How on earth will lobbing yet more grenades help heal the rift?
Only nine days ago, Meghan and Harry launched several bazookas in the direction of the Royal Family with the assiduous assistance of Oprah Winfrey, firstly on CBS in America and then on ITV.
Tens of millions of people watched as Meghan alleged that an unidentified member of the Royal Family was racist, while Harry accused his father both of financial meanness and refusing to take his calls. Poor Prince William was said by Harry to be ‘trapped’.
As family spats go, this was a humdinger. Many people on the receiving end of such public insults from close relatives might prefer not to talk to them for a fair while.
But, to their credit, Prince Charles and Prince William did not sit roasting. They appear to have picked up the telephone over the weekend to speak with hotheaded Harry. It seems they both love and care for him.
And what was their reward? CBS presenter Gayle King – a close friend of Meghan, as well as of Oprah Winfrey – informed the world yesterday that Harry had spoken on the phone with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, jeopardising the peace process as she spilled the beans.
Ms King boasted she had talked to the Sussexes, and got from them the ‘word that these conversations were not productive’. According to her, it was ‘frustrating’ for Meghan and Harry that everyone was talking about the charge of royal racism.
All they had ever wanted was for the ‘royals to intervene and tell the Press to stop with the unfair, inaccurate, false stories that definitely have a racial slant’. It appears that neither Charles nor William was keen to take up the cudgels on their behalf.
I suppose we should consider the possibility that Gayle King is an out-and-out fantasist who imagines the thoughts whirling through Meghan’s mind. But it seems most unlikely. Apart from anything else, the Sussexes have not contradicted her account.
no, she was speaking as Meghan’s spokeswoman – and Harry’s too, I fear – in what almost amounts to an infringement of privacy by a couple who are forever complaining about media intrusion. yet once again they have spoonfed an American broadcaster.
Appearances can be deceptive, but if Prince William’s glum face yesterday was any guide, he was seriously cheesed off by the Sussexes’ breach of confidentiality. One can understand his feelings.
Why has Meghan, with Harry presumably at her side, chosen to lob another grenade at the Royal Family just as Charles and William were recovering from the last assault?
For her calculated intervention will surely make the resumption of peace talks between the two sides more difficult. It could widen the gulf, and increase a justifiable sense of betrayal in royal circles.
Meghan is evidently an intelligent woman, who is well aware of the likely consequences of Ms King acting as her mouthpiece. If she is prepared to risk the further souring of relations with the Royal Family, one can only assume it is because she has another motive.
Basking in the approval of millions of Americans after her Oprah Winfrey interview, and now an international celebrity in her own right, she is evidently prepared to go on undermining the Royal Family until or unless it comes to heel.
Her request for its help in her self-serving war against the Press is manifestly absurd. She – I should say Gayle King – accuses the Press of still running ‘unfair, inaccurate, false stories that definitely have a racial slant’ without (as usual) citing a single instance.
The truth is that in Meghan’s view any criticism of her must be racist. This is a wild and ridiculous assertion – which does not prevent it from being shared by her uncritical admirers.
How will this end? It seems increasingly unlikely that the wounds Meghan has caused, and continues to cause, will easily be healed. She gives no indication that she wants to heal them.
From her spokeswoman Gayle King she received this implausible encomium. ‘you know, she’s really a very sweet, caring person. And, as I say, Meghan has documents to back up everything that she said on Oprah’s interview. Everything.’
That is certainly good to know. We await proof of her contention that she was married in secret three days before their wedding in Windsor. Documents confirming ‘several conversations’ when she was pregnant about ‘how dark [her baby’s] skin will be when he’s born’ will also be fascinating.
THERE is, of course, one person who can help restore Meghan’s sense of proportion, tighten her grip on reality, and rebuild bridges with the Royal Family. And that is her husband.
Harry can’t want this increasingly messy and unpleasant estrangement from those he still loves. I don’t believe he can look forward to living as a celebrity, albeit one junior to his wife, in a foreign country, forsaken by his family.
There were wise words yesterday from former First lady, Michelle Obama. She spoke of the importance of public service, and insisted that ‘there’s nothing more important than family’.
yes, wise words. But will Meghan – and Harry in particular – listen? I fear this story may have the unstoppable momentum of tragedy. Prince Charles and Prince William were right to pick up the phone. If they get the same treatment again, next time could be the last time.