Will MEghan bring down the Monarchy?

This photo says it all really. The Queen, Elizabeth II, is staring off into the distance, thinking of England no doubt. Prince Harry, sixth in line for the throne (or something like that) only has eyes for his new wife. And perhaps that is how it should be, except it isn't working out all that well at present.

In fact things are going rather pear-shaped for the Royal Family, and even if Netflix was filming new episodes of The Crown 24/7 it might be twenty years before they catch up with these current shenanigans, if they choose to do so at all (This article says they won't - What? Why on earth not?).
And this is alarming, because,
a) we can't wait that long to find out what is really happening, and
b) one is starting to wonder just how long the Monarchy can continue to go on????
c) I will have nothing left to watch on television.... just saying.

You think that sounds over-dramatic? Well drama is what it's all about, and when Harry chose to marry an actress, drama took centre stage. I won't rehash all of the ups and downs that have been the Harry and Meghan romance. You've no doubt filed your Hello Magazines as carefully as I have, so that you can keep track of this fairytale. However, a recently published story confirming that there was an (apparently temporary) rift between the Beckhams and the Sussexes at the time of the wedding was an "I knew it!" moment. How could David and Posh have been left off the invitation list for the Wedding Reception? It made no sense - both couples had been so chummy and it was a celebrity meets Royal match made in heaven! But we knew from Posh's scowling wedding face (slightly more scary that her RBF) that there was more to this story.

Not happy Jan

Now we find out that Megs told Harry that Posh was blabbing to the Press about their private convos, leading Harry to have a tad awks convo with Beck asking him to please tell his wife to shut up that caused the upset. Yikes.

And perhaps this is one of those small blips that actually explains what is currently going on here. While it's all very well for Royals to marry commoners. Wills married a Middleton and that has worked out very well.

What Harry did differently was choose a commoner who was
a) from America; and
b) was already "a celebrity"/actress.

While there is some doubt about whether Meghan's claims to have not known anything about the Royals before meeting Harry is true, it does seem true that while Americans love the pomp and ceremony and fabulousness of all things Royal, they couldn't actually countenance living with a Monarchy. Quoting the NY Times, who quoted the Washington Post in 2017: 'the founding fathers “violently overthrew our tea-sipping stamp-taxing overlords in large part so that we should not have to genuflect in front of the altar of royal bloodlines.” Right?.' It's hard to be free and brave and bow at the same time, right?

The celebrity/actress thing is a problem because to be those things means that the most important thing in the world is YOU, the marketable product. I don't think it's a coincidence that the name Meghan chose for herself started with 'ME'. It doesn't mean actors don't do amazing things for others, and stand up for causes etc, because we all know that many do. But it is on their terms, and they choose what suits them. If you're part of the Royal Family, free choice doesn't come in to it.

And that's where this circular argument completes itself. Because while the Queen, and the Royals, and all of us who watch The Crown, know all too well, it is not about them as individuals, it is all about "The Crown". Instead, what we are hearing in this current brouhaha is that Harry is making his decisions all on the basis of what he and Meghan want, what they feel is in their best interests, and because Meghan is unhappy with how her British-based Royal life has gone. She tried the stiff upper lip thing and it didn't work. She'd rather thrive than survive (and yes, that is entirely reasonable if it's all about you) and so thanks all the same, but now we choose to go off and do our own thing and choose our own activities on our own terms. No wonder the Queen is disappointed. She's spent her entire life doing the opposite of that, for a greater good.

The Monarchy must modernise, they've been attempting to do so since the 1950s. Sometimes successfully and sometimes not. Diana didn't last well as part of the Firm, and her tragic demise had at least led, we thought, to a new generation of Royalty that could walk the line well between duty and leading a rewarding and meaningful life. It seems a pity that in Harry and Meghan's quest for meaning they may throw the baby out with the bathwater (apologies to Archie here, please don't be alarmed). One has no doubt that they could spend their lives thriving in exiled luxury, picking and choosing their activities and causes to their heart's content. But they will have perhaps missed out on the chance to do something greater. The monarchy may not last forever, but there is something about an entity that sits outside of government and politics and economic forces and popular ideologies - that represents and stands for something greater than the individual. If they stayed within the firm, those potentially great and meaningful acts they perform won't be "all about them".

Who agrees? Am I barking up the wrong tree here? Should MEghan and Harry be congratulated for shrugging off the Royal shackles and extricating themselves from a dead and decaying system?


Fill out my survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbHSd7_ZxkRhtmFQIKMgYEo7lbfDy2s_05BLdG9yWtzdfrYg/viewform?usp=pp_url&entry.1856018783=Yes

And just in case you want to read about the time we actually MET SOME ROYALS when they visited Australia in 2014, check out this post. I just read it and am hyperventilating all over again!