There is no escaping that the statements made in the interview are extremely serious. Meghan says that in her time as a family member, she had suicidal thoughts and that a royal member had racist conversations about the color of her baby’s skin.
Harry talked about the lack of support and understanding for the price that real life took on the couple’s mental health, and added that the attacks they suffered in the media may have come “from within the institution”.
The version of the events exposed in the interview paints the picture of an old-fashioned institution, whose lack of flexibility has left it unable to accommodate people who face challenges that are entirely normal for public figures in the 21st century. Given the claims in 2018 that the union of these two people represented a major step forward in the modernization of the most famous family on the planet, this is a tragedy, observers say.
“Harry and Meghan were superstars who could have been such a positive thing for the family in modernization,” says Kate Williams, a leading royal historian and professor of public engagement with history at the University of Reading, UK. “The fact that it was clear from the interview that they felt they had no choice but to leave because the family did not support them because of racist abuse and clear concerns about mental health is very worrying.”
This narrative will undoubtedly be a feature of most post-interview comments – and should be a real concern for Harry’s relatives in the UK. While there is tremendous public support for Queen Elizabeth and the monarchy she currently leads, the question of what will come after her in modern Britain has yet to be examined in detail.
“Generally speaking, support for the monarchy and support for the queen are correlated,” said Joe Twyman, director of public opinion consultancy Deltapoll. However, he points out that the Queen, unlike many other members of the family, is quiet and very rarely gives her opinion on anything.
It is possible that many conservative and traditionalist monarchists are not so happy with Carlos’ accession to the throne. The Prince of Wales has spoken at length in public about environmental issues and climate change, and it is far from certain that his silent mother’s supporters will transfer their affection.
What could be even more worrying for the family, especially in light of this interview, is what the younger generations think of the monarchy.
“Among young people, support for Meghan is almost the same as support for Kate, much more traditional compared to older Britons who don’t like Meghan so much,” explained Twyman. “Although we don’t know if this is an age thing or cohort and these people can become more conservative as they get older, it is entirely possible that the generation that thinks royalty should keep their upper lip rigid and not talk about issues like right women and mental health will die. For people of a certain generation, the idea of bowing to your grandmother every time you see her just because she is the queen seems crazy. ”
That concern was raised, the couple said, about the color of their baby’s skin before it was born could have consequences beyond a public relations disaster for royalty. The British monarch is currently head of state for many countries in the Commonwealth, a diplomatic coup for the United Kingdom.
“We know that some members of the Community intend to remove the [British] monarch as head of state once Elizabeth leaves, “said Williams. In many countries of the British Commonwealth, Britain’s colonial past is already a difficult pill to swallow.
Meghan spoke about this directly in the interview, describing how she thought she and Harry’s baby would provide an “added benefit” to people in the Community. “How inclusive is that, that you can see someone who looks like you in this family,” she said.
CNN contacted the royal family for comment.
For others, however, the fact that Meghan’s race was such a prominent topic when she joined the royal family is a sign that the claims of a modernizing monarchy were, at best, illusions.
“Personally, I think it’s a really good thing, as it shows that all the noise around marriage being a great time for the royal family to become more inclusive was completely untrue,” said Kehinde Andrews, professor of black studies at City University, Birmingham. “It is undeniably exposed how racism exists in British society and how the royal family is a closed institution. Silencing and maintaining the image is more important than actually doing anything that matters.”
If the royal family wants to get out of this, then it will have to go through a period of reflection and take seriously the claims made by its relatives. If the institution is to avoid appearing irrelevant in a diverse and modern Britain, it needs to think about the claims made about Meghan’s reception in 2018.
“What is important now is that they don’t shelve the idea half in, half out that Harry and Meghan originally proposed. In 2021, are we really saying that more smaller Royals can only be backups of William and Kate? If the family and courtiers they can’t see that a family like the Sussexes is a positive thing in the public eye, so there’s a big problem, ”said Williams.
From a public relations perspective, this interview is overwhelming for “The Firm”, as the royal family is often called. Although we haven’t heard the other side of the story, the fact that two high-level royalty members are willing to officially declare that they felt so inadequately supported that one of them considered killing himself is horrible.
Realistic supporters are already dismissing the couple’s claims as an act. While this may go well with a very specific group of people in Britain, there is no escaping the damning moment that is for an institution whose future is far from certain, since its current boss is no longer here.