How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s move to Canada changed the TV star’s reputation
TV star turned princess Meghan Markle has played a lot of roles. But her decision to leave son Archie in Canada while gallivanting the UK has her painted as an ugly stepsister from Cinderella.
Entertainment
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It was not that long ago Meghan was still a real life Cinderella.
The dazzling TV star who charmed Harry, married him watched by almost two billion people and then gave birth to baby Archie.
Now her decision to leave the nine-month-old in Canada has cemented her place as the ugly stepsister in this modern royal story.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed off from royal life early on Tuesday, with their final event a Commonwealth Day service with the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla and Prince William and Kate.
There will be several other engagements in the next few days, including the Endeavour Fund Awards in London today.
Harry was also due to press the flesh with British Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton to open a motorsport museum at Silvertsone, the famous UK racetrack.
They will visit the Royal Albert Hall, the symbol of love a grief stricken Queen Victoria built for her late husband, and Meghan will mark International Women’s Day at a yet to be announced event on Sunday.
The Queen, 93, will be hurt she does not get a chance to see Archie after also missing him at Christmas, royal biographer Penny Junor says.
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“I think it’s sad that Archie has stayed in Canada. As a mother I don’t know how you could leave a nine-month-old baby for that long. It’s at least a week and that’s a long time,” she told News Corp Australia.
“I feel sad for the royal family because they will not be seeing him.”
She warned against the claims Meghan was to blame for the couple’s exit from royal life, which “just call me” Harry insisted was his decision when he addressed the elephant in the room at a speech at his Sentebale charity in London’s exclusive Ivy restaurant in January.
“There’s a feeling Meghan has taken Harry away from us and without her, none of this would have happened,” Ms Junor said.
“Maybe Harry has been waiting for the right person to give him an out.
“There’s no doubt that he’s been looking to opt out for a while, it’s not a huge leap that he’s gone and done it.”
The seeds of Harry’s unhappiness were planted in the days after his mother’s death in 1997 when he was forced to walk behind her coffin, which was watched by 32 million people in the UK and 2.5 billion across the world.
He has never liked the shadow which comes with the spotlight, despite all the good work he has done for charity, particularly for the military.
His Invictus Games, an Olympic style event for wounded and injured veterans, will be in The Hague, Netherlands, in May.
It has literally saved lives among a group at high risk of suicide.
Just how the couple’s new “private” family life will work, when they need to spruik their services to make a buck by speaking at banking conferences, remains to be seen.
There is one certainty in the next few days – the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla, Prince William and Kate will be putting on their best stiff upper lip display.
They know that every photographer and cameraman will be on the lookout for tensions, even without the need for their media team to remind them.
“The Queen will be pragmatic about this, if Harry and Meghan are not there she will remain neutral, without even slightly showing emotion,” Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former press secretary, told News Corp Australia.
“She’s there first and foremost for the Commonwealth Day Service.”
For the Queen, he said it was business as usual.
On Monday it means celebrating the Commonwealth, which includes 54 countries with a total population of 2.4 billion, of which 60 per cent are under 30.
The globe sitting on students’ desks may no longer be pink but in the Queen’s mind Britain still rules the waves.
Her diplomacy has seen the Commonwealth group of nations jump from just nine at the start of her reign, to its healthy state now.
We do not know her views on Brexit, however, we can say she likes to see Britain’s influence across the world.
The Queen broke bread with Harry at Windsor last Sunday, in a four-hour meeting.
She has left the door open for the couple to return to the UK and to their roles with a 12-month review set on the new arrangement thrashed out at Sandringham, the Queen’s winter retreat, in January.
“At least she and Harry have had a chance to clear the air and to sit down together. That’s a positive to come out of it all,” Ms Junor said.
“He would have wanted to explain what he was thinking and feeling and maybe apologise to the Queen.”
The Queen’s initial response to Harry’s statement in January, launching their bid to be progressive new royals, was met with surprise, amid claims the Queen was blindsided.
“It does sound as though she specifically said please don’t (send out that statement),” Ms Junor said.
No-one knows when Harry and Meghan, much less Archie will be back in the UK when they leave London early on Tuesday.
There is unlikely to be more play dates with cousins Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, like at the polo last year.
Harry and Prince William reportedly patched up their relationship after the younger brother said in a documentary in Africa last year that they were on “different paths”.
But it is hard to keep in touch when the Atlantic Ocean is between you, even when you have FaceTime on your smartphone.
We do know, however, Meghan, who reportedly asked her agent to find her a superhero role in a film, will be expected to attend the New York Met Gala in May.
The event, which will be hosted by Meryl Streep, Emma Stone and Anna Wintour, charges $A46,000 a ticket.
The question remains, will Meghan’s slippers fit better in North America than they have in Britain?
Originally published as How Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s move to Canada changed the TV star’s reputation
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