The world’s longest-running soap opera – about an unelected family holding sovereignty over a 21st century democracy – produced another dramatic episode this week.
Netflix began airing what is billed as an “explosive” documentary series about Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle.
On the surface it is about age-old family feuding, about someone marrying “outside” his expected circle and upsetting the applecart of tradition. It’s about nasty in-laws and someone who doesn’t fit in because she’s “as common as dirt”.
ALSO READ: ‘Grifters who take Daddy’s money but turn on family’ – Harry and Meghan Netflix docuseries reactions
Yet the saga of Harry and Meghan raises some very 21st century problems, most notably racism and how people who are not white are accepted into families who have been lily-white for centuries.
Markle has, by her own account, as well of that of her husband, never been truly accepted by the British Royal Family.
The Brit tabloid papers paint Markle as a shameless American hussy, much as they did with Wallis Simpson, the Yank who seduced King Edward VIII. He abdicated when forced to choose between love and duty. Harry fears Meghan will be hounded by the media, as was his mother, Diana.
The royal family and many Brits feel she’s a drama queen. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Who cares?
ALSO SEE: Royal news: Harry & Meghan and William & Kate’s close encounter in the USA
