British society is regaining consciousness after deafening statements by members of the royal family – Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s interview shed light on the realities of Britain’s top aristocracy – and it’s not just about racism.
However, the most important thing is what consequences this and other scandals will have for the entire British monarchy.
The British Windsor dynasty has bad luck with American wives. In 1937, King Edward VIII renounced the crown in order to marry a divorced American woman, Wallis Simpson, after which he lived a very scandalous life (which only his pro-Nazi views are worth).
Now, 85 years later, another American woman plunged the royal family into a huge scandal. Meghan Markle not only took Prince Harry out of the family (the couple gave up royal privileges and decided to live “on their own”), but also incited him to a scandalous interview with Oprah Winfrey. The interview, which, according to the Daily Mirror, sparked “the worst crisis in the royal family in 85 years” – despite the fact that the official reaction from Buckingham Palace is emphatically hypocritical and friendly.
Money doesn’t smell
In this interview, Meghan Markle (she mostly spoke) stated that the royal family never accepted her. That the British press described her in their articles as some kind of a bitch (in contrast to the wife of Prince William Kate Middleton, which British scribblers carry in their arms), and the family did not even think to protect her. That they were deprived of their funds. That she had suicidal tendencies, but the family forbade her to go to a psychologist (so that, God forbid, the journalists would not find out).
And one of the main reasons for this attitude of the royal family to Meghan Markle was, according to her, banal racism within the royal family. Harry was not forgiven for marrying a mulatto (Megan’s mother is a black woman) – and, most importantly, that he would have a quarter black British prince. According to Megan, one of the family members even asked her how black this child would be.
According to Megan, she told about all this solely out of a sense of justice and a desire to reveal the truth.
“What else could they expect from us? That we will be silent while the Firm (this is sometimes the name of the royal family due to the fact that it earns on the interest of ordinary people in royal life – souvenirs, excursions to the palace, etc.) spreads false stories about us? And we have nothing to lose – a lot is already lost”, – Megan said.
Madame’s motives are clear – and it’s not so much about revenge as about making money. Meghan and Harry have signed a deal with Netflix (where they are rumored to want to earn up to $100 million) and are now trying to increase their media exposure. In particular, against the background of hysteria around racial issues (for example, Black Lives Matter movement), Meghan Markle plays out the image of a plebeian, half black woman who was bullied by white aristocrats. That is why Oprah Winfrey was chosen as the interviewer – not just one of the most famous British TV presenters, but also the icon of the black activist movement BLM (Black Lives Matter).
The interview itself was a performance – with Oprah, who was surprised after the words about racism, and Megan, who almost cried from injustice (the former actress played well, and British journalists even offered to nominate her for an Oscar).
And finally, outright lies wrapped in popular racist wrappers. For example, when Megan hinted that her son Archie was not going to be given the status of a prince due to the fact that he is a quarter black, it was not true – Meghan Markle’s son was not entitled to the status of a prince according to the provisions of the regulations, because he is too far in line to the throne.
Mother was supported
However, this does not mean that there was no racism. Markle’s interview sheds light on the realities of the highest British aristocracy. As Maria Zakharova, director of the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, subtly remarked, “this is not a scandal, but a collapse of the scenery”.
The highest aristocracy of Great Britain is deeply sick with snobbery. Snobbery, with which everyone has already come to terms and to some extent even accepted as part of the British way of life (which is reflected even in works of art – take at least Harry Potter and the local contemptuous attitude of the families of pure wizards to commoners – “mudbloods”). Those who do not accept this way of life and are ready to fight it turn into outcasts.
This happened, for example, with Princess Diana (Harry’s mother), who was bullied in every possible way and was eventually expelled from the royal family.
Not for what she said, but for what she was going to do. The monarchy could not come to terms with the half-Arab half-brother of the heirs of the British crown (Diana was pregnant by her Egyptian boyfriend).
The level of racism in the aristocracy has not changed much since then. Britain may not have white ministers, not white peers, not white mayors of London (for example, the current head of the capital – Pakistani Sadiq Khan) and even not white James Bond (Idris Elba was seriously considered as a replacement for the outgoing Daniel Craig). But there cannot be no white prince. Or even a half-prince.
However, society has changed, which has become much more liberal and intolerant of such aristocratic racism. And Princess Diana is finally avenged. No, not Meghan Markle, because the American actress still does not pull the status of a lady. For the tortured, he was avenged by someone who could not do it in the 1990s because of his small age. Diana’s son is Harry.
Some of the British journalists called this interview “betrayal”, which was expected from Megan, but not from Prince Harry. Others considered him henpecked. However, Harry just had a déjà vu. The story from his childhood was repeating itself – only now he was already old enough and was able to protect the woman he loved.
“Megan is going through the same thing that my mother had to endure, only now racism and the Internet have been added to this”, – Harry explained.
The rod breaks
The royal family, of course, knew about the upcoming interview and perfectly understood what consequences it would entail. The firm even tried to be ahead of the curve and discredit the brawler. A few days before the interview, the British media poured another tub of information slops on Meghan Markle about her allegedly bad attitude towards three assistants at Kensington Palace, two of whom were forced to resign. However, it was not possible to neutralize the influence of this interview.
And the question is, how will this exposure now, this collapse of the scenery, affect the future? And this is not only about the future of the Firm itself – it is just understandable (revenues from the sale of souvenirs to Americans will decrease, the Windsors will be regularly rinsed by the American liberal media, and various television crafts of the Megan and Harry production center on Netflix will ensure a further decrease in income and an increase in volumes “Bad press”). We are talking about the future of the United Kingdom, for which Megan’s revelations could have very serious consequences.
First, they are driving another nail into the coffin of United Kingdom unity. Recall that the centrifugal forces in it are now extremely strong. Northern Ireland now lives by the economic rules of the European Union, Scotland is demanding another referendum on independence. And the royal family is one of the few rods that unite the entire state.
This rod was already shaking due to the numerous scandals around the members of the royal family.
So, in November 2019, the pages of the tabloids were occupied by news about Prince Andrew (the third son of Queen Elizabeth), who was accused of forcing underage girls to have sex. And this is not to mention the extremely unattractive image of Elizabeth’s heir – Prince Charles, with his reputation as a cold, callous person who first brought his loving Princess Diana, and now abandoned his son Harry in trouble.
Secondly, the royal surname is also the core (in fact, the only one, apart from the English language and common history), uniting the British Commonwealth around Great Britain. The monarch of England is parallel to the monarch of Canada, New Zealand and other countries. And if the rod is removed (and a number of residents of the same New Zealand do not want their nominal head to be a racist family), then London will lose a significant part of its influence in the world.
Yes, the 94-year-old Elizabeth, perhaps, still has enough authority to extinguish such sentiments, and the authorities of the same New Zealand say that the population of their country does not have a special desire to change the provisions of the constitution “so quickly” – however, with the departure of Elizabeth, the situation may change.
“After the end of the reign of the queen, it’s time for us to say: that’s enough, we have passed this watershed. Do we really want our head of state to be the one who will be on the throne of Great Britain?” – asks the former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull. The question will become especially acute in the event that Prince Charles becomes the next monarch.
That is why Elizabeth now has only one worthy way out. Force Prince Charles to pacify pride and hand over the throne not to him, but to his son, Harry’s brother, Prince William. In the hope that the positive image of William and his wife, Kate Middleton, can somehow interrupt the racist aftertaste left by Harry and Meghan.
Associate Professor of the Financial University Gevorg Mirzayan, Glance