Harry and Meghan bombshell: Blaming Meghan disrespects them both

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COMMENT

Pick any article written about the news of Harry and Meghan distancing themselves from the royal family and you'll find, if not direct finger-pointing, at least a subtle undertone that Meghan is to blame.

That foreign commoner who lured the ginger prince and is now dragging him away from his family - how very dare she?

It's a tale as old as time - or at least as old as some of the oldest forbidden romances. For all of our forward-thinking, we're not that different from the same society who pointed the finger at Wallis Simpson, as if Edward VIII was some kind of mollusc with no will of his own.

It's easier to blame the woman. It's also easier to blame the outsider, the foreigner, the one you feel you have the least in common with - they're always the best scapegoats.

I'll tell you who's probably quietly stoked with all the attention this news is getting: Prince Andrew.

You know the one, right? The royal who was buddies with a convicted paedophile and who was, himself, photographed in some compromised situations. That one.

If you want to talk about people hurting the royal family and putting in question the inherent value of having a royal family in the first place, you don't need to look as far down the lineage as Meghan. Prince Andrew is a much more rational choice, if you've got to get angry at someone.

Meghan has, if anything, done more for the Royal family than any PR campaign could have. She's made them look a little bit more open, a little bit more modern, a little bit more real.

That interview with ITV where she admitted she was struggling with being a new mum - all the swans in the kingdom wouldn't buy you the kind of positive PR that interview gives you.

She was exactly what the British monarchy needed to stay relevant - and the Queen knew this and that's why she supported the relationship.

Others couldn't see it. Piers Morgan called the couple "shameless spoiled brats" but what really strikes me as shameless and spoiled is being mean to someone and expect them to just continue to take it.

Meghan just wants some peace and quiet - can we not relate to that? She wants her child to have a somewhat normal life (as normal as it can be when your dad is a prince and your mum is a famous actress). And she wants to remain close to her family and her own roots in North America. Is she awful for wanting those things?

It's a momentary distraction from the absolute disaster of Brexit, royalists are clutching their pearls at a couple's joint decision to step away from the royal family.

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“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen. It is with your encouragement, particularly over the last few years, that we feel prepared to make this adjustment. We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honour our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages. This geographic balance will enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter, including the launch of our new charitable entity. We look forward to sharing the full details of this exciting next step in due course, as we continue to collaborate with Her Majesty The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of Cambridge and all relevant parties. Until then, please accept our deepest thanks for your continued support.” - The Duke and Duchess of Sussex For more information, please visit sussexroyal.com (link in bio) Image © PA

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Jan 8, 2020 at 10:33am PST

It's not like anyone's been keeping this a huge secret and Meghan has hardly been deceiving about how much it sucked marrying into the royal family.

Katie Hopkins calls Meghan an "evil wench" and accused her of "stealing" Prince Harry.

Hopkins wrote on Twitter that Harry is "but a shadow of the 'top lad with his nob out' we used to know and love" - and I don't even think there was a hint of sarcasm in there.

"The castration of Prince Harry is complete," she posted in another tweet, after what I'm guessing was a bit too much Pimms.

What if - and hear me out on this - Harry is actually a grown man with the ability to think and make decisions for himself? I mean, to his credit, he does have a history of doing whatever he wants.

But yeah... I know, outrageous, my bad, let's just blame Meghan, it's so much easier than admitting that, when it comes to families you'd rather not spend Christmas with, the Royal family and all its multiple scandals would be quite high on the list. From gaffe-prone grandpa to the uncle with the dubious friendships, it's hard to choose where to sit at the dinner table.

Meghan is such an easy target. Female, foreign and brown, she's a triple jackpot for people like Hopkins, for people desperate for an excuse - any excuse - for the state of the monarchy. Anything but remembering that something was rotten long before Meghan came along — and there's only so much PR you can do to mask it.

The reality is that Meghan and Harry's decision to spend half their life in North America is the absolute least of the Queen's worries and a fairly minor incident in a long list of scandals.

Of course Harry and Archie's grandmother will not be super pleased with this new development — but does that mean Meghan should stay in a country that never welcomed her because of that?

Nah.

Now, about that Prince who apparently never sweats ...

Live footage of Meghan releasing that statement pic.twitter.com/8nbWvkVYRP

— Patti’s Left Shoe (@SylviaObell) January 8, 2020