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Harry and Meghan and their Titles
Jun. 4th, 2024 12:12 pmOne of my hobbies is following the gossip around Harry & Meghan. There's also a lot of toxic media misinformation out there. It's interesting to see how different personalities and institutions use misinformation for certain ends. This post is not about that - it is about the constant questioning by people who don't like them as to why they don't give up their titles and why they insisted on their children having titles if they wanted privacy.
First it is a mad up media narrative that they want privacy and not something H&M stated themselves when they stopped being working royals. They wanted to not be hounded by the media - particularly the British tabloid media. This extended to their children not being the object of such racist and toxic coverage.
The toxic and racist media coverage would happen whether or not anyone had titles because they are still persons of interest who sell papers/garner clicks. This was evident when Meghan was only dating Harry (and thus had no title) and described as Almost Straight Out of Compton even though she is not from Compton and has had no association with gang violence or gangsta hip hop other than being half-Black and being raised in another region near L.A. Similarly, Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, who has no titles and is herself Black has been the object of tabloid and online rumor for having served a jail sentence for drug use.
There are also plenty of other titled members of the extended British royal family that don't get nearly the media coverage that Harry and Meghan do even when they may be involved in questionable business dealings with Russian oligarchs.
The coverage of Harry and Meghan is driven not by their titles but rather by who they are and the stories built up around them to sell news. Harry's mother was Diana (the glamorous, heavily mourned, former Princess of Wales who died tragically young and whose entire life sold a lot of papers) and his father is the current king of the UK (which is kind of a big deal in the UK). His grandmother was the longest serving monarch of the UK who was so tied in some ways to UK identity and tradition. Even without a title, he's a known figure because of who he is. Meghan as his nefarious biracial American divorcee actress wife also fills a narrative that sells clicks and ragebait even when the two of them live far, far away in California. Removing their titles would not suddenly make them invisible to tabloids.
There are others who questioned why they insisted on their children having titles when they have chosen to not be working royals. Aside from the nonissue of lack of title ensuring lack of toxic/racist media coverage, I would speculate that insisting on titles is a way to ensure some sort of connection to Harry's heritage, family of origin and country. It takes a lot to step away from one's family of origin, and I imagine it takes even more to step away from your country of origin as well if you truly believe your children are not safe there. While Harry and Meghan have made a life for themselves in California and have greater control of the security they can have, the limitations on the security they can have in the UK despite the right-wing threats to Meghan means that that even visits there are considered too high risk. I would imagine Harry is doing what he can to support a connection to this side of his children's heritage and insisting on ceremonial things like titles is one of them.
He's an immigrant to the UK - a weirdly privileged and high profile one - but that privilege doesn't mean that he doesn't want to pass on his heritage to his children too.
The toxic and racist media coverage would happen whether or not anyone had titles because they are still persons of interest who sell papers/garner clicks. This was evident when Meghan was only dating Harry (and thus had no title) and described as Almost Straight Out of Compton even though she is not from Compton and has had no association with gang violence or gangsta hip hop other than being half-Black and being raised in another region near L.A. Similarly, Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, who has no titles and is herself Black has been the object of tabloid and online rumor for having served a jail sentence for drug use.
There are also plenty of other titled members of the extended British royal family that don't get nearly the media coverage that Harry and Meghan do even when they may be involved in questionable business dealings with Russian oligarchs.
The coverage of Harry and Meghan is driven not by their titles but rather by who they are and the stories built up around them to sell news. Harry's mother was Diana (the glamorous, heavily mourned, former Princess of Wales who died tragically young and whose entire life sold a lot of papers) and his father is the current king of the UK (which is kind of a big deal in the UK). His grandmother was the longest serving monarch of the UK who was so tied in some ways to UK identity and tradition. Even without a title, he's a known figure because of who he is. Meghan as his nefarious biracial American divorcee actress wife also fills a narrative that sells clicks and ragebait even when the two of them live far, far away in California. Removing their titles would not suddenly make them invisible to tabloids.
There are others who questioned why they insisted on their children having titles when they have chosen to not be working royals. Aside from the nonissue of lack of title ensuring lack of toxic/racist media coverage, I would speculate that insisting on titles is a way to ensure some sort of connection to Harry's heritage, family of origin and country. It takes a lot to step away from one's family of origin, and I imagine it takes even more to step away from your country of origin as well if you truly believe your children are not safe there. While Harry and Meghan have made a life for themselves in California and have greater control of the security they can have, the limitations on the security they can have in the UK despite the right-wing threats to Meghan means that that even visits there are considered too high risk. I would imagine Harry is doing what he can to support a connection to this side of his children's heritage and insisting on ceremonial things like titles is one of them.
He's an immigrant to the UK - a weirdly privileged and high profile one - but that privilege doesn't mean that he doesn't want to pass on his heritage to his children too.
