Dickson Igwe, Senior political contributor
The Meghan Markle story is part of the ongoing process of change in the west and a UK slow to enter the 21st Century.
The UK Royal Family is a symbol of UK nationhood and history. So, watching the Royal Family and it’s evolution is watching the UK itself and how the UK adapts to a swiftly changing world where the UK is no longer an imperial power.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and the Favorite grandson of Queen Elizabeth the Second is a Senior Royal. That means Harry is in the Inner Circle of the Royals with huge privileges as son and brother of Future Kings of England, in addition to being the Queen’s grandson.
The Royal Prince interestingly looks more like Royal Kings himself going back centuries. It is astonishing how the handsome prince looks like forbears such as King George, and the last Russian Tsar who was a cousin of Queen Victoria. In other words, in terms of possessing the blue blood of Royals, Harry is as Royal as they get.
Harry falls in love with a mixed race American divorcee called Meghan Markle. This was very much like when King Edward the Eighth fell in love with one American Divorcee Wallis Simpson that forced the former King to abdicate.
However, Harry is not King, as senior as the Royal Duke is.
Meghan Markle. Photo courtesy https://www.hellomagazine.com/
The British are obsessed with the Royal Family. And rightly so. The Royals are a real life soap opera who are symbols of a society rooted in privilege and social class. The Royals are also integral to the history of the UK. Albeit Empire no longer exists. However, the activities and narratives of the Royals are part of the daily life of the Briton.
Brexit, for all the evasion and obfuscation is underlined by a UK that has always been a highly prejudiced society, that is xenophobic and racist. That is a simple fact that most Britons black and white are fully aware of, even though it is the ”great unspoken.”
Meghan Markle described by the right wing British Press as uppity, hustler, opportunist, social climber, gold digger, and a host of epithets simply exposed the underbelly of the UK like Brexit has done. Black Britons like this Old Boy are not surprised at the fall out with a blue blooded royal marrying a woman of colour.
But there is a silver lining. Brexit, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, have exposed the change that is taking place in British society. Today the UK is being shaken to its roots. Prince Harry deciding to step back as a Senior Royal like the fall out from Brexit, is a reminder of great change in the UK.
The UK is an anachronistic place that dislikes change. Britons are naturally conservative. The UK is a center right country.
However great change is on the horizon whether Brits want change or not. Whether the UK post Brexit will survive in it’s present form is to be seen. Europe, for all its faults is much more change oriented today than a Post Brexit UK rooted in the past.
Prince Harry’s greatest legacy will most likely be as the Royal who first recognized that change was inevitable and swiftly decided that anachronism would destroy his life. Harry is the UK’s agent of change. And the Royal Prince would not allow anachronism and the petty mindedness of a racist and right wing press destroy his life: he was not having it.
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