It may have been a fairy tale wedding, but Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, with a life bound to Buckingham Palace, were not destined for happily ever after. Marrying into the monarchy and becoming The Duchess of Sussex didnt upend the system. It sucked Markle into a Royal nightmare.
Earlier this week, Prince Harry and Markle announced they would be stepping back as senior members of the Royal Family. The goal is to balance their lives between the UK and North America. They plan to live financially independent of the Monarchy (hes still a prince with inherited wealth and she didnt come to the palace broke) while still supporting Her Majesty The Queen. And the pearl-clutching was instant.
Londons Madame Tussauds museum swiftly split the waxworks of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex apart from its Royal Family set. Some celebrated, claiming Meghan stole a prince. Memes took over Twitter, calling it a dismantling of the monarchy and the Megxit. Others called the move hypocritical and privileged, labeling it a shirking of responsibility. This is not ditching the laundry. Its not running off with a luxurious title while escaping hard work. This is a life-or-death decision. Paparazzi chased Princess Diana to her death. That was in 1997, before social media, hashtags, and even mainstream news took on tabloid tendencies. In her case, racism wasnt even a factor. Her son, Prince Harry, does not want that fate for his wife. He was worried about her safety when she was his girlfriend. Its only gotten worse. As a family, they chose the less dangerous path. Racism is already deadly for everyday black folk. Add the Royal frenzy and the brutality of British tabloids to the mix and Meghan became a Black American woman on an international tight rope.
When they first got engaged, Good Morning America" and The Guardian tried to make it seem like Markles future with the prince was a black womans hope. Im Team Meghan, who was a queen long before Harry, but I knew that marriage wouldnt change a thing in an era of the xenophobic Brexit, Trump, and Black Lives Matter. There is no highness high enough to transcend racism and supremacy. Before Harry put a ring on it, Meghan became a magnet for hate. The Daily Mails headline in November 2016: Harrys girl is (almost) straight outta Compton: Gang-scarred home of her mother revealed - so will he be dropping by for tea? British tabloids immediately took to painting her as Duchess Difficult and created a feud between her and Kate Middleton. Theyve only been married for a year and a half. In that time, shes been abused by the public while pregnant and newly wed. Shes been expected to keep a stiff upper lip and maintain poise and grace while being attacked for simply loving a prince, having a baby, and having the audacity to be a happy black woman. Last year, BBC broadcaster Danny Baker compared Prince Harry and Meghans newborn Archie to a chimpanzee. He was fired. BBC also aired a blatantly racist animated depiction of Meghan as an angry black woman. Being biracial does not give her a get out of racism free pass. Everything from her baby shower to her guest-editing of British Vogue has been vilified.
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nothing is a greater tell of an awful human than using "social justice warrior" as a pejorative. without exception.- Bomani Jones