harrowingly with Meghan. What she said at SXSW is so very true, we have forgotten our humanity in this ongoing feeding frenzy of consuming these stories, myself included. Yes, they are riveting and engaging as the pieces are written that way to catch and hold our attention - they are like sugary treats from "British Journalists" motivated only by achieving their KPIs/ Hits for their jobs. But we forget, these are not books being serialized in media or written forms of soap operas with actors playing a part, these are real people whose lives have been taken over by "British Journalists" to meet their KPIs. (there is another angle of this to research as how the Journalism profession in the U.K. have been reduced to people having to write these speculation attacking pieces in order to earn a living - as they are humans too and what impact does it really have on their mental wellbeing, knowing your day's job is harming innocent individuals? Do they first dehumanize or infantilize the people they write about to not think about it? What will we find if we scratch their surface- as most are women.)
But i digress, even articles couched in "love" & "support" for one person over the other, are not truly about the love and support for that individual, it's a manipulative emotional pull at those persons, ensuring they remain complicit because as you say, they need binary presentation of people for their readers - casting real people as Good vs Bad, Obedient vs Wilful, who is dutiful and play the game vs who does not, to breathe life into a narration that only serve the media, not the real people cast as characters. {Shockingly , I found this discussion from the former Sun Editor and his global perspective so on point - can't believe a former Sun Editor is so close to it but check it out: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0BORkvDWwepxxou4PA2nhi? }
I feel sorry for everyone involved. Yes the image distributed on Sunday was wrong - not because who did it, but because it was an official image sent out by an institution that turned out to be heavily doctored. The intention may have been for micro benefits - wanting to present the best possible view of one's self but the implication given the institution represented by the distributor is macro - It's a real life act/example of one of the key issues we are confronting in society at this moment - how rapid changing technology is fast removing what little trust we have in our institution, government and those serving in public roles. We can give grace to the sender while using it as teaching opportunity - it is not the same as what you do at home and on your personal social media.
I hope all the parties involve, especially the two ladies the media continue to make a versus really get a boost of strength to stand together against the real cause of this - the media. It will take sub-human strength but the impact if they decide to unite, build their relationships on their terms and not let the media manipulate would be a much better, far-reaching and long standing legacy.
Media literacy point here. I went to track down the original Victoria Ward/Telegraph article and could see the original headline ("Meghan branded 'huge hypocrite' over 'doctored' pregnancy announcement photo") but when I clicked on it, the headline was "Duchess of Sussex’s photographer denies faking picture" without a reference or acknowledgment of the original article. This seems like gaslighting. Make outlandish allegation without any journalistic due diligence then when you're called out, erase it and pretend that someone else made the allegation, so that it's ultimately the response that seems unhinged. Do newspapers have standards or policies written somewhere governing how they handle things like this?
I think it is that media silence that is most telling: they stopped IMMEDIATELY. No stories about how the kids were doing, how Grandma Carole was helping out, no paps at all. Then once one pap did show up (or was called) the British Press refused to publish the picture ‘out of respect for her privacy’, but gladly published a picture of Meghan in a car in LA and tried to shame her for smiling ‘while Charles and Kate are ill’! They brought it on themselves and made it worse for Kate when she does reappear.
They are completely chasing their tails, and trying to douse the fire by pouring gasoline on it. So what else can they do but the tried and true “MEGHAN IS THE ENEMY” claims that turns public opinion kinder towards the screwups.
What about all of this ****waves hands around this dumpster fire 🔥 *** smells of the royal rota turning on them for something that they refused to “perform” for them?
H&M refused to be marionettes and ended up living their best lives. Could the Waleses have finally understood that this is a stupid game with only stupid prizes as reward? Could something like that have happened?
We’ve seen, read, heard enough royalty-adjacent stories at this point. It’s hard to unsee the hypocrisy and the pointlessness of it all.
The sad thing is….the royal façade could’ve been keep up for more years had they kept the Sussexes in the fold. They were both willing to play the part, but M was deemed too “uppity”. In another universe this institution will live for another 100 years, but in this one, I think we’re seeing the twilight.
—self confessed royal nerd since my middle school days
A very thoughtful read at 5:30am with coffee. I did a little cringe when I realized that I have felt the serotonin myself. I wanted to deny with a hint if self-righteousness, but couldn't. My only defense at this point is pulling myself away for days at a time to do something productive. Reading is much more contemplative. More peaceful than Tikto. .... Now! On to The ROYAL APPOINTMENT!! (rolling the Rs, of course)
THIS! THIS! (love your writing style btw)
I 100% believe that the Lady should be given the full time to heal away from the public, in peace, as long as needed, as healing is oftentimes physical AND mental. I give her 1000% of grace.
Equally, I, as a WOC, hold a very very safe and supportive space for the Duchess of Sussex and for her healing from the past years and continued attacks she faces. (I experienced contact anxiety just reading and watching everything that was thrown at her since 2016. I cannot imagine the weight of the impact it had on her). All media are playing the generate headlines and traffic game at the expense of very very real people. As everyone behind these headlines, even the one you mentioned above with the different name pronunciation vs spelling, are humans and now, given how media has evolved will have these stories based on opinions and speculations tied to their names and family names for perhaps eternity, generated because of binary approach to generating media revenue.
The lady in Norfolk (i may have gotten the place incorrect) was the top trend on Daily Google Trends yesterday and I saw a few memes and it saddened me as I don't know her, never seen her and heard her speak, yet her character has been presented to me in a negative way, brought into question based on rumors. The media says she is a mother with school aged children and I don't think anyone has stopped to think - wait how is this impacting her and her children- they are not public people.
We forget that real people are behind this and just as we can now consume the constant flow of media 24/7, I can only imagine they have to see their characters being shaped by how we consumed media and are unable to do anything to stop it, even staying silent doesn't help. If they try to reclaim their narrative and defend themselves they are vilified as we saw so harrowingly with Meghan. What she said at SXSW is so very true, we have forgotten our humanity in this ongoing feeding frenzy of consuming these stories, myself included. Yes, they are riveting and engaging as the pieces are written that way to catch and hold our attention - they are like sugary treats from "British Journalists" motivated only by achieving their KPIs/ Hits for their jobs. But we forget, these are not books being serialized in media or written forms of soap operas with actors playing a part, these are real people whose lives have been taken over by "British Journalists" to meet their KPIs. (there is another angle of this to research as how the Journalism profession in the U.K. have been reduced to people having to write these speculation attacking pieces in order to earn a living - as they are humans too and what impact does it really have on their mental wellbeing, knowing your day's job is harming innocent individuals? Do they first dehumanize or infantilize the people they write about to not think about it? What will we find if we scratch their surface- as most are women.)
But i digress, even articles couched in "love" & "support" for one person over the other, are not truly about the love and support for that individual, it's a manipulative emotional pull at those persons, ensuring they remain complicit because as you say, they need binary presentation of people for their readers - casting real people as Good vs Bad, Obedient vs Wilful, who is dutiful and play the game vs who does not, to breathe life into a narration that only serve the media, not the real people cast as characters. {Shockingly , I found this discussion from the former Sun Editor and his global perspective so on point - can't believe a former Sun Editor is so close to it but check it out: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0BORkvDWwepxxou4PA2nhi? }
I feel sorry for everyone involved. Yes the image distributed on Sunday was wrong - not because who did it, but because it was an official image sent out by an institution that turned out to be heavily doctored. The intention may have been for micro benefits - wanting to present the best possible view of one's self but the implication given the institution represented by the distributor is macro - It's a real life act/example of one of the key issues we are confronting in society at this moment - how rapid changing technology is fast removing what little trust we have in our institution, government and those serving in public roles. We can give grace to the sender while using it as teaching opportunity - it is not the same as what you do at home and on your personal social media.
I hope all the parties involve, especially the two ladies the media continue to make a versus really get a boost of strength to stand together against the real cause of this - the media. It will take sub-human strength but the impact if they decide to unite, build their relationships on their terms and not let the media manipulate would be a much better, far-reaching and long standing legacy.
Media literacy point here. I went to track down the original Victoria Ward/Telegraph article and could see the original headline ("Meghan branded 'huge hypocrite' over 'doctored' pregnancy announcement photo") but when I clicked on it, the headline was "Duchess of Sussex’s photographer denies faking picture" without a reference or acknowledgment of the original article. This seems like gaslighting. Make outlandish allegation without any journalistic due diligence then when you're called out, erase it and pretend that someone else made the allegation, so that it's ultimately the response that seems unhinged. Do newspapers have standards or policies written somewhere governing how they handle things like this?
I think it is that media silence that is most telling: they stopped IMMEDIATELY. No stories about how the kids were doing, how Grandma Carole was helping out, no paps at all. Then once one pap did show up (or was called) the British Press refused to publish the picture ‘out of respect for her privacy’, but gladly published a picture of Meghan in a car in LA and tried to shame her for smiling ‘while Charles and Kate are ill’! They brought it on themselves and made it worse for Kate when she does reappear.
They are completely chasing their tails, and trying to douse the fire by pouring gasoline on it. So what else can they do but the tried and true “MEGHAN IS THE ENEMY” claims that turns public opinion kinder towards the screwups.
What about all of this ****waves hands around this dumpster fire 🔥 *** smells of the royal rota turning on them for something that they refused to “perform” for them?
H&M refused to be marionettes and ended up living their best lives. Could the Waleses have finally understood that this is a stupid game with only stupid prizes as reward? Could something like that have happened?
We’ve seen, read, heard enough royalty-adjacent stories at this point. It’s hard to unsee the hypocrisy and the pointlessness of it all.
The sad thing is….the royal façade could’ve been keep up for more years had they kept the Sussexes in the fold. They were both willing to play the part, but M was deemed too “uppity”. In another universe this institution will live for another 100 years, but in this one, I think we’re seeing the twilight.
—self confessed royal nerd since my middle school days
A very thoughtful read at 5:30am with coffee. I did a little cringe when I realized that I have felt the serotonin myself. I wanted to deny with a hint if self-righteousness, but couldn't. My only defense at this point is pulling myself away for days at a time to do something productive. Reading is much more contemplative. More peaceful than Tikto. .... Now! On to The ROYAL APPOINTMENT!! (rolling the Rs, of course)
Sheila AKA Stella!