#RoyalRealities

Prince Harry might not like the British press, but he’s given the papers plenty to write about. “He reveals that he and his brother William wanted to reopen the investigation into the death of his mother Princess Diana.”Sky News “Prince Harry also reveals that he and his brother William asked their father Charles not to marry Camilla.”Sky News “The Duke of Sussex also claimed he was attacked by Prince William during a row about his wife Meghan.”Sky News “Prince Harry also admitted in the book that he killed 25 people during his tour in Afghanistan.”Sky News To promote the publication of his memoir, Spare, he gave a series of TV interviews. Most were with US broadcasters and only one was in the UK – with ITV’s Tom Bradby. For rights reasons we can’t use clips from the interview, so we’ve voiced-up the important bits. “Going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get into bed with the devil.”Harry: The Interview, ITV Prince Harry said he wanted his book to set the record straight and made repeated references to his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash after being pursued by photographers. “I don’t want history to repeat itself. I do not want to be a single dad and I certainly don’t want my children to have a life without a mother or a father.”Harry: The Interview, ITV He even raised the possibility of reconciliation with his brother, Prince William, and his father, King Charles. “Forgiveness is 100 per cent a possibility, because I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back.”Harry: The Interview, ITV But, at the moment, that feels pretty far away. “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point.”Harry: The Interview, ITV Coming hot on the heels of the Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan, Spare is a warts-and-all account of Prince Harry’s life
 from feelings after the death of his mother to the day he lost his virginity. But the real subtext of the book is an ongoing war
 between Prince Harry and the institution he chose to leave. And an attempt by Prince Harry to forge his own future living in a swanky part of California. So is Prince Harry winning? And what does winning even look like? Let’s start with the money, because Harry and Meghan’s $15 million Montecito mansion doesn’t pay for itself. Prince Harry is reportedly being paid between ÂŁ30 million and ÂŁ33 million
 for a four book deal with Penguin Random House. That’s on top of the Netflix deal, which is thought to be worth $100 million. One of his biggest gripes was that he lost his taxpayer funded security when he stepped back from royal duties, so his recent bonanza might help in that regard too. Then, there is his criticism of the British press. “He accuses his stepmother of having willingly traded information with journalists in a bid to stop them portraying her as the villain. He said the secret briefings were designed to rehabilitate her image, to smooth her pathway to becoming Queen Consort. But the meetings, in his words, left bodies in the streets.”Good Morning Britain Prince Harry’s attacks may be cathartic, but they come with risks. He’s currently suing the publisher of the Mail on Sunday newspaper. He’s one of a group of high profile figures alleging that they have been, quote, the “victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy” by the publisher. You can imagine the publisher launching a defence that suggests Prince Harry doesn’t actually seem to care all too much about privacy after the revelations in his book. Finally, there’s another court. The court of public opinion. And this is the most helpful metric in figuring out whether Prince Harry is winning. It’s hard to see exactly who Prince Harry is pleasing in the UK with his autobiography and media interviews. Royalists who don’t think Buckingham Palace is racist will be angered by his claims of unconscious bias in the royal family. But those who do think the institution is racist could be unhappy too, because Prince Harry thinks that questioning his baby’s skin colour is unconscious bias rather than outright racism. And he defended Lady Susan Hussey, the royal aide who was accused of racism after asking a Black charity boss where she was really from. But perhaps this is all too inward looking, because this is a narrative aimed at an American audience. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have chosen to live in California and it’s telling that Prince Harry only gave one TV interview in the UK – to a journalist he considers a friend – but several to US networks. Harry and Meghan have opened themselves up and shown that they care about values important to many younger Americans, and they’ve chosen to tell their story to celebrity American broadcasters – Oprah Winfrey, Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert
 “Obviously now, people are very aware of my race because they made it such an issue when I went to the UK. Before that, most people didn’t treat me like a Black woman.”Meghan Markle, Harry & Meghan, Netflix All this might turn off Brits, but it goes down well with certain sections of US society. That, ultimately, is where the couple’s friends, money and future lie. This episode was written and produced by Xavier Greenwood.

Prince Harry might not like the British press, but he’s given the papers plenty to write about. “He reveals that he and his brother William wanted to reopen the investigation into the death of his mother Princess Diana.”Sky News “Prince Harry also reveals that he and his brother William asked their father Charles not to marry Camilla.”Sky News “The Duke of Sussex also claimed he was attacked by Prince William during a row about his wife Meghan.”Sky News “Prince Harry also admitted in the book that he killed 25 people during his tour in Afghanistan.”Sky News To promote the publication of his memoir, Spare, he gave a series of TV interviews. Most were with US broadcasters and only one was in the UK – with ITV’s Tom Bradby. For rights reasons we can’t use clips from the interview, so we’ve voiced-up the important bits. “Going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get into bed with the devil.”Harry: The Interview, ITV Prince Harry said he wanted his book to set the record straight and made repeated references to his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash after being pursued by photographers. “I don’t want history to repeat itself. I do not want to be a single dad and I certainly don’t want my children to have a life without a mother or a father.”Harry: The Interview, ITV He even raised the possibility of reconciliation with his brother, Prince William, and his father, King Charles. “Forgiveness is 100 per cent a possibility, because I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back.”Harry: The Interview, ITV But, at the moment, that feels pretty far away. “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point.”Harry: The Interview, ITV Coming hot on the heels of the Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan, Spare is a warts-and-all account of Prince Harry’s life
 from feelings after the death of his mother to the day he lost his virginity. But the real subtext of the book is an ongoing war
 between Prince Harry and the institution he chose to leave. And an attempt by Prince Harry to forge his own future living in a swanky part of California. So is Prince Harry winning? And what does winning even look like? Let’s start with the money, because Harry and Meghan’s $15 million Montecito mansion doesn’t pay for itself. Prince Harry is reportedly being paid between ÂŁ30 million and ÂŁ33 million
 for a four book deal with Penguin Random House. That’s on top of the Netflix deal, which is thought to be worth $100 million. One of his biggest gripes was that he lost his taxpayer funded security when he stepped back from royal duties, so his recent bonanza might help in that regard too. Then, there is his criticism of the British press. “He accuses his stepmother of having willingly traded information with journalists in a bid to stop them portraying her as the villain. He said the secret briefings were designed to rehabilitate her image, to smooth her pathway to becoming Queen Consort. But the meetings, in his words, left bodies in the streets.”Good Morning Britain Prince Harry’s attacks may be cathartic, but they come with risks. He’s currently suing the publisher of the Mail on Sunday newspaper. He’s one of a group of high profile figures alleging that they have been, quote, the “victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy” by the publisher. You can imagine the publisher launching a defence that suggests Prince Harry doesn’t actually seem to care all too much about privacy after the revelations in his book. Finally, there’s another court. The court of public opinion. And this is the most helpful metric in figuring out whether Prince Harry is winning. It’s hard to see exactly who Prince Harry is pleasing in the UK with his autobiography and media interviews. Royalists who don’t think Buckingham Palace is racist will be angered by his claims of unconscious bias in the royal family. But those who do think the institution is racist could be unhappy too, because Prince Harry thinks that questioning his baby’s skin colour is unconscious bias rather than outright racism. And he defended Lady Susan Hussey, the royal aide who was accused of racism after asking a Black charity boss where she was really from. But perhaps this is all too inward looking, because this is a narrative aimed at an American audience. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have chosen to live in California and it’s telling that Prince Harry only gave one TV interview in the UK – to a journalist he considers a friend – but several to US networks. Harry and Meghan have opened themselves up and shown that they care about values important to many younger Americans, and they’ve chosen to tell their story to celebrity American broadcasters – Oprah Winfrey, Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert
 “Obviously now, people are very aware of my race because they made it such an issue when I went to the UK. Before that, most people didn’t treat me like a Black woman.”Meghan Markle, Harry & Meghan, Netflix All this might turn off Brits, but it goes down well with certain sections of US society. That, ultimately, is where the couple’s friends, money and future lie. This episode was written and produced by Xavier Greenwood.

Prince Harry might not like the British press, but he’s given the papers plenty to write about. “He reveals that he and his brother William wanted to reopen the investigation into the death of his mother Princess Diana.”Sky News “Prince Harry also reveals that he and his brother William asked their father Charles not to marry Camilla.”Sky News “The Duke of Sussex also claimed he was attacked by Prince William during a row about his wife Meghan.”Sky News “Prince Harry also admitted in the book that he killed 25 people during his tour in Afghanistan.”Sky News To promote the publication of his memoir, Spare, he gave a series of TV interviews. Most were with US broadcasters and only one was in the UK – with ITV’s Tom Bradby. For rights reasons we can’t use clips from the interview, so we’ve voiced-up the important bits. “Going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get into bed with the devil.”Harry: The Interview, ITV Prince Harry said he wanted his book to set the record straight and made repeated references to his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash after being pursued by photographers. “I don’t want history to repeat itself. I do not want to be a single dad and I certainly don’t want my children to have a life without a mother or a father.”Harry: The Interview, ITV He even raised the possibility of reconciliation with his brother, Prince William, and his father, King Charles. “Forgiveness is 100 per cent a possibility, because I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back.”Harry: The Interview, ITV But, at the moment, that feels pretty far away. “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point.”Harry: The Interview, ITV Coming hot on the heels of the Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan, Spare is a warts-and-all account of Prince Harry’s life
 from feelings after the death of his mother to the day he lost his virginity. But the real subtext of the book is an ongoing war
 between Prince Harry and the institution he chose to leave. And an attempt by Prince Harry to forge his own future living in a swanky part of California. So is Prince Harry winning? And what does winning even look like? Let’s start with the money, because Harry and Meghan’s $15 million Montecito mansion doesn’t pay for itself. Prince Harry is reportedly being paid between ÂŁ30 million and ÂŁ33 million
 for a four book deal with Penguin Random House. That’s on top of the Netflix deal, which is thought to be worth $100 million. One of his biggest gripes was that he lost his taxpayer funded security when he stepped back from royal duties, so his recent bonanza might help in that regard too. Then, there is his criticism of the British press. “He accuses his stepmother of having willingly traded information with journalists in a bid to stop them portraying her as the villain. He said the secret briefings were designed to rehabilitate her image, to smooth her pathway to becoming Queen Consort. But the meetings, in his words, left bodies in the streets.”Good Morning Britain Prince Harry’s attacks may be cathartic, but they come with risks. He’s currently suing the publisher of the Mail on Sunday newspaper. He’s one of a group of high profile figures alleging that they have been, quote, the “victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy” by the publisher. You can imagine the publisher launching a defence that suggests Prince Harry doesn’t actually seem to care all too much about privacy after the revelations in his book. Finally, there’s another court. The court of public opinion. And this is the most helpful metric in figuring out whether Prince Harry is winning. It’s hard to see exactly who Prince Harry is pleasing in the UK with his autobiography and media interviews. Royalists who don’t think Buckingham Palace is racist will be angered by his claims of unconscious bias in the royal family. But those who do think the institution is racist could be unhappy too, because Prince Harry thinks that questioning his baby’s skin colour is unconscious bias rather than outright racism. And he defended Lady Susan Hussey, the royal aide who was accused of racism after asking a Black charity boss where she was really from. But perhaps this is all too inward looking, because this is a narrative aimed at an American audience. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have chosen to live in California and it’s telling that Prince Harry only gave one TV interview in the UK – to a journalist he considers a friend – but several to US networks. Harry and Meghan have opened themselves up and shown that they care about values important to many younger Americans, and they’ve chosen to tell their story to celebrity American broadcasters – Oprah Winfrey, Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert
 “Obviously now, people are very aware of my race because they made it such an issue when I went to the UK. Before that, most people didn’t treat me like a Black woman.”Meghan Markle, Harry & Meghan, Netflix All this might turn off Brits, but it goes down well with certain sections of US society. That, ultimately, is where the couple’s friends, money and future lie. This episode was written and produced by Xavier Greenwood.

Prince Harry might not like the British press, but he’s given the papers plenty to write about. “He reveals that he and his brother William wanted to reopen the investigation into the death of his mother Princess Diana.”Sky News “Prince Harry also reveals that he and his brother William asked their father Charles not to marry Camilla.”Sky News “The Duke of Sussex also claimed he was attacked by Prince William during a row about his wife Meghan.”Sky News “Prince Harry also admitted in the book that he killed 25 people during his tour in Afghanistan.”Sky News To promote the publication of his memoir, Spare, he gave a series of TV interviews. Most were with US broadcasters and only one was in the UK – with ITV’s Tom Bradby. For rights reasons we can’t use clips from the interview, so we’ve voiced-up the important bits. “Going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get into bed with the devil.”Harry: The Interview, ITV Prince Harry said he wanted his book to set the record straight and made repeated references to his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash after being pursued by photographers. “I don’t want history to repeat itself. I do not want to be a single dad and I certainly don’t want my children to have a life without a mother or a father.”Harry: The Interview, ITV He even raised the possibility of reconciliation with his brother, Prince William, and his father, King Charles. “Forgiveness is 100 per cent a possibility, because I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back.”Harry: The Interview, ITV But, at the moment, that feels pretty far away. “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point.”Harry: The Interview, ITV Coming hot on the heels of the Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan, Spare is a warts-and-all account of Prince Harry’s life
 from feelings after the death of his mother to the day he lost his virginity. But the real subtext of the book is an ongoing war
 between Prince Harry and the institution he chose to leave. And an attempt by Prince Harry to forge his own future living in a swanky part of California. So is Prince Harry winning? And what does winning even look like? Let’s start with the money, because Harry and Meghan’s $15 million Montecito mansion doesn’t pay for itself. Prince Harry is reportedly being paid between ÂŁ30 million and ÂŁ33 million
 for a four book deal with Penguin Random House. That’s on top of the Netflix deal, which is thought to be worth $100 million. One of his biggest gripes was that he lost his taxpayer funded security when he stepped back from royal duties, so his recent bonanza might help in that regard too. Then, there is his criticism of the British press. “He accuses his stepmother of having willingly traded information with journalists in a bid to stop them portraying her as the villain. He said the secret briefings were designed to rehabilitate her image, to smooth her pathway to becoming Queen Consort. But the meetings, in his words, left bodies in the streets.”Good Morning Britain Prince Harry’s attacks may be cathartic, but they come with risks. He’s currently suing the publisher of the Mail on Sunday newspaper. He’s one of a group of high profile figures alleging that they have been, quote, the “victims of abhorrent criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy” by the publisher. You can imagine the publisher launching a defence that suggests Prince Harry doesn’t actually seem to care all too much about privacy after the revelations in his book. Finally, there’s another court. The court of public opinion. And this is the most helpful metric in figuring out whether Prince Harry is winning. It’s hard to see exactly who Prince Harry is pleasing in the UK with his autobiography and media interviews. Royalists who don’t think Buckingham Palace is racist will be angered by his claims of unconscious bias in the royal family. But those who do think the institution is racist could be unhappy too, because Prince Harry thinks that questioning his baby’s skin colour is unconscious bias rather than outright racism. And he defended Lady Susan Hussey, the royal aide who was accused of racism after asking a Black charity boss where she was really from. But perhaps this is all too inward looking, because this is a narrative aimed at an American audience. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have chosen to live in California and it’s telling that Prince Harry only gave one TV interview in the UK – to a journalist he considers a friend – but several to US networks. Harry and Meghan have opened themselves up and shown that they care about values important to many younger Americans, and they’ve chosen to tell their story to celebrity American broadcasters – Oprah Winfrey, Anderson Cooper, Stephen Colbert
 “Obviously now, people are very aware of my race because they made it such an issue when I went to the UK. Before that, most people didn’t treat me like a Black woman.”Meghan Markle, Harry & Meghan, Netflix All this might turn off Brits, but it goes down well with certain sections of US society. That, ultimately, is where the couple’s friends, money and future lie. This episode was written and produced by Xavier Greenwood.

Join us and special guests to discuss the role of the royals today. Do they deserve the extra cash? Is it time for a slimmed down monarchy? Our daily digital ThinkIns are exclusively for Tortoise members and their guests.Try Tortoise free for four weeks to unlock your complimentary tickets to all our digital ThinkIns.If you’re already a member and looking for your ThinkIn access code you can find it in the My Tortoise > My Membership section of the app next to ‘ThinkIn access code’.We’d love you to join us.Britain is facing the sharpest recession on record. The Queen has, of course, wound down her public commitments in the face of Covid19. But even before that, the wider royal family were working less and earning more than before. The monarchy takes in double the money it did a decade ago. The government is giving the royals more cash and their private estates are posting bumper profits. As the most senior members of “the firm” offer Britain support and encouragement through the pandemic, it is not clear what the extended members of the family are contributing, nor how they are paying their way. If we take a close look at the royal finances in the current economic climate, are they fair? Are they sufficiently transparent? Are they worth it? Chair: Alexi Mostrous, Editor and Partner, TortoiseOur special guests include:Lord Andrew Adonis is a Labour party peer who served in both the Blair and Brown administration, latterly as Secretary of State for Transport. David McClure is a television producer, writer and journalist and author of Royal Legacy: How the Royal Family Have Made, Spent and Passed on Their Wealth. How does a digital ThinkIn work?A digital ThinkIn is like a video conference, hosted by a Tortoise editor, that takes place at the advertised time of the event. Digital ThinkIns are new to Tortoise. Now that our newsroom has closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, we feel it’s more important than ever that we ‘get together’ to talk about the world and what’s going on.The link to join the conversation will be emailed to you after you have registered for your ticket to attend. When you click the link, you enter the digital ThinkIn and can join a live conversation from wherever you are in the world. Members can enter their unique members’ access code to book tickets. Find yours in My Tortoise > My Membership in the Tortoise app.If you have any questions or get stuck, please read our FAQs, or get in touch with us at memberhelp@tortoisemedia.comWhat is a Tortoise ThinkIn?A ThinkIn is not another panel discussion. It is a forum for civilised disagreement. It is a place where everyone has a seat at the (virtual) table. It’s where we get to hear what you think, drawn from your experience, energy and expertise. It is the heart of what we do at Tortoise.

The royal family are in crisis again, with Prince Andrew’s links to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal making headlines around the world. What will become of the royals over the next decade? And should they now follow the Swedish example of a slimmed-down royal family, streamlined to be more in tune with modern Britain?  Our special guests include:  Robert Hardman, British journalist, author, and documentary filmmaker best known for his work on the British Royal family Peter Hunt, Former BBC Diplomatic and Royal Correspondent  Joy Lo Dico, British journalist, writer and Founder of the Trouble Club Chair: James Harding, Editor and Co-Founder, Tortoise What is a Tortoise ThinkIn? A ThinkIn is not another panel discussion. It is a forum for civilised disagreement. Modelled on what we call a ‘leader conference’ in the UK (or an editorial board in the US), it is a place where everyone has a seat at the table. It’s where we get to hear what you think, drawn from your experience, energy and expertise. It’s where, together, we sift through what we know to come to a clear, concise point of view. It is the heart of what we do at Tortoise. Drinks from 6.00pm, starts promptly at 6.30pm. If you are late to a ThinkIn you can ‘SlinkIn’! If you would like to contribute to this ThinkIn, let us know by emailing thinkin@tortoisemedia.com We film our Thinkins so we can watch them back, edit the best bits and share them with members who weren’t there in person. Members can find their ThinkIn booking code in My Tortoise, under My Membership.