The bombshell interview of the year has been released with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle talking to Oprah Winfrey about their lives in The Royal Family. Both Jack Proverbs and Katie Green give their opinions on this exclusive interview.
Before we begin, we would like to explain that personally we both love the royal family as well as Harry and Meghan, so our opinion is completely pure honest opinion with no bias towards either side.
Opinion by Jack Proverbs
From the start you can feel that already it is going to be a deeply emotional interview as it gives you the insight into what it was like for the royal couple and the challenges they faced. We both were hit a lot harder by the interview than we initially realised.
Throughout the interview, a lot of questions were answered including why they really stepped back from the royal family, whether some of what the tabloids posted about Meghan was true and is there racism in the monarchy.
It was apparent that Meghan’s mental health has been impacted. Genuinely, I got very teary eyed when Oprah and Meghan were discussing Meghan’s suicidal thoughts and mental health struggles. To see the impact this has on an individual – Royal or not – is extremely upsetting to watch.
I have to admit the first point of Meghan being blinded about any information about the royals, was doubtful with Meghan claiming she didn’t search up about Prince Harry or the Royals. I mean surely if you were going to marry a Prince you would, but then we have to just take her word for it.
Nevertheless, people may say “oh well she knew what she was walking into”. Well, even if she did does that mean it’s right for the establishment to treat her in such a way? The UK press dragged Meghan Markle’s reputation down with hundreds of negative headlines, how was she supposed to know this was going to happen?
Just because she walked into the Royal Family, does it mean they shouldn’t defend her from the brutal press which they have done for other members such as Prince Andrew?
The Royal Family should’ve protected the couple from all the stories that stemmed from the tabloids, from negative stories about Archie to apparent feuds with other members of the family.
Image credit: Glamour
However, it’s clear from this interview that its apparent there are some fundamental issues within the establishment which need addressing, especially with issues of racism.
I think Harry always wanted some form out way out, it’s clear that when he got with Meghan, they found a way out together. I believe it was an equal decision, not just the media’s version of Meghan controlling Harry.
Why didn’t royal family members defend Meghan from the press and address the issue? If the palace can cover up for Andrew then surely, they can protect them from the media firestorm.
A part of the interview I loved was what Meghan said about the comparison between her and Kate Middleton: “If you love me, you don’t have to hate her, if you love her, you don’t have to hate me”
The same narrative with situations such as this is the simple answer – there are three sides to every story, one side, the other side and the truth.
On twitter during the morning of the interview hashtag #AbolishTheMonrachy which I don’t agree with, the right thing for the palace to do is being honest with people for once and address the situation.
Personally, I don’t believe that the monarchy should be abolished, many members of the family do some incredible work for charities especially the Queen, Prince William, The Duchess of Cambridge and the Countess of Wessex, with the family themselves bring in lots of income for the economy especially in tourism.
One of the questions I kept wanting answered was: Who are the firm? It makes you question are the Royal Family puppets of a deep-rooted institution and is this the reason why there are issues running within the monarchy. Are they being controlled by very wealthy old white men in suits?
Reflecting on the interview, some final thoughts are that Harry and Meghan embodies everything Princess Diana did back in her infamous interview in 1995 with Martin Bashir on BBC’s Panorama by giving some truth and clarity to situations and being honest about how the institution impacted their lives.
Towards the end of the interview, it signified there is hope for Harry and Meghan in the future as they have now spoken their truth and are moving on with their new lives. This was a pleasure to see.
As a last note, I will end with saying it was highly implied that it could possibly be Prince Charles who made the comment. Personally, I think Charles needs to own up to his actions from over the decades, stemming from what he did to Princess Diana to what he has done to Harry and Meghan.
Could there be a change in the monarchy from this day forward?
Opinion by Katie Green
You will notice that me and Jack will have similar opinions. As an admirer of the Royal family, but also of the marriage between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, this exclusive interview was going to be an interesting watch being a supporter of both sides. Watching it, it hit me harder than I thought it initially would.
For the last two years, Harry and Meghan have been topic of conversation in the tabloids mainly since their Royal Family exit, possibly the biggest Royal scandal since the death of Diana in 1997.
Some parts of this interview hit harder than others. It begins with an individual talk with Meghan. Whilst pregnant with Archie, Meghan was questioned what skin his colour would be. Our Royal family is known as the “Modern Royal Family”. Surely if they are modern, then a concern around the race of a member would not come into question, so with this revelation does anger me. A child – not even born yet – is already under scrutiny simply for their skin colour makes it hard to believe that the Royal Family could be associated with this phenomenon.
Oprah goes on to question if Meghan reached a breaking point, revealing Meghan had begun to question her existence, and that her mind became consumed with suicidal thoughts. When she told Harry, he “cradled her” she said, and when they were set to attended an event, Harry said she shouldn’t come as she revealed this to her loving husband only the morning prior. Her response was “I couldn’t be left alone”, it was this that led to my heart to drop, and I found tears rolling down my face. I couldn’t even imagine how hard this could have been for her. Yes, she would have known entering a family as high in society such as the Royal Family was going to come with its difficulties, but to reach the point that you question your taking your life is something that is hard to explain and come to terms with.
Image credit: The Telegraph
All these statements coming out were making it hard for me to try and see the Royal family in a positive light. Knowing they could do this to somehow questioned how they were modern at all. However, from my opinion I believe this is not all of them, and only certain members who believe in “duty” and “reputation” being their main priorities. I believe in a way this isn’t the Queen at all. Meghan describes her as “lovely”, so it makes it hard to believe it could be her as the villain in this story. Eventually when we get to when Harry joins them, he clarifies he still has a good relationship with his grandmother. So, from my perception, I don’t think the Queen is at fault. It does make me question who this could have all come from, with many senior family officials in question.
We all knew from the onset of this interview it was going to lead to reveals that would delve more into the more emotional side of the story. Something that I picked up watching the interview was not necessarily from the words being said, but the actions and body language of Meghan and Harry. You could clearly see Meghan was tearful at talking about some touchy subjects, especially when talking about Archie and that he wouldn’t be protected. You could clearly see her motherly instinct set in, and it was something that tugged at your heartstrings.
For Harry, it was his nervousness he had because if you really think, this is new territory for him as he has always been used to keeping quiet and going by Royal protocol. His nervousness made me emphasise with him because you could clearly tell he didn’t want to offend his family in any way, because he did not want any of this to happen, but it was for the sake of his wife and family that he is where he is today.
The reminder of his mother Diana, and how he could resonate with her was a tough watch. Although Diana was before my time, I am still well informed of the terror she went through both in and away from the Royal family after her divorce from Charles. The fact her youngest son now feels like he was going through it is in a way history repeating itself, and it is something that would not be wished upon anyone.
There were more lighter times in the interview that made it also a joy to watch. Parts included a look into Harry and Meghan’s new home, including “Archies Chick Inn” (cuteness overload). Something I loved to see was how both their faces lit up when they spoke about Archie. Although they have faced criticism for the last two years, their time with their son was still precious to them and it was something as an audience member I loved to see them talking about – especially when they revealed Archie says “drive safe” when either of them leave the house. Now if that is not cute, then I don’t know what is!
Taking into account everything that was said in this interview, it does change my perception of the Royal family and with much criticism coming about from this interview – both towards the Royal Family and Harry & Meghan – it does make you assume there will be much damage control needed. However, it does make you question where does the Royal Family stand from now?
Both me and Jack – as we said – are affected by this interview more than we thought. As we are both admirers of the Royal Family, we have more to think about now after this interview.
By Jack Proverbs and Katie Green
Feature image: The Telegraph