by Blaise Runyon, News Editor
The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.
On Sunday, March 7 an interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aired on CBS. Oprah Winfrey conducted the interview where the couple came forward about their decision to remove themselves from the royal family and what led to it. With 17.1 million viewers, many had different opinions on the situation. The Duchess opened up about the impact that the royal family had on her mental health, the treatment of her first child, Archie, and the way that the royal family treated her.
The interview was on air for 2 hours, during which the couple dropped many “bombshells,” on their life both before leaving the UK and now as they live in Canada. Meghan told Oprah that she had been suicidal, and that she felt she couldn’t “be left alone” for fear of what she would do to herself. When she reached out for help, she was told she “couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution,” ‘institution’ referring to the management of the monarchy.
Conversely, Meghan insisted that “the Queen, for example, has always been wonderful” to her, and Harry had also insisted, “my father and my brother, they are trapped. They don’t get to leave and I have huge compassion for that.” The two seemed to agree that most of the problems they had originated from the staff and advisor’s strict upholding of their “tradition,” and disdain for Meghan due to her race. The prince stated that “what was different for me was the race element, because now it wasn’t just about [Meghan]. It was about what she represented.” Revealing how his father had stopped taking his calls for a period of time, he found himself “let down, because he’s been through something similar,” with his mother, Princess Diana, whose death due to a car crash is often attributed to the extreme harassment of the media and paparazzi.
This interview greatly influenced how many people see the royal family and the institutional monarchy. So what is at the root of this corruption? Is it the family itself, the advisors, or the long standing “traditions” of the institution. Jayla Shanmugan (12) told The Jaguar Times, “the monarchy seems to have very prehistoric thinking and it is a shame Markle had such a horrible experience despite her doing the job well.” In 2014, The Duchess toured Afghanistan and Spain with the United Service Organizations, prior to her marriage to Prince Harry. Also, in 2017 Markle joined Prince Harry in teaming up with the charity Elephants Without Borders to assist with the conservation efforts. More recently, from January 2019 to February 2021 Meghan was patron of London's National Theatre and the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Despite all this, Markle has unfortunately been ridiculed by the British government. Fortunately the Prince and Duchess continue their work from their new home in Canada.
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