Meghan Markle can be seen helping to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for homeless women in the photo uploaded to the Archewell website. Photo / Archewell
OPINION:
Let me introduce you to Dr Denis Mukwege who is, quite simply, an extraordinary human being. A Congolese gynaecologist, he founded a hospital in his war-torn home country where they treat women brutalised by sexual violence.
For his work, he has won, among many accolades, the Nobel Peace Prize and was awarded the French Legion of Honour.
On Monday, Dr Mukwege shared the stage with Sophie, Countess of Wessex – the late Queen’s daughter-in-law slash honorary daughter – at the British Foreign Office’s International Conference for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.
At the @FCDOGovUK’s International Conference for Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, The Countess of Wessex today joined @DenisMukwege ‘in conversation’ as they discussed the work of the @PanziFoundation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - which HRH visited last month:
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) November 28, 2022
On the same day, over at Clarence House, while King Charles was double-checking that his chefs were only using foraged nettle leaves for his morning tisane, Queen Camilla was upstairs welcoming Queen Rania of Jordan and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark ahead of an Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls reception.
The event is being held at Buckingham Palace and is part of the UN’s 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based violence. (Queen Mathilde of Belgium will also be taking part to just up the regal stakes further.)
#NEW This afternoon Queen Camilla received Queen Rania of Jordan and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark at Clarence House ahead of tomorrow’s Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls reception at Buckingham Palace 🇬🇧🇯🇴🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/yrbwVhEJvS
— CoutureAndRoyals (@CoutureRoyals) November 28, 2022
The same day still, the Daily Mail noticed that over in California last week, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation had updated their website with a post entitled “Giving Thanks” and shared a photo of said Duchess helping prepare a Thanksgiving meal for more than 300 homeless women.
Sigh. The more that changes in London, it would seem, the more things stay the same in Montecito. Because isn’t it interesting how often cameras just happen to be around when the Sussexes are doing unofficial charity work?
While the Sophie and Camilla photos might be about as interesting as watching Colefax and Fowler paint dry, the story they tell us about the version of the royal family that is emerging right now is deliciously close to revolutionary.
Consider: We have a Queen whose key charitable focus for nearly a decade has been tackling the scourge of domestic violence. (One initiative that I don’t think gets enough attention – Camilla organising for hundreds of wash bags containing toiletries to be given to sexual assault survivors to be used after undergoing medical examinations.)
Meanwhile, Sophie, who is reprehensibly and continually overlooked, has been working on the issue of sexual violence in conflict zones for years, including trips to Bosnia and Sierra Leone. In October, she spent two weeks visiting five central African nations, becoming the first member of the royal family to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Which is to say, this is not your grandmother’s royal family with nary a plaque to be unveiled or a nervously perspiring Lord-Lieutenant in sight.
In one generation, we’ve gone from Queen Elizabeth asking Diana, Princess of Wales why she didn’t want to get involved in some ‘nice’ charity rather than her work on the AIDS epidemic to having a Queen who is talking about the shame victims feel after experiencing sexual assault and the King’s sister-in-law taking part in the highest level diplomatic conference and talking about rape in war zones.
This is seriously meaningful stuff and every one of those boring posed shots that the Palace press outfit releases on social media belies just how extraordinary and paradigm-shaking what they are doing is.
However, while this quiet feminist offensive in London is taking place in between cups of builder’s tea and Archer’s re-runs (I’m guessing), things do not seem to have changed much for the Duchess of Sussex with new a photo of her being released that carries with it quite the self-promotional whiff.
Let me stress here that it should go without saying that helping those who are less fortunate is always a wonderful thing and deserves nothing but praise.
Meghan has volunteered to help the less fortunate since she was a child, work that continued when she was filming Suits in Toronto and that commitment has clearly not wavered despite that whole royal thing.
But … why does so much of the Sussexes’ charity work miraculously end up as a photo op or find its way into the media?
In March 2020, when the couple arrived in Los Angeles as the pandemic’s grip tightened on the world, they were photographed delivering meals from Project Angel Food.
Royal biographer Tom Bower writes in his recent, eyebrow-singing book Revenge that at that point in time the Sussexes were “conscious about their image” ahead of her lawsuit against the Daily Mail so before the trial started in London, Meghan’s and Harry’s publicists authorised the distribution of photographs of the two handing out meals to the homeless in Los Angeles.
“The couple stood in safety by the open boots of their black Porsche SUV and a six-litre Cadillac Escalade to distribute the packages. After a short spell of charity, they drove back to their Montecito haven,” he said.
In late August this year, Meghan was interviewed by New York magazine’s The Cut, and while still with journalist Allison P. Davis went to pick up her son Archie from preschool.
While at a set of lights the Duchess “reaches into the trunk and produces a brand-new black backpack and hands it to her security detail to give to an unhoused man on the corner” which contained water and food.
We will just have to assume that the 41-year-old does this even when a reporter doing her first print interview in five years is not there to witness such thoughtfulness and generosity.
I suppose my point is, Harry and Meghan’s hearts are in the right place and kudos to them for wanting to help again and again – but why does so much of what they do seem like a bit of a PR play too?
In August 2020, the Sussexes volunteered with the celeb-loved charity Baby2Baby helping hand out back-to-school supplies for underprivileged kids.
One would assume the fact that two of the most famous people in the world were taking part in a very public event was something that would have found its way onto social media and into the press organically as a hundred smartphones tracked them every blink and perfect white-capped tooth smiles.
Instead, we have lovely shots of them helping a little boy with a backpack and handing packages through windows to waiting cars because they brought their own photographer to capture them in action.
The same sort of thing played out when the Sussexes went to pay their respects on Remembrance Day, visiting Commonwealth war graves in Los Angeles, taking a snapper with them then too.
Similarly, in September of that year, when the Duke and Duchess visited a preschool to plant forget-me-nots to mark the anniversary of Diana’s death they later ‘issued’ shots of the visit, according to a Telegraph report from the time.
What is interesting to consider about this recent Archewell “Giving Thanks” post is, why? The post talks about the work being done by the Downtown Women’s Centre but it does not encourage people to donate funds or come with a few sentences urging people anywhere to give back to their communities.
Who ultimately benefits from this? The purpose seems to be as much about bigging up Archewell and currying some rosy publicity as throwing their weight behind the DWC.
If we contrast the Sophie, Camilla and Meghan photos and the outings they highlight, the point of the first two photos seems driven by wanting to spotlight the work being done, not the people doing the work.
And the latter? There is plenty of altruism but it also comes with a handy dose of good publicity. No good deed, it would seem, deserves to go unnoticed.
I’ll leave you with this. Sophie will be joining Camilla, Rania, Mary and Mathilde at the Palace for the roundtable domestic violence event.
Imagine, if things had gone differently, how powerful an image it would have been if the Duchess of Sussex was part of that group too, the women of the royal family united and taking on violence against women.
Instead while four current and future Queens gather for an UN-backed initiative, the Duchess will be in a Marriott hotel in Indianapolis taking part in an event called “The Power of Women: An Evening with Meghan” where a table can cost you up to $15,000 ($16,000).
Who do you think has the real power now?
· Daniela Elser is a writer and a royal commentator with more than 15 years of experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.