The lives of Royalty, the non-royals who would interact with them (and even join them by marriage), and the public who bothers to observe their activities regardless of intent, all form a complex web of relationships. American actress Meghan Markle was quite the spectacle and attention magnet since getting involved with Prince Harry. This culminated in their 2018 marriage and the 2019 birth of their first child. But their January 2020 decision to “step back” as senior members of the British Royal Family caused some souring of perception against the now-Duchess of Sussex, allegedly from the other Royals and assuredly from many vocal British public.
But as the Royal Couple, currently based in Los Angeles, try to live their private lives in the midst of extraordinarily trying times, some rapprochement might be seen in a blitz of greetings from British Royalty’s official social media accounts this past Tuesday. August 4 was, as Entertainment Tonight might remind, the birthday of Meghan Markle, wife of Prince Harry and (“non-working”) Duchess of Sussex. On the occasion of her thirty-ninth, the greetings issued forth from social media pages of kensingtonroyal (William and Kate, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge), theroyalfamily (Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip) and clarencehouse (Prince Charles and Camila, Duchess of Cornwall).
A reading of the greetings on the Instagram edition of these pages would suggest a neutral tone for Meghan, smiley use aside. It is understandable however, since the accounts are actually managed by publicity staff for the Royals concerned, and they merely spin messages that reflect opinions of their patrons while still remaining appropriate for public reading. Back in July Prince William even revealed that they are discouraged by the staff from personally posting on their official social media. The Duke of Cambridge’s sudden (personal) May 2019 tweet on @KensingtonRoyal, praising a game by Liverpool FC soccer team, was actually a breach of communication protocol.
Where exactly the ties between stepped-down Royals Harry and Meghan, and the rest of the Prince’s family would stand now, months after the initial breakaway, would take a more in-depth analysis much like an upcoming book about the incident by Royal Reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, releasing August on bookstores in the UK. Meanwhile, the speculation is that Harry, Meghan and their son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor will be spending more time privately away with themselves, which considering COVID lockdowns is a sensible course of action.
Image courtesy of The Mirror
Morgan Magazine 