With his forthcoming memoir and surrounding publicity tours, the Duke of Sussex has passed the point of no return. He is haemorrhaging friends and goodwill on both sides of the Atlantic. In the past few days, with revelations from his memoir Spare leaking like a sieve, Harry has been denounced for his indiscreet discussion of his service in Afghanistan by everyone from UK military leaders to a former British Ambassador to America – and even the Taliban.
And what of Meghan’s countrymen? Often the British media paints us Americans as blindly Sussex-loyal because we share Meghan Markle’s nationality. Yet it is becoming ever clearer that Americans are becoming as repelled by the couple’s betrayal, false narratives, hypocrisy, and narcissism as our British cousins.
Nearly two years ago on these pages and elsewhere, among my American peers, I was a pioneer expressing scepticism on this subject. But it is clear that I’m now running with the tide. When the second round of the Sussexes’ Netlix series was released, I wrote a column for America’s Fox News suggesting that, with the current trajectory of cruelty and disloyalty to Harry’s family, the pair were on course to become the most hated royal couple, and would displace the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in that regard.
I had been confident in my premise, but then was positively bowled over by the tsunami of anti-Sussex support my article received – from Americans. Far from being bound by loyalty on the basis of shared nationality, the reactions to my column read along identical lines to British commentators.
An ever-growing American chorus is now joining me. This includes household names such as journalist Meghan Kelly and broadcast personalities Bethenny Frankel, Meghan McCain, and Howard Stern. Why, even left-wing CNN’s Don Lemmon has now judged Harry’s behavior as ‘gauche’, musing yesterday: ‘What could be achieved? What exactly is he achieving by airing family dirty laundry? That’s the question.’
There will always be some in the US, and even in the UK, who are happy to buy the unhappy couple’s narrative that structural racism is the source of their misery, driving them to flee Britain. But this does not stand up to any impartial view of what actually happened. Harry certainly was popular and loved. The public, media and, so far as one can tell, his family, were delighted by his romance with Meghan and welcomed his future bride with great enthusiasm. Even Harry’s own account suggests he had King Charles’ support – an obvious example being his instant readiness to walk Meghan down the aisle after she had fallen out with her own father.
Things only turned negative when the couple’s own off-putting behavior became apparent. While this appears to have been experienced first by those within the family and its staff, the public and media eventually reacted to the couple’s ever-more obvious disloyalty, selfishness and aggressive self-promotion. In the minds of the couple and their loyal supporters, nothing is ever their fault, which is one reason they have blamed structural racism for their treatment. This of course, plays well to those in hock to the issue on the US side of the Atlantic. But we too now are sick to death of the one-sided weak assertions of these privileged eternal victims.
The tone-deafness of the couple is staggering. Asserting fault all on one side – and demanding apologies on that basis – does not wash with anyone with half a brain. And it makes their hypocrisy obvious when they state their professed desire for reconciliation. Moans of the uber-privileged during these times of economic hardship hardly wins hearts either. Moreover, Harry’s revelations and anecdotes in the book, from mounting an older woman to using drugs, are cringeworthy. The account of the physical altercation between Harry and William evokes the hugely popular brawls between Dame Joan Collins and Linda Evans in the 80s Dynasty series – not a dignified image with which to associate royal princes. But perhaps that soap opera high drama is what the now Hollywood-established couple have adopted as their playbook. To the rest of the world — including America — it is painful and increasingly annoying to watch.
There seems to be no way back for Harry. He has burnt every bridge, every boat. Having recorded, recounted and broadcast every private interaction, how can he ever again be trusted by his family? Only his wife is left to him – for now. That is particularly tragic for someone who used to engender goodwill.
Poor Harry, please keep the details of your family drama private. Spare us the future horrors, and yourself any future indignities.
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