Fleur De Force #8 Goodbye! Oh hey! Buy this crap!

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I think it's clear she left YouTube because she and Mike were tired of the scrutiny their lifestyle came under. To be clear I'm not weighing in on whether I do/don't agree with their lifestyle and level of wealth, but I think Mike in particular grew tired of Fleur having to play down their lifestyle online to make them appear more modest and relatable, and facing a backlash anyway because it's impossible for them to hide how wealthy they really are. It started off with smaller matters like questions about the Hall and their private staff (gardeners, cleaners etc.) but probably what sealed the deal was the Dubai debacle and the backlash Mike received as a CEO who'd just made 300 staff redundant. He probably looked around at their friendship circle and his golfing buddies and said "Well all my friends with similar jobs live in historic estates, buy Chanel bags for their wives and travel extensively, but they don't end up in the Daily Mail!" YouTube was really just a hobby for Fleur in recent years because she clearly doesn't need the money, and prefers Instagram as her platform of choice to retain her social status and relationships with brands. The "Merry Christmas ya filthy animals!" Instagram post was interesting because it had a few layers to it. As Fleur pointed out, it's just a Home Alone reference, but on a deeper level it felt like subtle middle finger to all Fleur's sheeple followers, because Mike and Fleur probably feel like now they can finally enjoy the lifestyle their wealth allows them to live without having to justify themselves to a bunch of plebs.
 
The worst thing about Fleur is she SHOULD have leaned in to her wealth and luxury.

Just own up to it and say 'duck it we're rich' 🤷‍♀️ I don't think anyone was under the illusion they were living month to month.

She easily could have done mansion tour, closet tours, gardening videos (obviously performative as her actual gardener does the hard work), more series on her antiquing, working with interior designers, luxury cars, the lot.

What's the worst that could have happened? She'd receive backlash for being wealthy and have to leave YouTube? Oh, wait... That happened anyway 😂
 
I agree - their attempt to appear like humble down to earth country folk living in some rambling, falling down old house was a bit cringe and many followers easily saw through it (remember when they redecorated the boot room with Farrow & Ball paint?!). The Hall has a designated delivery entrance so that His Lordship isn't forced to interact with the common man bringing in the weekly Ocado order for goodness sake. I actually would have loved a Hall and grounds tour and have been interested to learn about the history of their home and the full upkeep and renovation process, rather than just the few rooms they felt they could get away with sharing. Fleur and Mike could have pulled that British country gentry vibe off so much better than other YouTubers because it's genuinely reflective of their own backgrounds and upbringing. Lydia Millen's comment on Fleur's Instagram post at Christmas ("the original Lady of the Manor!" or something similar) was just ghastly and cringe.

I think Mike (and by extension his family) probably leant on Fleur to give up YouTube, and based on how disinterested and half-hearted she's appeared about it in recent years they wouldn't have had to lean too hard. The jewellery business is a nice little play job for her because it gives her something to do using her contacts and Instagram skills, but it's less about selling oneself and personal details of one's life and more about a brand and a physical product. The Dubai trip was probably a wake up call for Mike's family because they realised his wife's job could actually hurt their business in a way it couldn't when she had a smaller following and Mike wasn't the CEO.
 
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Regarding Fleur’s YouTube retirement, and more specifically her lack of desire to share personal lifestyle stuff e.g go into detail about the running of the grounds/mansion/pool etc, does anyone else think this could be security related..?

It made me realise that whilst her home is discoverable if you’re snooping hard enough online, she has (maybe on purpose) always been very vague about where they live, saying things like ‘x hours drive from London’ and never saying things like ‘we live close to x town’.

Maybe I’m wrong but perhaps she’s intentionally held things back around their lifestyle and particularly their home because in some ways flaunting possessions and locations online can turn people into a target e.g look at Molly mae burglary 🤷🏼‍♀️ I could be wrong though..
 
There is no way that a daily mail article mentioning the car company and all the lay offs wasn't discussed at a business level, which is laughable really. Imagine how embarrassing it was for them. Not only to be dragged online, but also for being stupid enough to say she misinterpreted the travel rules, which means Mike, the CEO, is stupid too. And for being associated with a very low brow selection of other influencers that were also in Dubai at the time. It's cringe worthy and no amount of free make up and clothes would be worth it if you are already rich. I think they definitely told her to stop with youtube and I think she will eventually post less on IG. The timing of the jewelry company makes it obvious that it was a plan given to her to keep her happy while trying for a baby and moving away from sharing her life online. It's a vanity project that they put their own money into.
 
Sometimes I wondered if the person who stole her suitcase with the Chanel bags did it randomly or they knew it was Fleur.
Security wise everyone knows where her house is, I think it was mostly Mike getting fed up of his private life and home being online bit definitely the Dubai gate fucked up everything, his name and his family company got dragged in, it became an embarrassing show for them because on top of that you could see the other scandal. When she made that goodnye video and she said that with Mike they are fine as marriage, it sounded to me like on top of the baby crisis, the scandal also affected their marriage.
 
Rosie2019 said:
There is no way that a daily mail article mentioning the car company and all the lay offs wasn't discussed at a business level, which is laughable really. Imagine how embarrassing it was for them. Not only to be dragged online, but also for being stupid enough to say she misinterpreted the travel rules, which means Mike, the CEO, is stupid too. And for being associated with a very low brow selection of other influencers that were also in Dubai at the time. It's cringe worthy and no amount of free make up and clothes would be worth it if you are already rich. I think they definitely told her to stop with youtube and I think she will eventually post less on IG. The timing of the jewelry company makes it obvious that it was a plan given to her to keep her happy while trying for a baby and moving away from sharing her life online. It's a vanity project that they put their own money into.
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Oh to have been a fly on the wall in those meetings! I'm not sure the company would've had the power or the gall to actually tell her to quit though, I think she left of her own accord.
 
Mike's family money probably went into the jewellery company as a sweetener to get her away from YouTube. He seems to come from a very traditional family (as evidenced by them kicking the sister out of the Hall before handing it over to Mike, the male heir, and anointing Mike as CEO instead of the sister who had worked at the company longer) and they clearly want Fleur to focus on being a stay at home mother/country wife and raising Mike's heirs. She mentioned many times how excited they were when she was pregnant (not unusual in and of itself as it was the first grandchild for them) especially how they lavished her with expensive baby gifts including designer nappy bags in several colours. Subtle message there! Like saying it's time to swap your Balenciaga City bag for a posh mum leather nappy bag and step into your real role as wife to our son and mother to our grandchildren.
 
rubicon said:
Regarding Fleur’s YouTube retirement, and more specifically her lack of desire to share personal lifestyle stuff e.g go into detail about the running of the grounds/mansion/pool etc, does anyone else think this could be security related..?

It made me realise that whilst her home is discoverable if you’re snooping hard enough online, she has (maybe on purpose) always been very vague about where they live, saying things like ‘x hours drive from London’ and never saying things like ‘we live close to x town’.

Maybe I’m wrong but perhaps she’s intentionally held things back around their lifestyle and particularly their home because in some ways flaunting possessions and locations online can turn people into a target e.g look at Molly mae burglary 🤷🏼‍♀️ I could be wrong though..
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Definitely! She mentioned on the Louise Pentland podcast that with her daughter starting school she didn't want to share anything that could give away their school and compromise security. I can completely understand that aspect of it but I think in recent years Fleur wanted to have her cake and eat it too with YouTube.

She tried to portray herself the way she had in her early twenties and appeal to women who had followed her for a long time and wanted good budget makeup and beauty recommendations while sometimes being willing to splurge on the odd luxury item as a special treat. Fleur's wealth and lifestyle rapidly outstripped that until she was only ever recommending budget beauty products as part of sponsorship deals (Garnier, L'Oreal) and her "real" makeup recommendations and monthly favourites were always brands like Tom Ford and Charlotte Tilbury. The average person can't drop £90 on their every day mascara, but she didn't want to rebrand to appeal to a luxury audience. To be fair, whenever she tried she received backlash (the luxury gift guide with the Liberty pajama set) so she'd slip little comments in about the cost of everyday items being "soo expensive guys" to make herself seem more relatable. Yet she was unable to resist posting new Chanel bags on her Instagram account every second week, including the Chanel Jumbo Mike got her as one of about 50 push-presents, so nobody bought her girl-next-door image anymore. The following she had when she was 21 was not the same as the following she had when she was 31 and she could never really adapt to that and clearly felt uncomfortable with it. Thinking she could get away with the Dubai trip by posting soft Piglet photos in the days after just showed how disconnected she became.
 
SayNoMore12 said:
Sometimes I wondered if the person who stole her suitcase with the Chanel bags did it randomly or they knew it was Fleur.
Security wise everyone knows where her house is, I think it was mostly Mike getting fed up of his private life and home being online bit definitely the Dubai gate fucked up everything, his name and his family company got dragged in, it became an embarrassing show for them because on top of that you could see the other scandal. When she made that goodnye video and she said that with Mike they are fine as marriage, it sounded to me like on top of the baby crisis, the scandal also affected their marriage.
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I must have missed the Chanel bags being stolen. When did that happen?
 
Fleur should be faithful to who she really is, a wealthy woman who lives a luxury life, she shouldn't hide or apologise for that. How dumb you have to be to think she is like the girl next door who has to look after her money like any middle class person, like the dumb people who left negative comments when she made her Christmas gift video, she is rich obviously she can afford those type of gifts, if you can't then just enjoy the entertainment of watching it or visit the many other gift guides on the internet.

The world went from one extreme to another, is like you can't express your real ideas, emotions or even yourself because then the crystal fragile minds start to attack you that you can't say that, you shouldn't be like that, you have to join certain movements or support certain things and become another sheep just please others and avoid judgement I guess Fleur got fed up also of pretending to be someone she is not just to get followers and views, she doesn't need the money anyway.
 
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