Queen Elizabeth II assured Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, of her affection on Tuesday, March 9, and promised to treat ” in private “ the accusations of racism launched by the couple, ensuring to take them “Very seriously”.
The princely couple’s explosive confessions to Oprah Winfrey, broadcast on Sunday, plunged the monarchy into a new crisis, reminiscent of the time of Lady Di, Harry’s mother, in the 1990s, who had publicly revealed her marital woes.
Under pressure to come out of its silence, Buckingham Palace issued a statement on behalf of the Queen. A rare fact, commensurate with the earthquake shaking the royal family, accused of being unresponsive to the suicidal thoughts of Meghan Markle and, through an unnamed member, of having questioned the skin color of her future child.
“The whole family is saddened to learn how difficult the past few years have been for Harry and Meghan”, reports the very short text, pointing out that the couple and their son, Archie, “Will always be much loved family members”.
“Concerns” about Archie’s skin color
Installed for a year in California, the ex-Métis American actress Meghan Markle, 39, and Prince Harry, 36 and sixth in the order of succession to the British throne, have questioned untenable media pressure, racism British media and the royal family’s misunderstanding of their situation to explain their withdrawal from the monarchy.
They painted a grim portrait of the “Firm” who, according to Meghan Markle, sometimes moved to tears, refused the help she asked for when she was plagued by suicidal thoughts. Above all, causing a lot of ink to flow in the UK, they reported on conversations within the royal family about the skin color their son Archie, now 22 months old, would have before his birth.
On the identity of the person who asked this question, the couple made it clear that it was neither Queen Elizabeth II, 94, nor her husband, Prince Philip, 99, currently hospitalized. .
Some, within the government, fear that these accusations will have a lasting impact on the aura of the monarchy, in a country recently brought to question its colonial past in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, and do not call into question in the stride of the organization of the Commonwealth, dear to the Queen.
The British Divided
The British are divided over the couple, which part of the press accuses of weakening the monarchy out of personal interest. According to a survey by the YouGov institute, the same proportion (32%) find that they have been treated fairly or unfairly by the royal family. But 61% of 18-24 year olds find that they have not been treated fairly.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to be drawn into the debate, contenting himself with expressing his “Greatest admiration” for Elizabeth II. Considered close to Mr Johnson, Secretary of State for the Pacific Zac Goldsmith tweeted that “Harry dynamit[ait] his family “.
The interview continues to spark heated discussions. Piers Morgan, famous presenter and fierce critic of Meghan, questioned the Duchess’s words on a show on Monday and slammed the door of his own studio during another heated debate on the subject on Tuesday. Finally, he will quit his show “Good Morning Britain”, announced his employer, the ITV channel on Tuesday.
Seen by 17 million Americans then by 11 million viewers in the United Kingdom, the couple’s interview echoes that granted by Princess Diana in 1995, where she had stunned by lifting the veil on her life within the monarchy. ” The consequences [de l’interview] will be felt through the generations, as for that of Diana “Lady Di’s biographer Andrew Morton warned ITV.
