Harry marrying Meghan is a sign

FORGET the rugby and the football this weekend, and ignore the weather; for many South Africans, there’s only one show in town: Prince Harry is marrying Meghan Markle. This may be the 21st century and South Africa hasn’t been a British dominion for almost 57 years, the UK royal family still retains an incredible attraction – maybe even as much as it does for Americans, who overthrew British rule in a bloody civil war 242 years ago.

The allure owes as much to the longevity and unshakeable grace of the matriarch, Queen Elizabeth, as to the soap opera tendencies of her children, namely her son, Prince Charles, Harry’s father.

The world was entranced by Charles’s courtship of a young Princess Diana, mesmerised by her growth as a mother, and devastated by her death. Today, her youngest son hopefully weds his queen of hearts.

But it’s much more than being engrossed in the schmaltzy escapism or the spectacle of a forgotten imperial power, one that hasn’t lost its ability for pomp and pageantry;there’s also the very real symbolism that today holds.

For a long time, especially during the depths of Diana’s ostracism, the British royal family appeared deeply anachronistic and irrelevant.

They famously threw their own king to the wolves for having the temerity to marry an American divorcée.

Yet, today, Harry, gets to do just that. He will not only marry a divorcée who’s a famous actress, he’s also marrying a woman of colour in a society where racist prejudice remains.

It is a signal about how times have changed, and so much for the better. The world needs heroes and romance. We wish Harry and Meghan everything of the best in their life together.