Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, appear at Global Citizen Live in Central Park on September 25, 2021, in New York. Photo / AP
OPINION:
A lot can change in a week. Last week did a single person outside of the Ukraine know where the Luhansk and Donetsk regions were? I didn't.
The denizens of the House of Windsor, I'd wager, had to get out atlases, with both William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex speaking out against the illegal war.
Now, they were both economical, carefully-worded public comments calling out the war, so same-same, but there the similarity ended. Look at them side-by-side and a picture of the Sussexes' new life comes into focus which is just a bit … sad.
Harry and Meghan, much to their credit, put theirs out on Thursday, the day Russian invaded, releasing a sternly worded single sentence: "Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and all of us at Archewell stand with the people of Ukraine against this breach of international and humanitarian law and encourage the global community and its leaders to do the same."
William and Kate, disappointingly slow off the mark, waited until Sunday to comment on the unfolding horror in Europe. Taking to Twitter, they posted: "In October 2020 we had the privilege to meet [Ukrainian] President Zelenskyy and the First Lady to learn of their hope and optimism for Ukraine's future. Today we stand with the President and all of Ukraine's people as they bravely fight for that future W & C".
While the Sussexes' insertion comment was met with mockery from some members of the British press, the Cambridges' post earned them their universal praise, prompting many to start angrily wagging their fingers and yelling about the double standard.
This will really rattle Putin. https://t.co/BhlA9CO95O
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 24, 2022
It's all over for Putin... https://t.co/fmUhBrNjhQ
— Richard Eden (@richardaeden) February 24, 2022
But therein lies the crux of the issue: The Cambridges and the Sussexes are not the same.
And that has nothing to do with nationality or where they live or race, and everything to do with the fact that there is only one duo who actually still carries real political heft, an uncomfortable fact that Harry and Meghan either don't grasp or are happy to pretend otherwise.
While we might have two couples, two statements and two lots of communications staff being made to (probably) draft and redraft these brief missives while sweating over their Macbook Airs, this situation carries the distinct whiff of Sussex status anxiety.
Take the fact that they opened with "Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex," a cudgel-like reminder of their status. (Why do they always seem so eternally eager to remind the world that they have titles? Titles, that is, that come from an institution they have had no compunction about very vocally criticising.)
Contrast that with the Cambridges who didn't once reference themselves using any royal appellation and instead signed off with "W & C".
There is also the question of tone. The Sussexes' went for stern quasi-officialdom, like UN interns eagerly typing up their first press release, with them talking about the "breach of international and humanitarian law" and going on to "encourage the global community and its leaders to do the same".
And William and Kate? Theirs was much more personal and warm, using "we" twice, talking about meeting President Zelensky and mentioning the people of Ukraine.
On one hand, we have Harry and Meghan sounding a lot like they are trying to pass themselves off as statespeople while on the same day their statement came out, William met with the UK's Defence Secretary. Did he mention that in there? Or feel a need to remind everyone how important he is? Exactly.
The contrast between these two communiques perfectly encapsulates the fundamental chasm between their lives now.
These two boys might have been assiduously raised as equals by their mother Diana, the Princess of Wales but as adults, one of them is a future head of state and the other lives down the road from Ellen and has done a JP Morgan speaking gig.
It's not that Harry and Meghan can't or shouldn't speak up but the slightly pitiful reality is their words carry no more official heft than Miley Cyrus' intervention who has posted on social media: "I am standing in solidarity with everyone in Ukraine who is affected by this attack and with our global community who is calling for an immediate end to this violence".
No matter their commitment or their humanitarian zeal, there is no getting around the fact that the Sussexes' voice no longer matters in any governmental sense. They might be a duke and duchess and they might be able to get Washington's elite to take their calls, but at the end of the day they are now just … celebrities.
When William and Kate open their mouths, it is as a future king and queen and given their future positions, their comments hold genuine sway and heft. When Harry and Meghan do the same, it is as two people trying to make their mark in Hollywood who just also happen to be related to the Queen.
Sure, they might have letterhead that grandly proclaims titles but it is not worth much more than the paper it is written on in the strict diplomatic sense.
No matter what came before, the brutal fact is they don't carry the imprimatur of the Crown and at this moment, Harry and Meghan's voices are technically no weightier than Miley or 90210'sAnna-Lynne McCord, who has penned an excruciating poem for Vladimir Putin. They are all just famous people with thoughts and access to the internet.
And this is what Harry gave up when he walked away from being a senior member of the royal family and as a man who had represented the Queen on the international stage. His is now a diplomatically impotent existence, having willingly given up the genuine importance he formerly enjoyed the minute he boarded that flight for North America two years ago.
I wonder, did he realise what he was sacrificing? Remember, when Harry and Meghan put out their bombshell statement in January 2020, they confidently told the world that they would be adopting a sort of half-in, half-out model.
The Queen was having none of it and forced them to pick, one way or another. In those feverish days afterwards, did the Sussexes realise that in leaving behind their HRHs and royal roles they were ceding their real influence?
Harry has spoken about how much happier and joyful his life now is, which is wonderful. Having experienced such loss and trauma he obviously deserves every right to embrace the existence he has chosen for himself. However, in leaving, he did forfeit a lot more than being the patron of English rugby and it's in moments like these that loss comes into acute focus.
• Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.
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