Tim Stanley
As the Duke swaps the English aristocracy for Hollywood meritocracy, he might struggle to fit in
The royal departure deal feels like a mini-abdication: no public funds, no HRH, no royal duties, no representing the Queen and the Sussexes have to pay rent if they want to go on living at home. Even my parents never made me do that.
It’s all very different from what the Duke and Duchess posted on their website a few days ago proposing a half-in, half-out business arrangement that, upon reflection, looks stunningly naive. The Palace has obviously said: “Sorry, but it’s all or nothing,” and they get almost nothing except their celebrity and the freedom to cash in on it, which must have its consolations. In short: “You can host the Oscars but not as HRH.”
The deal offers something to everyone – almost. It’s good for the monarchy because it allows it to define its borders. If the Sussexes had been permitted to come and go at will, not only would their own status have been unclear but a degree of institutional integrity would have been lost, too: imagine a pope announcing that he’s pope on weekdays but would like the freedom to spend the weekends with his wife and children. The Church and the Crown are not “jobs”, they are vocations that define every part of your life for your entire life. This had to be made clear.
But even without being called Royal Highness, one is still a royal by birth, and Meghan Markle became one by marrying Harry – so the deal is fine for her, too. She has lost nothing. On the contrary, she gains material for a darn good book, along with the greatest honour that Hollywood can bestow: Meghan has landed a voiceover in a Disney project (in exchange for a donation to charity).
What about Harry? Well, I hope the public will be kind. He has walked away from one set of responsibilities, it’s true, but he did so to honour another – being a father and a husband – and that’s worth respect. Plus, of all the people taking a gamble here, the greatest is Harry’s. I have no doubt that he is self-possessed and has a clear idea of what he wants to do (his service to the Army and charity proves that, so don’t ever call him self-indulgent), but he is leaving a structured, cloistered existence within a very narrow social circle in England for a ruthless North American meritocracy that will be thousands of miles apart in attitudes and culture.
I lived in Hollywood for roughly a year; I really like Hollywood people. They might seem vapid but most of them come from absolutely nothing and are self-made – and they are often intellectually sophisticated. Harry has two A-levels and likes playing polo. The only polo in Los Angeles is the Ralph Lauren store on Rodeo Drive.
Once the mystique of the monarchy is removed from someone they inevitably become diminished. I’m sorry, really sorry, it’s just what happens. When the Obamas met the Sussexes in the past, the honour was the Obamas’, but now, if they meet again, the honour will belong to the Sussexes because Barack and Michelle are Harvard graduates who ran the most powerful nation on earth, whereas Meghan does voiceover work and Harry, er...
“Remind me, Harry, what do you do?”
Oh Harry, lovely Harry, you did all this wrong! If you were going to walk away, you should have run away and made it romantic and tossed your titles in the river. If this was 1968, you and Meghan would disappear and reappear in Marrakech, living in a riad with flowers in your hair and nappies on the line, looking beautiful and radical.
The Sussexes say they want to move in a “progressive” direction, and it’s fascinating how the meaning of that word has changed over time. We knock the Sixties, but at least the flower-power radicals took risks and gave things up – at least Jane Fonda had the guts to support the Black Panthers and meet the Viet Cong.
Hanoi Jane is 82 now and she is still getting arrested: she was clapped in irons again last month while protesting in Washington DC.
But when a rich celeb goes woke in 2019, they rarely join a picket line or give away all their money; they call Trump a fascist and adopt a koala. It’s an odd complaint for a conservative to make – that revolution ain’t what it used to be – but for all the errors of the Sixties, I admire that generation’s “all or nothing attitude”. The closest we have to it now is the green movement, but even that has to compromise here and there. I bet Harry and Meghan used up a few air miles during this family crisis.
The most self-giving person in all of this is also the quietest. I refer, of course, to the Queen. She was at church on Sunday, always on time, without a hair out of place or a hint of melancholy, despite everything she has been through. Kids nowadays call this sort of behaviour “fake” because she doesn’t share her feelings on the internet, but actually it’s a special kind of integrity.
The Queen has devoted her life to maintaining a way of existence, to service and duty. She is the most privileged person in the land but, apparently, free of ego. She has never let us down. That’s why we need her more now than ever.