“Meghxit” Is Long Overdue

by Ayana Antoine ’20

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, have decided to step away from their royal lives. The announcement came after months of speculation but they finally confirmed their decision after the stress put on them by the British media. Since 2018, the couple faced extreme scrutiny, which added an unnecessary weight to their relationship. Both Prince Harry and Meghan have spoken publicly about the way the media has been portraying them and their general unhappiness among the royal family.

Meghan Markle is already a prominent American actress from the show “Suits,” and was married once before Prince Harry. Both of those factors did not quite sit well with some of the British public. Many news outlets that covered Markle even back when she and Harry were just dating questioned her motives for being with him. This, and the opinion of Prince William believing that the couple is “moving too fast,” only added to the drama surrounding the relationship.

When Prince Harry began dating Markle, who is half black half white, many media outlets considered it a sign that Britain had entered a “post-racial” era where skin color no longer mattered, even to the royal family. But after years of news media coverage that was at times blatantly racist and at other times subtle, the couple decided they had enough. Markle’s coverage compared to the coverage of her counterpart, Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge can easily prove this inconsistency. Where Middleton and Prince William “secretly set up companies to protect their brand—just like the Beckhams”(Daily Mail) is praised, while Markle is, “a…royal cash in!” (Daily Mail). Or, “How Kate went from drab to fab!” (Daily Mail) while Markle missed the memo that, “We Brits prefer to royalty to fashion royalty” (Daily Mail). But more outright racist incidents include the BBC commentator, Danny Baker, who tweeted an image of Meghan and Harry holding hands with a chimpanzee and joked that it was their son. Or Daily Mail headline “Harry’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton,” on a story that covered the recent crimes that have taken place near Markle’s childhood home and listed street gangs known to operate in the area, reinforcing the idea that the neighborhood where she was born “couldn’t be more different” from how Prince Harry was raised.

They are still technically part of the royal family for now and explained that they are working on taking a “transition year” until they officially vacate their roles in the monarchy. The Duke and Duchess’ departure is a reasonable response to an intolerant public, regardless of what Prince Harry and Markle do they would be criticized, so they may as well choose to live comfortably on their own terms.