Sabtu, 11 Januari 2020

Prince Harry and Meghan: How could the couple make money? - BBC News

As part of their plans to step back as senior royals, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex say they intend to "work to become financially independent".

Prince Harry and Meghan plan to split their time between the UK and North America - and their global reach could open up a wealth of opportunities.

But any move into the private sector and the monetisation of the Sussex brand would pose challenges for the royal couple.

"The established rule has always been that if you are a working royal, you don't really do paid work - that one excludes the other," says BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond.

"Nearly any employment of the type they are going to get is open to the charge that they are monetising or exploiting their royal brand."

If the couple renounced their royal titles, that would give them more freedom - but there's no suggestion they want to do this.

So far, they have focused on their plans to launch a new "charitable entity". But what opportunities might there be for commercial ventures?

Book deal

While the couple have spoken about their struggles with the intense media interest in their lives, the idea of revealing more about themselves in their own words might be more appealing - and lucrative.

The 2017 book deal signed by Barack and Michelle Obama was believed to be worth more than $60m (£48m).

It's also an area Meghan has previously shown an interest in. In her introduction to last year's September issue of Vogue, which she guest edited, Meghan wrote of her "love of writing".

Before she married Harry, she also ran a lifestyle blog, The Tig, where she shared beauty, fashion and travel tips.

Natalie Jerome, a literary agent at Aevitas, says the couple have "enormous power and reach" and any book deal would be extremely lucrative.

"People have compared them to the Obamas and I think there's potentially some merit in that," she says.

Meghan is an aspirational figure for many women of colour and young people, she adds.

"We're in a period now where we're talking increasingly about diversity within publishing and there's a real push to reach wider audiences," she says.

"If she were to publish a book in her own right and reach out to young people on the ground by doing talks and going to schools like Michelle Obama did, I think the book would be hugely successful."

TV and film

As well as potentially sharing more about their own lives, Harry and Meghan could also turn to causes they are passionate about for material.

For Meghan, these include equality and women's rights, while Harry has been vocal in campaigning on mental health and veterans.

The pair could choose to follow in the steps of the Obamas, who set up their own production company before signing a deal with Netflix, with projects including documentaries addressing social and political activism.

Harry has already teamed up with US media mogul Oprah Winfrey on a series addressing mental health for Apple TV, which is due for broadcast in 2020.

Could there be more TV opportunities in the pipeline?

Meghan, of course, first found fame as an actress, starring in the TV drama Suits.

She gave up her former career when she joined the Royal Family - but if she chose to return to acting she would surely be in high demand.

Public speaking

Another potential avenue for the pair to explore could be after-dinner speeches and events.

Jeremy Lee, director at speaking agency JLA, says if they maintained a positive profile the couple could earn six-figure sums for each appearance.

He predicts demand would be higher in US, where Mr Lee says the pair could earn up to $500,000 (£380,000) per engagement.

However, he says companies in the UK would be more sensitive to reputational risk if public opinion turned against the couple.

Mr Lee predicts UK companies would only be willing to take the royals as speakers at an event linked to one of their campaigning interests, in return for a donation to their charitable foundation - rather than a fee - in the region of £100,000.

But in the US, there would be interest from "anybody that wants to show off and has got the budget", he says.

Commercial partnerships

Whether its a designer handbag or Archie's hand-knitted bobble hat, whenever the Sussexes are pictured with a product, sales go through the roof.

"Any brand on the planet would want to work with them," says journalist and royal style commentator Elizabeth Holmes. "I think it's a question of what they want to do."

Ms Holmes suggests any commercial partnerships would be tied to the couple's charitable causes, perhaps with a secondary opportunity to raise personal income.

For example, Meghan is the patron of a charity that provides free clothing and interview training to unemployed women and has launched her own clothing line for the organisation.

"Meghan really understands the power of fashion," Ms Holmes says, using her choices to promote smaller brands owned by women, often with a sustainable ethos.

However, that doesn't mean we should expect the couple's 10.5 million Instagram followers to be suddenly bombarded with sponsored content and product placement, Ms Holmes says.

While the royal couple have a huge platform, it pales in comparison to the likes of Kylie Jenner, who has more than 150 million Instagram followers.

The reality TV star, who topped last year's Instagram rich list, is estimated to earn around $1.2m (£960,000) for a single sponsored post.

Could Meghan and Harry follow that trend? Ms Holmes says: "I don't think that's necessarily an appropriate thing for a member of the Royal Family."

In June last year, the duke and duchess also applied to trademark the "Sussex Royal" brand across items including books, calendars, clothing, charitable fundraising and campaigning.

This opens up the option of launching their own brands, from beauty products to clothing lines. However, any move that could be seen as exploiting the royal brand would be likely to promote criticism.

Ms Holmes says this is a real risk in any commercial venture, adding: "That's why I think they'll be careful about it."

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2020-01-11 12:08:41Z
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METALLICA's LARS ULRICH Pays Tribute To NEIL PEART: 'Thank You For What You Did For Drummers All Over The World' - BLABBERMOUTH.NET

METALLICA's LARS ULRICH Pays Tribute To NEIL PEART: 'Thank You For What You Did For Drummers All Over The World'

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich has paid tribute to RUSH's Neil Peart, who passed away on Tuesday (January 7) in Santa Monica, California after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Ulrich took to his Instagram to write: "Thank you Neil. Thank you for inspiring me and for all your help and advice along the way, especially in the early days when you took the time to talk to a young green Danish drummer about recording, gear and the possibilities that lay ahead... Thank you for what you did for drummers all over the world with your passion, your approach, your principles and your unwavering commitment to the instrument! Rest In Peace."

RUSH had been completely inactive since completing its "R40 Live" tour four years ago. Peart previously said that playing concerts at his age caused too much painful wear and tear on his body and he'd rather call it quits before the performances start declining in quality.

His survivors include his wife Carrie and daughter Olivia.

He was also the author of numerous books, including a number of memoirs exploring his life and travels.

In 1997, Peart and his bandmates became the first rock musicians to be inducted into the Order of Canada.

They were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013.

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2020-01-11 13:17:55Z
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Racism Helped Drive Prince Harry Meghan Markle Out of UK and Away From the Royal Family - Inc.

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, better known as Meghan Markle, stunned the world (and apparently the royal family) when they announced on Wednesday that they would be "stepping back" from royal duties, splitting their time between Britain and North America, and seeking to become financially independent. But there was one group of people who weren't at all surprised -- black people living in Britain. Some expressed relief that Markle (whose mother is African-American) was finally out of the toxic atmosphere in which she'd been trapped. They wondered how she had stood it for so long. "Nobody should tolerate bullying and abusive behavior because of the color of their skin," Sanaa Edness, an immigrant from the Caribbean to Britain told the New York Times. Edness added that she'd experienced similar racism herself.

What racism? Well, there was Rachel Johnson, prime minister Boris Johnson's sister, who commented that Markle had "rich and exotic DNA." There was the BBC commentator who tweeted an image of Meghan and Harry holding hands with a chimpanzee and joked that it was their son. There was the Daily Mail headline "Harry's girl is (almost) straight outta Compton," on a story that enumerated the recent crimes that have taken place near Markle's childhood home, and listed all the street gangs known to operate in the area, reminding the reader again and again that the neighborhood where she was born "couldn't be more different" from the tony environment in which Prince Harry was raised. 

Then there was the sense that, no matter what she did, Markle could never do anything right. At least according to some critics in the press, who earnestly insisted that it wasn't her race they objected to, it was some other thing that she'd done wrong. Like when she was roundly criticized for guest-editing an issue of Vogue UK. Dan Wootton, executive editor of The Sun went on TV to say, outrage in his voice, that "Royals don't guest-edit magazines!" Except that they have a long tradition of doing just that. Prince Charles guest-edited Country Life twice. Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, to whom Markle is frequently unfavorably compared, was praised for guest-editing the Huffington Post and she also posed for the cover of the UK Vogue. But just in case there was any doubt as to the true reason for objections to Markle, the Mail dug up her family tree and published it, writing, "Now that's upwardly mobile! How in 150 years, Meghan Markle's family went from cotton slaves to royalty."

And then there are the other members of the royal family, who have met all this abuse with silence. "You never see them speaking out about the racism, standing beside her, defending her. She's been all alone," a black immigrant to Britain from South Africa told the New York Times

Are billions in revenue leaving with them?

Prince Harry and Meghan "stepping back" from being senior royals has financial consequences. Some Britons (and especially the same tabloids that have been attacking Markle all along) have expressed outrage that the couple say they will perform fewer royal duties, which usually include such things as ribbon cuttings and visiting schools and hospitals, given that British taxpayers have been paying for their security and funded the multi-million-pound renovation of their home. But the hugely popular couple, social influencers with millions of followers, have been revenue generators too. By one estimate, the royal wedding (which the royal family paid for) brought about a billion pounds to the British economy. This included things like foreign tourists coming for the wedding and sales of wedding memorabilia. Since then, interest in the couple has remained high, translating into sales of products bearing their images and a boon for the retail and travel industries. 

But perhaps even more important, it raised the international standing of the royal family and of Britain itself. An estimated two billion people around the world watched the wedding, which many have compared to a fairy tale. After all, Edward VIII, the last royal to marry a divorced American woman, was forced to abdicate the throne as a result. Now here was the royal family and their millions of subjects embracing a beautiful and glamorous American commoner who was not only divorced but also biracial. It seemed to signal that the monarchy and the nation were evolving away from their xenophobic past. It did indeed seem like a fairy tale, one for modern times.

But the fairy tale turned out not to be true. Polls seem to show that most Britons are angry with the couple for making their announcement without prior royal approval, even though the Sun was about to break the story, and even though they'd been attempting to negotiate a more orderly exit for months. To the non-British world, though, it makes the royal family, and the Britons who revere them, seem racist, churlish, and stuck in a past when they considered themselves superior to all other people on Earth. That's not a good look for a state that wants look like it belongs in the 21st century. And it's not good for business, either.

Published on: Jan 11, 2020

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The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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2020-01-11 09:55:25Z
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R. Kelly's Girlfriends Punch, Kick & Drag in Full Fight Video - TMZ

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2020-01-11 09:00:00Z
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Harry and Meghan Betting Odds Suggest Pregnancy, Politics - TMZ

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2020-01-11 08:40:00Z
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Rush drummer Neil Peart remembered for distinctive sound - CBC News: The National

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2020-01-11 03:08:21Z
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Jumat, 10 Januari 2020

Coming or going, Meghan Markle gets the blame -- and it's because of her race - CNN

You aren't one of us, and you aren't welcome.
Markle, a biracial, divorced American actress, was far from what many envisioned as a fairy-tale match for a beloved member of the British royal family. While many in the UK welcomed her, the British tabloid media and a large swath of the Twitterverse were not kind.
Now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as Harry and Meghan are formally known, are drawing fire again. The couple's announcement that they're distancing themselves from the royal family has been met with shock and anger by many in England and beyond.
Suddenly, the message for Markle has changed from "Why are you here?" to "Where do you think you're going?"
And again, some observers think racism is partly to blame.
"It was never going to end well," said Kehinde Andrews, an associate professor of sociology at Birmingham City University who launched the first black-studies degree in Europe.
"The British royal family is one of the premiere symbols of whiteness in the world. She was never going to be fully accepted."

Markle's 'audacity' is threatening to some people

While Markle identifies as biracial, she is being treated as a black woman. Every black woman, including myself, knows what that means. As far as the world is concerned, your entire being is filtered through the color of your skin.
We've all heard the comments. "You are pretty for a black girl." "You speak so well."
And if you dare to reach beyond some imaginary line of demarcation, you're seen as "uppity."
Meghan's friend calls out 'racist bullies' who abuse the duchess
The reaction to Markle trying to carve out a new life with her husband "reinforces the stereotype of black women being destructive, divisive and unsatisfied," says Nsenga Burton, a professor at Emory University in Atlanta who specializes in the intersection of race, class, gender and the media.
Burton told CNN it's easy to see why black women have rallied around Markle, because they see themselves in how she's being treated.
"People are cool with black women as long as we go along to get along," she said. "As soon as we start standing up for ourselves and saying, 'This is not working for me,' we become the problem."
Natasha Eubanks, founder and editor of TheYBF.com, a black celebrity site that has covered the royal couple, agrees.
"Having the audacity -- because that's what it is -- to exhibit self-sovereignty has always been a privilege reserved for men, especially white men," she told CNN. "Yet here is Meghan exhibiting this 'audacity' and it's being ... pushed forward by a white man who happens to be her husband."
Eubanks argues that Prince Harry presenting a united front with his spouse "triggers people" because it places "a white Prince of royal blood and a black American woman commoner" on equal footing.
"That sight doesn't sit well with everyone due to how they've been conditioned to view women and people of color, whether they realize it or not."

Critics are blaming her for the couple's decision

As a black woman, it's been infuriating to watch how Markle has been treated.
Not just because racism hurts, but also because there was the sense that we weren't allowed to even enjoy the fairytale.
The prince in this story didn't slay dragons, he instead had to take on British tabloids and a society where class supposedly trumps race even as racism clearly remains an issue.
Andrews says British press coverage of Markle has been "horrible," and he's not surprised that she's being blamed for what is being viewed by many as a schism in the royal family.
Harry and Meghan's decision to walk away has given the Queen a royal headache
From the memes that say, "Prince Harry married a black woman and she made him move out of his mama's house," to journalist Piers Morgan tweeting that Markle "ditched her family, ditched her Dad, ditched most of her old friends, split Harry from William & has now split him from the Royal Family," a narrative has formed that Markle was the driving force in the decision.
That's unfair, says Andrews, who believes people are forgetting that Prince Harry has been outspoken about his desire to not be a traditional royal.
"He's always wanted to do his own thing," Andrews told CNN. "Even his insistence on marrying a black woman, he knew what he was doing. This has given him a good out."
Some observers believe Prince Harry is extra protective of Meghan because of how his mother, the late Princess Diana, was treated by the media towards the end of her life.
"He seemingly never recovered from the anguish he saw her go through at the hands of the British press and the critics," said Eubanks. "He seems to have pledged to never let that happen to his wife and children. "
The problem isn't Meghan Markle. It's the British monarchy
In October of last year Harry complained publicly about the British tabloids' treatment of Meghan, who gave birth in May to the couple's son, Archie.
"Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences -- a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son," he said.
When Harry and Meghan announced their engagement, many in the UK heralded the news -- a biracial woman joining the royal family -- as a welcome step towards racial harmony.
But Andrews said he was not among them.
Like Barack Obama, he said, Markle is "someone who looks like progress but really isn't progress."

As Duchess she hasn't made race an issue. Others have

Their 2018 royal wedding featured a black minister and music by a black cellist and a gospel choir. But aside from some symbolic touches, Meghan the Duchess hasn't given much reason to be linked with racial issues.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, holding back tears: 'Not many people have asked if I'm OK'
"She's not even been outspoken about race," Andrews said. "She's proof that you don't have to do or say anything to be targeted."
For Markle this must be all the more discouraging given that -- according to her -- for years many people had no idea she was a woman of color.
In a 2012 video for the charity Erase The Hate, the then-actress said "so much of my life has felt like being a fly on the wall" because people were unaware that she was biracial.
"I am really proud of my heritage on both sides. I'm really proud of where I've come from and where I'm going," she said. "But yeah, I hope by the time I have children that people are even more open-minded to how things are changing and that having a mixed world is what it's all about. Certainly it makes it a lot more beautiful and a lot more interesting."
Sadly, for some people that is still not the case.

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2020-01-10 14:41:00Z
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