I know as a fact that Harry’s family is hoping the marriage lasts but will not be taking any bets on it. Privately, they have reeled from the way Meghan has influenced Harry into withdrawing from his birthright. Royalty is like a secular religion. You do not become an apostate without earning the disapproval of all true believers. Nor could even the most open minded family have a high opinion of anyone who caused a beloved family member’s departure, and the fact is that their opinions reflect their loss.
Even the Queen, who is the most anodyne of all of them, has expressed her displeasure in no uncertain terms. She has many friends, and she has been forthright in expressing her viewpoint. I have been told by two separate and utterly reliable sources that she feels that Meghan’s demeanour has been only a cut above a floozy’s and her conduct has been no better than a strumpet’s. That does not mean that she regards Meghan as either a floozy or a strumpet, but simply as someone whose sense of obligation, responsibility, and self-aggrandisement is reminiscent of a category of woman who is out for herself in a way that other women would not be. These remarks by no means compare with Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s description of the Duchess of Windsor as the lowest of the low, but they do show how disappointed and hurt even the Queen has been by Harry and Meghan’s stepping back.
Despite this, the Queen’s policy is to keep the door open for them to return to the royal fold if they want to, and if they do not (as seems likely, at least where Harry is concerned for the duration of the marriage), to maintain enough of a publicly approving profile for them to be included in the occasional event. Her ideal scenario is for Harry and Meghan to make infrequent appearances when they come back to the UK, or for them to represent her in some Commonwealth capacity from time to time, thereby delivering the message to the world that all is well and Harry, Meghan and Archie, who remain ‘beloved members of the family’. This show of harmony is the ultimate aim, for no one seriously expects Meghan and Harry to resume their place in the chorus line of royal theatrics. Intermittent displays of acceptance as they float across the stage will also endow them with just enough respectability for them to become what they truly want to be: commercial operatives at the highest level. But the royals and their advisors are aware that the true beneficiaries of this policy will be Harry and Meghan. Any patina of acceptability will benefit them far more than it does the Royal Family, whose prestige will remain undented no matter what happens to theirs.
There is little doubt that the family regrets Harry and Meghan’s departure, and minds awfully the manner of and motive for the departure. Financial independence when you’re worth tens of millions does not strike people who take their duties seriously as a good enough reason to chuck away a life of service and privilege for one of hustling for real money and Kardashian-style fame. Yet the family understands that there is nothing they can do to influence a couple hell bent on doing things their own way.
Hopefully, Meghan and Harry will prove their critics wrong. Hopefully they will do sterling humanitarian work, earn money nobly, and ultimately she might even realise her ambition of becoming President of the United States of America. Hopefully they will resolve their dilemma where privacy is concerned. Hopefully, they will make a genuine success of their lives, not only by demonstrating how adept they are at acquiring fame and fortune, but in fulfilling the high hopes of the hundreds of millions, maybe even billions, of people of colour who looked up to Meghan as a beacon of hope when she first became Duchess of Sussex.
Meghan and Harry have struck out onto a new path. I for one hope they make a success of it. If I were a betting woman, I would not be giving any odds, because Heraclitus put it better than I ever could: Character is destiny. The harbingers are so mixed that the only thing I will predict with any certainty is that Meghan and Harry will be ensuring that today, tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year, their actions will keep them at the forefront of everyone’s attention.
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Trevor Engelson was the tall, brash, brawny movie producer who became Meghan’s first husband. They were so in love that she used to tell her best friend Nikki Priddy that she would not survive if anything happened to him. Then she outgrew him.
Before competitiveness and jealousy tore the Fab Four apart, there were high hopes that they would become the new and exciting face of monarchy. Here they are, two months before the wedding, introducing Meghan as the latest member of the Royal Foundation under the theme Making a Difference Together. Only Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel struck a discordant note, stating, ‘I fear Meghan’s a bit out of tune already’.
In the run-up to the wedding, Thomas Markle Sr was humiliated by the tabloids and ill-advisedly tried to restore his dignity by cooperating with a paparazzo. Exposure would lead to two heart attacks and his daughter and son-in-law, whom he has yet to meet, severing contact with him.
Tom ‘Wingman’ Inskip was one of Harry’s oldest and closest until he tried to dissuade Harry from rushing into marriage. Meghan ensured that he and his
