While I know that British people are still interested in talking about Queen Elizabeth II and paying to see an exhibition of her clothes, I have to wonder if there’s really a market for this glut of QEII biographies. There are at least four “major” QEII biographies out right now, and while they’re all being widely excerpted and discussed, is anyone actually buying them? Every single one of these supposed QEII biographies is being marketed off of Prince Harry and Meghan’s backs too. The excerpts are ALWAYS about “what QEII really thought about Harry and Meghan.” Several biographers insist that QEII was a terrible bigot who hated Meghan on sight and cosigned the smear campaign against her, then blamed Meghan and Harry for saving themselves from the palace-led onslaught. Speaking of, Robert Hardman is promoting Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story. He gave a lengthy interview to the Telegraph, the bulk of which was about – you guessed it – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The Sussexit: When the dream went sour, and they left Britain for the US, it was she who insisted the door be left open for their return, post-Megxit. As a grandmother, she felt deep personal hurt at their departure. As the monarch, she understood what a huge asset the proverbial Firm was losing – something that is proving impossible to deny. As the couple’s current quasi-royal Australian “tour” is amply demonstrating, they possess a star power that is, inarguably, the Royal family’s loss. The Queen may have been adamant there could be no halfway house, but the bitter irony remains that as far as the rest of the world is concerned, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to fly the royal standard, whether officially endorsed by the House of Windsor or not.
QEII loved Harry: “The Queen always adored Harry. She had an instinctive sympathy for the spare. Her shy father was a spare, unexpectedly thrust into kingship by the abdication of his brother. Her sister, Margaret, was a spare, and Elizabeth was always her greatest defender. And as a mother and grandmother, she was conscious that being second sons, both Andrew and Harry had far less clearly defined roles than their firstborn siblings, and that concerned her.”
Obfuscation over Archie’s birth?? Reports of tears and tension over tiaras and flower girls’ tights, frayed tempers, and whispers of Meghan being difficult and demanding. Then, wilful obfuscation surrounding the birth of Archie, and Meghan’s claim in an interview that she was left lonely and depressed after her son’s birth. Then, an irreconcilable rift between the brothers, confirmed by Harry, who announced: “We’re on different paths.” It’s inconceivable that the Queen was in the dark about this, but she was distracted by Prince Philip’s ailing health – by then he had retired to Sandringham – and the growing furore surrounding Andrew’s friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, culminating in his disastrous Newsnight interview. Ever the pragmatist, she may have assumed that her grandsons would put duty first and lay their differences aside. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
Modernizing Harry: “The Queen recognised what a modernising force Harry was,” says Hardman. “In March 2012, she sent him to Jamaica during her Diamond Jubilee celebrations at a time when there were growing rumbles of Republicanism.” Her grandson was the perfect choice – he hugged the country’s prime minister and managed to “beat” Usain Bolt on the track by shamelessly cheating – returning a hero who had helped shore up the monarchy. Just months later, she bestowed on him another great honour. Having opened the London 2012 Olympic Games with her astonishing James Bond cameo, she then announced she was travelling to Balmoral and would not be present at the closure. “Everyone assumed that privilege would go to Prince Charles, or at the very least Prince William. But no, it was Harry who got this huge pat on the back. It’s a truly global moment, watched by billions of people. And when she gave it to Harry, we all thought, “That’s an interesting move.’ And, of course, what she knew, what he knew and what none of us knew at the time, was that he was going to be sent to Afghanistan that autumn.”
The Sussexes threw it all away! “As far as the Queen was concerned, Harry and Meghan had everything handed to them but wanted to throw it all away… She was enormously upset and terribly sad about a wasted opportunity, but she acted decisively.” Crisis talks were convened at Sandringham, and Harry was told there would be no half-in, half-out role. He would no longer be permitted to use the HRH title.
The slimmed-down monarchy: “I think it’s a crying shame that when William takes the throne, he and Catherine are effectively looking at quite a significant spell on their own, carrying the whole show. Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, are stepping up, and the Gloucesters too, but they’re all going to be of a certain age. The Princess Royal is turning 76 this year. I think William’s view is that we’re all going to just have to accept things will be different. We can’t suddenly summon up extra royals. We’re just going to have to get used to a different sort of business model, if you like.”
The endgame: “No one thinks that the monarchy will end with a mob storming the gates,” says Hardman. “If it ever does – and I hope that it doesn’t – it will be due to a loss of relevance. When people wake up one day wondering, ‘What’s the point of that?’, then the writing will be on the wall.”
“As far as the Queen was concerned, Harry and Meghan had everything handed to them but wanted to throw it all away…” Because only people like work-shy Willy and PDF-file princes receive the benefit of situational context. Six years later, and they’ve really made themselves believe that Harry and Meghan just decided one day to leave, apropos of nothing. And the way they go on and on about Harry’s importance to the institution… yes, I agree, he was incredibly important for the future of the monarchy. The monarchy should have treated him as such. They shouldn’t have tried to cause his divorce or abuse Meghan to the point of suicidal ideation. It’s funny that they have to acknowledge that Harry & Meghan are still global superstars too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
