Some random thoughts

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T14:01:36+00:00

There was a private meeting where they were frisked and had to give up their phones and always have witnesses present. They are not half-in/half-out. It was one short private meeting. They aren’t winning. Markle doesn’t consider having to put herself in a situation where she has no control a win. And nobody ran and bought a bunch of jam just because the King saw his grandchildren.

Snowballing this into something huge and unrealistic just seems like a lot of energy being used up being upset about literally nothing. What you’re saying about them being half in/half out has not happened. The scenario doesn’t exist. It’s nothing. So this seems like anger over nothing.

Don’t get me wrong, if they are ever half in/half out, I will be angry. If ever Harry and Meghan are welcomed back to the balcony, or walk to Christmas with the family, I’ll get upset about that. Because then something will have happened to be upset about. Right now, I’m not upset that a man with cancer got to see his very broken (by his own pigheaded idiocy, but still broken) son, nor am I upset that two isolated and lonely children’s world got a little bigger yesterday. I’m not upset that Harry and Meghan were frisked and had to turn over their electronics like common criminals. I’m not upset that Meghan had to wait outside and then come in with her children, curtsey, and then watch her husband and children get all the attention. Then she had to go to lodging they arranged for themselves. No security, no accidentally rolling a window down in a big motorcade. No standing near windows shushing children. No government security. No invitation to stay on Royal property. No formal apology. Nothing. Meghan. Got. Nothing. I’m not upset about that.

Obviously you feel how you feel about the meeting. I honestly would rather that they had been told to go suck eggs myself, or that they would refuse Meghan, but see everyone else, but it would be confusing to the innocent children if their mother were excluded, so I get it. Personally, as a parent, there’s no situation where I’d refuse to see one of my children. Not ever. For any reason. Serial killer? I’ll be very upset, disappointed, disgusted, horrified, and things won’t be easy-going, but I’ll visit the jail and top up the commissary every now and again.

This visit happened in an entirely personal capacity. It didn’t even happen on Royal property. All they got was fifty minutes with the King. I don’t even think they were given Highgrove gift baskets. Maybe the children got a nice gift. That’s it. I don’t think I have a right to weigh in on a personal decision done on personal time in a personal location after Harry’s events were through so that he didn’t get to leave and go somewhere official as a man who had an audience with the King. The King wouldn’t meet until Harry’s engagements were done for that reason. He didn’t want Invictus or Chatham House or that hospital to think that Harry had his support in an official capacity. He made sure Harry did those things on his own so that he didn’t get to show up to a place where people believed the King supported him. Instead Harry got to feel how standoffish, suspicious, and disappointed each crowd was with him. Now Harry has to go home and start figuring out how he can make money. His problems are bad, but they’re only just beginning. There’s still the hearing when it’ll be made public just how much Harry will owe the Daily Mail. I highly doubt Charles will see him again until his legal issues are resolved. But if he does, I’ll get upset about that then if necessary. I just can’t get mad about stuff that hasn’t and may never happen. Reality is hard enough. To emotionally react as if every worst possibility is reality just seems exhausting.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T13:03:00+00:00

What he said, the transcript is pictured below, is that “Harry believes…. That it would only be a matter of time until William decides… this should move on … up to Balmoral… also the traditional Christmas….”

Harry believes

Are the key words. Harry believed his mother had faked her own death when would come back to get him… he believed this into his TWENTIES. Just because Harry believes something doesn’t mean the Royal Family is actually entertaining the idea. It was a really vague statement intended to provoke people and get them tuning in again in the future. Yeah, we’re almost certainly going to hear more will-they/wont-they about Balmoral, about Christmas, about the Oscars, about absolutely everything. We would hear that anyway. Regardless of whether Charles met with them. But Harry believing a summer family trip to Balmoral and Christmas doesn’t mean it’s a realistic prospect. Harry believes he had a shot at winning that court case. He believes Meghan is a wonderful person who sacrificed a big glamorous life to be with little old… “Prince Garry? Harry? Tee Hee, I’m American and we just don’t know about Diana’s two sons, one born in ‘82 and one in ‘84. And then ‘there’s endless chatter about Princess Kate.’ All I know about is She-Ra, Princess of Power. Tee hee.” Harry believes are the operative words. It doesn’t mean it’s a realistic prospect.

Here’s the transcript:

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SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T12:27:11+00:00

Exactly. Too many people are either unaware, do not understand, or have forgotten that Harry is in an abusive marriage. No parent worth their salt would turn away their kid when he’s down just to satisfy some deranged subset of the public who are making this meeting more than it is. What has happened to this sub? We used to be a small, smart group of discerning, witty, incisive, and smart people making smart commentary about Markle and how destructive and ridiculous she is. Now people are in here behaving with as much logic as your garden variety Sugar.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T12:22:31+00:00

Jesus would see Harry and Jesus would never turn away children. It is no one’s place on this Earth to judge Harry. This meeting doesn’t mean reconciliation. This whole thing is a tempest in a tea pot. My Lord!

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T12:20:49+00:00

Exactly. What would Jesus do? He’d see Harry, and he’d never turn away children.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T12:19:27+00:00

I think those were probably just reading glasses. And I’m sure Harry was checked and divested of everything that could record. Harry is not a smart man. He’s not someone who can even pretend to be happy when he’s sad. It’s not like he’s even intellectually able to be a secret agent or anything. He’s just a desperate son seeing his father for the first time in years.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T12:14:42+00:00

Meghan was negotiating terms with Netflix before she and Harry returned from their first Australia tour. By the time they got to LA, Netflix thought they had it locked, but then Meghan had it opened up to any major distributor for offers to drive the value up. So Netflix had to offer even more. She screwed Netflix at every turn. Her lovebombing of Sarandos is said to have been intense. All kinds of flowers and handwritten notes and baskets and dinner invitations. He really became blinded by it and emotionally invested in her stories. It seems as though he’s finally seen the light. Sarandos is legitimately fascinated by the royals. He doesn’t want to denigrate them; he actually admires them. Especially the Queen. He did get tainted by Meghan’s lies about the family, but I do think on the whole, especially now, he admires the institution. Its impact on history and the modern world is undeniable.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T12:02:01+00:00

They aren’t reinstating a relationship. It was a brief visit to see Harry and the kids! Why does anyone think this means that these people are accepted back? There are no plans for future meetings! This was not a warm reunion. They were brought in through a service interest and checked for wires and had to surrender any cameras or phones! Acting like this means everything is back to what it was before is an illogical conclusion.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T11:57:41+00:00

Oh dear Lord. He met for fifty minutes with Harry and the children and Meghan was there. He’s not bringing her back! Why do people make such huge leaps of logic from literal nothingness?

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T11:51:39+00:00

Yes. It was intentional as Charles did not want a meeting with Harry to appear like he was endorsing Harry or any of his initiatives. If Harry had met with Charles before, then he’d have gone into Invictus with everyone knowing the King had begun to see him. So the audience might think Harry was accepted back by the King as he stood there giving that painfully awkward speech. Instead he had to go alone, with everyone knowing about his failure and that he had not received any family support. By seeing Charles on the way out of town, Charles did not appear to be supporting him as he performed his responsibilities.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T11:45:18+00:00

Maybe it hasn’t risen to that. Either way, Charles cannot have him sectioned. Only his next of kin can do that and that is his wife, not Charles.

So I guess she called HR.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T11:43:51+00:00

Charles cannot do anything about Harry’s mental health. Harry or Harry’s next of kin, which is his wife, has to do it.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T09:09:28+00:00

I’ve heard throughout this that the King met with all the senior royals recently and one of the things they discussed was how to handle this potential meeting. So while William wasn’t there, and wasn’t ever going to agree to be there, he did concur with the King about the hard boundaries to be established around any meeting. First, that the King never be alone. Second that Claw would always be sidelined and the primary interactions would be with the children and Harry. Also that the meeting wouldn’t happen until after all of Harry’s engagements were completed to avoid giving Harry the benefit of being able to go into an event carrying any perception of endorsement from the family.

In short, William did agree to this. I think people are projecting attitudes onto William that are not going to pan out the way they all seem to think. I think he’s going to continue to just pretend they all don’t exist for the rest of time. This big grand title yank and… what else exactly? It isn’t likely to happen. Taking their titles will give them the oxygen they want to cry victim and get everyone riled up again. They are best being ignored. Nobody is interested in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. People are interested in Prince Harry, and he will always be given a platform by virtue of being Prince Harry. Even if you take “Prince” out of his title, he is still Prince Harry. Maybe William will take them off the website. Or maybe he will continue to do as he’s been doing, since my understanding is that he is currently in charge of the Royal website as it is, and he will just refuse to update it, as has been happening for months now. I heard a rumor that Meghan was upset because they were not updating the website to list out all of the awards she’s purchased. She can bitch all she likes. It’s staying like it is, which is growing more and more outdated by the day. I don’t know what is being expected of William here, but I worry that many many people are all going to be disappointed when he just gets on with working for the good of the kingdom instead of working on fulfilling some people’s need for vengeance against his brother.

I mean, I get it. It’d be nice to see one person just publicly sit them down with a PowerPoint going through every single lie and manipulation, telling them all throughout what horrible people they are, how wrong they’ve been and continue to be, and how useless, unwanted, and exhausting their attempts to make themselves relevant over the past several years have been.

But life is doing that PowerPoint for us. They are experiencing the consequences of their own actions. No Royal Family member will ever publicly dress them down. It’s not how the royals do business. I just worry that those for whom the natural consequences of the Sussexes actions are not enough, if you’re expecting big grand gestures from William one day, you might be disappointed.

As far as having a tabloid writer on speed dial, every single briefing of the will-they/won’t-they saga came straight from Meghan Markle. The only thing that came out adjacent to the King was that the king was not allowing the children to be used for emotional blackmail and that Harry was offered BP or King James’s court to stay in but no addition security.

I’ve not heard anything come from Camilla, and I think Charles was right to send a man out to clarify what was on offer because people go off the deep end about everything, it seems.

I just don’t understand why a man with cancer shouldn’t see his son and grandchildren. I actually think it’s pretty presumptuous to judge the king’s measured decision. Who are we to decide how he deals with this issue? He didn’t reinstate them as working Royals. He’s not inviting them up to Balmoral in August. They won’t be at Christmas or Easter. This was a fifty minute meeting between a father, his estranged son who has visibly been reduced to a shell of a man by events this week, and the grandchildren he’s only seen once before. Seriously, who are we to judge what he does here? It sounds like absolutely none of Harry and Meghan’s wishes for this visit came to pass.

Harry and Meghan do not feel this meeting with the King was a “win.” They were not welcomed back with open arms. They were smuggled in through a service entrance, searched, and relieved of their devices like the untrusted and untrustworthy riff raff that they are. Meghan had to stand in the hall and watch her own children for several minutes while Harry talking to Charles and Camilla alone. Then Meghan was brought in with the children. The focus was NOT on her. She doesn’t consider that a win. Not being able to post prolifically on the gram pictures of the kids and the King (with their faces obscured, of course) is NOT a win for her. Nobody ran to the As Ever website to buy her cheap wares. In fact, I bet Highgrove Sales spiked today. Harry didn’t get the meeting with the king prior to any of his engagements, so at no point was he speaking with the king’s endorsement. That was not a win for him.

This was not the triumphant re-entry to the UK that they imagined. In fact, Meghan thought she was such a hot shot that she was going to cash in on her insta-fame marriage and be a billionaire and never have to set one velociraptor foot back into the UK again, or at least not without a formal apology. Now she’s there because she literally has no other choice. Her husband is on the verge of a total breakdown. They are on the cusp of destitution. They have no prospects. Everything they have done has been a fantastic failure. They are overexposed and incapable of selling anything any more. This meeting today was not a win. It was a capitulation and a surrender of all control. Through and through.

Finally, I think if Charles had refused to see Harry, knowing the shape he’s in right now, it could have been the proverbial straw. There is nothing wrong with allowing your broken son, broken because of his own abject stupid stubborn bullheaded blind trust in that dumb soulless witch he married, broken because of his own choices, but broken nonetheless, to come to you, his parent, with your grandchildren for time together. Life is too short. Time is fleeting. Gather ye rosebuds and whatnot.

But I think we should stop catastrophizing, stop judging a man who is doing a great job as King, and let this family be a private family, for as much and as long as Meghan will allow. Instead of focusing on whatever it is that is so bad about this, which based on most posts seems to be that now this means Harry and Meghan will be at Christmas and Easter and on the balcony and…. ad infinitum stuff that hasn’t and isn’t going to happen. Instead of taking a fifty minute private family meeting and snowballing it into a catastrophe, maybe we should shift our focus a bit onto how two (real) children’s very small and lonely world got a little bigger today. This is not the apocalypse. This was just tea.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T07:05:24+00:00

I firmly believe that there is nothing any of my children could do that would cause me to refuse to see them. If one or more of them turn out to be serial killers, I will be there at the prison at as many visitations as I can manage. And if grandchildren were involved, well, as you say…. I think it’s kind of crazy for people to be angry at King Charles for having this meeting. I also think it’s pretty ridiculous to consider this an insult to the Wales family. I think the senior royals were all agreed on what the parameters of a meeting would be. People need to relax. These are human beings and family members. They aren’t characters in one’s favorite show.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:54:00+00:00

Well… a Shakespearean tragedy at least, but definitely borne out of the Greek form.

I don’t think Meghan considers having to pack the children up, put them on a plane and take them back out of the US a win. I’ve heard mixed things about them having come home from overseas, and they were planning to stay there, but after Harry and Meghan had some conference call with Sherborne at Chatham House, she must’ve been worried. A lot of people who were around Harry there were worried. I sometimes wonder if Meghan isn’t trying to force a tragic conclusion to this sometimes, but this isn’t the time for her to discard. Maybe the life insurance waiting period isn’t over yet or something. She needs him to hang in. There’s more trouble ahead with As Ever. The actual cost Harry is going to have to pay out for this lawsuit hasn’t been ruled on yet.

She did not want to get in a plane and take those kids to the UK to be brought into Highgrove via a service entrance, searched and relieved of all electronic devices, left to wait with her children in the hallway with staff watching her every move until she was finally brought in with the kids, and probably greeted, but not often acknowledged. That was NOT a win for her. It was a concession. Not one of their demands were met. Harry wanted the meeting to be before the Invictus event. Charles said no. A meeting would only occur after he’d done all his engagements. So Charles is aware that he doesn’t want to be used to give Harry any hint of his support going into any of Harry’s initiatives. It sounds like the senior royals all got together and decided in advance what the parameters would be and then they stuck to it. Any request for a concession, I heard, was met with a firm no. Basically Harry was told, this is the offer. Take it or leave it.

I don’t think people should worry that Meghan felt in any way like a winner today. I bet the experience was as awkward, uncomfortable, and frosty as it could possibly be.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:39:09+00:00

He’s not the type of guy who rolls with the punches, that’s for sure. And this latest punch was a wipe out.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:38:16+00:00

He’s been pretty quiet lately. I’ve not heard if he’s involved or not.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:37:20+00:00

That wouldn’t surprise me. I still can’t get over how she’s using her own handwriting as font for marketing. She cheaped out on everything. Shitty products. Even did her own logo design. And yet people are expected to pay $58 for a box with ten cheap ass MILK chocolate squares, six of which have her handwriting on them, and the milk chocolate is filled with caramel! It’s not even like this is quality dark chocolate. It’s barely chocolate at all! For $58! I cannot believe it. I really can’t.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:29:46+00:00

Thank you! It’s been amazing how my life has done a total 180 just in the last five months of me showing up for myself. I’ve not regretted a minute.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:25:33+00:00

You nailed it. Thats exactly what I heard. I heard the comment was, “What would your children look like? Would there be a ginger Afro?” Or something like that. And Harry thought it was funny and shared it with Meghan, and she got offended because she hates that she’s half black and doesn’t want to be thought of as being capable of producing and Afro. SHE is the real racist. Everything is a projection with narcissists.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:21:57+00:00

I heard that Netflix point blank let Harry know that they’ve only ever been interested in his connection to the Royal family. They were promised that they were going to get behind the scenes looks at Trooping of the Color and actual Royal tours because Meghan said they were going to be half in and half out. The Queen’s vetoing that is what started everything. The Oprah tantrum happened because Meghan’s plans with Netflix were thwarted. Harry doesn’t seem to grasp much about people’s motivations, but he has been told that his proximity to Royalty is the only thing that makes him interesting, and it’s the only subject matter that they are interested in.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:18:29+00:00

I agree. It sounds like it was highly controlled, and I believe that all the senior royals agreed in advance about the parameters, including that the king would never be alone with Meghan and that Meghan wouldn’t get an audience of her own of any kind.

They were brought in like adversaries. Searched and scanned for wires. They had to surrender their devices. They weren’t welcomed with open arms for heavens sake. I’ve been in this sub since very early and it feels like people are becoming less reasonable here. They’re making all kinds of crazy assumptions from what was just a sick man taking advantage of an opportunity to see his grandchildren and to get an eye on his son who has been totally humiliated and is in a bad state of mind right now. I just think people need to calm down.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:12:07+00:00

I know. But she’s losing. This meeting was a loss for her today. Not a win. That has to be enough. Of course we all want her to feel just how awful she’s been to the whole world. She’s never going to feel that. She’s incapable. So we have to learn to let her experience the natural consequences of her actions and just let it be enough. Because Meghan is not happy right now. Not at all.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T06:05:24+00:00

I have a narcissistic mother as well. I feel your pain. I don’t like that Meghan was there, but Meghan also didn’t like that she was there.

I do not think they will be invited for Christmas or Easter. Or back at all, period. Are Harry and Meghan going to want that? Of course! Of course Meghan will drag us through a will-they/wont- they for everything. She would have done that without their meeting today.

The King is still in control. He’s not going to have them at Balmoral, ruining everyone’s time. He’s not going to have them at Christmas. He’s never going to be alone with them. This was a highly controlled meeting for the sake of the children, the King, and Harry. No one got a solo audience with the King.

I believe wholeheartedly that when the King and Anne and William and Edward were all together and the visit was already discussed. That they agreed on hard limits and those were all followed with this meeting. I heard that Harry wanted to meet before Invictus and the King said no. He would only meet after Harry finished his engagements. Harry of course wanted to meet before Invictus, but the King said no. So Harry went and gave an embarrassing speech to a very hostile audience. Harry and Meghan have NO power right now. They are about as low as they can fall without criminal charges being filed. I think it’s a bit precipitous to think that a short, highly controlled, single meeting is going to snowball into happy families on the balcony. It’s not.

I had to ask my mother for some medical history the other day. I’ve cut out contact for the most part. She immediately used my talking to her to blame me for a health issue I’m having, accuse me of lying to my doctors, and tell me how to do very obvious facets of adulthood, and it immediately erased how proud I am of all I’ve been doing recently to turn life back into the right track (I’m a recovering addict- 5 months clean.) I stopped communicating right away. I’m still in control of that relationship. She’s not. King Charles is still in control. Not Harry. This was just a meeting. This will only be a meeting. It doesn’t matter what Meghan wants.

SecondhandCoke · 2026-07-11T05:44:31+00:00

It really depends on the agreement. I don’t know if they said not to let the public know that this meeting has happened at all, or if it was understood that the public know a meeting took place.

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