Caught between love for family and love for wife
THE easiest thing would be to say, let them go. Leave with our blessing and we hope you live happily ever after.
But can Harry and Meghan actually make the break with Britain without it breaking them?
Or will they discover, in their new-found freedom, another set of walls to imprison them?
Courtiers and family members contemptuously dismiss their actions as a snub to the Queen and the institution of monarchy.
On the other side, the very vocal supporters of Meghan are shouting down anyone who expresses doubt about the royal couple’s future plans.
Often there are accusations of racism which, when looked at coolly, are largely without substance. But the anger is there. It truly is thewar of thewindsors.
We’ve known Harry through the good times and the bad.
Through the love and loss of his mother, difficult times at school, drugs and bad behaviour, he finally emerged as a brave and committed soldier and, out meeting the public, a bit of a card.
Public affection and sympathy for him reached new heights and, for a fleeting moment, opinion polls crowned him our most popular royal.
His wedding to Meghan was seen as a breakthrough for the Royal Family. Here, uniquely welcomed into their midst, was a woman neither white nor middle class. She’d succeeded as an actress and came towindsor with exceptional looks and an enviable social conscience.
In the new world we inhabit, it could not have been a more perfect match. But royalty, it transpires, is not for Meghan.
Royalty does not shout, it speaks quietly. It does not tell, it listens. Because of its colossal wealth, it has learned to act modestly. And it tries, above all things, not to give offence.
What it most certainly is not is a branch of showbusiness.
But the Duke and Duchess of Sussex intend to use their celebrity status to make money for themselves. What they want is, apparently, more red carpets, not fewer.
For many royalists, the drama now unfolding is nothing short of a tragedy – a young man in distress caught between love for his family and love for his wife.
Given the conventional path he followed up to his marriage, it’s fair to say that responsibility for this radical shift in direction must be laid at Meghan’s door.
He’s happy to follow her initiatives, but she, an American and a new arrival to royalty, can’t possibly understand how easy it is to cause offence.
Spending £2.4million of public money on a house you only occasionally occupy; preaching about carbon footprints while sailing through the skies in private jets; deciding how often and on what terms the nation can see your child; carelessly treating loyal and dedicated staff.
In Harry’s mind’s eye must be the picture of another second son, Prince Andrew, his life now a shambles. Harry wants to do more with his life and Meghan has shown him the way.
But that new way runs counter to the interests of the House of Windsor and if Harry insists on departing these shores without the Queen’s permission, he may face a permanent exile along the lines of the Duke ofwindsor’s after the 1936 Abdication.
The Royal Family is a team. It has to have all its members pulling in the same direction. Let’s hope Meghan and Harry see sense, that what they hope for can’t be done without a drastic rethink – but let’s give them the elbow room to make that decision sensibly.
‘For many this is a tragedy’