I follow the royal family. Like any group of celebrities, I have my favorites, and I have the ones I don’t particularly care for. I’ve read many books on the royal family, from the modern royals to the royals from centuries ago. I’ve seen many documentaries on British history in general. You could say it’s a hobby of mine. With all that said, I’m far from an expert on all things royal.
As soon as rumors came out that someone had “tamed” Prince Harry, my eyes were all over it. When I found out it was Meghan Markle, my heart jumped for joy. When they had the Queen’s blessing, and their engagement was announced, they looked so incredibly happy! I woke up way too early to watch their wedding. When the baby news came, I was glued to my phone, waiting for the announcement from Buckingham Palace. So obviously, when Oprah said she’s interviewing them, I’m going to catch that too.
Here’s my take on things:
Life With The Media
I know Harry strongly believes the media killed his mother, and I’m not here to debate that. But if you thought something took the life of the person you cared about the most in your life, wouldn’t you do anything you could to stop that from happening to you again? First, his mother, and now possibly his wife and mother to his children? And with Archie and his baby sister so young, they would get even less time with their mother than Harry had with Diana. I’m sure the last thing on earth Harry would want is for his children to grow up without their mother. Even if the media didn’t have the slightest involvement in Diana’s death, why take the chance with your own family?
I remember when I first saw “Megxit” on a headline. That was one of my biggest eye rolls. I knew the media was the one behind this ridiculous term, as it was the time “Brexit” was trending. Clearly the media had lost all their creativity before coming up with that one.
The media was after Diana from day one. As soon as rumors started circulating about her and Charles, the media only got worse. I can’t imagine Diana going through this and Charles doing nothing about it. Harry and Meghan are so lucky to have each other.
Harry’s Relationship With William
When discussing Prince William and his place in the system, Prince Harry said William is “trapped within the system,” and he “[doesn’t] get to leave. And I have huge compassion for that,” Harry explained.
Can you imagine that? If William left too? I mean way back when King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry the love of his life, Wallis Simpson. He was then given the title Duke of Windsor, and his brother, King George VI, ascended the throne, making current Queen Elizabeth next in line. Surely, the royal family does not want to make this a regular thing.
The Color of Archie’s Skin
Shut the front door. This really angers me. Yes, obviously there was a chance Archie would have some color to his skin tone. Anyone with even the slightest education could tell you that. I do believe Harry was honest when he said that comment did not come from the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh.
There are a few royal family members I have in mind when I think of who could have said this. Honestly, I believe Archie’s grandfather, Prince Charles, was the one. Charles has a history of inappropriate comments involving people’s race and looks. Some argue they are only jokes that have been taken the wrong way. How many “poorly timed jokes” could one person have?
Archie is seventh in line to the throne, which is likely the equivalent to a one in ten million chance. A lot of horrible tragedies would have to happen for Archie to be King.
The Secret Wedding
I love this so much! This is so “Harry and Meghan,” and I don’t know why this wasn’t predicted sooner. I’m just happy they had their special moment without the whole world to see before the one that aired on televisions across the globe.
Comparisons with Kate
I can’t imagine being in Meghan’s shoes and constantly being compared to Kate by the media. Clearly, we’ve seen Meghan do the same things as Kate, where Kate has received so much praise, and Meghan is only ridiculed. Is the media upset that Meghan isn’t British? Or that she is half black? Or they just want to create drama to sell “news” that isn’t even real, or wildly exaggerated? I have a feeling it’s the last one.
Diana’s Prediction
Harry claims Diana took care of him with his inheritance because she saw this coming. Now, we don’t know the details of Diana’s estate and how it was divided up. It is likely William and Harry split things evenly. Rumors are both William and Harry received at least ten million British pounds. It is also believed the millions Harry inherited were placed into a trust he could not access until he was 30. Diana was killed when Harry was only 12, which means if this money was put into some sort of high-interest account for 18 years, Harry received a large chunk of change. Sure, this could all be a coincidence that this is what they are using the money for, but without Diana, it would have been a lot more difficult.
One thing we do know is Diana has inside access to not only the royal family but also what it’s like to be married to the future King. She could have easily seen the differences in how her then husband’s siblings were treated from Charles himself.
Suicide
Many of us have had suicidal thoughts. There is a very fine line between those thoughts and actually taking action. Take the amount of pressure Meghan was put under through all of this and add on pregnancy and postnatal hormones, becoming a new mother, and asking for help when you truly need it, only to be rejected?
I’m having a very hard time with this one. I remember an event attended by William and Kate and Harry and Meghan early on in Harry and Meghan’s relationship. Either during their engagement or right after their wedding. The four of them were discussing mental health and how important it is. Harry clearly has acted on his words here by helping his wife. But what have William and Kate done? We might never know, but we can only hope William stood by his brother when Harry was seeking help for Meghan.
Meghan struggling with her mental health and suicidal thoughts all makes sense to me right now. I remember seeing Meghan with puffy eyes, the kind we get after crying for a while, only to think to myself that maybe Archie had a hard time the night before. But now we know it was so much more than Archie.
What can we all learn from this??
- Tradition does not stand the test of time.
- You don’t know what goes on behind closed doors in someone’s life or marriage.
- “This is just how it is” does not have to be how it is.
- No one has the right to judge someone’s personal thoughts, especially when those thoughts are coming from the most vulnerable places.
If you are in the US and have suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
I wonder how the skin tone comment was made. We always wonder what future children of couples will look like. His brown hair or her blond hair, freckles someday, etc. it’s pretty natural to think about without being racist. If anyone said something actually racist I’d put money on Princess Michael of Kent.
I also thought Harry would end up playing a big role in the Monarchy along with William, not side by side but certainly a larger role than we have seen with other royal siblings. It’s sad.