After binging The Crown on Netflix, I became completely obsessed with The Royal Family. In a post binge slump, I watched, read and listened to anything that broadened my knowledge on the world’s most well known family. If you asked, I could go on extensively about the theories following Diana’s death, I could tell you in detail why I think Prince Charles will never become king and I can even tell you the story about Queen Elizabeth’s coronation dress. After seeing that Harry and Megan would tell their story to Oprah, I began counting down the days. This was the first time a member of the royal family would speak so openly. As expected, it was emotional and shocking; despite having a lot to say, I narrowed it down to the top moments from the interview.
First, what I thought was interesting was rather than saying The Royal Family, they referred to them as The Institution. As many know, the Family is quite cold, but referring to them as The Institution made the relationship feel detached and inhumane. After doing further research, I found that the so-called Institution is the “senior courtiers and advisor headed by The Queen.” This Institution was said to have told Meghan that seeking help for mental health problems would not be a good look. I don’t believe this was The Queen’s doing, in fact in the interview Meghan references how caring The Queen was. The Queen wouldn’t have been the one to say this, but rather “those who force tradition and rules upon the family. It’s the church, the personal assistants and the government.” I believe that while heading The Institution, I also think The Institution, being traditional, is also misogynistic; most likely silencing the Queen and other members in order to maintain prestige. Following the interview, which aired on Sunday, March 7th, The Queen released a statement saying how saddened she was with the way Harry and Meghan were treated. Of course, I am sure The Queen sympathized with Meghan, but she is still a part of the very Institution which oppressed so many. The Institution knew if nothing public came out, the Royal family would lose a lot of respect due to the importance of normalizing mental health issues.
On the topic of discomfort towards mental health in the Royal Family, we must talk about Princess Diana’s fight with an eating disorder and depression. Besides Meghan, she was the only other member to openly discuss what she went through. But as we know, the Royal Family never acknowledged her struggle. I am currently reading Diana’s book and have watched the documentary based on her secret interviews, the similarities are eerie. Harry even said he was worried that “history would repeat itself.” Both Diana and Meghan saw no escape from the very people who were supposed to protect and support them. Throughout the interview Meghan kept repeating, “they were supposed to protect me.” During her time, Diana feared they wouldn’t, in fact, she suspected something bad happening. Diana was not brought up as much as I thought she would be but they did say, “We have each other, my mother had no one.” That was really powerful, especially considering that it was his own father who contributed to her misery. A touching moment was how one of Diana’s friends was one of the only people Meghan could confide in. I hope that their public discussion of mental health can open up new conversations among Royals, especially for the young ones who will have to grow up in such a strict life.
Additionally, I can’t talk about their questionable behaviors without addressing the racism. As we’ve known, The Royal Family has always been racist. They’ve acted disrespectfully towards Native tribes in the common wealth and of course and have been proven to have familial ties with Hitler and Nazi Germany during WWII. Even when Meghan was set to enter the family, her race was a big issue. When Meghan opened up on the discussion of Archies skin color among the family, I was shocked but ultimately not surprised. Meghan would not disclose who had this conversation because it would be detrimental to their character, but since then, I’ve seen theories on who that could be. Many people think it is Prince William, Future king. He’s only had a cheating scandal that was quickly shut down, other than that he has a clean slate. Charles can’t be the one because of his behavior not just towards Diana but in general, such as giggling during traditional ceremonies. Prince Andrew is also ruled out because of his connections to Jeffery Epstein and the sex trafficking ring which included minors. If you don’t know the story about that, please read about it. Prince Andrew claimed he had nothing to do with it and would help the investigation, but has not done anything since. Many believe that the Royal Family will draw attention to Meghan and Harry’s situation in order to distract from Prince Andrew’s. But, we are crossing conspiracy theory territory, let’s go back to the facts. The Royal Family, specifically The Queen has come out saying they will do an in-depth investigation into the racism and has also said that those types of comments will not be tolerated. I still don’t know how genuine that is, I want to expect the best but, again, this family has an incredibly racist past.
Lastly, I didn’t realize just how much the media glorified Kate and villainized Meghan. Kate tenderly caressed her baby bump like the wonderful mother she is, but Meghan is vain and can’t keep her hands off of it. Kate’s go to morning sickness remedy is avocados, but when Meghan eats one it’s linked to human rights abuse and drought. William and Kate will be spending Christmas with Kate’s family, how fun! But when Meghan decides to spend Christmas apart with the Royal Family, she hurts the poor Queen. Kate’s wedding flowers were perfect but Meghan’s nearly killed Princess Charlotte. Of course, we can’t forget about how tabloids said Meghan made Kate cry when the opposite occurred. This shows that the British elite’s both in the Institution and in the media are still inherently racist. The very least the Institution could’ve done was support Meghan like they do with the rest of the family. Whether they like it or not, her husband and her son are connected to the family by Royal blood.
It’s quite interesting how one of the most well-known and powerful families in the world has so many hidden secrets- secrets I know we can’t even imagine. An important thing to remember is to draw attention to Prince Andrew, he’s the one deserving negative media attention, not Meghan Markle. The Royal Family could make a lot of changes to the world if they wanted to. Instead, they put on a charitable facade when in reality all they care about is a prestigious image and the bloodline. Having a person of color in the family and supporting her publically could lead to much change and acceptance in the world. They have the power to acknowledge their flawed past, but instead release mediocre statements for the British media in hopes that it will be enough to silence the public.
https://meaww.com/royal-family-called-institution-internet-reactions-meghan-markle-oprah-suicide