The world has been dealt a lot of truly shocking news in the short weeks since January. One of the most shocking stories remains Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to take one rather large step back from the royal family. The dust seems to be settling on the matter in some regards. Harry and Meghan are both in Canada with baby Archie, figuring out the first steps of their new life.
The royal family has publicly issued their support for the couple. That hasn't stopped the rampant speculation of what might be going on behind the scenes. Many people who are on the Establishment side of things think that Harry and Meghan have done irreparable damage to the monarchy. Yet everything seems to be business as usual on the surface.
In a new piece for Vanity Fair, royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith delves into the idea that Megxit was unavoidable from nearly the beginning. The question is, was it unavoidable because of Harry and Meghan's unwillingness to conform? Or could it be the family's unwillingness to consider modernizing aspects of royal life for the media-driven 21st century?
Sally Bedell Smith offers some interesting context on the Establishment's view of the recent news that rocked the royal family. In a piece for Vanity Fair, she discusses all the surprising and concerning elements of Harry and Meghan's decision to ultimately step away from their roles as senior members of the royal family. In her discussion of the writings on the wall, she raises some points in defense of the royal family that are concerning in their own right.
Sally is no stranger to the royals or their history. She's written biographies on Princess Diana, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, and more. She's seen some of the necessary contexts in understanding this situation first hand, so her word on how the royals feel can be safely counted on.
In the piece, she says that signs this might happen have been there since as early as the fall of 2018.
"If we look back on it now, we can see the progression of it in the splitting of William and Harry’s households, the splitting of the foundation. And in Meghan in particular — her increasing outspokenness and effort to devise her own role," she noted. "We could see back at the end of their African tour, and in that ITV documentary last fall, that they were both very unhappy."
Sally was surprised by just how unhappy Harry and Meghan were and cited the concessions the royal family made for Meghan early on.
"I was in Windsor in May of 2018 [for their wedding] … and in talking to people close to the royal family [it was clear] they really bent over backward to accept Meghan," she commented. "The way they incorporated an African American bishop giving the homily at the wedding and had the gospel choir — they had a lot of elements that were very symbolic of the blending of these two very different cultures and that was the most visible evidence of it."
While fans of Meghan's were certainly happy to see those elements incorporated into the wedding, that doesn't signify that she was incorporated into the family. In fact, it diminishes Meghan as a person to just her racial background and suggests she should have been happy to have been thrown a bone.
It also ignores all the discussion that was going on in England about her race and what their future children might look like, of which Harry addressed directly, but the family did not back him up on in any public matter.
In part, that statement said, "Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm. He knows commentators will say this is ‘the price she has to pay’ and that ‘this is all part of the game’. He strongly disagrees. This is not a game – it is her life and his."
It seems like a pretty clear indicator on where he stood on this issue, and this was in November of 2016.
Sally also notes that despite Harry's feeling of being othered within the family, he had a carefully carved out position that the family created after having learned their lesson with Prince Andrew. That's problematic on a number of levels, of course. However, it's this further note that propels it a bit further.
"People say that Harry isn’t next in line to the throne, which is true," Sally explains. "But what they forget is that George and Charlotte and Louis are not going to be active members of the royal family for 15 or 20 years. So Charles and William have been counting on Harry to be in effect, third in line to the throne and that’s all out the window too."
The idea that Harry should compromise the safety and happiness of his wife and child for just a little while longer until his nieces and nephews have grown up is grossly inconsiderate of Harry and his wife and child, regardless of whom Harry ended up being married to.
Sally noted that the Queen was very personal in her statement regarding Harry and Meghan. She also said she took the past into consideration. "You could feel that she was very attuned to the fact that — Harry in particular, and Meghan by her own admission — are in a very emotionally vulnerable place," she explained.
"She surely remembers Diana and how emotionally unpredictable she was. This was the queen’s opportunity to show that she is in tune and mindful of the fragility of their situation and their vulnerability."
One of the later points suggests that Meghan's entry into the royal family was harder than Kate's because Kate's was so gradual while Meghan's was rushed.
"It still took [Kate] two years because she understood that in marrying a member of the royal family — and this is as true today as it was 100 years ago — that you would forever put away a whole realm of personal freedom," Sally says.
"In entering the royal family, which provides innumerable advantages and perks in exchange for doing official duties and charitable work, you really have to renounce a lot of things that may have meant a lot to you and dedicate yourself to an institution that’s 1,000 years old."
The thing about this that rings peculiar is the fact that the different circumstances surrounding the two are ignored. William and Kate met in college, so it's natural they'd want to finish their studies before seriously pursuing their relationship. There's also the fact that they did break up for a period of time, during which William was reportedly sowing his royal oats as the family encouraged him to get back together with her.
Harry, who was still single in his early 30s, was reportedly being pressured by the family to find a suitable wife after his 2014 breakup from Cressida Bonas. There was endless speculation as to whom Harry might be seeing and what that would mean to the palace. It's also worth noting that Cressida's status as a model and actress didn't seem as problematic as Meghan's for the family.
The speculation for what the future might hold for Harry is also problematic. Sally writes, "Harry was trained as a helicopter pilot. That’s his professional training. He didn’t go to college. He could maybe be a motivational speaker. He certainly can speak passionately about the causes that he believes in. But unless he is more than a figurehead, I’m not sure that that will be something meaningful. I think it’s a real issue for him — what he is professionally capable of doing?"
It seems like the analysis of Harry and Meghan's place in the royal family may never end. It's hard to ignore the glaring areas where the royal family could have done more as more details come out, however. As other stories in the royal stratosphere also continue to unfold, we'll have to wait and see where the public sentiment will shift.
