Prince is charming with his bride-to-be
SO they’ve finally done it. America finally has one foot in Buckingham Palace and a royal to their name after Prince Harry’s engagement to US actress Meghan Markle.
Not only has the “special relationship” been strengthened but it has also cemented the States’ love affair with the fifth in line to the throne.
Americans adore the fact he is a flame-haired former wild child, who courted controversy by smoking cannabis and wearing a Nazi uniform to a party.
Even more are endeared to him as, while America is crippled by racial tensions, he has chosen a bi-racial, divorced actress to be his wife.
Americans view the Prince as charismatically impressive. Someone who is not afraid to ruffle a few feathers and a man who has made a clear statement against those prejudices by refusing to allow them to affect his personal choices.
Together, he and Meghan are taking the British monarchy – the most conservative of institutions– into a more modern era.
Here, their engagement more than anything underscores the recent shift in the Windsors which have created a legion of new fans in the States.
They are seen as a new generation of royals eager to project themselves as modern, inclusive and down-to-earth.
This latest set, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have in recent years tried to connect better with the public whereas the Queen has maintained a more traditionally aloof style.
But today, as Harry and Meghan plan their May nuptials all hint of the snobbery that first greeted them as a couple has gone.
Gone is the curiosity surrounding the mixed race, American actress as Britain now takes her to their hearts.
Not since Diana, Princess of Wales has there been this kind of interest from young people in a member of the royal family. In the era of Brexit and Trump – when we’ve seen an increase in racially motivated crimes, hateful rhetoric and fear mongering – this union is not only a bold antidote, it’s astonishingly political.
Just as Princess Diana broke down the stuffiest of royal traditions and conventions, her younger son and his new fiancee are modernising the royal household all over again. Prince Harry’s engagement with the Suits actress is not the first senior member of the royal family to fall in love with an American, nor one who has been married before.
But comparisons Edward VIII, who gave up the throne to marry divorced American Wallis Simpson, end there. hat makes this couple different is the way Harry has – with, it seems, the positive influence of Meghan – broken out of the tight constraints of royal protocol to discuss grief, mental health and share his searingly honest admission of not always wanting to be a prince. We live in strange times, with a US president who panders to right-wing hate, in a world that at time seems to have taken several steps back. So when a British prince goes against both royal and societal norms to propose to his biracial girlfriend, it’s worth note to look how far he had brought the Windsors.
Harry and Meghan will play an important role in the coming decades in ensuring Britain’s monarchy continues to flourish.
Their marriage will also strengthen the ties between the States and UK at a time when leadership on either side of the Atlantic is lacking.
W