Has Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's "Summer of Controversy" Damaged the Monarchy?
It's been a scandal-filled summer for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and their latest eyebrow-raising moves are seen as a clear sign that they have no intention of giving in to the torrent of criticism they have received from certain factions of the British press. Harry and Meghan sparked the latest controversy by declining Queen Elizabeth's invitation to Balmoral, her Majesty's beloved retreat in the Scottish highlands. While the rest of the royals, including Prince William and Kate Middleton along with their children, made the annual pilgrimage to Balmoral, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their son, Archie Mountbatten Windsor, did not show up, initially for unspecified reasons. .
Now, some Palace insiders fear that Harry and Meghan, who were initially heralded as a modernizing force for the monarchy, have become "more of a drag than an asset," according to my royal source.
"They actually seem more determined than ever to flout the conventions and act like royalty only when it suits them," the source enraged. "In Britain, royals are not 'celebrities' and the public has certain expectations about their roles in society that the Queen and the rest of the family have always understood. They are funded by the British taxpayer. Prince Harry and the Duchess have angered many people with their perception of adopting a celebrity lifestyle that seems wildly inappropriate and inconsistent. "
When it became known that the couple would not be going to Balmoral, The Daily Mail's Jan Moir led the couple to task. "It may seem extraordinary that Harry does not want to visit his 93-year-old grandmother with her new baby, a Balmoral rite of passage that is an unconditional tradition within the family," he wrote. Moir added that it was "widely expected" that Meghan and Baby Archie would go to Balmoral this year, particularly since she did not make the trip last year while she was in the early stages of pregnancy.
A royal source told People magazine that the couple stopped visiting the Queen because they see her from her regularly, as they live very close to her on the grounds of Windsor Castle in her renovated home of hers in Frogmore. Cottage. Sources have also said that they have been kept busy planning their next Africa tour. Meghan also has plans to present the fashion capsule collection that she created with a close friend and designer. Misha Nonoo next week benefiting Smart Works, a charity that provides clothing and counseling to underprivileged women to prepare them to re-enter the workforce. (Meghan is the royal patron of the London-based organization.)
All of this would make sense, but it was later revealed that Meghan has found time to cross the Atlantic (on a commercial flight) for a surprise trip to New York, where she plans to see her friend. Serena Williams touching Bianca Andreescu at the US Open on Saturday.
"Meghan has made it quite clear that cultivating her relationships with her famous friends is more important to her than fulfilling her role as her royalty," my royal source said. "Harry has done nothing to prevent this from happening and, in fact, he seems to be perfectly fine creating these unnecessary public relations debacles that have been damaging to the family image. It's quite confusing for a lot of people here, really."
Harry, who has always been one of the most beloved members of the royal family, has even drawn the ire of even some of his staunch followers for his perceived disregard for following the unwritten rules of royal conduct. Royal expert and Majesty editor Ingrid Seward wrote in The Sun: "Why do you insist on returning that love to our faces?" Seward believes that the media has turned against the prince "because of his own attitude" from him. She claims that the British public wanted to be nice to Meghan, "but everything Harry does now seems designed to alienate us."
My source told me that things started to turn dramatically worse when the couple insisted on an elaborate "scheme" of secrecy surrounding the birth and christening of Baby Archie. "The elaborate ruse about where and when Meghan would give birth to her first child and then posting those stylized photographs on Instagram seems like something one would expect of Angelina Jolie, she's not a member of the royal family," sniffed the insider .
Then came the news that Meghan would be the guest editor for the September issue of British Vogue. It was reported that Meghan did not appear on the cover because she felt that she would be too "boastful", which was perceived as a slight directed at her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, who appeared on the cover of the magazine to mark the centenary of her. in 2016. Meghan's issue of British Vogue featured an interview with Harry and famed ethologist Dr. Jane Goodall, in which Harry revealed that he and Meghan planned to have "a maximum" of two children as a matter of social responsibility. The comments were interpreted as criticism of William and Kate, whose growing family now includes three children (Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.)
But Harry and Meghan's biggest public relations disaster of the summer occurred in August when outspoken environmentalists were reported to have taken four private jet flights in 11 days on a summer vacation, with baby Archie in tow. When asked if his actions contradicted his stance on climate change, Harry defended himself and said that he took the planes as a security measure to protect his family from him. "Nobody is perfect," he concluded. "We could all do better." The fact that the prince made those comments at an event in Amsterdam where he was launching a global project designed to increase sustainability within the British tourism industry caused even more outrage. In The Sun, Seward called the press conference "shameful", adding: "A little humility in Holland would have gone a long way toward making him the brave and popular prince that he once was."
"They don't help themselves with this kind of 'do what I say, not what I do' behavior," added my source. "There was so much excitement and hope at the time of their wedding. Now, instead of being one of the Crown's greatest assets, the Duke and Duchess have generated a lot of resentment and negativity that is reflected negatively on the family. This summer of controversy must have the Queen very concerned. " And for happier times with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, here are Harry and Meghan's most adorable couple moments.
