What a gal! Ermine-edged poise and a creamy dollop of American vivacity
November 27, 2017
HELLO, Harry. Come in Harry. Speak up, Harry boy, have you lost your tongue? At their first joint interview as an engaged couple, it was Meghan Markle who provided the dazzling sparkle and most of the chat, while her prince charming looked on adoringly.
Meghan turned in a debut performance of supreme confidence and ermine-edged poise, of a type never before seen in a royal spouse-to-be of either sex. Like ever.
‘The Queen is an incredible woman,’ she nodded, as if speaking about some little old lady who’s still got all her own teeth and manages to get to the shops by herself once a week. Neither was she daunted by suddenly having Princess Diana’s personal diamonds on her finger.
‘She is with us,’ she said solemnly, as if she were now Prince Harry’s personal spirit guide to all the heavens and beyond, as well as his new fiancee. Well, she probably is all that — along with being the biggest thing to hit the Windsors since Wallis Simpson walked out and then Princess Diana walked in. Even the corgis have fallen in love with her.
The background to the interview was standard Kensington Palace dullsville; a white sofa, grey cushions, a lamp in the window, the bland hand of Kate prevalent in every fold of the soft furnishings. As a broadcasting event it was controlled and respectful, with camera angles that did not deviate from straightforward, waist-up portraiture. Harry could have been in a kilt and Meghan in silky hot pants for all we knew.
Still, during the 20-minute interview, it was clear that the couple are as loved up as a pair of lovebirds in a love nest on Love Island on International Love Day. They exchanged mutual molten looks. Despite this, there were moments when Meghan seemed rather motherly towards Harry. ‘So nicely said,’ she praised him, when he explained that they would be tackling life together ‘as a team’.
What a gal! She sure plops a creamy dollop of pure American vivacity on to the staid sundae of British royal life, even if one had to wade through the occasional treacle ripple of her California-speak.
She said that she and Harry got to know each other in an ‘authentic and organic way’, and they had spent time ‘nurturing our relationship’. She also talked of differences living in the UK straight ‘outta the gate’, of their ‘boots on the ground’ approach.
I get the impression she thinks this is some darling theme park with rides, possibly in the Caribbean.
Remember how Diana Spencer and Kate Middleton went into their engagement announcement appearances like shy lambs, beating back the panic behind their Bambi eyes, as they stuttered over the stumbling words that told us what their hearts meant?
In comparison, Meghan was articulate, poised and confident, far more blooming rose than shrinking violet. She is fascinating, irresistible, and probably exactly what Harry needs in his life.
When interviewer Mishal Husain spoke to the royal bride-to-be about her ‘new husband’, the Prince actually shivered with pleasure at the words. ‘Ohh, that sounds nice, doesn’t it?’ he said.
MISS Husain managed just the right tone, authoritative and cheerful, without being obsequious. She even managed to ask Meghan about royal babies, which must have stuck in her feminist craw. She was the Prince’s choice of interlocutor, an inclusive pick of which his fiancee would approve.
Meghan is a noted equality campaigner, a feminist with a special interest in gender equality and women’s rights — well, as much as any woman who has just given up her career to marry a prince can be. We learned that theirs was a relationship built on cosy nights in, on roast chicken dinners and long country walks.
They were candid about spending nights in a tent together under the Botswana stars, as brazen an admission of pre-marital royal sex as we have ever heard. And so begins a new chapter in the Royal Family, with a woman who is not what you might expect. No boring Sloane or weedy aristo. She is an actress and a star; double good.
The pressure and spotlight won’t come as a shock, and it helps that she is an independent woman who has made a success of her life and learned how to deal with fame.