Royal Rule book? Pah!
Hurrah for Harry and Meghan, a new type of royal couple
for everyone who grew up dreading that dull bit of Christmas Day when you had to watch the Queen’s speech, you will have a very specific idea of what royal means: duty-obsessed, buttoned-up and generally a bit, well, grey. Which is what makes Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship so startling. Since Harry’s wholly surprising – and very impassioned – public statement a year ago (more of which later), these two have persistently and irrepressibly flouted every convention, spending 2017 rewriting the royal rule book. And, oh, how we love it.
It was late last year when their romance was revealed. A prince and a US TV star – it was more romcom than any romcom but the darker side of the fairy tale soon surfaced. In the first of many maverick moves, Harry, 33, admitted he was very ‘worried and deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect’ his new girlfriend from the ‘sexism and racism’ she’d been subjected to. It was unheard of in the royal family to release a statement before an engagement, but it set the tone.
In April, Harry opened up about his struggles with mental health issues, telling campaigner Bryony Gordon that ‘losing my mum at the age of 12, and shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years has had a quite serious effect’. He admitted to having ‘years of chaos’ and described how he’d been ‘very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions’. He also credited his work with therapists for the ‘good place’ he is now in, and along with William, Harry has helped set up the charity Heads Together.
With a royal wedding announced for 19 May, there can only be more changes to come for the most change-averse family in history. Long live #Megha. This year was all about the multiples. Beyoncé and her husband Jay Z’s new arrivals – twins, Rumi and Sir Carter – turned up on 13 June, just a week behind George and Amal Clooney’s baby girl and boy, Ella and Alexander. June also saw Cristiano Ronaldo confirm the arrival of twins Eva and Mateo via a surrogate, while actress Jaime Pressly announced Leo and Lenon in October.
But the Kardashians managed to trump the whole lot with a group pregnancy. First came the news in August that Kim was having her third child with Kanye West, via a surrogate. Then news leaked in September that Khloé Kardashian was pregnant. And, days later, we found out so was Kylie. We’re expecting a very specific type of spin-off reality show in 2018, with lots of dummies and side-eye.