I honestly said all I wanted to in my original “Spoiler Alert” at March 6 below. But my new Admin (you know, the one who has me now doing podcasts out of my closet) prevailed upon me to write a post-interview follow-up.
Overall, I found the interview far more credible, compelling and even sympathetic than I anticipated. But I was really put off in the beginning by Meghan’s fatuous claims about knowing nothing of Harry’s dashing life (or his mother’s tragic one) before meeting him. She is neither as willfully ignorant nor as hopelessly naïve as she … acted.
That said, I fully appreciate that, for most viewers, Meghan’s most sensational, though hardly shocking, claim is that, her gilded cage became so oppressive, she wanted to kill herself. You might think this was the most moving part of the interview, but I found it so self-serving, I couldn’t possibly comment. Except I’ll note that she must have really studied Princess Diana’s famous interview with Panorama, which she claimed to know nothing about. Because she delivered an Oscar-worthy performance of channeling Diana.
On the other hand, I believe her equally sensational, though hardly shocking, claim that members of the royal family questioned Harry about having dark babies. It is self-evident that only Philip, Charles, or William would have dared to do so. And they are the only ones Harry would try in vain, as he did, to protect by not naming them.
Almost as sensational, though hardly shocking, was Meghan’s claim that, even though they welcomed her as Harry’s wife, the British royals did not want to welcome a black prince. As she told it, they threatened to break long-established convention to deny him not only the title but also the protection afforded most members of the royal family.
But, given what happened to Diana, you’d think this royal family would bend over backwards to provide security for the queen’s own great grandson, no? That is, of course, unless they had already decided to effectively and emotionally disown Harry and Meghan and their brood in perpetuity.
Apropos of which, there is royal precedent for this. Because, in “Prince Albert II of Monaco Renounces the Birthright of his Black Son!” July 7, 2005, I condemned Prince Albert, the purportedly liberal ruler of Monaco, for issuing a decree to deny his own son with a black woman his birthright not only to inherit the throne but even to be called a prince.
More to the point, though, after Meghan’s all-too-credible claims of racism against her innocent child, where in the world can Charles and Camilla or William and Kate travel now without being booed back to the UK?
I have been calling for the abolition of the monarchy and the disintegration of the Commonwealth for years. Most notably, I refer you to such commentaries as “Dissing British Monarchy to Mourn American Democracy…” November 6, 2020, (with podcast of the same on November 8), and “Another Commonwealth Summit on Trade Ends with Imperial Promises but No Guarantees,” November 29, 2005. #Trapped #BanCommonwealth #AbolishMonarchy
Frankly, Harry and Meghan may have done more in this interview to advance these two causes than I have in all of my commentaries over the past 16 years. Again, we all know the British monarchy is an inherently racist institution. But nobody wants to be complicit in it discriminating against an innocent child in the way they described so credibly.
Finally, if there were ever any doubt, Oprah demonstrated why she’s the queen of the confessional interview.
Related commentaries:
Spoiler alert: Meghan & Harry
Prince Albert… monarchy… Commonwealth…
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