Harry and Meghan's contradictions in the interview with Oprah
The effect of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey was more devastating than expected. The media compares it with the one that Lady Di gave 25 years ago, but they point to multiple inconsistencies to discredit it.
Since the couple shook the world in 2020 with the announcement of their departure from the monarchy, it was known that sooner or later they would vent; and they did it this Sunday with Oprah Winfrey, the queen of American television.
Although Buckingham Palace was ready to be dispatched, the bombing, which was seen coming, took everyone by surprise.
That night it was heard that Kate Middleton was the one who made Meghan cry and not the opposite, and that the latter was never taught to bow to Queen Elizabeth, much less how royalty works. The courtiers also forbade her to go out with her friends and asked her to be "50 percent less Meghan Markle."
The biggest blow, however, came at the moment when the dukes revealed that she was a victim of racism. When they were expecting her firstborn, Archie, an important member of the family was indelicate to ask them what color the baby would be, and that conversation was repeated several times.
Until today, the Windsor scandals had been about sheets and, although in the past some of them had gaffes with the theme of race (like when Harry disguised himself as a Nazi or it was rumored that his grandfather Felipe was pro-Hitler), Never before has such a frontal discriminatory attack on a member of the house been discussed.
The Sussexes did not want to say who it was, but a day after the broadcast Oprah clarified that Harry discarded the queen and her husband. The truth is that racism was a great motivation to stop being active members of the royal family, given the impact on the mental health of the Duchess, who therefore had suicidal thoughts.
In her statement in response to the program, the queen said that some of the things said by the Sussexes are questionable. At least this is how some interpret the expression "while some recollections may vary" (while some recollections may vary), used to announce that she will investigate the subject privately. "It's an exquisite line to accuse the Sussexes of living in a Disney-style fantasy world," said royal biographer Tom Bower.
Harry and Meghan gave rise to being seen as ambiguous. On the one hand, it is not understood how he, who has campaigned on mental health and admitted to going to therapy to overcome the trauma caused by the death of his mother, failed to provide professional help to his wife.
On the other hand, media such as the Daily Mail noted that she claimed that Archie's color talks occurred when she was pregnant, while Harry claimed it was before the wedding.
Another contradiction is about a possible noble title for Archie. Before the delivery, they said, family members warned them that he would not have the right to any, and Meghan interpreted it as another display of racism. The worrying thing for her was that it would leave him unsafe.
The royal chroniclers, however, remember that by a directive of King George V, only the sons and grandsons of the monarch and those to whom he grants that title are princes. Furthermore, at the initiative of Carlos, Harry's father, it is sought that the royal family is increasingly compact and that their not-so-close relatives lead a normal life without depending on the Crown.
Although the dukes seemed aligned with this idea when Archie was born, it turned out in the interview that they were after a title for him, which seems like another contradiction. In the future, he could use the title of Earl of Dumbarton, a subsidiary of the duchy of his father, or be a prince when his grandfather Charles takes the throne.
Experts see unfounded fears for his safety, which does not always come with the title and is not granted to babies, since it is understood that they will always be guarded by their parents and their escort if they have it.
The Sussexes also gave papaya with the assertion that Carlos cut off their financial support. According to the Evening Standard, he took it upon himself to let the press know, through trusted intermediaries, that he continues to help them, although he did not deny that he stopped answering Harry's phone, as he told it. Here, the contradiction is that one of the pillars of his cry for independence was the desire to be autonomous on this front and now they cry for money.
Others do not understand that they claim so much their right to privacy, while they speak of the most intimate of their family life before the world.
The interview, seen by 22 million people, recalled Diana of Wales' confession to the BBC cameras in 1995. Reporter Melanie McDonagh claims that the Sussexes have built their speech on the princess's story. Harry has said that he regrets that he was unable to protect his mother from how much she suffered in the royal family and believes that by saving his wife he will atone for that guilt.
If anything, the parallel between the two is staggering. For example, both were treated by the Windsors as strangers and, when they refused to bow their heads, they were isolated.
Although Diana was believed, Meghan not so much: she said that she did not know anything about the monarchy and that is suspicious. Elizabeth II is identified by what she is in any corner of the planet, and Harry is the son of whom she was the most famous woman on the globe.
Also, when she was in London, young lady, she took the typical photo in front of Buckingham Palace. And her friends talk about how much she admired Lady Di; so much so that he once made an exhibition about her at her school.
The face to face left serious doubts about the rare way of communicating of this family: the couple felt slighted by the queen when they returned from Canada, where they lived after announcing their retirement. They had arranged to meet her at the Sandringham residence, but were suddenly notified by the monarch's private secretary that the meeting would not take place.
So Harry called her grandmother and she told him that she would be busy the rest of the week. The explanation, according to Harry, is that in the palace those who rule are the courtiers, to whom he blames much of the blame for his problems.
As with the Lady Di interview, today the British are divided. Most believe that the Sussexes' was inappropriate. But you don't have to probe to see the damage she did. On the one hand, it damages the reputation that British royalty has treasured, despite an abdication, three marital breakups in a single year (1992) and other scandals. Now, observers believe, that mystery that has woven the magic of the throne has been definitively torn apart. And although the couple treated the sovereign affectionately, in reality she received all the blows for being the head of the Crown.
