What’s the bombshell in the Harry and Meghan book? That the royals are all as bad as each other.
The bizarre edifice that the British public and media have constructed to maintain this deranged pretence about the relevance of the royals was in full view this weekend when the papers published extracts of Finding Freedom, a book about Nelson Mandela’s time on Robben Island. Wait, I’m sorry – I mean the time Harry and Meghan escaped the prison of subsidised luxury to live in Tyler Perry’s mansion in Los Angeles.
Confirming that a member of the royal family is a snob is like getting excited about the pope’s Catholicism or, perhaps more aptly, bears’ woods-based activities. If William was not a snob, he would throw up all over himself every time he introduced himself. There would be no way he could possibly justify his existence to himself if he was not an absolute raging snob, and the same goes for every stupid member of his stupid family. Just in case anyone might be banking on Prince Edward’s proletarian tendencies.
Look, many things can be true at once, as true as they are obvious. Are the Windsors awful, riddled with snobbery, sexism and racism? Yes! Were they unfriendly to Meghan? Undoubtedly. Did Harry and Meghan have a ludicrously cushy deal in the UK? Yes. Do they now? Yes. And do they seem to not really appreciate that? Well …
Contrary to what fairy tales might have taught us, people – even princes – don’t have to be either all good or all bad. What we have here is a big pile of flawed humans. That’s all they are. And if they ever thought they were more than that, the fault lies with us for believing that, too.
