I think it’s not ‘what’ they are doing, but ‘how’. This could have been done with an announcement from Buckingham Palace after the Queen was informed and half the tabloid stories would never have happened. Doing it on their instagram account just added fuel to a volitile situation. It was the epitomy of “Stop looking at me!.. Look at me!”
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You know, I feel like they’re spitting at every single royal tradition. They are free to do as they wish but do things properly, stop taking taxpayers’ money immediately and be a little bit grateful with the institution that raised and created you. I’m looking at you you ungrateful red haired dolt.
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Done.
So where do you stand on the subject?
Oi, we Canadians are also her majesty’s subjects… just saying.
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I think that Harry would have been a different person if Diana hadn’t died, but she did and as a result he has spent years hating the press and struggling with his mental health. Now he’s married and has a baby and sees his wife getting the same treatment Diana did, and of course he wants to protect her. He will never be king, so who cares what he does, I imagine he has thought.
But…how disrespectful to announce it on IG when the Queen wanted to sort out the details privately before an announcement was made. And they want to be financially independent, but still keep their rent-free property, owned by the Crown and renovated with 2.4 million of taxpayer money, for whenever they choose to drop in.
I can understand why Harry wants to do it, but the way they have gone about it is disgraceful in my opinion.
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Since Harry wants to move to North America, and be financially independent, maybe WDW could hire him and put him in charge of updating and improving the Disney IT department.
Just converging this back together.
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I have very little understanding of how this all works, but how could they walk away with anything and say they are financially independent? Their family has been the royal family for at least a generation or two :).
What could they possibly own that is private holdings and not something they have BECAUSE of being part of the royal family? Have any of them done any private business? Or are the earnings on all the land/trust considered their private money at that point?
It seems like they are kind of locked in, unless they do just what they are doing (minus the keeping of any mansions). They shouldn’t have any problem finding a way to earn money. Assuming they are willing to star in a reality show in Hollywood. The Real British Royals would probably have a huge following. That and book deals should set them up pretty well.
Edit: And that Disney IT is to blame for it all! Wouldn’t want to take the thread off topic or anything. 
Edit 2: I guess Meghan may have had some assets from before the marriage. I’m not sure how much that was, but probably more than the average person.
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Harry was left a lot of money (£7mill I believe) by Diana, and yes Meghan must have had some money though I have no idea how much.
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But was that not from the wealth of the royal family? Or was Diana’s family wealthy? I may be wrong, but she never had much of a career, right?
Okay, I checked Wikipedia, the source of practically everything I know about this subject, and it seems her father was a nobleman and (I think) politician? So, probably lots of “Old Money”
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5 years ago they laid off their IT staff and went offshore. If quality has dropped, this IT worker is not shocked.
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and where do you stand when it refers to your sovereigns amiga?
Hear hear!!!
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She was also an established actress and “influencer” before she joined the family and there’s no reason to think that won’t pick right back up where she left it… in other words, they can support themselves.
To me, financially independent means they should not be taking a continuing pay just for being in the royal family and should not get to live in free housing, have free travel accommodations, etc as provided by the crown. However, if they receive pay for public appearances then that’s earned pay just like any other celebrity would receive. If they get freebies because of who they are (provided by someone other than the crown) that’s also earned benefit, because that’s just how celebrity works in our society. If they get gifts from the royal family that’s not an unearned benefit, since it comes from the coffers of the person giving the gift and not directly from the crown. Inheritance isn’t part of that equation either, regardless of where it came from, because it’s not something either of them had any real control over and it too came from the pay received by someone else.
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I would never ever willingly do this. Ever. Honestly. 
And I agree with you completely it just feels like highway robbery with them wanting to be “financially independent” but taking the money anyway. Leave with the shirt on your back and I’ll believe you bub…
The two of them are like a bull in a china shop. There are right ways and wrong ways to get what you want. I don’t know why Instagram had to be involved. I get that Harry’s trying to be a good husband and dad (who leaves his son in another country with a nanny? Why?), but they should have worked through their stepping back within the system, not just … quit so publically.
Everyone knows you don’t burn your bridges like that. But there they are, suing the press for invading their privacy and what do they do? Publicize all their baggage on social media. If I were an editor, I’d almost think they were baiting me to say something so I could be sued… again.
They’re just not making any friends and turning some loyalists against them. It’s not about wanting their privacy and wanting their own lives, it’s about what they get from the “system” and how they’ve handled it.
Now about little Archie, who, I believe actually under the guardianship of Her Majesty, not Harry and Meghan. Could that be why he was spirited out of the country, and not returned? Why would they have left him half a world away (in a commonwealth country, no less), except if they were afraid the Queen would say no and deny them the ability to take him away from Britain? She could, but would she? It’s almost as if they believe they are leaving a cult, not the royal family. Very perplexing behaviour.
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So wait. The Queen of England does tech support for Disney? I don’t think that’s correct.
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Exactly!! Yes!!
I think she’d probably do just as good a job.
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Did you not hear a few years back about Disney tech being taken off-shore? Of course, the Queen isn’t doing any of the programming. She has heirs to take over her responsibilites.
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