James Explains The Markle Debarcle

‘That interview’ aired on UK television on Monday evening, so I’ve left it rather late to share my views on the whole Harry and Meghan saga. But as everyone still seems to be banging on about it, I though I might as well use it to generate some additional content for my blog.

I must confess that I didn’t watch the interview, and I tend to have very little interest in the royal family in general. I’ve never even watched an episode of The Crown. So who am I to have a view on any of this?

I’m James, that’s who, and I’ve never let a little thing like a basic understanding of the facts get in the way of holding an ill-informed view on a matter I care little-to-nothing about.

Anyway, I did watch a few episodes of Suits back in the early-mid 2010s so I’m basically an expert on Meghan.

I’m certainly no royalist, but it is hard not to bristle at some of the accusations that have apparently been levelled at the royal family. Just because an antiquated institution, founded on principals of feudalism and elitism, has a poor track record when it comes to insensitive comments relating to ethnicity, is absolutely no reason to believe claims that someone within that institution is a bit racist. I, for one, would never question the scruples of a family that appears to be harbouring an alleged sex offender. Although I doubt a few inconsiderate remarks would cause that person to break into a sweat.

I understand the British press have come in for some criticism too and frankly I find the notion that the tabloids might have been hounding Meghan for reasons relating to the colour of her skin to be a tad naïve and a little over simplistic. If I know the gutter press, I’d imagine it’s a much more nuanced cocktail of misogyny and racism at play so we should probably give credit where it is due.

Still, the real tragedy in all this is that the hubristic artificial outrage monger, Piers Morgan, won’t be on the TV for a while after he got himself into a bit of a tizz over the whole thing on Good Morning Britain and then lost his job. I don’t watch Good Morning Britain so I didn’t see that either. Piers does seem to be have taken the interview particularly personally, which is a shame because apparently he and Meghan were once great friends on social media up until the moment she met him in person, when she inexplicably ceased all further contact. I’m generally not a fan of Piers’ combative approach to broadcasting, but I broadly share his antipathy for the current UK government’s handling of the pandemic so I’ll miss him spouting off about that, if nothing else.

Anyway, it seems that a lot of people care about this interview and it’s really important to choose sides. I’m largely indifferent, but I did find Suits mildly diverting for the few months that I watched it and I don’t tend to get such good entertainment value from the Royal family. Perhaps I should give The Crown a go for the sake of balance.