It might be surprising to outsiders to learn that the British press will sit on incendiary stories. But they do, as their behaviour now proved. Harry had asked for a break and, because he was so popular and because even those segments of the media that were not particularly royalist could see the merit of a woman of colour being the girlfriend of a senior member of the Royal Family, and even more importantly, because none of them wanted to be accused of being racist, they all decided to back off and give the couple space.
Although Harry and Meghan might have thought the clear run they had been given was the sole result of their statement, this was far from the truth. The reasons were more complex than that. Despite the press and the palace knowing that dirt existed that could damage Meghan, fear played a smaller part in backing off than a combination of expediency and enlightened self-interest. The uninitiated might believe that there is a total disconnect between the palace and the press, but the reality is otherwise. Both entities have a symbiotic relationship. The palace needs the press to publicise the activities of the royals and keep the public’s interest in them alive, while the press needs the royals because they are the world’s mega-celebrities and, as such, reliable fodder.
Beyond that, the newspapers provide a valuable function for the palace. They assist it in gathering information which is useful to the maintenance of the monarchy and the protection of the Royal Family’s interests. Because journalists are obliged to ask the Press Office at the palace for a comment before publishing a story, they are a rich and frequently inadvertent source of information. Many a royal has tried to conceal his or her activities from the family and the courtiers, only to be rumbled by an inquisitive reporter asking an awkward question of a press officer.
The Royal Family had actually known of Meghan and Harry’s relationship before the press did. When it became apparent that it was developing into something more than a three night stand, the palace did what it always does. It launched its own investigations into Meghan’s background the way it always ascertains the back story of everyone who becomes a close associate of any member of the Royal Family. I was told by a courtier that there was ‘concern’ about Meghan’s ‘past’ but because it was ‘just an affair the view was: don’t cross the bridge in case we don’t come to it.’ Nevertheless, there was anxiety at the palace about the press ‘wading in, though it was my view that that would’ve been the best thing they could’ve done. It would’ve stopped the affair in its tracks before it had a chance to develop into something more serious. It was fairly obvious from all we discovered about her past that she might be trouble with a capital T.’
The palace, of course, was not about to convey any of its concerns to the press. No competent press officer would do such a thing, but the hope was that the romance would run its course, Harry would meet a girl with a less complicated background and a more pliable character, then everyone could breathe a sigh of relief.
As we all know, the press did not break ranks nor did anyone close to Meghan for the next six months. The first person to wade in was her half-sister Samantha, who announced in April 2017 that she was writing a book called The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister. At that stage, her criticisms were implied rather than asserted, but this did Meghan no harm and Samantha no favours. She came across as a jealous attention-seeker intent on muscling in on her younger half-sibling’s success, but I learnt that there was actually a more poignant reason. Although neither sister had ever been close, they had always had a cordial relationship, but when Samantha reached out to Meghan to congratulate her on her success, she was iced.
Meanwhile, the romance continued to flourish. In September the Invictus Games were held in Toronto and for the first time Meghan and Harry officially appeared in public as a couple. She was chic in an oversized man’s white shirt tucked into fitted blue jeans, while he was equally informally attired. In breach of royal protocol, they held hands, something they would continue to do thereafter. Throughout that appearance, they continued to be overtly physical, their hands and legs touching in a very public display of attraction, generally conveying the message that they were a hot couple completely besotted with each other.
It is said that everyone loves a lover, and this certainly seemed to be true of Harry and Meghan. They were seen as a breath of fresh air, a good-looking, delightfully informal couple who seemed to be totally in love. In Establishment circles in the UK, people were generally pleased that Harry had found himself such a beautiful girl who seemed as much in love with him as he was with her. Her colour was much commented upon, not as a drawback but as an attribute. The timing of the romance was regarded as being particularly propitious with regards to the Commonwealth of Nations. For some time now, the Headship of that august institution had been a feature of discussion amongst the 53 member states. The position is not hereditary. King George VI had been its first Head, followed by his daughter Queen Elizabeth II, whose love of the Commonwealth is superseded only by that for the country of her birth. She is respected greatly amongst the many Heads of Government representing the other 52 formerly British colonies, with whom she has worked throughout her long reign. There had been many occasions, such as the crises involving Rhodesia and South Africa, when the Commonwealth had come perilously close to fragmenting. The Queen was credited with having kept it together, her commitment, wisdom and colour-blindness the glue that had held it together. But she was now over ninety, and the subject of her successor had been mooted for at least a decade. Some of the countries wanted one of their own to be appointed the next head, while others, being mindful of the self-interestedness of some states and the dangerous corruption of others, thought the neutrality of the British monarch would safeguard its integrity in a way no one else could. The troublesome issue of race sometimes reared its ugly head, with some of the black nations querying why an institution with a larger black than white population should be headed up by the head of a family that was exclusively white. However, if Harry should marry Meghan, the British Royal Family would no longer be purely white. That would play well throughout the Commonwealth, especially as how the process of designating its next Head was due to come up for discussion at the next meeting of the Heads of Government in April 2018.
Buckingham Palace announced Harry and Meghan’s engagement on the 27th November 2017. The news was greeted with genuine enthusiasm publicly. There was even more excitement than when William became engaged to Catherine Middleton. For all its overlay of tradition, British society had jettisoned snobbishness and embraced inclusiveness. Both engagements confirmed this. Catherine’s solidly middle class background and Meghan’s colour and class were seen as confirmation that the British monarchy had become like the American presidency. Anyone, irrespective of background, can aspire to it.
On the 20th April 2018, the Queen got her fondest wish when Prince Charles was named as her successor to the Headship of the Commonwealth. Several of the Commonwealth High Commissioners told me that there was little doubt that Harry’s engagement to Meghan had made the appointment easier for all the states involved.
Between the announcements of the engagement and of Charles’s appointment to succeed the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth, the most glorious cock-up concerning colour took place. Only Princess Michael of Kent, a woman universally deplored in royal circles, could have orchestrated something so pointlessly self-defeating. At the Queen’s annual luncheon party for all the members of the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace a few days before Christmas, she was photographed wearing a blackamoor brooch on her coat. She is not someone people in their right mind would aspire to emulate. She is vain and tiresomely affected. I would stake good money that she wore that brooch to garner the attention she seeks at every turn. Although she would later issue a statement claiming to be ‘very sorry and distressed for any offence caused,’ I for one could not help feeling that she had deliberately set out to knock the newcomer off the front pages: which she did. And while she did it with a flourish, it would be doing her an injustice if I
did not point out that the brooch she was wearing cannot fairly have been regarded as possessing racist overtones, for it did not represent a Sub-Saharan black slave but a North African aristocrat. It was a Moretto Veneziano, as the figures are known. These originated in Venice and have been made there from the dawn of the Modern Age until today. Alberto Nardi, the Venetian jeweller who created the brooch, took strong exception to the way ignorant commentators in Britain and America jumped on the racist bandwagon to condemn an item of jewellery he had made, without even being aware of its cultural significance in its place of origin. ‘A whole lot of nonsense has been written, and I wish to defend an object that is rich in history and unique to Venice. The brooch depicts a Moorish Venetian prince.’ This was verified by the jewellery historian Anastazja Buttita, who explained, ‘The blacks in these pieces were essentially being depicted as aristocrats. And over the years, these objects became one of the city’s most important symbols, symbolizing to Venetians their openness to other cultures.’ Not only are such items not racist in origin, but they give off the most powerful message of inclusivity. Could Princess Michael have actually been conveying a positive message rather than the negative one she was accused of? If so, it would have behoved Meghan to note that it is always dangerous for public figures to ignore public misconceptions, even when they are more knowledgeable and in the right. She too would soon hurl herself into the pit of public disapproval the way the Princess Michael, who is as over-confident as Meghan and equally blind to the effect she has when choosing between her own desires and the sensitivity of others, did.
No sooner did the furore caused by Marie Christine Kent’s choice of brooch die down than Harry committed an equally injudicious faux pas. Sadly for him and for Meghan, his would have rather more devastating consequences. It began innocently enough, following a successful Christmas at Sandringham. The Queen had broken precedent. For the first time ever, a fiancée had been asked to join the Royal Family for the sacrosanct Christmas celebrations. Meghan could not say, as Diana had and Catherine could have but never did, that she was not welcomed with open arms before the wedding ring was on her finger. Not only was she treated by everyone as if she were already a member of the family, but the press had gone wild when she, Harry, William and Catherine had walked to church from the big house. The Fab Four were born that day, heightening expectations and raising Meghan’s stock exponentially. It now really looked as if she was on her way to becoming one of the world’s most famous women as well as a beloved part of the Royal Family.
On the 27th December, Harry guest edited BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He was not its first guest editor. In fact, the tradition of Christmas guest editors had begun fourteen years before. Nor was he the first royal editor. That had been Sarah, Duchess of York in 2004. William and Catherine had also been invited by BBC Radio 1 earlier in the year to speak about the Heads Together mental health campaign which they had started with Harry. This was now his opportunity to showcase ‘a range of topics, including youth violence, conservation and mental health,’ according to the announcement the palace had made.
Harry acquitted himself admirably. He was warm, concerned, considered, charming and interesting. He came across as a genuinely nice and kind man. Like his mother, he was no intellectual, but like her, he had emotional intelligence in spades. Then he committed the solecism to end all solecisms. Speaking about how successful Christmas at Sandringham with Meghan had been, he said that she had finally got the family she had never had.
My sons are friendly with Meghan’s nephew following their appearance with him on MTV’s The Royal World. He and his mother have stayed with us as guests at our castle in Sussex. I do not think I am breaching confidences to repeat that the whole family was upset when they heard Harry expunging them out of existence. The fact is, both branches of Meghan’s family had been close to her. Tom Sr had literally bankrupted himself supporting her. By her own account, he had been an excellent father. Her uncles had done whatever they could to help her. ‘Everyone was there for her.’ Tom Sr ‘was a wonderful father and grandfather. Nothing was too much trouble for him. He is a truly kind, decent man, just as Meghan said on her blog. She wasn’t lying when she said all those things about him.’ According to Meghan, Tom Jr, Samantha, Tyler and his mother Tracey Dooley, Tom Sr is a generous man who would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. The Markles had played a far larger part in Meghan’s upbringing than the Ragland family. Her mother had been away for large stretches of time. Although the Ragland family also emerged as warm, by the account of Doria’s own half-brother Joseph Johnson, the times they spent together were not so frequent, but nevertheless ‘it was always nice for family to get together. It was always a good time. We’ve got a little, small family: not a lot of cousins, uncles and that kind of thing that we know of. So when we got together, we were always happy to see each other.’
Samantha was the first off the mark. She waded in accusing Meghan of being a ‘shallow social climber’ and said their father had always given ‘Meg everything.’ While the public might have thought that Samantha was just a jealous sibling, their father hinted that the reason might have something to do with Meghan ignoring Samantha’s approaches. The two sisters had never been close, but nor were they estranged. They simply lived in different parts of the country. Meghan spurning Samantha’s approaches was therefore surprising. It caused hurt, and the wounded party struck out. Nevertheless, they were family, and families might have their ups and downs, but they still remained family. Or so the Markles believed.
The wedding was scheduled for the 19th May 2018. As the day neared, both the Markle and Ragland families were humiliated ‘in front of the whole world’ when only her mother and father received invitations. Her paternal uncle Michael, who had organised the internship for her with the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, was perplexed. So too were her maternal uncle John Johnson and his wife. Her nephew Tyler, whom she used to babysit when they were young, wished her well and wondered why she wasn’t inviting everyone. They were certainly a small enough number to take up very little space. Although they had all scattered to the wind, living in different places - some in Florida, Mexico, California, Oregon etc. - they had all been on good terms with Meghan. Even Samantha had. None of them had fallen out with her, though some, such as her brother and sister, did not speak to each other. Up to the last moment, several members of the family hoped that their invitations were on the way.
When it became apparent to the whole family that they had been deliberately overlooked en masse, some of them became angry. Although some refrained from going public, Tyler’s father Tom Jr wrote an open letter to Harry, stating in part, ‘As more time passes to your royal wedding it becomes very clear that this is the biggest mistake in royal history.’
Such conflict brought no credit to anyone. Although the press loved the drama of it all, the reality was that the whole thing was just embarrassing and uncalled for. While some commentators thought Meghan’s siblings behaved badly by berating her, others thought that they were justifiably outraged. Whatever people’s points of view, the one unarguable fact was that failing to invite her family had rebounded badly on Meghan, who was barraged with bad publicity.
What the public and the press did not know was that the anger of not being invited to the wedding was not limited to the paternal and maternal branches of Meghan’s slighted family. Practically none of the European royals was invited either, nor were the many royal cousins in England who are normally asked to the weddings of the Royal Family. This was in defiance of the established custom whereby even third and fifth cousins are asked, weddings and funerals being the two occasions in life when royal and aristocratic clans gather together in tribal affirmation.
Although the public were never privy to this, anger amongst the relations turned to fury when it emerged that Harry and Meghan had not filled St. George’s Chapel to capacity. Aside from the hundreds of empty seats in existence, there were the hundreds of charity worker
s, strangers all, who had been asked. But most offensive to the many relations who had been overlooked was the presence of celebrities Harry and Meghan barely knew. ‘Pray tell,’ said a cousin who would ordinarily have been present, ’why are we not there but George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, and the Beckhams are? The invitation list smacks of a career move.’
Behind the scenes, an even worse scenario was unfolding. This played right into the hands of the British press, who were delighted to be released from their self-imposed restraint. Although Meghan’s failure to invite either side of her family led both the Markle and the Johnson/Ragland clans to feel that they had been cast in the role of pariah in front of the whole world, the British media were careful not to mock the Raglands presumably because they feared accusations of colour prejudice should they do so. But they had no such compunction where the Caucasian Markles were concerned. The whole Markle family felt that Meghan had set them up for ridicule by not inviting them, a view which was confirmed as accurate when the British papers set about making them all look as ridiculous as possible. There was a cruel and inhumane element to the reportage which was the British tabloids at their worst. They behaved as if they had a right to mock the family because Meghan and Harry had such scant respect for them that they had not even condescended to acknowledge their existence with invitations. Although Tom Sr exceptionally had been the only one to be asked, this did not stop them from portraying him up as a sloppy, sleazy slob. He was pictured in the most unflattering poses, the implication being that he was a drunkard as well as a dolt and an oik. Because his whole life had been spent in television, Tom Sr knew that they were making a fool of him, so he agreed to stage some photographs with what seemed a friendly paparazzo. When he realised that he had been set up and had been made to look a complete idiot, he was so distressed that he suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised in Mexico. The Mail on Sunday then ran an expose presenting him in the most unflattering light, after which he had a second heart attack. This time, he was taken to the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in California, where he had stents inserted to open up his blocked arteries, running up a bill of some $130,000. He was discharged on the 17th May and warned that he could not travel.
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