The departure from the United Kingdom of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is imminent … And so it begins.
The media is, once again, full of the why and wherefore of such a huge event. Huge event? For whom I ask myself. Obviously it is life changing for Prince Harry, his wife and their baby son Archie, but for the average Australian, I think not. I mean really, is it going to change our lives?
Do we need to know the gory details? That is if there are, in fact, any gory details behind their decision to quit as senior members of the royal family and live instead a Trans-Atlantic lifestyle with hopes to become financially independent. I’m not in the least bit interested…
Spare us all the drama! I mean to say, we were bombarded with information prior to their nuptials, most of which was fake news; hyped-up rubbish that had very little to do with the actual event. Why would anyone but those immediately concerned worry about who was or who wasn’t going to attend the wedding? No one should … Just no one!
Then there was the news about Meghan possibly being pregnant. This started almost as soon as the wedding was over, though it may have been whispered about before the wedding even took place. Every day there was some speculation about a new royal arrival.
When Prince Harry and Meghan finally announced the news that yes, they were expecting, it was four months post-wedding and again news media went into a flurry. There was an absolute bombardment of assumed allegations. Was she pregnant before they were married? Did she have a surrogate carrying their child? Where was she going to give birth? Who would the baby look like? Who bloody cares!? Yet on it went for five months.
Now the duke and duchess have returned from a six-week break and less than 24 hours into officially duties they’ve revealed their great exodus. I wonder how Prince Harry could do that to the royal family … Could the Queen be too busy — she’s still carrying out official duties at the ripe old age of 93 — to notice their departure? Probably.
What about poor Prince William, how will he cope with such news? The Duke of Cambridge and his wife have their hands full with three kids and all that tuition on how to be a good king when the time comes. I doubt he will miss anyone, especially not the brother and sister-in-law he’s apparently not on speaking terms with anyway.
Old Charles will be flat out attending to Camilla’s needs and talking to his plants to take too much notice.
But how can Prince Harry abandon his family and move to the other side of the world? What about all that extra carbon that’s going to seep into the atmosphere when Prince Harry takes a trip back to his homeland? Not exactly very environmentally-minded, which is what they have supposedly claimed they want to be more of.
I’m already hearing the blame being directed Meghan’s way. ‘She wants Harry all to herself’, ‘She’s jealous of his family’ … There might be some truth to it (though only the Sussexes know the real reason). King Edward VIII caused quite a stir when he abdicated to be with American socialite and divorcee Wallis Simpson.
Perhaps the Duke of Sussex is much smarter than we realise. Perhaps he’s taken a leaf out of his late-great uncle’s handbook and wants to live in peace. I reckon if I were in Prince Harry’s shoes, that’s what I’d be doing.
The old adage ‘you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family’ comes to mind here.