The Royal Deafness

By David Smith
December 2022

Living at the end of the world, sometimes you watch and you gasp at what makes news on the global stage these days. So, as this crisis-ridden year ends, with war in Europe such a constant drumbeat, maybe we might wonder at the sight of Harry Windsor and Meghan Markle so high on the news bulletins, and the ratings, not just in London, but USA, Europe, even Asia.

And with what, we might ask? Well, from what I’ve seen of Harry and Meghan in the Netflix expose, it’s a rather indulgent, yet also very endearing account of falling in love, being in love, and doing whatever it takes to keep the flame alive. Oh, and yes, all the while threatened by the “wolves” at the door: the wolves being the UK media. Witness the column just before Xmas in Rupert Murdoch’s Sun, vilifying Meghan and calling for her to be dragged naked through the streets. Shame is not in their lexicon.

Yet the impact of the Netflix series, and Harry’s book to follow, lies surely in de-mystifying the very essence of UK royalty, taking us behind the mask so carefully erected by the Windsors ever since the Family—or the Firm as the late Princess Diana referred to them—embraced TV and the TV age as the best guarantor of their survival, back in the 1960s when they allowed the cameras in on their gilded-cage lives. (Full disclosure: I’m a republican.)

A certain irony here, of course. For decades the Royals have used the cameras, and the devotedly loyal tabloid press, to have the country see what they want us to see. Babies being born, plaques being unveiled, prize-givings (aka Royal Investitures) attended, Christmas Carol concerts, not to mention those foreign trips to the lucky citizens of the old dominion empire, in this age called The Commonwealth.

Now they are being undone by the same partners in mutual advancement  and erstwhile prosperity. The mainstream press, the old Fleet Street, and the BBC remain acquiescent in the game of the Royals appearing here and there, with coverage agreed, tone formalised, details of what the Duchess wears pre-agreed and reported as revelation. Where else in the world might you know, same day, what a Royal was wearing and how much it costs at your local department store? Read Murdoch's Sun.

“It makes you wonder what else we didn’t know for 70-odd years, and how much propaganda we were sold by the marriage of convenience between media and Royalty.”

But new-age media have unleashed a veritable barrage of behind-the-scenes material, the like of which was unthinkable for so long as media bowed in homage to a monarch, Queen Elizabeth, who enjoyed such popular respect for so long.

Diana’s death was the cue, opening the door to the very idea of criticising her Majesty, but it took the advent of Netflix and the like for the lid to truly come off. First with the series The Crown, semi-salacious yes, semi-fictional of course, but also devastating. In terms of showing Her Majesty as a woman too busy with her horses to speak to Charles and Diana about their marriage. Or suggesting unforgettably Prince Philip as a philanderer. Charles as obsessed with an old girlfriend. I hesitate to mention Princess Anne’s trysts with bodyguards. Enough!

Now come Harry and Meghan, telling their side of the painful break-up with the Firm. Everything from the rather touching ‘Love at first sight,’ to their fights with the media, to the standoff with Harry’s brother and father, to their battle with mental health. Again, we have no way of knowing the truth, but the indelible thought left, of King Charles spreading lies about his son, and King-to-be William screaming at his baby brother: well, it ain’t what the Firm’s script calls for.

Add in Her Majesty watching all this, and allegedly doing nothing to stop it, well likewise it makes you wonder what else we didn’t know for 70-odd years, and how much propaganda we were sold by the marriage of convenience between media and Royalty. Maybe Her Majesty did care more about her horses, after all.

What’s striking is the way in which the new King, and his Firm, clearly rely on the old ways. Hence Royal courtiers, aka sycophants who are deemed to be Royal commentators and experts, have appeared to suggest the Family is taking it all very quietly, Netflix, that is, ‘stiff upper lip,’ that’s the mood, we are told, or put another way ‘keep calm and carry on.’

King Charles himself, we are assured, in his first 100 days has been dedicated to the business of State, reading those red boxes. Good to know. Although fascinating that he wanted the boxes restored by a high-end leather company first. As for bags of cash being handed over to his foundation, or the Lady-in-waiting, Prince William’s godmother no less, who harassed a female black invitee to the Palace about her antecedents, well pas de comment.

“The Firm had such an opportunity with Meghan Markle, the first person of colour in the Family.”

One favourite of mine is the expert editor of a Royal magazine called Majesty, what else ? He insists it is “unsavoury” for Harry to call out his Dad and brother, and suggest they shouted at him, adding that Her late Majesty would be “appalled” to see details of family conversations at Sandringham brought to light and represented as “anything other than calm and organised.” In other words, invoke the memory of the Queen as the best way to obfuscate, and cover up the behaviour of the next generation of Royals.

From my distance, what became a telling take-away is the thought that the Firm had such an opportunity with Meghan Markle. To create a fresh image at home and abroad, with the first person of colour in the Family. To reach out to a dramatically changing population with the UK. To speak to the Commonwealth, 2.5 billion people after all, most of them like Ms Markle in terms of race, an entity and a global population that meant a lot to the Queen, not least as a source of her own relevance and sense of leadership.

The other lasting impression is that some folks just can’t change. And can’t listen. All of us have had family rows, right? The key to making up, saying sorry on all sides, lies in remembering they love you unreservedly because they’re family, and that in the end they were listening, even if they didn’t agree. My fiery grandmother taught me: “There’s none so deaf as those who don’t want to hear.” Sounds to me as that’s where our Royal family lives. Deafness writ large.