Who’s Sorry Now? Definitely Not The Sussexes
Episode 8
It is important for a nation to realise that demographic changes affect all areas of human activity:- economic, social, cultural and political. All forward thinking businesses research, develop and build their business plans based essentially on those 4 areas listed above. Any business that plans activities outside those areas, is destined to fail at some point in the future. Not everything can be predicted but most things can be if policy makers and strategy specialists follow and interpret trends in each of those areas. Where things happen that could not be foreseen, then the ability and speed of flexibility comes into play.
The British Royal Family refers to itself as The Firm, not a family, yet it does not operate in any shape or form like a well run business. Times have changed, and businesses that remain in business by loyal customers, or who remained in a time warp together, are becoming few and far between. The businesses that have survived, and who will be able to somehow hold on to some aspect of their operations in the current global Covid-19 pandemic, and who recognise the need for completely new ways of working, and delivering a service, are the ones who are the most likely to be successful, no matter what. There is an increased role for support services (background teams such as Human Resources, Finance Departments, Strategy and Policy teams etc., who are almost having to design and develop new ways of preparing and delivering training for new skillsets, alongside new recruitment practices to succession plan for a workforce that is ageing, and educational institutions and professional bodies (in some areas) playing catch up. There are training programmes and professional qualifications not quite in sync with the skillsets and knowledge and way of working that is required now, and will most likely evolve over the next few years if not decades. Those who can adapt and keep their eyes on trends emerging, are likely to be the ones still standing in years to come.
Important for people to recognise leading and lagging indicators here. E.g. professional bodies amending professional requirements for various professional development required standards, cannot do that overnight. Professional qualifications take time and experience to reach the minimum standards, therefore some of the things introduced into policies now, may not produce the results until a few years down the line. The important thing to note is that successful organisations will be able to demonstrate they are aware of the future risks to service delivery and have built in mechanisms to prepare the workforce through policy and strategies.
Now, when we look at the British Royal Family, and its notion of being a Firm, many things fall short, in terms of adapting and staying alongside, if not ahead of the changes. One of the main stumbling blocks on such an entity is that the members of the Firm, ie the notional workforce, are family members who are given roles, which have nothing to do with competency or ability to acquire knowledge, but merely on the order of birth from a parent who is also judged by their position in the Line of Succession. Activity has never been measured or scrutinised in any way, and quality is therefore always described in glowing terms, despite the fact that no meaningful measure is ever applied. The figures shown every year next to the various patronages are meant to give the impression of increase in income from being a patronage of the Royal Family, and each year this index is proudly quoted in terms of the number of visits, ribbon cutting, waving etc and the income that flowed in as a result. The reality is that those figures are estimates of what WILL LIKELY BE earned in that year, when all the calculations are made. No explanation is ever given about how those figures are arrived at and at what point do the ‘actual’ earnings ever appear? Unlike businesses in the real world, they have the pressure of providing detailed figures to a variety of bodies, including HMRC for tax purposes.
If those businesses cannot trade because of something like a global pandemic, then the bottom line is that less income is generated, and staff are put on reduced hours, or lose their job completely. No Monarchy has that issue to worry about, so the game of let’s play diplomat, or let’s play a business executive, etc etc does not really cause any of the said family to lose any sleep about what is happening in the world. Matters that occupy the minds of ordinary people, do not occupy the same percentage of space in the minds of some groups in society, the Monarchy being one. Life will continue along at the pace and style that Royal families around the world wish, and as long as they show a modicum of interest and empathy with the woes of their respective countries, things have worked out for a few.
There are a few Monarchs who are beginning to realise that they will need to adapt on a large scale, if they wish to survive a little longer, as I firmly believe over the next few decades all will be gone from the global map. In the case of the British Royal Family, their methods have served them well up to now, but once there is an element of independent thought and a real awareness and knowledge of some of the hardships being experienced in the world, no institution can continue blindly carrying on with their traditions and practices as if somehow to carry on and not acknowledge world events that impact their own nation as well as a wider scale, is the way to portray the British Stiff Upper Lip to the global and national audience. One can only assume because there is no stress of food shortage, or loss of home, due to loss of income, or a danger that the business may fold, then the part of the demographic data[i] that is crucial in workforce development and planning, may not seem important to The Firm. Looking at the age profile of the British Royal Family[ii], and the lack of acceptance of the only person of colour into The Firm, combined with the clear void of any meaningful Business or Financial Planning, suggests that the British Royal Family is in serious trouble. When most of the workforce of any organisations is of pensionable age, and the handful of ‘younger’ working members have never been encouraged or trained to actually be competent in any aspect of the business world, then to my mind, the cracks are there in the Royal Vessel, but not visible yet unless one knows what to look for. Courtiers/advisors to the BRF are in the same pensionable age bracket as the people they are advising; most have limited knowledge of life in the corporate world where they have had to experience real performance management where their role depended on the results, or for that matter public relations it seems. I see trouble ahead.
The UK Royal Rota gossipers (they are not journalists and they are as distant from performance management as they are right wing) through its publications like to continuously state that the Queen has reigned for 65 years or thereabout. This is NOT a good thing for any business. No problem for a family, who can provide support and love and care for their aged relatives, when most if not all working age adults are actually working. However, in the case of the BRF, having a token leader who is almost a century old, and the next in line around 30 years younger would have been ringing alarm bells in sane peoples minds decades ago. I have no idea if the Queen was ever competent in her role, as no measures have ever been done. History books can only state how long she reigned and did a few tasks connected to motor cars in wartime. The current Prince of Wales, can show outcomes of projects making a difference, and continue to be successful. The ongoing initiatives are few and far between, and the general theme appears to have been, projects focussed on subjects that the Prince had a particular interest in, not necessarily societal needs as a whole. Nevertheless, the Prince of Wales did not just sit around, he attempted to create something which would always be synonymous with his name. Benefits to wider society are limited, hidden behind the façade that those things are for government officials to do, not a member of the Royal Family.
We then come to the next in Line of Succession. Approximate 30 year gap between him and his father the Prince of Wales. Duke of Cambridge has no projects that he set up from scratch. No measures of performance can be allotted to his name other than the number of times he has been photographed and filmed on what are described as “work engagements”. The Duchess of Cambridge has even less than her husband, and none have been completed to date. The excuses given by the Royal Rota is that “they are on a different path to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” and their activities cannot be measured in that way. Let’s not forget that when projects/initiatives are looked at in terms of outputs and funds raised and the community groups and businesses involved can show clear benefits to the customers, all of such projects have been created by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – individual projects as well as joint initiatives. The Sussexes were too popular and successful for the Royal Family to live with, and ensured that life became intolerable and dangerous for the Sussexes to remain in the UK. The spotlight is now well and truly on the British Royal Family, and they are wilting under the gaze. Karma.
It is clear as crystal that the Queen will not be able to even function as a figure head of the Royal Family for much longer. Enter the next in Line who is aged 70 plus and by all accounts, does not look healthy. Let us just assume, the next King will reign into his 90 plus years – the next in line will be the age his father was when he becomes Monarch. Ie 60 plus. The Duke of Cambridge has no one, currently with the skill set to create and deliver sustainable projects. The Advisors in use for the last few decades also live in a protected bubble. The future certainly does not look bright. The Cambridge children may be ‘prepared for duty’ from an early age, and I do not mean waving and smiling and turning up for photo opportunities which ensure that at least one person of colour is present. That is the current approach. Survival of the British Royal family relies on the ‘slaves in an opulent setting’ still to be in play. In other words, it is assumed that the oldest child will just assume he will be King one day, and no consideration will be given as to whether he is competent to do so, or whether in fact he wishes to do so. We all know how the “spares” in the Royal Family are treated, and the fact that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are still standing and breathing and free from the slave regime, is down to their personal skill set and wish to be of service to the vulnerable, alongside the miracle that is Sussex Squad. Sussex Squad is not a fanbase, it way beyond that description. Sussex Squad is a global support network, here to challenge lies and deception and propaganda from the Royal Family and Associates. I sincerely hope, that the Cambridge children look to history and see what their Uncle Harry and Aunt Meghan did to escape from the opulent slavery setting, and will do the same. I actually hope that the Monarchy comes to end way before then, but if all else fails to guide the UK population to really question the need and purpose of this archaic institution, the escape of the Cambridge children described as Spares, will ensure the gravy train ends for good.
The UK monarchy has its support base mainly in the age group similar to themselves, and there are far less of those in the Cambridge age group. The numbers that used to appear on their social media platforms, were in the main, haters of the Sussexes, not supporters of the wider Royal family, and the rest were autobot accounts, which has been proved by independent research and reported on in the USA quality press.
Now the Sussexes have gone, and taken their support base with them, the shortfall in interest and income is already being noticed. I predict it will not improve enough to justify future decades of a UK Monarchy. The Royal Family have failed to recognise that demographic change has an impact on them too. They have relied on Royal Rota spin that they are adored and will be fine and that the institution is safe. The UK likes all the pomp and ceremony etc. People suffering job losses and poor nutrition in what is meant to be a successful country, is not a good look and ensures that most of those people cannot and will not identify with the opulence of palace living. Young people have uncertain futures in terms of prosperity and being free to do and plan things like their parents did in their younger years. People of colour have seen how the Royal Family, supported by the establishment, treated Duchess Meghan when she entered the family, and how short her time there actually lasted, despite the clear popularity and successes of all projects and tasks undertaken. Those actions all came to a head in the Commonwealth Service on 9th March 2020, where in a final stroke, people of colour here in the UK and within the Commonwealth and then globally, had the alienation confirmed. The UK cannot come back from that, and certainly not as long as the Royal Family exist. Increasing societal groups feel alienated from the opulence that is constantly in our media reports, as well as negative reports when people of colour are seen with opulence and on many occasions are seen as helping those who are less fortunate. It seems very selective as to who the UK is comfortable with having a luxury lifestyle.
The British Royal Family have alienated so much of our society, and their support base matches the current age profile of the family itself. There will be trouble ahead. Meanwhile Sussex supporters have all moved (virtually and otherwise) to Monticito. We are not Royalists so any attempts to ride the Sussex wave will be removed.
Learning point:- All those the UK Royal Family have alienated, will prove to be one of the largest mistakes the Family and its Advisors and Associates have made and it will be depicted in the history books. Sussex Supporters left with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. None are focussed on or interested in the day to day activity of the British Royal Family. The spotlight is all theirs.
The UK BRF embarked on a strategy almost 5 years ago, to remove or to stifle the threat of the new phenomenon of The Sussexes. All they could see was a major shake up in the way the BRF did things, and how their support base liked to see them. The mistaken belief that it was seen as a steady ship in rocky seas. UK residents used to like to see the stable family as the figurehead, in an otherwise increasingly shaky existence for most of the population. That perception was so far from the truth it is frightening to think that Advisors employed by the Monarch could not see the inherent risks with such a policy and the high chance of abject failure. All done to protect the way of life that was being enjoyed at public expense, and helped in that protection by media and aristrocracy and government and then add on all the members of the public who were actively encouraged to dislike the Sussexes approach to measurable activity, and where the dislike turned into real tangible hate activity.
The grave error made by the establishment with this approach was that unlike the treatment of “Spares” in decades gone by, the Royal Playbook used for time immemorial was that it was no match for current day news dissemination, and therefore things done behind palace walls, and deals unwritten contracts with media would become noticed by increasing numbers outside of the UK. The efforts to denigrate the Sussexes was focused on the newest member to join the family, aka Meghan. When they quickly discovered the strength and aptitude of this formidable accomplished woman, their hate activity revealed the underlying resentment based on race. The people at the top of any organisational structure, whether that be a business, a government, a family residing in the same place etc, are intrinsically linked in behaviour and attitudes. In other words, the employee at the most junior level of an organisation, behaves in the way that is acceptable to the direct Line Manager. If it was not, that behaviour would not take place in that environment. People do and say things that they know they will not be punished for etc. In the same process, that Line Manager’s attitudes and behaviour is reflected in the person that he/she reports to, for the same reasons, and so on. So, when you get to the top of the structural tree, just know that whatever is spouted officially about their love and support for this and that, they share the same ideology and belief system as the people at the bottom of the food chain. If they didn’t those individuals would not be there, or life would be made very difficult for them, so they would leave when or if they were able to do so.
The idea that a person of colour could enter into such a hallowed place in the minds of so many of the UK people, and not be impressed by it, did not go down well. Meghan was there, and gave up everything because she fell in love with a man who just happened to be a Prince. Meghan was a millionaire several times over already, so expensive clothing and items did not impress her – she had been buying that and more, and most of the time better quality for herself for years, through hard work and perseverance. The Monarchy acquired theirs through inherited wealth based on stolen artifacts and slavery. The Commonwealth is just modern version of the UK Empire, using modern day Master and Slave systems and processes.
Harry being a member of the BRF meant that hatred was not encouraged to be directed at him. Meghan was seen as the main cog in the Sussex wheel to be destroyed or damaged enough that she would tire of the whole shambles and return to her comfortable life, and that Harry would stay in the UK out of loyalty to his relatives. Like so many things, their thought process was fundamentally flawed from the start, and they took on Thanos but had no Avengers in their gene pool, apart from Harry. The Ginger Avenger and his growing army of loyal, competent, resilient and professional team members began to emerge. The icing on the cake was the global support network that emerged as a force of protection for the Sussexes from the obvious dangerous games being played by the Monarchy and its allies.
Sussex Squad was started by two women who recognised the playbook being used to try destroy Meghan and decided to risk their way of life to publicly speak out against the injustice and lies and tactics being used by the UK media on the obvious instruction of the BRF. This fact must never be forgotten. The Squad is now huge but we all must never forget, whether or not we all like each other, that this Squad was formed to protect the Sussexes, and its strength and power exists now because of two brave women at the start. Sussex Squad has gone from being ridiculed, referred to as bots, and patronised by Royal Rota personnel to the force that it is now. Our numbers across the globe are of telephone number proportions. In the early days, members of the Squad were threatened, their lives explored by Rota personnel, and attempts to destroy employment positions and introduce venom into their work spaces. The tactics used are the same that they continue to employ to varying degrees with members of the public, and to any famous person they wish to ‘come to heel’ and spill the beans on any Sussex activity. The Rota has come to realise, that the Squad is comprised of extremely competent individuals, many of whom have resources beyond the imagination of Royal Rota personnel, and the intellectual capacity to play them at their own games, and always win – no matter how long it takes – and have time to carry out a range of humanitarian fund raisers in the spirit of the Sussexes, as well as support any project announced by the Sussexes. We can do this in our sleep, whilst balancing many plates, and not drop any of them. Do not come for us unless we send for you, is an accurate phrase where we are concerned. This Squad is comprised of people from many nations, varied economic backgrounds, but we are all united in protecting the Sussexes at all costs. We are a global support network, not a fan base. We are not and never were and never will be Royalists. Supporting the Sussexes is a lifetime membership. We are not going away. Some of us have experienced first hand how low the UK media pals of the BRF will go. It is not a nice experience. The effects of such interaction stays with the person/people for ever. What does not break us, makes us stronger.
The game being played by the BRF for over 4 years is failing more each day. It is a game already lost, and its continued attempt to stay relevant, is like a game of Snakes and Ladders, where the BRF and its Advisors continually slide down the Snakes and each time they are getting nearer the bottom. I don’t recall a time when they progressed up any Ladders in this game. The UK Monarchy has already lost. You cannot compete where you do not compare. You have already lost. Each time the Sussexes do something, like clockwork you come out and do exactly what the global audience state you will do. You are so predictable. So bad at the game you started. By participating in this farce, you are increasing the speed of the demise of the institution that you all claim you want to sustain, if for no other reason than to give you relevance to your friends and family, because Lord knows no one else cares. You are all irrelevant to most people in the world, and a growing number of people in the UK, particularly the younger generation. Much of your support base is comprised of people who dislike Meghan and Harry, and not because they support the BRF and its causes. That is just one of many red flags that should concern you.
I recommend that you rebrand yourselves, and try to make yourselves relevant to someone other than Sussex haters. The media seem to conveniently forget that Prince Charles exists (not that he is popular but possibly slightly less dangerous than Prince William) and keep on pushing the Cambridges to the fore, and trying to be duplicates of the Sussexes with the advantage (mistakenly believed by Royalists) that they will look and come across better than Harry and Meghan. The end result is always cringeworthy and just continues to hammer more nails in the BRF coffin. Stop the game playing. You are so far back on the grid, you are meeting Harry and Meghan winning at each crossing. It is a game you can never win. The Sussexes are light years ahead. Each attempt to be the Royal Harry and Meghan increases the irrelevance of the BRF and what it stands for. If you wish to continue to play diplomat and play dress up in unearned medals, reinvent yourselves. Stop making fools of yourselves on the world stage. The acting is bad and the sincerity is non existent. Reinvent the Royal brand. Make it of interest to people of the UK, enough to make it look respectable. The BRF will never be global and will never have the levels of global popularity that the Sussexes have earned and enjoy now. The world knows what you did and continue to try and do to the Sussexes and the people and the organisations that you have on your ‘payroll’ to continue to roll out this harassment and abuse towards Harry and Meghan. You will never be forgiven for that. Only so many people are going to be ready to fall on their swords for the UK Monarchy. The UK Monarchy does not have a global support network. Something that should not be forgotten.
All the haters, in the various stratas of society but particularly those in the media, have employed tactics that almost destroyed the Sussexes. Every day they were asked to leave the UK, and now they have, and are more than surviving the years of hell on earth dished out to them in the UK, and is still being done to them now that they are in the USA. I am confident that things will soon change on that front. One tip I am happy to state here for the BRF to rexamine the effectiveness of their media activity. UK Media live and breathe to hear anything about the Sussexes. The volume of articles written each day, about two people who have barely been seen in public for months, and the content of these daily articles embarasses the UK. It is embarrassing to journalism. The sheer volume of articles per day from each tabloid makes the world shake its head. The only time an article or two appears about the next two future Kings, is when the Royal Rota try and pretend it is some earth shattering news, and a group of photographers are there taking a multitude of shots about a bland feature. The said photographers happy that they can put food on the table the following week. The world and possibly the UK is really in need of seeing someone dressed in white, in high diamonte heels, moving an empty box from one place to another place less than a metre away. I kid you not, there are photos in abundance of such scenes over the last five years, to name but one scenario. If the UK Monarchy wants to be appear relevant, then perhaps it should ask its media to cover the pages of tabloids with photos and articles of the two future heirs doing something or other. If the tabloids do not believe that they will make money from that approach, then ask yourselves, who is irrelevant, because it is certainly not the Sussexes.
Not essential, but may be interesting to some of you. There is an attached paper, containing details of ten Monarchy families whose reign came to an end, and a summary of the reasons why it happened. I think it is safe to say, you will be able to see some similar themes in the UK. A summary of the findings from the ending of those ten monarchies is as follows:-
- Monarchies have ended for a variety of reasons :- Military coups, democratic elections or murder.
- Some Royal Family members remain prominent after their monarchies were abolished while others were forced into exile.
- The last King of Bulgaria was elected as the country’s Prime Minister more than 50 years after the monarchy was abolished.
- Queen Elizabeth II remains the worlds longest remaining monarch. Whilst that sounds like a wonderful legacy, it is likely to cause the decline of the same monarchy, due to the age profile, competence and falling popularity of the next two in line scheduled to take up the mantle and lead the monarchy in the future.
The UK Royal family has not kept up with the times, and whilst in decades gone by that was not damaging to do (could be said that the BRF were seen as quaint and quirky) but in these difficult times, they have falling relevance in the world as it is today and moving forward.
Harry and Meghan are no longer Senior Working Royals. The UK did not want their offer of 50/50 arrangement so the couple set up home and their Foundation, and they are flying high. The percentage of time that the Sussexes appear in the British press, only to be abused in rhetoric and jealousy and anger about the fact that they do not live under a bridge somewhere, and that they have a lifestyle provided by their own efforts and not the UK taxpayer is evident for all. No sane person writes about another person or people every day, filling up most pages of each tabloid, about people who they term as irrelevant. Abusers do not have the freedom to abuse people out of a country, arrange for that abuse to be continued in the new location of said people, but then expect them to come back to the UK for certain events, where you need international media coverage for the Monarch. Not to mention the abuse the said couple receive when they come to the UK for the odd occasion. In fact Meghan has not returned to the Uk since March 2020, the last engagement being the Commonwealth service, where the disgraceful behaviour of the Royal family, but in particular the Cambridges, is something that the Royal Family will never ever be forgiven for. Rent on Frogmore Cottage is paid up until February 2022. Harry and Meghan will never return to live in the UK and when/if they visit in the future, I am sure they will buy their own property away from the vipers den that is the Royal family, and bring their own security to ensure the couple are safe. The behaviour towards the children of the Sussexes has been so disgusting, I hope that they never appear on British soil, and I also hope that no photographs appear until they are aged 18 years plus. No child needs to grow up and see what was written about them in their childhood by the home country of one its parents. Harry and Meghan are protecting their children from the abuse that they have experienced.
If the Royal family had embraced Meghan, rather than become jealous of her achievements and academic and work background, things would be much better now. The family could have pretended that things were better, could have basked in the Sussex glow and received the accolades that would have come along. The family would have appeared inclusive. Instead, insecurities of the next two future kings took over, and in their efforts to destroy an accomplished black woman, lost all of the Sussexes. Self inflicted damage, just like this game to copy the Sussexes. Evidence is out there of this duplicate activity, and when images are place side by side (and there are lots of them) is beyond embarrassing to see the BRF playing these juvenile games. By the way, no matter how many articles you are ordering to be deleted from the internet, just know, receipts exist, and the internet is never truly clear of the things that you hope are erased.
So, to refer to the title of this podcast and accompanying article, Who’s Sorry Now? Certainly not Harry and Meghan.
Ivy Barrow
Jan 2021 – Update August 2021
[iii]=Useful Reading [iv]=Useful Reading
[i] Demographic Data = socio economic information expressed statistically, also including employment, education, income, marriage rates, birth and death rates and more.
[ii] Demographic Analysis = study of population based on factors such as age, race and sex.
Reference Material:-
[iii] Managing Demographic Risk – Harvard Business Review. HBC.org 2008/02 www.futureofworkhub.info
[iv] Workforce of the Future – PwC www.pwc.com
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organisation/publications/workforce-of-the-future.html/
https://www.futureofworkhub.info/demographics
- This site has some reports which are around 3 years old, still worth reading, and then there are a series of reports published in 2021, some of which were published a few weeks ago, which also make interesting reading.
10 Monarchies which no longer exist:-
https://www.insider.com/countries-used-to-be-monarchies-abolished-history