On Wednesday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made it clear that they were tired of being on the royal dole.
Without consulting the queen or any of the other stakeholders whose only function is to keep the freak show known as hereditary monarchy going, Prince Harry and his American wife, Meghan Markle, announced their “conscious uncoupling” from the British royal family.
They did it as tactfully as they could given the indignity of being a close-to-middle-age couple still expected to run major decisions by the queen for her approval.
Harry and Meghan knew that the queen would not be amused by their stated intention to stop cashing checks from the Sovereign Grant, identify and support their own charities without consulting Buckingham Palace, and generate their future income any way they bloody well please.
“Megxit,” as Stu Bykofsky, one of my columnist buddies from Philly, refers to them, did not announce a total break with the royal family. They’re still willing to live in Frogmore Cottage whenever they’re in Britain. But by guillotining their share of the Sovereign Grant, which, to be fair, accounts for only 5% of their costs, they can duck all future British media hysteria about how much they spend on publicly funded furnishings.
Recently, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been heavily criticized for spending $3 million in public money for renovations and upgrades to the cottage.
Given that Meghan Markle already had a net worth of $5 million before she married Harry, who brought another $40 million to the table, chances are slim that they will ever have to reach under sofa cushions for loose quid.
Meanwhile, the couple is simply tired of being forced into the role of pretty royal parasites who are expected to be accountable to both the public and a ravenous media in exchange for a royal allowance.
Of course, the British right-wing media is undergoing the Mother of All Tizzies right now. Reflecting the inchoate racial biases of its older readers, the major newspapers, especially those controlled by Rupert Murdoch, never took to Meghan Markle and have embarrassed and hounded her at every turn.
Now, with “Megxit” proposing to split time between Britain, North America and parts of Africa, the British paparazzi are starting to realize that a once guaranteed source of income and newsstand revenue will be “on the other side of the pond” very soon.
Columnists and television personalities are already howling about how insulting it all is to the queen, who has as one of her duties the responsibility of assigning charities to the royal family and keeping them in line. The media is also struggling with the inescapable conclusion that the most glamorous royal couple hates the British media and wants as little to do with it as possible.
With Harry and Meghan making it clear that they plan to work for a living and make their own decisions without seeking the queen’s permission, this will put pressure on the remaining royals to either match their independence or risk looking like sponges on the public dole.
It is a deliciously postmodern dilemma for one of the richest families in the world. It’s hard to feel sorry for them. The British royals have come by their great wealth by accident of birth, marriage, state alliances and countless crimes committed more than a 1,000 years ago.
Show me a hereditary monarch anywhere in the world and I’ll show you a crime still in progress. Philanthropic or not, none of these people deserve the unaccountable wealth they control. They haven’t earned — or deserved — a single bow, curtsy or deference they’ve received from their “subjects” who are more often than not better human beings than they will ever be.
That the British monarchy hasn’t already been abolished given how ridiculous it is stuns me. That’s why I’m fascinated by Harry and Meghan’s break with royal expectation and their willingness to turn their backs on most of it to find their own path in the world.
Harry, in particular, desperately wants his wife to avoid the fate that befell his mother, who was chased to her death by paparazzi, though technically killed by her drunk chauffeur. That trauma, coupled with the barely disguised racial animus of the British press and upper classes aimed at Meghan, has convinced him that bringing their new baby Archie up in the shadow of Windsor Castle isn’t worth the psychic pain it will engender.
Who knows? Maybe their next child (should they choose to have one) will be born a Canadian, an American or an African. All the Duke and Duchess of Sussex know for sure is that they want the family they’re putting together to grow up far removed from the schemes, shenanigans and maneuverings necessary just to be in proximity to the throne. Harry and Meghan have seen the House of Windsor’s game of thrones up close and they decided they want no part of it.
Tony Norman: tnorman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1631.
First Published: January 10, 2020, 5:00 a.m.
