#sussex 2018

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

These photos are from Wellchild 2018 NOT the Colombia Temu Tour 2024

[geopsych]

On this day in 2018 I took this picture in southern England before flying home to Pennsylvania.

[ifreakingloveroyals]

10 July 2018 | Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex during the RAF 100 ceremony at Buckingham Palace, as members of the Royal Family attend events to mark the centenary of the RAF in London, England. (c) Chris Jackson/Getty Images

[meghansbest]

The Duchess of Sussex during a visit to Dublin, Ireland on July 11th, 2018.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

https://www.tumblr.com/brf-rumortrackinganon/765520008389574657/was-it-the-time-that-williamkp-leaked-how-meghan?source=share

But still won't erase the fact that he's ready to do everything for other people except for his wife.

Remember the dog bowl incident in Spare? He physically fought Harry because his staffs are getting mistreated but where is this energy for Kate?

William didn't have to make it obvious that after a decade Hilary Mantel continues to be right. Kate is just designed to sire an heir and now she's of no use because she's done with that.

Wow, someone who believes Harry's version of events as the full truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth when even Harry disclosed that he doesn't know what's true of his memory or not.

You must be new here because:

In 2012, William sued the pap and the magazine that published topless photos of Kate. At the time, Kate was on a private property and had a reasonable expectation of privacy to be topless in the first place.

In 2018, William threatened lawsuits when people began alleging that he was cheating on Kate.

In 2021, William confronted a pap that was stalking his family and scaring his children. The pap recorded the encounter and posted it online.

In 2015, William issued his own KP statement to protect Kate and then-baby George from paparazzi stalking and harassment.

In the 2000s, William dropped friends who invaded his and Kate's privacy and leaked about them to the press.

In 2015 and in 2022, William moved his family twice out of the fishbowl of central London, away from media and paparazzi harassment.

In 2020, William had Tatler edit a published article to remove an insulting reference to Kate and her family?

In 2018 and in 2019, William kicked Harry out of Kensington Palace and the Royal Foundation because of how he and Meghan were treating his family, in addition to his staff.

In 2018, William supported Kate's decision to pull Charlotte out of bridesmaid dress fittings for Harry's wedding.

In 2010, William is the one who insisted for The Queen and the BRF to include Kate's family as often as possible.

In 2024, William let Kate prioritize her health and not work during her chemo treatments and in her recovery.

In 2024, William leaked the hacking (or attempted hacking) of Kate's medical records to put everyone on notice.

In 2024, William stopped releasing his family's photographs to the media after the Mother's Day fiasco. They're now posted only to their official social media now, instead of distributed to the rota.

In 2021, William accompanied Kate to the elementary school the day after the Sussexes' Oprah interview aired in the UK. The event had been announced as, and was only ever expected to be, a solo Kate appearance and he joined her so she didn't have to handle the press or confront them by herself.

In 2014 when Charles's comments about the Middletons getting more time with George were leaked and published, William didn't change a thing about how he and Kate were raising George. He made Charles change his habits to fit in time with George.

Iin 2019 when a plastic surgeon claimed Kate was his boxtox patient and he was using her photos in his advertising, William had the palace intervene with a cease-and-desist. (I'll remind you: the issue here is not that they wanted to hide Kate's botox use, but that they wanted a doctor to stop fraudulently claiming she was his patient.)

And William insists on traveling with his family together instead of separately, per protocol. That's not a guy who finds his wife useful only to bear him children; that's a guy who can't picture his life without her. (And before you tell me "actually no, that's a guy forcing his wife to take care of their children because he can't be bothered," no, it's not, because if that was the case, then William would travel separately from all of them and require Kate travel with all the kids, but that is not the case, because William is on that same plane/helicopter/car with them.)

[thatsonemorbidcorvid]

“My reporting on stalking began in 2018, when I launched a national anti-stalking campaign, Unfollow Me, at my former employer Vice, in partnership with the stalking advocacy service Paladin. Using freedom of information laws, I found that more than 60 women had been murdered by stalkers in a three-year period, despite having reported them to the police.

Alice Ruggles, Shana Grice, Molly McLaren. I cannot forget their names. Their last moments haunt me. How Ruggles’ ex-boyfriend slashed her throat with a knife as she cowered from him in her bathroom. How McLaren’s ex-boyfriend stabbed her 75 times in a car park in broad daylight. How Grice’s ex-boyfriend subjected her to unthinkable terror in the months before her death – he let himself into her house and watched her sleeping – before murdering her, and setting fire to her body. All three women reported their stalkers to police, who did next to nothing. Grice, unbelievably, was fined by Sussex police for wasting police time. It’s been six years now, and all I see is the same police apologies and hand-wringing. Nothing has changed.

What I believe underpins all of this is a rich seam of misogyny. Men – and it is mostly men who are stalkers, although of course they can be victims too – who feel entitled to women’s time, their attention, their bodies and sometimes even their lives. And police forces that regard women as time-wasters and their complaints as histrionics, for objecting to this. Stalking victims deserve to live in safety and peace. Right now, as a society, we are failing them.”

[yongyuan-st]

❤️ HAPPY 5TH YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TO THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF SUSSEX! ❤️

(may 19, 2018 - may 19, 2023) Today marks the 5th wedding anniversary of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex who got married at the St. George chapel in Windsor.

“I appreciate, respect and honor you, my treasure, for the family we will create, and our love story that will last forever.”— Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. Extracted from The Duchess wedding's speech to her husband.

“Amazing that I could even hear the music over the sound of my own heartbeat as Meg stepped up, took my hand. The present dissolved, the past came rushing back.”— Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. Extracted from Spare.

[anonymoushouseplantfan]

By Camila Tominey,

“Just as I have always admired the seamless way the Duchess of Sussex’s truth has sometimes clashed with fact, so too do I have a grudging respect for Omid Scobie.

"Lest we forget, this is a man who spent a decade raking over celebrities’ private lives for US Weekly, only to brazenly tweet in 2021: “Privacy means freedom from *unauthorised* intrusion. It is the right to choose what you share with others and what you don’t. That’s it!

"At the time, such outbursts left journalists like me in disbelief. Wasn’t this the guy whose entire career was built on analysing snatched paparazzi images of the rich and famous? Imagine our incredulity when Scobie launched into repeated attacks on the very royal press pack he followed around like a puppy. I saw with my own eyes how he tried to muscle in on the rota system in a bid to gain access to the very members of the Royal family he now seeks to trash in his second book, Endgame, which hit bookshelves on Tuesday.

"You have to admire the brass neck of the bloke, you really do. I remember one incident on a royal tour when he was literally begging me to tell him the sources of my various royal scoops. And to think he’s now so reluctant to discuss his own! Who on Earth could they be, I wonder?

"Perhaps the most amusing thing about Endgame is how much this fearless journalist gets wrong in his tireless pursuit of Meghan’s truth. “Palace aides were racking their brains to remember the ‘five’ private secretaries who have come and gone from the Duchess of Cambridge’s office (there have been three). And contrary to the claim ‘you’d be unlikely to read about it in any British newspaper’, The Telegraph reported on exactly that staffing issue last week.

"Hey, but why let facts get in the way of a good story? In one passage, I am described as The Telegraph’s Royal Editor – which I’m not and never have been. Referring to a piece I had written about the now infamous dog bowl incident, in which I suggested that it showed how much love William has for his little brother that he felt the need to physically wrestle him to the ground, Scobie comments that I sound like the “excuses of domestic abusers everywhere.”

"Domestic abuse? Is that what we are calling sibling rivalry these days? We are now being asked to believe that it was a “translation error” that the names of two “alleged” royal racists had been left in the now-pulled Dutch copies of Endgame – even though they were completely absent from the English version. And we’re supposed to accept this narrative even after Scobie had bragged on US television that he knew the names of both alleged racists?

"You know, I really thought I’d seen it all when Meghan told Oprah, with a straight face, that the Archbishop of Canterbury had married them three days before their official wedding ceremony; that she’d had her passport confiscated only to jet off on multiple holidays; that Kate had made her cry and not the other way round.

"I thought I’d heard it all when “sources” close to these two multi-millionaires (who were still receiving a £700,000 allowance from the King after Megxit) revealed the couple were so “desperate” they had no choice but to sign deals with Netflix et al – even though we know they were speaking to streaming companies as early as 2018, a whole two years before they stepped down as “working” members of the Royal family.

"I thought I’d heard it all when Scobie, of all people, claimed to be both a champion of privacy and an accountable press, only to publish not one, but two completely unauthorised intrusions into the lives of the Royal family so lacking in balance as to be laughable. We must believe all victims of bullying, insists Scobie (who was comforted by Meghan when he copped the kind of flak we all get, day in and day out on social media), except when they’re accusing the Sussexes of it. You really couldn’t make it up."

Thanks!

[earhartsease]

this bit at the end

Sussex police’s professional standards department rejected a complaint about the incident from Taylor, saying in an email seen by the Guardian: “I am afraid that police officers cannot be expected to know about every aspect of every law that affects UK citizens.”

[thoughtportal]

Between 1968 and 1973, the inhabitants were forcibly expelled from Diego Garcia by the UK Government so a joint US/UK military base could be established on the island.[5][6] Many were deported to Mauritius and the Seychelles, following which the United States built the large Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, which has been in continuous operation since then.[6] In 2019, this action and continued British administration of the archipelago were deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, a ruling the United Nations General Assembly supported. However, the British dismissed this ruling as not legally binding. As of August 2018, Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island of the BIOT; the population is composed of military personnel and supporting contractors. It is one of two critical US bomber bases in the Indo-Pacific region, along with Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.[7]

The Chagossians (also Îlois [il.wa][3] or Chagos Islanders) are an African ethnic group originating from French slaves brought to the Chagos Islands, specifically Diego Garcia, Peros Banhos, and the Salomon island chain, in the late 18th century. Most Chagossians now live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom after being forcibly removed by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s so that Diego Garcia, the island where most Chagossians lived, could serve as the location for a United States military base. Today, no Chagossians are allowed to live on the island of Diego Garcia, as it is now the site of the military base dubbed Camp Thunder Cove.

The Chagossian people's ancestry is mostly African, particularly from Madagascar, Mozambique and other African nations including Mauritius. There is also a significant proportion of Indian and Malay ancestry.[4] The French brought some to the Chagos Islands as slaves from Mauritius in 1786. Others arrived as fishermen, farmers, and coconut plantation workers during the 19th century.

The Chagossians speak Chagossian Creole, a French-based creole language whose vocabulary also incorporates words originating in various African and Asian languages and is part of the Bourbonnais Creole family. Chagossian Creole is still spoken by some of their descendants in Mauritius and the Seychelles. Chagossian people living in the UK speak English. Some settled in the town of Crawley in West Sussex, and the Chagossian community there numbered approximately 3,000 in 2016.[5] Manchester also has a Chagossian community, which has included artist Audrey Albert.[6]

In 2016, the British government rejected the right of the Chagossians to return to the islands after a 45-year legal dispute.[7][8] In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating that the United Kingdom did not have sovereignty over the Chagos Islands and that the administration of the archipelago should be handed over "as rapidly as possible" to Mauritius.[9]

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

John Kettler: Chief of The unSUCCESSFULS Invisible Staff

John Kettler is out after only three (3) months on the job. No sympathy for anyone who partners with these two (2) bullies. You're either too lazy to read a book or maybe you like to help bullies.

"Joshua lives with his wife in Santa Barbara, CA and holds an MBA from Clemson University with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship and Innovation."¹

Richard Eden for Daily Mail: When the Duke of Sussex appointed Josh Kettler as his grandly titled chief of staff earlier this year, it was said that he was the perfect man to 'guide' Harry 'through his next phase'. However, the Daily Mail understands that Mr Kettler has suddenly quit his job after scarcely three months, amid much intrigue. Josh Kettler is no longer working for them,' a source in California told this newspaper today. The timing is a particular blow to Harry and his wife Meghan as Mr Kettler would have been expected to accompany them on their 'quasi-royal tour' of Colombia, which kicks off this week."

The total number the Sussexes have lost since they married in 2018 is said to be at least 18, with nine or more having left since they moved to California in 2020.

Mr Kettler was seen entering St Paul's Cathedral with the duke for the anniversary service, which was attended by figures including Harry's uncle, Earl Spencer, but no other members of the Royal Family.

Later that month, Mr Kettler was a key figure on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's three-day 'tour' of Nigeria and was by Harry's side as he met government officials in the West African country. His role on the visit was said to be a foretaste of what he would achieve in the future.

Prince Harry and Meghan with Mr Kettler (circled) by their side. His role on the visit was said to be a foretaste of what he would achieve in the future.

¹Bio: "Joshua Kettler is an experienced executive accelerator, organizer, and confidant. Seasoned in guiding C-suite functions, critical cross-functional program management, high-level strategy development, and board of directors / investor relationship management. Focused on bringing unparalleled products and experiences to customers while working in lockstep with leaders, executing on their vision.

Joshua spent the better part of a decade with Patagonia, a leader in outdoor apparel, serving as a trusted resource and right hand to the Vice President of Global Sales and Customer Experience. He helped direct all revenue driving strategies and operations worldwide, spanning seven major markets and $1B+ in yearly revenue. His efforts included managing the organization's workflow, prioritization, and oversight of regional GMs, while providing input on critical decisions including distribution strategy, customer touch points, internal and external communication, organizational structure, and personnel matters.

In 2021, Joshua shifted is focus to start up ventures, becoming Chief of Staff to the CEO of Better Place Forests and most recently joining Cognixion as Chief of Staff and Head of Strategic Partnerships, helping to accelerate and support the transformative AR / BCI company.

Joshua is an avid trail runner and skier, and a steadfast supporter of conservation and the environment. Joshua lives with his wife in Santa Barbara, CA and holds an MBA from Clemson University with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship and Innovation."

[ldagence-royal]

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex Attends an Invictus Games Reception in London, England May 2018

[ifreakingloveroyals]

12 October 2018 | Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Sophie, Countess of Wessex attend the wedding of Princess Eugenie of York to Jack Brooksbank at St. George's Chapel in Windsor, England. (c) Mark Large - WPA Pool/Getty Images

[sussex-newswire]

"Meghan [the Duchess of Sussex]'s net worth continues to rise, with her and Prince Harry now in the prestigious 'Goldilocks Zone' of wealth, despite their departure from the Royal Family in 2020.

"Before tying the knot, Meghan's estimated net worth was around $5million. However, even after leaving the UK and a substantial regular income from the Duchess of Cornwall, the couple's combined net worth is estimated at £46million.

"According to US Wealth Advisors' Trust company, this places them in the 'Goldilocks Zone' of wealth. This zone signifies no fear of ever falling into poverty but without the immense stress of truly astronomical wealth.

"They clarify that a fortune of approximately $50m - $60m 'gives anyone the flexibility, anonymity, and freedom to do whatever you want today and make plans for tomorrow (e.g., future generations) as easy as it gets. You can hang with billionaires (e.g., charity giving, vacations, dinners, vacations, etc.) without their stress'"

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

She wasn't allowed to contact a therapist or a mental health specialist but she got her personal photographer walking all over Buckingham Palace in QEll's private quarters and QEll's childhood dollhouse to snap pictures, make a whole mockumentary in South Africa behind The Palace's back, do "work lunch" with staffs outside, visit an apothecary after closing hours and all the other obvious things which in no way showed that she was restricted in the BRF?

But she couldn’t contact a therapist. She had to contact HR. Only HR is allowed to solve mental health concerns. /s

Anyway. That HR reference was so random, wasn’t it? Here’s my theory: It was a spin attempt to cover up Meghan getting a HR call about her behavior towards the staff re the bullying allegations.

Here’s a very abbreviated timeline:

October 31, 2018: Jason Knauf writes a letter describing Meghan’s bullying of/behavior towards staff is sent to Buckingham Palace HR. William begins discussion to split the households.

January 16, 2019: Meghan has thoughts of self-harm because of bullying.

March 14, 2019: BP announces the household split. The Sussexes are moving their offices and staff to BP. (The Cambridges, their staff, and their offices to remain at KP.) It sounds like the KP staff - who up to this point were shared between the Cambridges and the Sussexes - could choose if they stayed with the Cambridges or moved with the Sussexes.

Now, two and a half months for HR to follow up on a complaint is a bit long to me, but when you consider that any HR worth their mettle would look into a complaint to determine if it’s legit before escalating it and when you consider how much “kickbacks” KP, CH, and BP were doing in those days (KP sends something up to BP, they kick it to CH, who sends it back to KP, who gets frustrated and sends it back to CH, so on), it does seem a little plausible.

So my theory is that Meghan was contacted in January by HR about the bullying allegations (which she obviously didn’t like and found very offensive) and the remediation step was to separate her from the complainants, so the decision to split the household was finalized. The KP staff was invited to choose if they’d stay or go and once everyone made their decisions and new spaces were found for the Sussexes, the official BP announcement was made.

But that still left the pesky HR phone call on the record about Meghan and bullying. And since the Sussexes were both paranoid about the media invading their privacy with the palace’s support, Meghan needed a way to spin an angry HR call that makes her the aggrieved victim. Since the palace wouldn’t contradict her (“never complain, never explain”), she twisted the story for Oprah and then her glass house began falling to pieces.

[holmesxwatson]

James Lovegrove’s Sherlock Holmes books

James Lovegrove has written a ton of Sherlock Holmes books over the years (all Victorian era/canon era). I recently came across his latest series on the Hoopla app while I was browsing audiobooks that were available and the cover art totally roped me in. I ended up reading all three books in the newest series, all the Cthulu casebooks and a few in his earliest series. As far as I can tell, his books seem to be split into three different series based on the structure of the subtitles and the different cover art. I enjoyed all the books I read by Lovegrove for different reasons, but as I've already established in my other book rec posts, I mostly only care about the Holmes/Watson dynamic. So listed below are Lovegrove's Sherlock series in chronological order, which also happens to be, in my opinion, the order from least to best Holmes & Watson dynamics •ᴗ•

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The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Titan Books Series, 2013-2018

I honestly just realized while researching links for this post that Lovegrove's books in this series are part of a bigger series with multiple authors (lol me), so I'm not going to list all the titles here, but they've been published from 2011-2023 and Lovegrove has written six of the 21 books. The other authors in the series are Guy Adams, George Mann, Cavan Scott, Mark A. Latham, Nick Kyme, Philip Purser-Hallard, and Tim Major. I read the first two Lovegrove books in this series last after reading his other SH series and the stories were pretty solid. One of them was a WWI-era story, which is a time period that I love to read about. The only thing I will say is that the Holmes & Watson vibe is a little too I'm-smarter-than-you-do-keep-up for my taste, which is why I took a break after reading the first two. But I wouldn't be against dipping back into this series at some point in the future and also checking out what the other authors have to offer.

Goodreads series page (x)

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The Cthulu Casebooks, 2016-2023

There are four books in the Cthulu Casebooks series and the framing device is that James Lovegrove himself is a descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, which is how he comes into possession of Watson's secret writings on his and Sherlock's real adventures going up against Cthulu and other eldritch horrors. These books are not just a romp through a mashup of literary worlds, there are very real stakes and things get dark. I really liked these books, I'm not really a Lovecraft fan at all, but I have read some of his works and of course I'm aware of all the elements from his works that have transcended their stories and are really a part of general fantasy/horror fan knowledge. My best friend is a huge Lovecraft fan and we read these together, so they were able to tell me how precise the Lovecraftian elements were -- they were precise -- so Lovecraft fan approved. The framing device was my favorite thing, especially the author's note at the end of book three, which was a very bone-chilling way to end the book (that I was listening to on audio in my dark house at night -- oops).

Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows

Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities

Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils

Sherlock Holmes and the Highgate Horrors

Goodreads series page (x)

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James Lovegrove's Sherlock Holmes, 2019-2021

This was my favorite series out of the Lovegrove set and also the first that I read. I felt like the Holmes & Watson dynamic was especially great -- and for me that means: they felt more like equals, there was just the right amount of bickering, and they cared deeply about each other. While I was reading these I took some short notes to help me remember what was special about each book, here they are below next to the titles. I would say that the covers and titles make the series seem like it might have fantasy elements, but it's more like they are debunking their clients outlandish theories before getting stuck in on the actual case.

Sherlock Holmes & the Christmas Demon (has a Three Garridebs-esque scene; Holmes dresses up as Santa!)

Sherlock Holmes & The Beast of the Stapletons (a continuation of HOUN complete with a short estrangement of Holmes & Watson)

Sherlock Holmes & The Three Winter Terrors (the dedication at the beginning of the book is to Jeremy Brett ❤)

Goodreads pages (x) (x) (x)

Here’s my goodreads shelf with all kinds of Sherlock Holmes books that I’ve read or am hoping to read. Let me know if you have any recs! And check my pinned post for other book recs posts!