Comment by Frank Leavers
Prince Harry - the slightly dim but reliable spouse!
What to say? Words like - cringeworthy and contrived spring to mind, but what struck me was the dynamic between the couple.
Meghan played her role to perfection, a composed woman complete with hand holding and occasional sideways glances at her husband in a way her late mother-in-law would have been proud of - it has to be said that it was a bravura performance by an actress playing a wronged woman.
But what of Prince Harry? Did you also get the impression like me that he was somewhere else completely, as two determined and very ambitious women set about deconstructing his raison-d’etre i.e. his reason for being? It was as if Harry wasn’t there, his occasional contributions were mostly to underline and confirm any perceived wrong - or slight inflicted upon his wife by his family and was reduced to the role of slightly dim but reliable spouse.
Could it be that behind all this angst, is the fact that being a royal duchess didn’t quite match up to her Hollywood aspirations? For let’s face it, if royalty believes itself to be a special institution; so it indeed does showbiz California style.
Comment by Shirley Roberts
The Interview
Meghan and Harry gave us a master class on over - sharing. I am a big fan of Oprah Winfrey but this interview was not her finest hour. Every family I know has its issues and people mop up after their families every day.
The facts were in short supply in this interview and the ‘gut feelings’ were allowed to play out. Problem with ‘feelings’ is they are hard to challenge. This was a war between fact and feeling.
The ‘entitled’ amongst us seem to think that their soap opera lives including money and a high rolling life are interesting. I am very sorry for the mental health issues that Harry and Meghan have. Do I think these should have been played out in big celebrity style? No I do not.
I was interested enough to watch the interview amongst checking my emails, making coffee and examining the wall paper. Harry and Meghan have enough of everything to contribute to their happiness if they are ready to let go of their massive over thinking.
They are in a wonderful position to do so much better for their children than their parents ever did for them. I hope they accept that challenge; it is the relationship with their children which matter now.
Comment by Wendy Uruqhart
The reality of Royalty
First of all, let me admit right off the bat that I am not a Royal fan and the hullabaloo over Oprah’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan frankly leaves me cold.
The couple made a mountain of allegations against the Royal Family, which included racism, being cut off financially and claims that Prince Charles stopped taking Prince Harry’s calls when they stepped back from royal duties.
Meghan told Oprah that she knew nothing about royal life or what was expected of her when she became part of the firm, but she was 36 years old when she married Prince Harry and a quick flick through Google would have revealed pretty much all she needed to know.
Her revelation that she felt lonely and had suicidal thoughts but got no help from the Royal Family is really shocking.
It was abundantly clear after the death of Princess Diana that the British royals are not the warm and fuzzy type but you’d think they’d have learned from the mistakes they made back then.
Harry and Meghan also revealed that they got married in a private ceremony three days before their public wedding in May 2018, which cost British taxpayers around £33 million!
Comment by Laura Stadler
Meghan the Trojan Horse
I’m outraged, totally incensed at this attack on our ever-dignified monarchy. But not surprised. In 2018 during Meghan’s visit to Wimbledon with sister-in-law Kathrine I carefully studied the new addition.
“OMG the royal family have a Trojan horse in its midst” I declared to the Royal Correspondent standing next to me. Sadly, my unfailing intuition has been proved correct.
I had been so excited and proud of our Monarchy for welcoming a divorced woman, especially a woman of colour into the family. Seeing Meghan’s elegant mother treated with total respect by all. But where were the white side of her family? I questioned. Why did she want them invisible?
Watching the Sunday interview, I was constantly aware of an accomplished actress spurting well-rehearsed lines for maximum impact. Was it the truth or simply her perception of it? Note the most incendiary of revelations about a royal member privately discussing the colour of her unborn child was to Harry, not directly to her. “That was relayed to me from Harry.” she confirmed.
I abhor and have actively worked against racism. But have learned you cannot stop uneducated, bigoted people expressing their personal distasteful views. Anyone in the limelight is an exposed victim, and Meghan knew that from the very start.
She was aware she would be bound by royal protocol, which she appears to have resented from the start. Petty perhaps, but she deliberately flouted Wimbledon’s decades of tradition by wearing totally inappropriate clothes in the Royal Box, even later making a statement by being refused entry into the Debenture Lounge for wearing jeans.
I also don’t buy that she was refused help with her distressed mental state. Harry works for various relevant charities. Surely, they could have found some discreet advice. And please don’t quote Diana. Diana was suffering the devastating pain and loneliness of unrequited love with three in her marriage.
Personally I see in Meghan, a woman not content to escape to a multi-million pound mansion in LA with a loving, totally besotted, amenable husband to live in grateful obscurity. Instead I see a spiteful lady out for revenge, hurling a grenade at a world respected institution causing a grievous and dangerous divided fissure at a time when unity is needed more than ever.