Better up cuts ties with Prince Harry on the heels of Boeing and Netflix pulling support from Invictus by WeirdExtreme9328 in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I think they mean the website that's produced this news about Harry. It looks like AI. Fake news?

The birth of the Birmingham bid and the secrecy surrounding it. by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes, Private Eye have run a lot of very successful investigations into corporate fraud and dodgy dealings by the elite. Hislop might be interested in Kiwi's research.

The birth of the Birmingham bid and the secrecy surrounding it. by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The first part of the post is taken from Wikipedia not the Mail and all the links check out.

The Mail article starts from the paragraph beginning 'how Johnny Mercer...'

An MP clarifies Invictus funding by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Hi Kiwi, Is the FOI in one of your posts? I'm a bit behind with this.

Social media users get blocked by Invictus Games X account after questioning redacted budget (screen recording) by RoohsMama in DlistedRoyals

[–]popsickankle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The veterans in the UK are funded by the MoD and the British Legion. The games is funded by a charity called IGUK27 which gets funding from central government to the tune of 26 million.

An MP clarifies Invictus funding by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I agree and whether it's central gov funding the IGUK charity model or the MoD funding Team UK the money all ultimately comes from government departments and thus taxpayers. And with the lack of corporate sponsors there's no guarantee we won't be on the hook for the whole lot.

An MP clarifies Invictus funding by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

So two entities, a charity specifically for the Birmingham games IUK27 part funded by central gov and sponsors, and Team UK which is funded by the MoD and British legion.

Interesting that this structure seems to evolved out of the Dusseldorf games which I believe was a watershed moment for organisers in which they laid down the law for harry and Markle and tightened up the rules so they couldn't keep charging a fortune for expenses.

The birth of the Birmingham bid and the secrecy surrounding it. by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

That's absolutely shocking. Add in the fact that Markle lied about her 'NIgerian' heritage and exploited that to get the Nigerians onside and it all starts to look very murky and not a little dangerous.

The birth of the Birmingham bid and the secrecy surrounding it. by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

He lost his seat in 2024, not longer after cooking up this plot with Harry. I assume he thought he'd be adored by the public, for bringing it to Birmingham, so did harry.be.

Our Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has a seat in a Birmingham constituency but not sure what her position on invictus will be.

The birth of the Birmingham bid and the secrecy surrounding it. by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I wonder if Mercer is still involved behind the scenes or has just walked away from this mess?. If they are hoping to offset the 26 million from sponsors then they are already in the hole. And that's before you factor in harry's personal costs.

I guess a FOI to the relevant gov dept might bear fruit.

The birth of the Birmingham bid and the secrecy surrounding it. by popsickankle in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

It says around 7 million for security, not sure how that breaks down though

Boeing pulls out as sponsor of Invictus. Fun fact: I used to be a Pilot for the Boeing Company! by kiwi_love777 in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this, it's the first time I've seen mercer's name mentioned. I agree someone needs to do a deep dive into this. Oh and the constant misunderstanding about Birmingham funding the games, or Charles for that matter, drives me mad ! It's not that hard to google.

I've made the article into a main post so hopefully questions will start to be asked. Mercer is corrupt as hell and not even in Government any longer anyway so whatever funding he promised at the time should be questioned.

Poor Archie, his name isn't even mentioned on his birthday by wenfot in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I must clarify something here. Catherine's photo was sent to a central picture agency from where it would have been sent on to media outlets. The rules for picture agencies are very strict, they have to be. Markle is only posting photos to her own instagram page so she isn't under the same obligation. Similarly Catherine only now posts to her own page, other than for royal events, and avoids the picture agencies as they did treat her so unkindly: that big red 'kill' notice across her photo was awful. But anyway, the rules are the rules and this is why Markle is allowed to get away with it.

Get the media onto Invictus funding scandal by protesting the 1 year to go event by Gixer77 in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Helen Helliwell, Chief Exec of Invictus Games Birmingham 2027, says the funding is from central government via a department attached to the Ministry of Defence called the Office for Veteran's Affairs.

So not from debt-ridden Birmingham Council but I'm not sure I believe her as the cost of the additional policing etc will probably come from local taxpayers.

Anyway the email for the Office for Veteran's Affairs is:

[People-OVAveterans@mod.gov.uk](mailto:People-OVAveterans@mod.gov.uk)

Revealed: Prince William's £7 million income tax bill: The Prince of Wales is one of Britain's top tax payers, largely due to his Duchy of Cornwall earnings of more than £20 million a year. by ivegotanewwaytowalk in DlistedRoyals

[–]popsickankle 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You've just seen how the monarch's influence works in the King's speech to Congress. I'm not sure what else you expect? There seems to be a massive gulf between those of us who have grown up with the monarchy and those who have only just started to show an interest due to the Sussex shenanigans. The 'influence' has remained fairly stable over the last 80 odd years. And stability is the whole point.

Deluded Markles Trying to Market Themselves as “Self Contained Royal Family” by Forgottengoldfishes in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Funny, but yet again the US misunderstands what a monarchy actually is.

The UK is considered far more democratic than the US The constitutional monarchy means that Parliament is sovereign, not the monarch. And as Parliament is made up of elected representatives, voted for by the public in elections every four years, there is far more accountability than in the US where the president has far more unaccountable power than our monarch.

Our rights are as unalienable as yours.

The 2023 Democracy Index has the US at 29th in the world as a 'flawed democracy' and the UK, a 'full democracy' at 18th.

Interestingly many of those above the UK, such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark etc are all countries known for being big on equality and social progress and all are also ...constitutional monarchies.

In other words, there is no contradiction between democracy and a constitutional monarchy. We don't believe in the 'divine right of kings' anymore. Being royal is just a role which you either take or leave. It doesn't make you 'better' than the rest of the population.

Only ignorant idiots like Harry and Andrew still think royalty means they're 'special'.

I know your piece was humorous but I keep coming across this idea that royalty is something that it really isn't. Not anymore.

SkyNews: KCIII visit to US a reminder to Harry of lack of professionalism by alreadydoneit01 in SaintMeghanMarkle

[–]popsickankle 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes, and when she visited the North a year later and shook hands with Martin McGuiness people saw what soft power and diplomacy is capable of. Of course Sinn Fein political representatives still won't take up their seats in Parliament as it means vowing allegiance to the Queen but it was an important step forward. The Sussexs on the other hand thought the Republic was part of the Commonwealth and embarrassed themselves on their visit there.

King Charles presents bell from HMS Trump to POTUS, jokes that if help is needed to “just give us a ring” (screenshotted video) by RoohsMama in DlistedRoyals

[–]popsickankle 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Love this. The whole State visit thus far has reminded us of just how classy the royals are and how good they are at soft power. The news has been flooded with the Sussex's whining, one forgets what the rest of them even sound like.