The recent Kate Middleton-Meghan Markle feud rumors once again prove that the deep scrutiny of British royal family particularly of their female members remains the same even if the rigid rules of the royalty itself have been forced to change in order to keep up with the modern times. Gone are the days when King Edward had to make a choice between his throne and the woman he loved- Wallace Simpson. His decision to marry the American divorcee made Wallace one of the most hated women in Britain. Another early casualty was Princess Margaret who was not allowed to marry the dashing captain Peter Townsend by the royal establishment. Some would say (and I include myself in this group) that Queen Elizabeth has had to pay a heavy price for the crown. It is hard to believe the composed and regal figure, that you know now as Queen Elizabeth was once a young 23-year-old woman who wished for nothing more than to live a normal happy life with her husband and children. Instead, after her father’s death she inherited not just the throne, but the duty that came with it. A duty which, at times, caused deep rifts with those closest to her including her husband and sister.
The recent Kate Middleton-Meghan Markle feud rumors once again prove that the deep scrutiny of British royal family particularly of their female members remains the same even if the rigid rules of the royalty itself have been forced to change in order to keep up with the modern times
And then there was Princess Diana who paid with the heaviest possible price; her life being chased by paparazzi hounds. Now, tabloids reporting tension between royal brothers Prince William and Prince Harry’s wives’, has forced Kensington Palace to issue a rare statement of denial and the spotlight seems to be firmly fixed on the Duchess of Sussex. Rarely, a week goes by without some news group reporting ‘news’ based on dubious sources about the princess. While the royal family has made the necessary adjustment to the modern times, it seems the rest of us have not. At the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a chair was left empty for Diana and many speculated that the late princess would have approved of the choice her son made. And why not? Diana was famous for rebelling against the royal family traditions, and she suffered as a result. Meghan, on the other hand, was an unconventional choice for a member of the royal family. Markle was divorced, older in age and half African America and an actor by profession. Yet knowing what she did, would not Diana have also felt trepidation about the scrutiny that her daughter in law would face as soon as the vows ended?
Published in Daily Times, December 5th 2018.