There's Something About Harry (& Meghan)
The couple may be dropping “bombshells,” but what are they blowing up?
According to the press, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been dropping proverbial “bombshells” on the British royal family for the past month. Between sit down interviews, a Netflix docuseries, and Prince Harry’s memoir, news about the Sussexes and their rift with Prince William and King Charles has been filling my socials, for better and worse. If anything can be gleaned from the trending hashtags #Bulliam, a portmanteau of Prince William’s name and ‘bully, or #kkKate, combining the KKK with the name William’s wife, Kate, there is a decent amount of support for Meghan and Harry. At the same time, Meghan, in particular, has received wildly hateful coverage from Jeremy Clarkson’s disgraceful op-ed to being lumped in with scammers like Elizabeth Holmes and Donald Trump in the Politico piece “2022 Is The Year We Finally Got Tired of Narcissists.” In summary, the whole affair makes for juicy family drama where ostensibly the future of the British monarchy hangs in the balance. One writer in The Guardian responded to an interview Harry gave to ITV, concluding, “Prince Harry, laid waste to the monarchy – or at least to the myths on which it so greatly depends.”
With the tone of public discourse so rooted in extremes, it can be hard to find a grounded understanding of this narrative, especially given the royal family’s reluctance to directly provide their own version of events. Most of what we know comes through Meghan and Harry, sparking understandable skepticism. Several of my favorite pop culture podcasts, Ringer Dish and Binchtopia, questioned the limits of authenticity in the six part docuseries on the couple, Harry and Meghan, that premiered on Netflix in December. The former questioned how much the series was part of Harry and Meghan was designed to craft a certain image for the public. The latter suspected that, while compelling, the narrative could have an undercurrent of “propaganda.” It’s a question I find endlessly fascinating, and wanted to explore by taking a closer look at the series. Harry and Meghan charts the couple’s early courtship to their dramatic rift with the royal family over their complicity in racist abuse Meghan has continually received in the press. Ironically, though, for all the hype and bluster it garnered, the documentary still feels timid in its refusal to directly confront the ills of the monarchy.
The series makes clear the extent of the racist abuse Meghan received. It shows side-by-sides of the press chastising Meghan and praising William’s wife, Kate Middleton, for doing the exact same thing. The show also highlights headlines that made implicit references to Meghan’s race, like saying she was “(almost) straight outta Compton.” It even brings in Christopher Bouzy, founder of Twitter analytics service Bot Sentinel, which claims that 83 Twitter accounts were responsible for 70% of hateful content about Meghan, suggesting a coordinated attack against her. Meghan has been clear about the emotional distress this caused her, stating that she was close to committing suicide.
One of the most stunning revelations from the series is that the royal family were not just silent about this press coverage, but actively participated in it. Harry alleges Charles leaked his and Meghan’s plan to move overseas, compromising their ability to leave privately. They claim William authorized one of his staff to work against Meghan in her lawsuit with The Daily Mail. On top of previous claims that one family member expressed concern about baby Archie’s skin color, all these experiences seem to feed into an awakening for Meghan and Harry about the racism that undergirds the British press, which the royal family at best has no serious understanding of. To fully step into the anti-racist role Harry is fashioning for himself, it’s essential to acknowledge the connection between Meghan’s treatment and the long history of racism that defines the Commonwealth. Maybe Harry has made this connection privately. He and Meghan have both previously commented on British colonialism in vague terms. However, when the series itself tries to connect Meghan’s abuse to colonial violence, it does so through the commentary of experts, not direct input from the couple.
Not hearing from Meghan and Harry on this issue gets to the heart of what I find so frustrating about the documentary and how the Sussexes have been generally shaping their narrative. It’s as if the film sets up an equation it refuses to even entertain solving. If living in the royal family, with all its proximity to money and power, generates such pain and suffering, even for those who directly benefit from it, why have it in the first place? Why should the royal family exist if it can’t reflect on itself, especially with renewed calls for reparations and independence from The Crown? Personally, I don’t think there’s any place for royalty in an egalitarian society, and, after all of this, couldn’t imagine how Meghan and Harry could either.
Despite the lack of direct comment, Meghan and Harry seem supportive of monarchy in the abstract. Both the series and the couple themselves emphasize Meghan’s potential to modernize the royal family, had she been given a chance. The show speculates that, like Diana before her, Meghan’s presence could have heralded a more inclusive future, giving the people of color in the Commonwealth a person to identify with. But there is an inherent contradiction in this thinking that’s never fully challenged. Inclusion and identification are antithetical to the concept of a monarchy. If the King and Queen are “just like us,” then how come they get to live in a tax-payer funded palace while so many of their subjects suffer in poverty wrought by the British Empire’s colonizing? As Salamsishah Tillet described in a recent piece for The New York Times, Meghan and Harry’s expectation that they could change the monarchy from the inside seems “naive,” and “risks prioritizing individuality over collectivity and symbolism over structural change.” After finishing the series, I was left with the feeling that, despite all that they’ve been through, Meghan and Harry haven’t entirely given up hope on the concept of an ethical monarchy.
Filmed between the deaths of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, it’s intriguing that while Meghan and Harry seem comfortable critiquing William and Charles, the late royals come off relatively well. It’s hard to shake the feeling that there may be some calculation behind this choice. People have been airing out Charles’ dirty laundry since the 80s. Once you claim you want to be someone’s tampon, you really can’t come back from that. William, who came of age with the internet and paparazzi, has already been papped drunk and partying, with rumors swirling that he is having an affair and is the so-called Prince of Pegging. While Elizabeth and Philip had enough drama in their lives to fill several seasons of an acclaimed TV show, the aura of respect they possessed feels distinct from their heirs. They marked a final connection between the family and a bygone era, where royalty had even more power than they do now. Going against them would be a direct affront to not just the latest generation of royals but the larger institution of the monarchy, a step Harry and Meghan don’t seem ready to make.
I sometimes wonder if I’m a bit too cynical. Perhaps when they praise Elizabeth and Philip they are speaking as a grandson and granddaughter-in-law, not the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. This nonconsensual mixture of family and business seems to be one of the most toxic elements of royal life, forcing family members to see each other as stepping stones in a larger struggle for power rather than kin. It may be that Harry refuses to go scorched earth in the hopes of one day repairing relations with his father and brother. There’s even the question of Meghan and Harry’s own celebrity and the need to support themselves hanging in the balance. If they effectively argue that royalty is worthless, what does that say about their fame that was built off the back of this pernicious institution?
The core tenets of Meghan and Harry’s story ring true. The hate directed at Meghan that has continued even post-documentary, only further proves how misogynoir has clouded public dialogue about their relationship. Where the “propaganda” and image crafting comes into play is in the lack of dialogue about what to do with the monarchy itself. By taking viewers through The Firm’s failing only up to a point, it’s as if the series is fashioned to maintain the possibility that monarchy can be reformed or at least invoke plausible deniability for viewers who lose all faith in the monarchy after watching it. On a human level, this trepidation undercuts the series’ emotional arc, a story of liberation from oppressive institutions. While Meghan and Harry have come so far in extricating themselves from the monarchy’s clutches, it feels as though there is still so much more to unpack.
According to a review of Harry’s 2023 memoir, Spare, from the popular podcast Celebrity Memoir Book Club, this inability to think systemically seems like a pattern in Harry’s understanding of the monarchy. Co-host Claire Parker states in the review “he never wants to go as far as to say my class, my family, my country is racist.” She adds, “That is the problem he can never speak to the foundational, systemic truth. He can only keep it to his immediate experience.”
Harry’s thinking may change in the future, but at the moment the documentary feels like an underwhelming but likely accurate reflection of his mental state. More than anything it strikes me as a testament to the many-tentacled monster that is The Firm. It seems that no matter how far you run, it’s impossible to shake the monarchy’s grip—always waiting to pull you back into the fold.
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