The reaction to the Meghan and Harry television spectacular has been as revealing as the interview itself, which has divided opinion across the world.
Republicans everywhere are relishing the Sussexes’ take on the evil Royals, riven apparently by racism and cruelty. What better argument for doing away with the monarchy than an exposé from within about its wicked ways and obsolete culture?
Imagine, a woman of colour ostracised by an all-white hierarchy steeped in demeaning rituals – curtseying, to your granny in law? – and hostile towards an outsider.
Under Oprah Winfrey’s prompting, the reputation of the Firm (once an affectionate term for the Windsors but pejorative in Meghan speak) didn’t stand a chance.
‘Were you silent or were you silenced?’ asked Oprah, in her now famous conflation of our Queen with Don Corleone, all the more remarkable considering she must have seen the five foot three, nonagenarian monarch at the wedding, a vision in lime green.
But the floodgates were open and out flew the accusations: the system ensnares even its most senior members. ‘My father and my brother, they are trapped,’ said Harry.
Death threats, suicidal thoughts and baby bombshell
He said Meghan was told she would have to carry on acting (had she stopped?) because ‘there was not enough money to pay for her’. Meanwhile, his security detail was removed despite death threats against him.
Worse, Meghan said she her pleas for psychiatric help went unheeded even though she said she was suicidal.
But the bombshell was her claim that one of her new relatives raised concerns about the colour of her then unborn baby’s skin. If calculated to make Britain, a nation Meghan clearly hates, a pariah state, then it seems to be having the desired effect.
To Britons, even the masses who have no strong views on Harry and Meghan, this is grossly unfair. Not because we are a land of Royal apologists – though a survey last year found a healthy 62% support for the monarchy – but because it is quite possible that she made it all up.
The clue was in the CBS teaser which promised Meghan would deliver ‘her truth’. This Americanism might have currency in California but is doesn’t wash with Brits.
Anyone can give ‘their’ truth but ‘the’ truth needs to be backed up with facts and the testimony of others. Oprah didn’t once press her subjects for evidence, no matter how outrageous the slur.
The Royals are reticent by convention and do not comment on stories about them. Meghan’s racist remark will hang over their heads, the Queen’s included, condemning not just the family but their country.
If the Sussex version of events promotes a debate on race inside our establishment then that is to be welcomed. But judgement must be reserved until the veracity of their claims are investigated.
Kate claims as unjust as they are unbelievable
More petty but also unjust, since she can’t defend herself, was Meghan’s attack on the Duchess of Cambridge. It was she who made Meghan cry at a bridesmaid dress fitting, not the other way around as reported.
Suggesting Kate was the bully in that relationship and she the victim is asking us to suspend disbelief.
The interview was conducted before the recent revelations about Meghan’s alleged mistreatment of her staff, but she surely knew about these complaints and the potential repercussions.
It is convenient for her that she will be far removed in the States if there is an employment tribunal and a thorough, non-Oprah style, reckoning.
Tantrums, taiaras and tabloids in the firing line
The stories from former courtiers may be lurid – tantrums over the wrong shade of red blankets, a row about a tiara – but stranger tales of royal life have turned out to be accurate.
The dastardly tabloids are again in the firing line, much mocked for making it up and for seeking to tear down Meghan.
But many of the royal reporters have covered their beat for years, have impeccable contacts and shine a light, sometimes unflattering, into royal affairs.
This is what has really galled the American actress who quickly realised she could no longer control her image, however slick her PR skills.
Just months after their fairytale nuptials, Harry and Meghan were called out for hypocrisy, having jumped on the climate change bandwagon and then taken four private jets in 11 days on various holiday jaunts.
During their tour to South Africa in 2019, the overwhelmingly positive coverage turned sour when Meghan told ITV’s Tom Bradby, against a backdrop of real suffering, that no one had asked her how she felt.
In their brief career as a working royal couple, the pair exploited their privileged positions while ignoring public perceptions.
By dismissing all bad publicity as ‘a wholly false narrative’ perpetuated by the Palace, and maligning the British press, the Sussexes hope to escape further scrutiny.
To some extent their ploy is working, at least among American commentators, but the truth, the real truth, will out.
