LONDON (AP) – Racism. Bullying. Insensitivity.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s allegations of mistreatment by the British royal house are so serious that some observers say that Buckingham Palace’s silence on the matter only added to the furor surrounding their TV interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Although the palace often tries to stay above controversy by remaining silent and facing the storm, the accusations of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are so damaging to the royal family that it will have to respond publicly, says royal biographer Angela Levin.
But that response is probably being delayed by Queen Elizabeth II’s struggle to balance her sometimes conflicting roles as monarch and grandmother, says Levin, author of “Harry, a Prince’s Biography”. However, she says there is little doubt that, at the end of the day, the 94-year-old monarch will make his decision based on what is best for the 1,000-year-old institution she has led since 1952.
“The queen has a motto: never complain, never explain,” Levin told the Associated Press. “And she has been stuck in this for four decades. But I think that in this climate and in 2021, everything goes everywhere. There is so much social media that, in this case, she can’t really say anything. “
The London Times reported on Tuesday that a palace statement was postponed because the queen wanted more time. The newspaper did not cite a source for the information.
The interview, which aired Sunday night in the United States and a day later in Britain, shook the royal family and divided people around the world. While many say the allegations demonstrate the need for change within a palace that has not kept up with the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, others have criticized Harry and Meghan for dropping their bomb while Harry’s 99-year-old grandfather, Prince Philip, remains hospitalized in London after a cardiac procedure.
During the two-hour interview, Meghan described feeling so isolated and miserable within the royal family that she had suicidal thoughts, but when she asked for mental health help from the palace’s human resources team, she said she was not an employee. She also said that a family member expressed “concern” to Harry about the skin color of his unborn child.
Winfrey later said that Harry told her off camera that the family member was not Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Philip, sparking a wave of speculation about who it might be.
Harry also revealed that the stress the couple endured broke relations with their father, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, and his brother, Prince William, illuminating the depth of family divisions that led the couple to move away from royal duties and moving to California last year.
So far there has been silence from the palace about the interview.
“I think one of the biggest concerns is that you don’t want to pour oil on the flames to make things worse,” said Levin.
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