Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s response to today’s revelation that they won’t be returning as working members of the British royal family included an ever-so-thinly veiled swipe at Buckingham Palace.
It was the Palace that announced the news, confirming that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would lose their royal patronages and Harry would be stripped of his military appointments.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed to Her Majesty the Queen that they will not be returning as working members of the royal family,” it said.
“Following conversations with the Duke, the Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the royal family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.
“The honorary military appointments and royal patronages held by the Duke and Duchess will therefore be returned to Her Majesty, before being redistributed among working members of the royal family.
“While all are saddened by their decision, The Duke and Duchess remain much loved members of the family.”
Note the emphasis on it being their decision. By royal PR standards, that’s a teensy bit sassy.
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As a result of said decision, Harry will lose his beloved roles as Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Commandant at RAF Honington, Commodore-in-Chief of Royal Navy Small Ships and Diving, President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, and patron of both the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Football League.
Meghan will be stripped of her roles as Vice President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and patron of both the Royal National Theatre and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
She will continue to be a patron of the charity Smart Works, which helps women find employment with free clothes and interview training.
The couple released a statement of their own through their spokesperson a short time after the Palace’s announcement.
“As evidenced by their work over the past year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex remain committed to their duty and service to the UK and around the world, and have offered their continued support to the organisations they have represented regardless of official role,” the statement said.
“We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.”
Emphasis mine.
Remember, the Palace’s statement said the Queen herself had written to the Sussexes to explain why their patronages and appointments were being revoked: “In stepping away from the work of the royal family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.”
In their response, Harry and Meghan said they didn’t need to be working royals to live “a life of service”.
The choice of words in a statement like this is not coincidental.
Royal experts quickly picked up on the undercurrent of meaning.
Jonny Dymond, the BBC’s royal correspondent, said it was evidence of “a fair amount of bitterness remaining” between the Sussexes and the rest of the family.
“The statement from the Palace lays down the Queen’s philosophy; as far as she is concerned the couple have left the life of public service. That’s why the honorary commands and patronages have to go. You can’t do half in, half out,” Dymond said.
“Not so fast, the couple shoot back. They remain, they say, ‘committed to duty and service’ – and ‘service’, far from being a matter of titles and roles, ‘is universal’. There is more than a flash of anger in their words.”
The UK Telegraph’s associate editor, Camilla Tominey, said it was “never going to be possible” for Harry and Meghan to “have the best of both worlds”.
“Part of the problem is that the Sussexes do not seem to understand what public service actually is,” said Tominey.
“As a California-born former actress, Meghan can arguably be forgiven for this. But it somewhat beggars belief that Harry, a blood-born prince who grew up in the Firm, agreed to respond to the statement with the line: ‘We can all live a life of service. Service is universal.’
“Not only is it deeply disrespectful to engage in this sort of last word freakery with the Queen, but I also do not think the 94-year-old monarch, who has devoted her whole life to duty, needs to be lectured on service by anyone, not least when her 99-year-old husband remains in hospital.
“It is undoubtedly highly commendable that Harry and Meghan want to continue with their charity work, philanthropy is not, and never has been, the same as public service.”
She said the couple had spent the last 12 months “desperately trying to disguise the fact they have swapped duty for dollars”, citing their “megabucks deals” with Netflix and Spotify, plus the upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7.
Phil Damper, author of Royally Suited: Harry and Meghan In Their Own Words, delivered an even more critical assessment in comments to The Sun. He criticised Harry and Meghan’s statement for lacking “any love or compassion”, calling it “sad”.
“While the Palace statement says how the royals are all saddened by Harry and Meghan’s departure and that they remain ‘much loved members of the family’, the Sussexes can’t resist getting in a parting shot,” Damper said.
“By saying, ‘We can all live a life of service, service is universal,’ they are belittling the work of the Queen and the rest of the royal family.
“They don’t seem to care that they are making matters worse and that the rifts are likely to get wider.”
Royal historian Robert Lacey was more even-handed in his analysis. Speaking to The Times, he described the Sussexes’ statement as “a definite pushback at the Palace”, but went on to say that the Palace’s statement appeared to have been rushed.
“The implication is that the only proper service for Harry and Meghan is royal service,” Lacey said.
“I am sure the Queen herself would not have said something like that, which is actually rather demeaning to her grandson.”
https://news.google.com/__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?oc=5
2021-02-19 20:15:50Z
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