On many fronts, I have a compromised opinion of how Harry Mountbatten-Windsor and Meghan Markle live their lives. Some are due to the fact that I don't find their lives that interesting. BUT, I do love Harry. And yes as an American, I'm very proud of Meghan Markle.
My mom feels that Meghan knew who Prince Harry was and she should have been a help mate and rose to the occasion. I agree with my mother. I admire Meghan chutzpah to marry into the British royal family. But the two of them just quitting their highfalutin jobs as senior royals is quite bold.
One reason the formerly royal couple fled to California is the British Tabloid press. The British tabloid press from my perspective across the Atlantic is composed of different girls baring their bosoms on say page 4, day after day or week after week. Any news content is composed of what nasty things we can say to bring the mighty down. I'm sure someone who rescues a cat or dog is featured in every issue. Kind of like Twitter all nailed down without the oddball posts like "my cat just died, can I get a few follows".
Ahem, we have tabloids in the States minus the perky bosoms. We are a bit prudish in the States. Our movie stars have a skinny strip of fabric over their nipples when they wear a daring gown at a posh award's show. If you don't hear an F-bomb imploding on a American film, you may need to get your hearing checked. It is only a matter of time we have a cute little ditty for children to sing along with the f-bomb.
An American celebrity who is from Britain is Sharon Osbourne. When Meghan and Harry first came to North America, she predicted they would be interviewed by Oprah. I remember listening to her comment and she clearly had a dog in the fight and felt keenly protective of the royal family and tradition.
Personally, I feel everyone has the right to quit a job they hate. Despite the luxury that comes with being a member of a royal family, I don't think I would enjoy the limelight nor the job either. So I am sympathetic to the two. I'm very happy for the two.
Now why are Americans so interested in the British royal family. For me, it's the fact that they still exist. Fairytales can be real. All the romanticism of King Arthur and Knights of the round table lived in my childhood home.
I got a chair out of a pile of garbage in the neighborhood I grew up in. I recognized what the chair was. An 88 year old woman I knew when I was about 25 had one. It was her grandmother's nursing chair. I took this found chair to the Antique Roadshow when it was in Raleigh, NC. The Keno brothers teased me a bit in they speculated on what had chewed the deer hide seat. I knew it was worthless from the banter which they later confirmed. But they did share the chair was probably from the early 1800's.
I'm a lover of what could be, what could have been. I loved fantasy and science fiction when I was in my twenties. Now, not so much, I've moved onto reality, non-fiction, memoirs or sounds like it could have happened fiction.
I'm not ready to part with my chair. I still think of the woman who used it. In studying my family history, people had 15 kids and those kids had 15 too. I'm sure the chair was well used. I will pass the chair to either a much younger history buff family member or sell it to a collector of primitive furniture who can appreciate what it is hopefully for someone else in the distant future.
But the future can be quite good and bad for us all and my precious chair. Only time will tell if Harry and Meghan made a good choice and even then they can't go back and relive an alternate life without a bit of pain mixed with the good. But a friend of mine who cancels out her husband's vote in most elections said that she and her husband agreed about Harry and Meghan. I decided not to ask the conclusion.
I don't plan to watch the interview but my mother will. So I will hear bits and pieces. The news will carry anything salacious. In regards to accusations of Meghan bullying staff members at Buckingham Palace; Meghan and Harry are here to stay. It is all over but the shouting as they say.
I really don't give a rat's fundament about the Royal Family. Any of them. In my eyes they are (or should be) an irrelevancy. I couldn't cope with the constant scrutiny that their every action attracts. That said, Harry and Meghan seem to me to be having their cake, banking their cake and eating it too. They have stepped away from their role (which they assuredly have a perfect right to do) but still retain many of the privileges which are attached.
ReplyDeleteYou have spoken the truth. I think they are not interesting in that their struggles are hard to empathize with. Truly royalty is an anachronism whose time has past. Being notable for who your ancestors are really has little substance. I predict Harry and Meghan will have a difficult time maintaining a spotlight.
DeleteElephant's Child boldly said it! I don't care about them either. It's like the fascination here with the Kardashians. Who cares?
ReplyDeleteI hear you about the Kardashians. What made me uneasy is political pull the Kardashian's had in getting a pardon for a person. That person may have deserved the pardon but the Kardashian credentials was not great in my opinion.
DeleteI have mild interest in British Royalty since I am half a brit. I do admire the Queen for her grit during WWII. However I will not watch the interview and sincerely hope this all blows over soon. Leave the kids alone if they want to be alone just cut their allowance and let them earn their own keep..
ReplyDeleteI agree. I may wind up watching the show in that my 90 year old mother keeps up with the royal family. Mom was disturbed to learn Meghan was mean to Katherine. Their lives are truly a goldfish bowl. Mom reads the Macon, Ga paper everyday. They stopped sending a Saturday paper and that is the day she reads the People magazine. People has an article about the royals every week. But your last sentence is what I think too.
DeleteI couldn't care less about the royal family but as you say plenty of Brits love them. Someone suggested it's because we've never had a republic and always had kings and queens so the royal family are embedded in British culture. I admire Harry and Meghan for leaving the royals and getting away from the British tabloids which have been relentlessly dissing Meghan. But I think if they're not royals any more they shouldn't call themselves a duke and duchess either.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, this very pale blue is hard to read! Could you make it a bit darker?
Good to know about the blue. Now to figure out how to change it. lol
DeleteI had read where the royal family pumps about 1.9 billion ? into the English economy. Believe me that number is wrong but it was an enormous amount. As Americans, I feel we should not have such a big opinion about the matter. But we follow them in the news like no ones business. My mother who is 90 is particularly fond of Kathryn.