I thought that I could not be bothered to watch Oprah Winfrey's interview with Harry and Meghan last night, but then I changed my mind. Was it a fatuous waste of a couple of hours? No, not really, because if you care about the Queen and the survival of the Monarchy and were prepared to read between the lines, this was more than gratuitous entertainment.
Meghan did the first bit on her own whilst Harry sat listening out of shot, probably cringing. It must have been like watching a horror film from behind the sofa for him.
Most of what Meghan said was verging on unbelievable. Ok, I know she is an American, but she maintained that she did not have a clue about palace protocol and had no training in how to behave in front of Granny.
"You do know how to curtsy don't you?" Harry was supposed to have asked when standing outside the door ready to meet the Queen for the first time. He had, she said, to give him a swift lesson. A little later, they both admitted to watching some episodes of 'The Crown'. We knew they would be lying if they said they had not.
Oprah skilfully trundled the interview along until Meghan gifted her with the biggest bombshell since the Bashir session by over-playing the race card.
Without any warning for build-up, Meghan announced that a member of the family had openly speculated on the colour of their future children's skin. Oprah froze and took a second to understand the value of the allegation to the interview, then gasped, "WHAATT?!"
As soon as the words came out of her mouth she tried to swallow them. You could see the fear in her eyes and she probably saw Harry clutching his head and rolling around on the ground behind the camera.
With no scope for back-pedalling or down-playing, she fended off questions as to the identity of the close family member, leaving it open to speculation by the rest of the world's media, who - if it happened at all - will almost certainly blame the wrong Royal. My money is on Anne. She calls a spade a spade.
The second half was fairly predictable, with Harry slagging-off the rest of his family in a very undiplomatic fashion. He has finally got around to blaming everyone responsible for the sad life and death of his mother and vows not to put his wife and children through the same experience.
Someone said that the net result of this unwise interview will probably see Harry and Meghan lead a similar lonely life on the fringes of society as did Edward and Mrs Simpson.
Oh, and by the way, the interview got underway after Oprah instructed Meghan to declare that she received no payment for it at all. A real princess would never have discussed money in private, let alone on T.V.
I too thought I wouldn’t watch it... and then surprised myself by wasting hours of my life I will never get back. I agree with almost all you say although I am not a monarchist and just don’t understand the people that stand for hours to wave flags and try to catch a glimpse of someone.... with a handshake being the ultimate prize I guess . I have no sympathy for the couple, but do think that the whole family live such strange lives it isn’t surprising if most of them are a little bonkers ... and at the end of the day they are just a family who are probably as dysfunctional as many .
ReplyDeleteI a not a raving flag-waver in hope of a handshake (though I have shaken a few), I just hate the thought of Republicanism taking over from what already exists. After Charles 1st was executed, someone (I forget who) said they would not visit a country whose people killed their own king. The great thing about our royals IS that they are so fundamentally boring. Long may they remain so. Who wants interesting heads of state?
DeleteWould it have been called racist if the question had been "I wonder if the baby will have ginger hair"? Which he does actually appear to have from the little we have seen of him. Incidentally Princess Anne's two children have never had titles nor security.
ReplyDeleteYes, good point. I also wondered that. Gingers - like the Welsh - seem to be fair game at the moment, and have quite rightly taken a back seat in the light of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has taken a back seat for the last 400 years. It swings back and forth for good reason, and we really cannot moan about the extremes, one way or the other. As time goes on, Harry and Meghan will not need the security in any case. Their value will diminish in the eyes of extremists and kidnappers naturally as they disappear into relative obscurity.
DeleteOne good thing has already come out of all this. Piers Morgan has been sacked.
ReplyDeleteBetween the two, they should have seen this interview as a bad idea. Maybe they see the light today, albeit, a bit late. The interview was overall, "cringe worthy."
ReplyDeleteThe cringe-worthiness of it was the biggest selling-point.
DeleteI considered putting this under Rosemary's comment, but it's not my blog, so:
ReplyDeletePrincess Ann was not savaged by the press. Harry and Meghan also said there were death threats. And last, Princess Diana's life and death is a large and sad item for me, well before The Crown ever appeared.
Piers Morgan never impressed me. I watched his rant. Sacked, eh? Good.
Yes, Anne has managed to live an almost normal life and her children marry almost normal people. She has the best of both worlds. I still cannot believe the animosity that many people hold against Diana even now. I suppose it is a reaction against the mass hysteria following her tragic death. The right wing of this country believe that Piers Morgan represents their views in the same way that Trump represented the American cousins'. Ordinary people think he is vulgar and attention-seeking.
DeleteSorry, but I have to tell you that spade can be a very nasty slang word here in the good ole US. Having enjoyed your blog for many years, I know you are a very kind person and was not aware of this.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to tell you that - up until relatively recently - the term 'spade' was used here in Britain in an almost affectionate way and was universally accepted as such. Acceptable terms seem to change so frequently these days that some people are scared to open their mouths for fear of causing unintended offence. True racists are absolutely sure of what is offensive and what is not.
DeleteA fair and balanced post, Tom. They moved out because of media attention and now they are courting it. If they want to break away from the stifling and boring (and feather bedded) royal protocol, good luck to them. But just go away and SHUT UP! At least the old Duke and Duchess of Windsor did.
ReplyDeleteHarry is apparently now known in palace circles as "The Hostage".
That's true too - regarding the Windsors. 'The Hostage'? So the palace does have a sense of humour after all.
DeleteAn entertaining critique on the pair, they are like naughty rumbustious children shouting yah-boo over the water to us. Let us hope the Queen slaps them down ;)
ReplyDeleteI liked the Queen's comment about 'recollection' tending to vary. Very dignified in unedifying circumstances.
DeleteDarling Tom,
ReplyDeleteThere is at least one thing that we love about Hungary. It never pays for anything if it can possibly avoid doing so....as a result, we shall probably have to wait a decade before the interview is broadcast here. How sensible.
We should love to say "Harry and Meghan who?"....perhaps one day we shall. That will be the day that they are on television in Hungary.
They might hit rock-bottom and be compelled to sell their story to Hungary's T.V. network.
DeleteFinal thought: It seems every contentious issue divides people these days, but that is preferable to us all thinking the same thing.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely..that would be worrying.
DeleteI didn't see the interview, not really interested...but not many have picked up in the fact that George 3rd's wife, princess Charlotte, was a mulatto, descended from the Portuguese Alfonso 3rd and his African wife....so...what does that make the Windsor family?
I have a friend who lives in Charlotte's house here in Bath.
DeleteHet Tom, I would just like to point 2 things out that Harry, Meghan and Oprah missed.
ReplyDelete1, you are not allowed to get married outside in England, especially in your own garden. My niece wanted to get married in some woods on the land that my family used to own. The registrar told them they would have to get married in the offices and then have an officiant/celebrant in the woods. Which is what they did. You also have to have witnesses. So it is a bit like when Peta and Katniss in the Hunger Games, maybe that is where the idea came from.
2, You and I know, that it has nothing to do with colour as to why the great grandchild of the Queen is not a Prince. Neither are any of her other great grand kids who are not of a parent in direct line with the throne. This is a law over 100 years old, not something to spite them. The slimming of the Monarchy came long before Charles wanting it leaner. The researchers dropped the ball on both of those things.
I am extremely sad for all of them.
Money makes people do very odd things, even though they werent paid for this interview, their languishing podcasts and interest in their Netflix productions will now have more viewers.
Its going to be very hard for Charles to over come this all. Very sad indeed.
I am going to look into these things, but I have already heard that they were not privately married by the Archbishop of Canterbury a few days before the real event as claimed by Meghan. Personally I don't give a toss, but it is still interesting in the light of the interview.
DeleteI did not watch the interview. I saw enough snippets of it that I am prepared to disagree with your assessment of Oprah's skillful 'trundling'. It appeared to me that Oprah simply took whatever was said at face value. There were things that could have/should have been brought to light. The perfectly valid reasons on why Archie does not have a title or security. There are rules and there is protocol and that doesn't change because you are spoiled American. If it had been a fair interview, the other side of the coin would have been represented. Also, I was perfectly okay with Meghan and Harry decamping. Totally understood them wanted to leave that fishbowl existence for a quieter life. Except that they are not all that interested in a quiet life, it appears.
ReplyDeleteOprah was milking a very submissive cow. Having said that, I will now have to resign from my highly lucrative position as a social media influencer for a well known brand of older peoples' mortuary cosmetics.
DeleteWhen she asked, 'Who?' was interesting in that I thought there is NO WAY a name would be given. Did Oprah really think she'd get such information?
ReplyDeleteWorth a try.
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