Annika Smethurst: Harry and Meghan hurt the Millennial brand
If Prince Harry and Meghan want to move away from the royal family, then who are we to begrudge them, asks Annika Smethurst, who is more concerned about what the royal couple has done to the Millennial brand just as Gen Y was starting to be taken seriously.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
I love the royal family. It’s not based on any crusading ideological bent of monarchism. I think it’s the history, and the hats and the well-dressed children. This doesn’t stop me being a republican.
On paper I cannot deny the argument that we really do deserve to have one of our own running the show.
Even if our head of state cheats on their spouse, befriends a paedophile or runs off to North America with an actress. Let he or she be one of us.
But while my head says republican my heart thumbs Windsor.
Productivity in my corner of the press gallery plummeted on Thursday morning when, through Instagram, the Sussexes decided to up sticks.
I just love the drama, and the hats.
But having followed Prince Harry, his brother William and his dad and stepmum on several tours of Australia, I can hardly blame him for wondering if there might be more to life.
The faux interest in commoners and counterfeit enthusiasm for amateur dance troupes and drooping bouquets must be tiresome.
Almost a decade ago I was invited to have a cuppa with some royals to say thanks for the coverage at the end of an official tour.
MORE FROM ANNIKA SMETHURST:
Scott Morrison’s confidence appears shot
Friends, family dob in Centrelink welfare cheats
We were told not to ask them questions but that’s just weird so, over tea and a biscuit, I asked a member of the royal family whether they had enjoyed a recent trip to some humid hellhole.
The facial expression was enough to end my ambition to marry up in the world and stick to life as a commoner.
So it is hardly a surprise that having found a wealthy woman to look after him, Harry wants to quit The Firm. And who are we really to begrudge them?
It’s not the damage to the royal family I am worried about — Prince Andrew is doing more for that cause than the Sussexes — it’s what Harry and Meghan have done to the Millennial brand that bugs me.
Just when Generation Y was starting to be taken seriously, one of our most famous members has declared — at 35 — that he’s going to “work to become financially independent”.
Bless.
In true Millennial style it was announced on Instagram like that girl from school seeking attention with sad song lyrics in the hope that people will respond with “Hey hon, r u OK?”.
Having had the wedding they wanted, a £2.4 million house renovation and some exotic trips abroad, they’re off. You could almost hear the collective eye roll from the older folk.
As hardworking Millennials know — and, yes, we exist — it’d be easy to quit a stable job for a more low-key life in Canada when taxpayers will pick up the bill for your flights and accommodation and you’re still getting £2.3 million each year from daddy’s estate.
The fact they wish to embark on a new life, part private citizen and part royal — picking the best bits and ditching the worst — is perhaps the most on-brand display of Millennial behaviour this century.