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London, UK: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s tell-all interview with Oprah is one of the rare cases where a TV broadcast was actually undersold in pre-event hype. Before turning on the CBS special on Monday morning in London—and after giving my laptop undoubtedly multiple viruses in the process of finding an online stream to watch in the UK ahead of its official broadcast—I wondered what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex could possibly say that would warrant agreeing to the sit-down conversation in the first place.
The couple has said on multiple occasions that the treatment of the British press severely impacted their mental health and cited it as the main reason for their relocation to Los Angeles. But they must have known agreeing to a tell-all conversation would only fuel the fire—something proven true in recent weeks as the tabloids have torn them to shreds. Perhaps the most horrific and threatening headline came just yesterday, courtesy of The Daily Mail: “Harry’s making the same mistake as Diana – and I fear he’ll come to regret it, just like his mother did.”
Not particularly subtle pic.twitter.com/I1K6uwaKeE
— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) March 7, 2021
I also worried their timing—sitting down in a sprawling Californian backyard in the middle of a global pandemic wearing designer clothes—would make them look tone-deaf. I worried their plan would backfire.
But within minutes, it was clear just how much we don’t know and just how lucky the Sussexes were to break away from the firm when they did. It appears Netflix drama The Crown, dubbed by those in the royal family as a scathing fictional portrayal of the inside of Buckingham Palace, really only scratches the surface of how backward, constricting and racist “the institution” can be.
During the two-hour conversation, Prince Harry and Markle alleged there were conversations regarding their now one-year-old son’s skin tone ahead of his birth, as well as exemptions made specifically for him, such as the removal of any royal title which meant the subsequent removal of any security. Similar to Princess Diana’s BBC interview 25 years ago, Markle spoke candidly of the toll joining the royal family had taken on her mental health. “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought,” she said. Furthermore, when Markle revealed she was suffering from suicidal ideation and asked for help at her most desperate point, she was turned away—just as Princess Diana was.
Do you guys understand now that The Crown is like… extremely flattering lol
— Molly Mulshine (@mollymulshine) March 8, 2021
As a last resort, the couple then made the decision to step back as senior royals and were subsequently banished in return: their security was removed, their money was cut off and the Duke’s father, Prince Charles, stopped returning his son’s calls. Thankfully, Prince Harry had the money his mother had left him in his will to help the couple relocate to Los Angeles. They say deals with Spotify and Netflix were never part of the plan and only came to fruition when they began to brainstorm how to make money to pay for security and protect their family moving forward.
What’s perhaps the most frustrating is the way the palace is seemingly repeating history, 30 years on. Princess Diana was shunned and maltreated in the exact way Markle was, and it seems the only difference between their fates is that Markle had Prince Harry to protect her and the comfort of another country, ready to welcome her and her prince home.
“My biggest concern was history repeating itself—I’ve said that before on numerous occasions, very publicly. And what I was seeing was history repeating itself, but perhaps, or definitely, far more dangerous, because then you add race in, and you add social media in,” Prince Harry told Oprah. “And when I talk about history repeating itself, I’m talking about my mother.”
Just like in Princess Diana’s case, it also proves the royal family doesn’t know what’s good for them. As Markle said while speaking to Oprah, given how many non-white people there are who make up the Queen’s Commonwealth, wouldn’t having a mixed-race baby born into the royal family be a good thing? Wouldn’t it prove the royals are willing to change and grow with the times? Wouldn’t having Markle and Prince Harry as progressive, young faces of the family be nothing but a positive thing?
The concept of having a Queen or King living in a castle already felt historic and confusing in today’s culture, but following the revelations, especially that of racism, many in Britain are wondering what the role of the royal family is going forward. On Monday morning, “#AbolishTheMonarchy” was trending on Twitter with over 39,000 tweets including the phrase. Journalist Chelley Ryan wrote the “way people are programmed to worship the monarchy is one of the things that’s kept working class people from believing in their own worth” and called the institution “deeply unhealthy”. Another noted, “the whole idea of a ‘superior bloodline’ is inherently racist”.
In response to Prince Harry and Markle’s Oprah interview, the firm released further negative press about the couple—bullying claims about Markle resurfaced and, despite first being reported on over two years ago, this time the firm announced an investigation would be launched. The couple says this is part of a “smear campaign.”
The palace is proving it’s unable—or perhaps just unwilling—to change with the times. Choosing to protect Prince Andrew—Jeffrey Epstein’s friend and alleged co-offender still lives a life protected by the institution—over Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Archie Harrison may just be the nail in the coffin.
