Last week two members of the British royal family announced they were ‘stepping away from their royal ‘duties’. They want to divide their time between the UK and North America and make their own money rather than depend on a royal grant. I didn’t consider this a big deal in the grand scheme of things, however, parts of the British media have gone apeshit. Is this is just the whining British media exercising its ‘right’ to give expression to some non-existent offence, or is something more sinister going on?
The O-So Modern Royal Couple
The royals in question are Harry, second child of the heir to the throne and the second grandchild of the Queen, and his wife Meghan Markle. When the couple announced their engagement a bit more than two years ago, the step was hailed as a sign the British royal family was in touch with modern times. The thing is that Meghan is mixed-race, she is American and she is a divorcee. For a senior British royal to marry a Yank who happens to be brown and had been married before, was considered a positive move and a sign the royals are no longer stiff, stuffy and exclusively white. While many people of colour celebrated the infusion of African ancestry into the royal family, others, myself included, wondered whether Ms. Markle had seen the thriller Get Out and if she knew what she was getting herself into.
Knickers in Royal Twist
When I read the news last week, I could only be happy for the young family that are just making an attempt to lead their best lives. As many expected, since joining the royal family Meghan Markle has been the subject of intense and at times nasty media scrutiny which must have been very unpleasant for her and her husband. Harry reminded the public that it was this sort of media frenzy that killed his mother Lady Di (as the official story goes). Obviously he doesn’t want history to repeat itself. As the royal cage seems well scary, I find it totally understandable that Harry and Meghan want to step back from the royal circus, make their own money and do their own thing. Yet many people don’t seem to agree. Some called the plan half-arsed (my words, not theirs) and that half-in-half-out is not going to work. Others considered it disrespectful to the Queen. As Meghan Markle is portrayed as some sort of manipulative social climber from tacky Yankee Land, whatever she does will cause a shit storm. The famous museum Madame Tussaud removed Harry and Meghan’s wax figures from their display the very next day after the couple’s announcement.
I can understand why some find the move half-arsed. The couple doesn’t want to be (fully) part of the royal circus. They want to spend time in Meghan’s native land and attempt to make their own money rather than being a royal benefit scrounger. However, for now, they are keeping their royal title, residency and allowance. This could be interpreted as wanting it both ways. I don’t know the couple, but I don’t think they want it both ways. I think they want out and they have just chosen this format as a compromise, so the royal fart in the Queen’s face is not too funky.
Doing Away with Royals
Personally I think the monarchy is an archaic concept that has no place in a society that claims to be democratic and meritocratic. The royal family is just a lame sideshow funded by taxpayers’ money, that is uninspiring and unexcited. When the Queen or any other member of the royal family is talking of their duties, that’s just a euphemism for what they consider their divine right to rule over the masses. They want us to believe they are doing meaningful work by sprinkling some royal fairy dust into our eyes and supporting charity work here and there. Harry and Meghan are not happy in their golden cage and who could blame them. In many cultures, it is expected that you toe the family line and it is highly frowned upon to make individual choices that go against this line. Tammy Wynette famously sang Stand by your man, and as a woman you are (still) expected to do so, especially if your man is in the public eye. I don’t think marrying an American divorcee who has a black mum is what makes Harry the ‘modern royal’. It is his decision as a public figure to stand by his woman and to choose her above his royal ‘duties’ that makes him a modern devoted family man. All of the sudden I gained a lot of a respect for a so-called royal. Who would’ve thought. I guess hollowing it out from within is how we modernise the British monarchy before we do away with it altogether.
image: etonline.com
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