[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by jet

They can't have, it was only published today Niamh...

Many parts of it were serialised in the Times, which I have read. Some of the reviews mention this, so I assume that is where they read it too.

Well it isn't a proper review then and has no business in the review section

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Well it isn't a proper review then and has no business in the review section

Triggered.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Triggered.

[LeatherTrumpet]

Finding Freedom review: Harry and Meghan whinge for England in a self-pitying, juicy moanathon

3/5

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have an extraordinary ability to take offence, if this schmaltzy account of Megxit is to be believed



The Sussexes’ main whinge is against the press’s skewed view of their relationship. But when the Sussexes air their one-sided account in this extraordinarily sycophantic book, somehow that’s OK.

Two worlds – and two forms of PR – collided when Harry and Meghan got together. One is the American, schmaltzy, gushing, self-serving, highly litigious world – and this book is clearly written for the American market (“Harry deeply craves normalcy”). The other is the Queen’s world – never apologise, explain, give interviews or go to law. One form of PR led to the departure of the Sussexes from royal life after barely a year. The other has seen the Queen reign peerlessly for 68 years.

But then the Queen doesn’t take offence like the Sussexes do – on an Olympian scale. For example, there’s Prince William’s innocent advice to his brother soon after he met Meghan: “Don’t feel like you need to rush this. Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl.”

Harry and Meghan (or Meg, as he calls her) go ballistic at the slightest slight, like Henry VIII on a bad day. Yes, the tabloids can be pretty rough but, actually, the British press – and the British people (barring a few disgusting racists) – welcomed Meghan with open arms. But if you’re looking for offence, you’ll always find it.

Like so many rich and famous people used to getting their way, they’re astonished when they don’t. Harry tells a friend, “I’m tired of people covering engagements and then going off to write some rubbish about what someone is wearing.”

Surely Harry realises he can’t dictate his own headlines? Meghan isn’t much brighter, judging by the bons mots from her lifestyle blog The Tig: “Being yourself is the prettiest thing a person can be”; “Travel often – getting lost will help you find yourself.”

They wanted a future as semi-working royals – having their cake, eating it and not accepting the diminishing returns you get the further you get from the throne. The Queen made it clear it wouldn’t work.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/wh...-self-pitying/

[The Slim Reaper]

Henry VIII had 2 of his wives killed, but sure.

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

Finding Freedom review: Harry and Meghan whinge for England in a self-pitying, juicy moanathon

3/5

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have an extraordinary ability to take offence, if this schmaltzy account of Megxit is to be believed



The Sussexes’ main whinge is against the press’s skewed view of their relationship. But when the Sussexes air their one-sided account in this extraordinarily sycophantic book, somehow that’s OK.

Two worlds – and two forms of PR – collided when Harry and Meghan got together. One is the American, schmaltzy, gushing, self-serving, highly litigious world – and this book is clearly written for the American market (“Harry deeply craves normalcy”). The other is the Queen’s world – never apologise, explain, give interviews or go to law. One form of PR led to the departure of the Sussexes from royal life after barely a year. The other has seen the Queen reign peerlessly for 68 years.

But then the Queen doesn’t take offence like the Sussexes do – on an Olympian scale. For example, there’s Prince William’s innocent advice to his brother soon after he met Meghan: “Don’t feel like you need to rush this. Take as much time as you need to get to know this girl.”

Harry and Meghan (or Meg, as he calls her) go ballistic at the slightest slight, like Henry VIII on a bad day. Yes, the tabloids can be pretty rough but, actually, the British press – and the British people (barring a few disgusting racists) – welcomed Meghan with open arms. But if you’re looking for offence, you’ll always find it.

Like so many rich and famous people used to getting their way, they’re astonished when they don’t. Harry tells a friend, “I’m tired of people covering engagements and then going off to write some rubbish about what someone is wearing.”

Surely Harry realises he can’t dictate his own headlines? Meghan isn’t much brighter, judging by the bons mots from her lifestyle blog The Tig: “Being yourself is the prettiest thing a person can be”; “Travel often – getting lost will help you find yourself.”

They wanted a future as semi-working royals – having their cake, eating it and not accepting the diminishing returns you get the further you get from the throne. The Queen made it clear it wouldn’t work.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/wh...-self-pitying/

*clicks link*

*checks author*

*googles author*

- Daddy was a Sir
- Also an advisor to Thatcher
- Blood relation of David Cameron
- Oxford Bullingdon alum.


Nothing to see here.

[LeatherTrumpet]

sounds like a decent stand up guy who writes perceptively

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

*clicks link*

*checks author*

*googles author*

- Daddy was a Sir
- Also an advisor to Thatcher
- Blood relation of David Cameron
- Oxford Bullingdon alum.


Nothing to see here.

[jet]

The 26 most toe-curling quotes from Finding Freedom:
By DAN SALES FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHE 17:51, 11 August 2020 | UPDATE 23:46, 11 August 2020

Controversial new Harry and Meghan biography Finding Freedom was finally released today and unleashed a new wave of revelations about the Sussexes' strained relationship with the Royal family and Megxit.
But eyebrows have been raised by the fulsome praise heaped on the couple in the book by both the authors and an army of unnamed friends and sources.
Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand provide very detailed accounts of the couple's intimate moments and inner thoughts - but the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claim they were not interviewed and did not contribute to the book.

……...Royal expert Penny Junor, author of Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son, Husband, told MailOnline: ‘The authors certainly have some extraordinarily personal and private details about Harry and Meghan, but the couple have said they didn’t speak to them directly and we have to take their word for it.
'What seems absolutely clear, however, is that they colluded. If not, they would have kicked up a huge fuss about this book. I suspect they wanted to get their story and their feelings about how they were treated out into the public arena and have done so via friends who sound as though they were very well and carefully briefed.’

A few of the toe curlers:

‘Theirs was a love story that took hold in Africa – where now Meghan, on the last day of an incredible three-week stay, stretched her body into the perfect warrior pose. She quietly took in her surroundings from the grounds of their final home away from home on this trip, a modern villa in Livingstone, Zambia, just under ten miles upstream from Victoria Falls. The rising sun washed over her makeshift yoga garden, while an exotic flock of birds that looked as if they had just had their tails dipped in pots of colourful paints serenaded her.’

‘Jessica and her husband Ben – the eldest son of the former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney and the host of the entertainment show eTalk – were the city’s hottest young power couple. She parlayed the brand-name Canadian family she married into and her sense of style into a boutique career as an influencer, stylist, and wedding planner. Her Instagram feed was filled with pictures of domestic perfection – like Jessica with her long, blown-out brown hair, her blue eyes fringed in black lashes, reading a book on the floor with her adorable twin sons, Brian and John, her lean legs crossed and on her feet a pair of sky-high black stilettos.’
- A portrait of one of Meghan’s closest friends and her husband

Jeez, this is awful, I nearly feel sorry for Megs and Harry. Pass me the sick bucket.

[jet]

'Meghan’s willingness to help others and her drive to excel meant she often was deemed "fake" by classmates at school who felt it was impossible for anyone to be that "perfect".'

‘Extremely organized, Meghan immediately impressed Harry with her packing skills. She has always taken pride in being a great packer – going as far as layering dryer sheets in between her clothes to keep them smelling fresh and no matter her destination always bringing tea-tree oil for bites, cuts and pimples – and her skills were appreciated by the prince.'

‘The Tig was polished and optimistic. Whether it was Meghan walking a rugged coastline in a perfectly belted camel coat or a “Tig Talk” with famous pals like the actress Priyanka Chopra or a recipe for “spicy broccoli and hempseed stew”, the website was curated eye candy that she hoped would be “the breeding ground for ideas and excitement – for an inspired
lifestyle”

‘During their two-hour drinks, Meghan sipped dirty martinis while the two discussed gun control, her career, her childhood dreams of becoming either president of the United States or a TV journalist, and her biracial upbringing.

– Meghan meets Piers Morgan after messaging him on Twitter during her visit to London in 2016

No more, I promise. Enough is enough.

[Marsh.]

Originally Posted by jet

No more, I promise. Enough is enough.

[arista]

[Cherie]

"spicy broccoli and hempseed stew”,

Niamh's dinner tonight

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Cherie

"spicy broccoli and hempseed stew”,

Niamh's dinner tonight

[arista]

[Janet Street Porter brands Finding Freedom a ‘PR disaster’
for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and insists they
should have distanced themselves from the bombshell biography
Janet Street Porter criticised bombshell biography on
Loose Women in London
Said she felt book was 'PR disaster' for
Santa Barbara-bound Harry and Meghan
Added should have distanced themselves
from the gossip instead of addressing]


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...an-Markle.html

[jet]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-fa...ord-complaint/

Strangely, touchy-feely 'Finding Freedom' hasn't brought a word of complaint from the Sussexes

By
Camilla Tominey,
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
11 August 2020 • 9:00pm

One might have expected Harry and Meghan to issue a legal rebuke to the intrusion this 'unofficial biography' represents
Yet the eagerly-awaited publication of what Mr Scobie on Tuesday reiterated was an "unofficial, unauthorised biography" has strangely heralded not a whiff of discontent from a couple who have turned complaining into an art form

Perhaps the answer to this mystery lies buried in an "author's note" at the back of the book which contains the intriguing admission: "We have spoken with close friends of Harry and Meghan, royal aides and palace staff (past and present), the charities and organisations they have built long-lasting relationships with and, when appropriate, the couple themselves."

The revelation certainly appears to contradict repeated suggestions by both the authors and the Sussexes that they "were not interviewed and did not contribute". Similarly curious is the fact that the 350-page tome is prefaced by a quote by the American essayist Ralph Wardo Emerson – who, would you believe, just happens to be one of Meghan's favourites?...........

[LeatherTrumpet]

JSP is right. It's an absolute disaster and makes the pair look even worse than before

[jet]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/a...unt-Harry.html



JAN MOIR: If this is finding freedom, count me in Harry!
By JAN MOIR FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHE 01:04, 14 August 2020

Another exciting week in the crazy lives of the exiled Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Honestly, I hope this fabulous soap opera of entitlement and tatty pomp, rippled with a long raspberry of rudery in the direction of the old country, lasts forever and ever.

First, their Finding Freedom biography was published and what an enjoyable read it is.
Nestled between precise details of every perceived slight and snub suffered over the last terrible four years was the kind of gold-plated information that left no one in any doubt about their credentials as perfect human beings.
I particularly liked wee baby Meghan asking her mother 'what can we do about the homeless?' before returning to her plate of rusks…….

Second, we discovered that the Sussexes have bought a new home and have been living in Santa Barbara since June.
I sincerely hope their fugitive flight from oppression is finally over, along with their days of mansion-hopping.

They seem to have landed on their feet, complete with wet and dry saunas, in the ten-star luxury we all know they love.
The mansion has a torrid history, having been previously owned by a Russian oligarch accused of threatening to murder his wife. But who cares about that kind of detail when a couple of mill have been knocked off the asking price?
In sunny Montecito, everything makes sense. Well, a sort of sense. A move to the sun-dappled gorgeousness of the area known as the American Riviera?
That must have been the plan all along — and why not?

Here, amid their sweeping lawns, tiered rose gardens, Italian cypress trees, lavender bushes, 100-year-old olive trees, tennis court, tea house, children's cottage, swimming pool, guest house and the five-car garage that surround their nine-bed, 16 bathroom villa on their eight-acre estate, let us hope Harry and Meghan have found the simplicity and peace they crave…….

Now in the privacy of his own home — his first — Harry can get up in his Zoom pulpit and lecture the world to his heart's content. This week his little homily was on racism — and how we can all do more to help, every single one of us.
I would have more respect for ol' Simba if he admitted to his own silly mistakes in the past — calling an Army colleague the P-word and wearing a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party — but he does not. He can only lecture, not learn.

The couple have certainly moved to the right place — the local pizzeria sells cauliflower-crust pizza and even the soup kitchen is organic — with lectin-free chicken bone broth being a particular speciality. Meghan will be down there with her ladle before you can say: is the turmeric freshly grated?

Despite everything, the sincere wish of many Brits is that it all works out for them — not least because they have torched every route and friendship, every family tie and bond of kinship that leads back to their old life.
Now they may have mountain and ocean views along with hot and cold running luxury, but with a debt of honour still outstanding, the suspicion remains that they still cannot see the wood for the trees.

[The Slim Reaper]

Ahh yes, Jan Moir. The lovely daily mail writer who suggested stephen gately's death was because he was gay.

These are the people you think provide an insight into these private royal lives.

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by The Slim Reaper

Ahh yes, Jan Moir. The lovely daily mail writer who suggested stephen gately's death was because he was gay.

These are the people you think provide an insight into these private royal lives.

Whaaaat?

[The Slim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

Whaaaat?

Don't you remember? I meant his gay lifestyle.

https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/jan-m...-article-ever/

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by The Slim Reaper

Don't you remember? I meant his gay lifestyle.

https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/jan-m...-article-ever/

No I never saw that.

Talk about digging yourself a hole though :

“In writing that ‘it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships’ I was suggesting that civil partnerships – the introduction of which I am on the record in supporting – have proved just to be as problematic as marriages."

[The Slim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

No I never saw that.

Talk about digging yourself a hole though :

“In writing that ‘it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships’ I was suggesting that civil partnerships – the introduction of which I am on the record in supporting – have proved just to be as problematic as marriages."

“Yes, anyone can die at anytime of anything. However, it seems unlikely to me that what took place in the hours immediately preceding Gately’s death – out all evening at a nightclub, taking illegal substances, bringing a stranger back to the flat, getting intimate with that stranger – did not have a bearing on his death. At the very least, it could have exacerbated an underlying medical condition."

.

[Liam-]

Bigots gonna bigot

[jet]

Originally Posted by The Slim Reaper

Ahh yes, Jan Moir. The lovely daily mail writer who suggested stephen gately's death was because he was gay.

These are the people you think provide an insight into these private royal lives.

Nope. The people I think provide an insight are royal correspondents and biographers. She is neither.
I think it is an amusing article, is all. It made me smile anyway.