How The Crown’s theme of duty vs. individuality relates to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepping down from their senior roles are about the fight between duty vs. individuality. Will their individuality be respected? Are they making a way for future royals to live? Time will tell.
Last month, I wrote an article breaking down a major theme in Netflix’s The Crown: that of duty vs. individuality. This theme refers to the royal family’s constant struggle between their duty as royals and their individual desires, beliefs, and identities.
This theme is also present in the current royal drama, which is Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s stepping down from their senior roles in the royal family. This “Megxit,” which is what this controversy is being nicknamed, came to be because of the couple’s individual desire to live a financially independent life and a peaceful life away from the hungry British media. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex released a statement on their website in early January saying:
"“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.”"
In the statement, the couple also says they plan to divide their time between the United Kingdom and North America. The couple left the U.K., and they are now living in Vancouver Island, Canada. There is a possibility they might be moving to LA, which people have expected since Meghan use to be an actress. The couple also plans to launch their own charitable entity as well. On their website, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they opted out of The Royal Rota system, a pool created to give a group of journalists access to royal engagements, and decided to vet out their own journalists, whom they believe will be factual and honest.
Although the couple did take several months to think about this decision, and even talked to the Queen, Prince Charles, and Prince William about it during those months, they gave no warning to the royal family that they were releasing this statement. Markle and Prince Harry’s decision to put the process of their independence in motion, without permission, shows they didn’t want the royal family intervening. When the Queen wanted to talk over the matter with the other senior royals at her Sandringham Estate, Harry went alone while Markle was with Baby Archie in Canada, another example of keeping their personal needs first — basically, self-care, befitting of millennial royals.
Edward VIII’s Abdication of the Throne
The closest historical event the Sussexes stepping down resembles is Edward VIII’s abdication of the throne. Without thinking about how this would affect his family members, Edward VIII gave up the throne so he could marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. If he never gave up the throne, the Queen’s father would never have become King, and Queen Elizabeth wouldn’t be the current Queen. Us non-English folk probably think this turned out for the better. Queen Elizabeth is a well-loved queen and who wouldn’t want to be a royal, right?
Actually, Queen Elizabeth’s family had a lot of resentment toward Edward VIII, even for years after the abdication. The Queen Mother blamed Edward for the death of her husband. In The Crown, she mentioned that being King was too much for him and it ended up killing him. Also in The Crown, Queen Elizabeth mentioned that she would’ve loved to live a normal life. I wouldn’t be surprised if the young royals today have some resentment toward Edward VIII as well. If he had made a different decision, the current royals wouldn’t be close to the throne, and therefore, they’d be out of the spotlight.
Are they going to truly live individual lives unscathed?
What I know from watching royal documentaries and The Crown is that duty always seems to win. Many conflicts in the royal family arose over members of the family asking for their individual wants to be allowed, and those individual wants were only allowed if they fell in line with their duty toward the Crown.
It’s not clear whether duty or individuality won in this case because we are still watching events unfold. The fact that the couple is still going to be financially supported by Prince Charles’s personal income, also begs the question of how free they truly are, and if they are truly “carving out a progressive role in the monarchy.”
The couple was granted their financial independence, but it wasn’t under their terms. The Duke and Duchess can still be addressed as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but cannot use their HRH (His Royal Highness, Her Royal Highness) titles. This is because they aren’t working royals anymore, which is something they still wanted to be. Not having their HRH title anymore affects their branding, which can affect their ability to sell some merchandise, work with certain royal charities, and even use their website to update their supporters on what they are doing. This would be a shame, since they applied to trademark their logo about a year ago. Their wish to opt-out of The Royal Rota was honored, but since they will be outside of the UK, they now have absolutely no say or support over what the North American media posts about them.
The British Media
There are people who think Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision was selfish — similar to how the Royals feel about Edward VIII — but I feel like their decision is a lot deeper. The main reason the Duke and Duchess want to be independent is the British media. They hound the couple for pictures, don’t respect their privacy, and create articles that have racial undertones about Markle being mixed race.
You probably have seen the viral BuzzFeed article comparing how the British Media’s headlines talk about Kate Middleton versus how they talk about Markle. The headlines describe Middleton as this graceful, respectful princess, while they portray Markle as disrespectful, arrogant, and uncultured. There are even overtly racist moments from the media: The Daily Mail‘s headline “Harry’s girl is straight outta Compton: Gang-scarred home of her mother revealed – so will she be dropping by for tea?” or a BBC host saying that baby Archie looks like a chimpanzee.
It’s pretty disgusting, and I don’t blame Markle, who wasn’t born a royal, for wanting to go far away from an institution that allows this to happen to her. In The Crown, Queen Elizabeth talks about the strength in silence and not letting the people knowing how she feels. This “strength” has allowed things like the Royal Rota and other systems to have made the lives of royals, like Markle, difficult. Unfortunately, the Royal Rota is partly responsible for why nothing has stopped and the Duke and Duchess’ non-compliance with this system from the very start of their relationship doesn’t help.
The Royal Rota
The Royal Rota is a pool that was created 40 years ago to give a group of journalists access to royal engagements. A few representatives from each publication are invited to come to these engagements to give publications fair access. Members of the Rota have to give factual material to members of the press. If the Royals want to release any unseen photos, they have to do it through the Rota system. If the Royals cooperate and develop a relationship with the media, they can ask for help when it comes down to taking down unwanted pictures or articles. Some of these publications in the Royal Rota include The Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror, The Evening Standard, The Telegraph, The Time, and The Sun, which are all tabloids. All these publications have obsessively covered the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The couple prefers to share their news through Instagram, so they can control their narrative.
Stig Abell, former Director of Britain’s Press Complains Commission and now the editor of The Times Literary Supplement, described the relationship between the royal family and British media as “a hug that was always threatening to become an assault.” There is an understanding between the royals and the media that they need each other. The royals are a brand and “global phenomenon” that need the media to keep their brand relevant and British media need the royals’ popularity to sell stories. Most royals see the annoying media as part of the job, but the media has been too ruthless for the young couple, so they prefer to opt out of the Royal Rota.
Prince Harry blames the media for his mother, Princess Diana’s, death, who died in a car crash running away from the paparazzi in 1997. The image of young Prince William and Prince Harry walking alongside their father behind their mothers’ casket in a funeral procession is etched in global memory. When Harry and Markle were suing The Mail on Sunday for publishing one of Markle’s private letters, Harry said, “ I lost my mother, and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person.” In addition to the racism, Markle has experienced, that is a very strong motivation behind “Meghxit.”
Harry and Markle’s ITV documentary, Meghan and Harry: An African Journey, which covers their African tour, revealed the seeds that would become Meghxit. Prince Harry talked about his trauma around the paparazzi, and Markle was really honest in an interview with the creator, Tom Bradby. She admitted that adjusting to her royal life and being a new mom in addition to being a royal is a struggle. She even mentioned that she wasn’t okay and thanked Bradby for asking, something people don’t usually do.
Are Meghan and Harry progressive royals?
The second reason for Megxit: Prince Henry and Meghan Markle, in their statement, mentioned how they wanted to “carve out a progressive new role in this institution.” Time will tell if this statement has any legs, but I think it’s great that modern royals are trying to improve with the times. Many young people and liberals who are anti-Brexit viewed the marriage of Harry and Markle as a symbol of hope. If a centuries-old institution can change its mind about divorce and interracial marriage, maybe more change can happen in Britain.
It makes sense that Harry and Meghan would be the couple to shake things up and be the first to try being financially independent royals who also have control over how they tell their story. In terms of the theme duty vs. individuality, this move is great for all future royals, and it will give future royals the chance to be free and be themselves, while also royal. Maybe more autonomous, happy royals can help contribute to a happier country. The royals are supposed to be symbols for Britain, and these new roles could be symbols that reflect a new, modern Britain.
Unanswered questions and recent news
Canadian citizens are concerned about how many taxes they will have to pay to fund Prince Harry and Markle’s security. The two are struggling with the paparazzi following them in Canada. The couple is vacationing in Los Angeles. There is a possibility they might be moving to LA, which people have expected since Markle used to be an actress and LA is her hometown.
ABC News aired a special called Royal Divide: Harry, Meghan, and The Crown to learn more about the world the couple has left. There were rumors swirling that Markle would appear on her friend, Jessica Mulroney’s reality show, but the palace says this is “categorically untrue.” There has been a viral video of Prince Harry telling the CEO of The Walt Disney Company that Markle would be interested in a voice-over gig. Meghan Markle, before their stepping down was announced, has signed a voice-over contract with Disney and the deal will go towards a wildlife charity.
The couple’s souvenirs have been removed from The Royal Family’s website, and the Duke and Duchess are still fighting for ownership of their brand, Sussex Royal. The couple is still using their Instagram as a place to spread positivity, they are focusing on “Global Positive News” for the month of February. There is more to look out for in order to determine if Meghan and Prince Harry’s search for individuality was worth the trouble.
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