Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have done nothing but damage their public image in my eyes. I remember when I was first introduced to the couple. It was the day of their wedding in 2017. I watched the grandiosity of their nuptials in the background on that May morning as I made breakfast.
I had never heard of Meghan Markle before, and I didn’t even know that the rebel royal redhead was engaged. I watched all the same as this beautiful bride joined the British monarchy as Duchess of Sussex, bowing to the late queen on her way down the aisle.
It was a nice service, but within the hour it was gone from my mind. Just like many others who had watched the wedding, I had to ask, “who cares?”
Now, almost six years later, this explosive couple are the centre of controversy. They could have held their jobs as working royals without anyone bothering them. Instead, they felt it was their duty to expose the alleged systemic racism within the royal family, even recently receiving a humanitarian ‘Ripple of Hope’ award for their heroic work.
All of this was until Harry’s most recent interview, in which he contradicts his and Meghan’s claims of racism, claiming that they had never made any such assertion, and that by growing up in the family, he knows better than anyone.
This is to say nothing of the alleged hypocrisy in their search for privacy, as they claimed to want to step completely out of the limelight and away from press scrutiny. That is, until they decided give a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, which they are argued to have used to decry and shame the royal family for not protecting them from the press. All of this while Meghan lovingly cradled a baby bump, named for the matriarch of a family they claimed mistreated them so badly they were forced to flee the country.
Next came the six-episode Netflix series (Harry & Meghan), revealing the truth of their horrific lives. I have watched the show, so the reader doesn’t have to: in my view, they contradict themselves every 20 minutes. Here, Harry claims that when Meghan was first introduced to the British media as his fiancé she could do no wrong for three months; there, they backtrack and claim that from the very start of their relationship the press was out to attack her. So, which is it?
After the special, Meghan began her feminist podcast (Archetypes), while Harry released his memoir Spare. Both of these are topped off with the most recent potential embarrassment: a 60 Minutes interview where he claims his brother William attacked him, but that all he wants in the world is to have his father and brother back.
When will this couple finally do as they promise and step back from public life? Quite frankly, the constant media parade is getting boring, and their contradicting stories are getting harder and harder to believe.
It is astounding how many rallied around Harry and Meghan, and before their exit from the royal family and revelations about those still inside the institution, public opinion of the monarchy had never been lower.
I never thought that I’d see the day that people would be defending the crown again, but Meghan and Harry can do amazing things.
