Special written by The Paper Zhu Lianbi
On January 8, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan issued a statement in the name of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, saying that they will retreat to the second line in the future, be called to perform their duties, and make a living by themselves. As soon as the news came out, it overshadowed the heat of news about Britain's "Brexit" and also overshadowed the ongoing Labour Party leader election.
Less than a week later, Queen Elizabeth II convened Crown Prince Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry to discuss how to find a feasible solution that can satisfy the wishes of Harry and his wife, but also keep the royal family from being divided as soon as possible. Judging from the statement issued by the Queen on January 13, although she will support the Harry and his wife's choice and set a transition period for them to let the new family practice their own philosophy, she hopes that they can return.
Before Meghan married Harry, in addition to being compared by the media with the spouse of the British King Edward VIII after the abdication, negative news about her disagreement with relatives and friends also appeared from time to time. These news is indeed one of the important reasons why Harry and Meghan chose to retreat to the second line.
Although Harry has lived under the gaze of media guns and short cannons since he was a child, he also said in media interviews that he is still not used to such a life. Even when he attended his mother's funeral at Princess Diana , he still had to face attention from the world, which made him hate the camera from the bottom of his heart.
In the comment section under the royal social media account, netizens have extreme differences in attitudes towards Meghan, either picking on her shortcomings everywhere, or appreciating her very much. As a core member of the royal family, the media gaze and public comments are inevitable in life. In the view of the Harry and his wife, the solution is to no longer participate in activities as senior members of the royal family, no longer use public funds, choose media to cooperate, and dominate their own public image operation.
"Good Kids" and "Royal Alternatives" of Windsor's family
In the second episode of the American drama "The Crown" Season 3, which tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip said when she explained Elizabeth II, which reflects an interesting observation of the British royal family. The general meaning is that the characteristics of the Windsor family are that there is Edward VII, there is George VI , there is Margaret, and there is Lily Bette. Margaret mentioned here is Princess Margaret, the sister of Elizabeth II, and Lilibet is the nickname of Elizabeth II. The two groups of characters in the
line have the same gender, similar age, and close relationship. The former is mostly considered to be dazzling and eye-catching, while the latter is dull and rigid and follows the rules. If this analogy is applied to Harry and William, it seems to be true. However, this set of analogies contains another question: how should the second daughter and second son play their role in a royal family that has established themselves as the crown prince.
Because Edward VIII wanted to marry Mrs. Simpson, who had divorced twice, chose to abdicate, and George VI unexpectedly became the monarch as his second son. His cautious personality, sense of responsibility for the country, and his approach to hardships with the British people made him win the love of the people in a different way than Edward VIII.
Elizabeth II's personality is very similar to that of her father George VI, which also allows her to find a way to deal with it when facing the drastic changes in the outside world and the continuous scandals of the royal family, maintain a relatively positive personal image and win respect. Her sister Princess Margaret has a cheerful and versatile personality, and is completely different from George VI. She is also loved both inside and outside the royal family.
However, shortly after Elizabeth II ascended the throne, Margaret gave her a difficult problem. At that time, she was close to divorced Air Force officer Peter Townsend, and there were rumors that the two would get married. Under the Royal Marriage Act 1772, this marriage must be licensed by Elizabeth II to be effective, but once the Queen recognizes the marriage, it will conflict with her own identity as a defender of the Agriculture, because the Anglican doctrine does not accept divorce.In order to ensure that Wang Mei can pursue love without affecting the legitimacy of her rule, Elizabeth II discussed a solution with the then Prime Minister Anthony Aiden .
Because Aiden had experience of divorce and remarriage, he supported the change of his opinion of outdated Royal Marriage Act of 1772, and suggested that the bill be amended to marry divorced members of the royal family who automatically lose their inheritance rights, thereby avoiding the queen's decision to support or reject the marriage. In the end, Princess Margaret decided to give up her marriage with Townsend, and the amendment to the bill was left unresolved. This old law was abolished until 2013 and was changed to only the top six royal members with inheritance rights rankings. The marriage of the monarch requires approval and the royal family members will be accepted to marry Roman Catholic believers.
William and Harry seem to be a replica of Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. The former never makes mistakes, while the latter attracted much attention when she was young and provided the media with material for negative news many times. Whether it is to use "the dragon gives birth to nine sons, each with different characteristics" or to use "people's concise" to understand the differences between Elizabeth II and Margaret, William and Harry, we can still see that the eldest daughter and eldest son who shoulder the heavy responsibility of the royal family use their cautious words and deeds to avoid the impact of the Windsor family. However, the second daughter and second son who are relatively less responsible choose to live in a way that is closer to the times and their true intentions, which will inevitably bring controversy to the royal family.
William and Harry: Two ways to inherit Diana's spirit
After the two world wars, the British royal family has been facing pressure of reform. Although both the assets and real estate of the monarch and the aristocrats can bring benefits, security and part of the royal expenses still come from the state’s taxes. Therefore, the goal of royal reform is to ensure the recognition of the people, avoid the forces that advocate republic winning more support from the people, and to impact the British royal family and even reaching an end.
What kind of image did William and Harry leave to the public herald the future trend of the royal family, and therefore received particular attention. In addition, after his father Charles and his mother Diana divorced, they remarried Camilla, who was divorced, which made many people have a very negative impression of Charles.
Although the current British society has become much more tolerant of divorce than when Charles divorced, and Camilla's image after marriage has gradually improved, many people still have doubts about Charles becoming the king in the future. This is also the rumor that the British tabloids will publish every now and then the Queen decides to let William inherit the throne directly.
The TV series "Charles III" broadcast on the BBC in 2017 directly presents the plot of the "palace battle" that the masses have been puzzled by: Charles abdicated shortly after he succeeded to the throne, and Prince William was crowned.
Diana's popularity has not decreased in more than 20 years since her death. This is related to her friendly image as a "royal alien", and it is her who brought "earth energy" to the royal family. William and Harry have been carrying Diana's spiritual legacy since they were teenagers.
To this day, many official press releases covering their events have mentioned the connection between these events and Diana. William, the heir to the throne who was ranked high, chose to marry a civilian woman, and it was also an implementation of this concept, but the spouse Harry chose was obviously more controversial and "atypical" than William's choice. This is also in line with the rebellious and sincere image that Harry has left to the outside world for a long time, making those who appreciate Harry appreciate him more and make those who hate him more.
Judging from the way the two couples act, although Williams and his wife are trying their best to make their lives look like ordinary family, they still adhere to the royal tradition on key issues. When William and his wife got married, the British media did not have much kindness to Kate and were picky everywhere, but in less than ten years, the public's acceptance of her has increased significantly.
She will choose affordable high street brand clothing to attend events, take the children out on cheap airlines, let the children carry their own belongings, and go shopping at the supermarket by themselves... Whether it is intentionally designed to show a friendly image, or the sincere choice of a mother and wife born in the 1980s, she has won her praise.But from clothing matching, to children's names, hospitals where children are given birth, and press conferences after giving birth, Kate still adheres to the royal rules or follows Princess Diana's past practices.
The media's kindness to Meghan was originally less than that to Kate. As Kate's image became more positive, Meghan was also compared with Kate from time to time. The discord between sister-in-law and the resulting brotherly disagreement have also become the topics that British tabloids have been keen on in recent years, and have paid great attention to both couples.
Obviously, what Harry and his wife chose not to "let time prove everything" or to let small families slowly integrate into the big family, but to directly express their enthusiasm for embracing the lives of ordinary people. The practice of not seeing the names of British monarchs of all generations in the names they gave to their children, and they did not intend to get the children to be awarded the title of "His Royal Highness" has clearly expressed their position. At the same time, Harry also went to the areas Diana visited in Africa, constantly telling the world how much she missed her mother and how hard she tried to inherit her career.
It can be said that William and Harry faced the spiritual legacy left by their mother in different ways. The former inherited without impacting the rules of the royal family, while the latter did not restrain their actions by rules. Whether it was to learn from the lessons of Diana's divorce from Charles, or from feelings for her grandson, or simply strategic considerations, the queen acquiesced to their attempts. The different paths of reforming the royal image chosen by William and Harry may have good and bad results. If you don’t have any complete innovation, you can also have devastating consequences.
There is no throne to inherit. Can Harry live the life he wants to live?
The emphasis on the family in Elizabeth II's personal statement after the first day of the family meeting seemed to be in response to Harry's statement in an interview. He believes that although the queen is his grandmother, she is also the queen and her "boss". The Queen's statement repeatedly emphasized the "family" and tried to use the power of family affection to pull the Harry and his wife back to the royal family. The plan to set the transition period seems to be letting go, but from past experience, the delaying strategy may make Harry find that his plan is not feasible and chooses to return. For Harry, this plan can attack, gain a new life, retreat and defend, and continue to be his Duke of Sussex, which can be considered as leaving a way out.
Harry is not the first royal family member to look for a new job outside the royal family. As early as 1993, Elizabeth II's youngest son Edward ran a television production company responsible for the production of documentaries and dramas. But in 2009, the company, which had been in short supply for a long time, ended its operations. His wife Sophie still works in PR for three years after her marriage, but for now, the couple works full-time for the royal family and are very active.
Uncle and aunt’s unsuccessful social employment experience does not seem to make the Harry and his wife feel the difficulty of leaving the royal family. It’s just that the problems they faced at the beginning of their marriage were the same. Since there is no throne waiting for you to inherit, why not let your small family live a life of whatever you want? Since you have a family property and a social network, you are also very dedicated to your work, and there is no need to be restricted by the restrictions and supervision faced by the use of public funds.
Furthermore, since Japanese royal women become civilians after marrying civilians, they can get rid of the palace restraints, and members of the British royal family who are inappropriate will no longer have jobs representing the royal family. Reducing participation in events as a royal member does not seem to be an impossible option either. If Harry and Meghan really make a fortune, they may also provide new choices for William's daughter Charlotte and second son Louis's life path.
The difficulty of Harry and Meghan's choice is how to not only get rid of the responsibilities and constraints of the core members of the royal family, but also support themselves as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and continue to serve the royal family when needed. Maintaining the title of the Duke and Duchess can be understood as considering the big family, but judging from the fact that the Harry and his wife had applied for brands and patents for the "Sussex Royal Family" as early as June last year, the title is likely to be an important intangible capital for their future livelihood.
In addition to the complex issues that should be paid for by which party that may exist in Canada, whether the Harry and his wife can continue to receive financial support from Charles, etc., that requires many aspects to participate in the discussion, the Harry and his wife are not only willing to obtain various explicit and implicit benefits as the Duke of Sussex, but are unwilling to fully bear the dilemma and pressure behind the title, nor are they unable to change the ecological status of gossip media, which has made many critics worried that their independent plans will be difficult to achieve the expected results. Another point of the plan given by the Queen is worth noting, which is that it requires feasible plans to be provided within a few days. From a technical perspective, the faster there is a solution, the faster it can turn this matter into a complete chapter, and the negative impact on the royal family will be minimized, so as not to become a delayed "drag EU" like "Brexit". But from the perspective of Harry and Meghan, if they do not have a mature plan as the basis for discussion, then the hasty choice of the plan will most likely only meet their most concerned needs at the moment, and it is difficult to be thorough, and it is more likely to choose to return to the royal family after the transition period is over or completely leave the royal family.
return is naturally a good thing for the royal family, but it may lose some supporters for the Harry and his wife. Complete separation from the royal family may not be a bad thing for the Harry and his wife, but it is unpredictable for the British monarchy. In order to fulfill his wish to fulfill his small family, he has broken down his big family that he has lived in for more than 30 years. Is it what Harry wants?
Will Harry choose royal duties at the last moment like Princess Margaret back then, or is he willing to follow his inner choices like his mother Diana? It may be a bit early to draw a conclusion at the moment. Even though he was born without a throne to inherit, Harry's identity as a member of the British royal family cannot be changed. The royal duties have fallen on his shoulders since he was born.
Imagine the little Elizabeth before Edward VIII abdicated. At that time, there was no heavy crown waiting for her. Now, her life can no longer be repeated, and her grandchildren can still choose their lives. The choice of Harry and Meghan may tell her what other possibilities could be in life without the throne to be inherited.
(the author is an associate professor in the Department of History, , Fudan University, , html)
This issue editor Zhou Yuhua
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