Meghan, The Prince, The Queen and Oprah, and 10 Take-Aways

I watched the interview of the year with Prince Harry and his American wife, Meghan Markel. There were surprises for (Lady) Oprah as Meghan revealed suicidal thoughts, confinements, and a loss of power and privilege bestowed upon the royal couple. But some of the surprises were not surprising, they were expected. In the name of transparency, Oprah shared the conditions of the interview, the couple was not paid, the questions had NOT been previewed, and the interview was to be candid. Oprah did not reveal that she presold the interview to CBS-TV for $9 million and they, in turn, licensed it to British television. And 30-second commercials sold at a rate of $325,000. To date, the interview has been seen by 17.3 million in the states and 12 million in Britain via traditional television network viewing. And more is to come with streaming and the like.

The conversational interview was insightful and beautifully done outside on the garden patio of a lovely California home, where Oprah lives up the road and the couple from Windsor lives down the road. The interview was superbly done with Oprah doing what she does best in an interview that makes her the master of all times with a global chat. She asked questions like a drill sergeant or a prosecuting attorney on a witness stand, inquiring about living within the Monarchy. Meghan was interviewed first and then joined by her husband Harry for two hours of true confession. They were factual, polite, enlightening but Harry was guarded about his family still.

Here’s my ten-point takeaway from the insightful interview. Meghan reveals she was unprepared to be the Princess with the proper title, The Duchess of Sussex. She was guessing what it all meant and had not even been groomed to curtsy to the Queen, her new grandmother-in-law. She was foreign to the British Royal Family protocols by her own admission. This is hard to believe. As she lived a staged elaborate fairy tale wedding ceremony that billions watched worldwide and with the massive media coverage that was given to Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, what was she thinking. Rule number one in a new marriage, know the family you are marrying into, particularly if you are marrying into the 1200-year-old aristocracy of the Monarchy.

1. Meghan Markle/American/Actress/Black Woman

Did she or anyone else, really think that the beautiful Black bride was going to be taken in by the Royals with absolute open arms? The Royals have not represented diversity and inclusion in their ranks. So that they don’t have to accept all, they marry each other, to keep the Crown safe and the bloodline pure. The Monarch is a business, the business is wealth, power, and ceremony at the height of privilege. Princess Diana was of the upper class, with title, but even she didn’t fit as a young girl marrying into the upper layer of British society.

2. Horses/Hunting and Hats

The “Royals” like women who ride horses and who go on fox hunts. Ask Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (married to Charles, Prince of Wales) if you would like. Hats and gloves are a must for proper dress attire, which all must abide by. The Royals do not favor contemporary, independent, fashionable, beautiful women. The royals like frumpy. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The Royals have a history of punishing the “outcast.”

3. Total Perception vs Reality

The “Royals” are concerned with perception not reality. You act and live for your country, not for yourself. The country is first and everything else follows. The Royals have traditions, strict protocols, and a sense of duty as they exist. This is instilled and groomed from birth. That’s why outsiders don’t function well within the Kingdom. Harry is a Prince at birth. Meghan was not playing the game and was an intrusion on the “Image” of the “Firm” or the “Institution” of the Brits from the very beginning.

What’s a Black girl to do who has moved up the social ladder? It’s not like she moved to a better neighborhood. Her marriage was a game-changer in multiple ways on a world stage. Prince Harry said in an interview once that he didn’t know racism existed. How could he? Simply, said, Meghan was not acculturated into British society let alone the Royals. She was an immigrant.

The Queen is not about to allow an American woman of any stripe, disturb or disrupt the kingdom where she dominates. The rules of being around the Queen are simple, do what she does and as she does it. When she eats, you eat. Not before. When she completes her meal, your meal is completed.

The Queen is demanding and commanding, her will be done. Her wealth is a closed secret but the estimation is at $668 million. And then there’s the power, that goes with the Family of Windsor. The House of Windsor and all within are the epitomai of “white privilege” as they exist in the lap of luxury with Roll Royces and Jaguars. Carriages for special occasions and jewels are the official order of the day.

The Queen threw her sister Margaret under the bus when she wanted to marry a divorced man, a man she loved. In 1936, Uncle Edward III abdicated the throne to marry the woman he loved, American divorcee Wallis Simpson. This left Elizabeth “accidentally” in line for the crown. The point here is to look at the history of “strangers” entering the Kingdom. The rule is Kingdom first, person second. The Royal Family is the essence of a “family business.” And what’s love got to do with it?

4. “Don’t Stay Where You’re Not Wanted”

So, after mistreatment, lies, and schemes against Meghan, the couple decided they might move elsewhere to live their lives. The British were cruel and unmerciful as they lied about Meghan in the press. She was unprotected. This is the same press that hounded Harry’s mother, Princess Diana. Meghan lives in her shadow and Henry sees her ghost haunting them. The young couple moved to Canada because it was still a part of the Commonwealth and they could serve their royal duties. However, the Queen the CEO of the Firm, or some higher up took away their title, their money, and their protection, when they decided to leave the kingdom. So, hello America. A surprise is that they lived in a home with protection provided by Tyler Perry until they figured out their American destiny. It was clear that Harry thinks Meghan could meet a bizarre death as did his mother.

5. Prince Harry = Royal Living

Prince Harry knows nothing but Royal Family living. He’s had a most privileged controlled life and upbringing, preparing for the throne if something should happen to his father or brother both destined to be King one day.

Harry is known as the “spare.” He has had to make quite the adjustment in the outside world living in America without family support or direction. During the interview, he said he was “trapped” as are his brother and father, unknowingly. He was very careful not to talk about his grandmother, whom he greatly respects and reveres.

Harry was a bit taken back when the family discussion was the color tone of his baby’s skin. But he would not disclose who the conversation was with. Why was this such a surprise? Oprah’s mouth flew open with this revelation. Why? Because the Brits are the founders of racism, classism, imperialism, colonization, and exploitation as they have reigned the world. Are they ready for Black blood directly in the family line? They took baby Archie’s title away, at birth, and he will never receive the “guarded projection” that comes with being a royal. They are treating him like a bastard.

6. Lost Titles and Replenished Pockets…

Then there is the economics of what it means to depart the Royal Family. First of all, they have lost their titles. Harry lost his military salary. His total worth is about $56 million, this is a combination of his military salary, inheritance from his mother and his great-grandmother. Their allowance was about $5 million a year that he splits with his older brother, Prince William. His mother Diana left him with about $6 million in pounds, equated to $7,759,712 in US dollars. He was not eligible to receive his inheritance until he was 30 years old, with investment earnings it was about $10 million in pounds, which equates to $11,938,018 in U.S dollars. This is the money that has allowed them to come to the states. And then they went to work. Netflix has presented them with a $100 million deal to produce children’s programming, feature films, docuseries, and documentaries. So, maybe leaving the family business of royalty was not such a bad idea. Already it is paying off and Harry is reported to receiving about $1m per speaking engagement. So, don’t feel too bad for the poor rich kids.

7. Brown Paper Bag Test

Now about that baby. The royals are concerned about the skin tone of Harry/Meghan’s children, the mixed-race children. Meghan’s mother is an identifiable Black woman and her father is a white male. Meghan is a beautiful combination and could pass for white if she chose. Given the genealogy, the children will probably reflect white. Little Archie appears to be a white baby, but the daughter on the way might be a twitch of brown with red hair, but we don’t know and genes are funny that way. You don’t know what to expect, because genes often reach back a generation or two. Was the royal couple surprised that this was a concern amongst the family? Come on now. Really. How naïve. Does race rule over royalty or royalty over race???

8. Suicidal Thoughts…

Meghan reveals that her mental health was unstable. She was suicidal and afraid of being left alone, fearing that she may take her life. This was shocking to learn and again Lady Oprah’s mouth falls open, But Oprah missed the real question. “Did you call your mother?’ The question went unasked. Meghan says she went to the firm to request help and she was told no because “that’s the way things are.” So, here you are in a foreign land, with your new husband’s family, feeling mistreated and you don’t or won’t call your mom? That’s really hard to believe.

9. All That Glitters Is Not Gold…

So, the moral of the story is all that glitters is not gold. Meghan was a real modern-day Princess in love and married to the love of her life. YET having a fairy-tale wedding, living in a castle, beautiful clothes, looking regal and glamourous at all times, wearing expensive jewels, traveling the globe, and at the peak of the aristocracy, you are unhappy to the point of considering suicide.

10. Perception vs Reality…

What a life in real-time. As the interview revealed, perception is not necessarily reality and you can be trapped in what appears to be a “happy life and be miserable”. Meghan got a harsh awakening to recognize the difference between rude and racist. The British Family is racist at the end of the day. And the moral of the story is perception, perception, and perception matters.