Big problem with Harry and Meghan Remembrance Day photos
They’ve been widely slammed for their “PR opportunity” Remembrance Day photos and now they’ve got another, much bigger problem.
COMMENT
Throughout the Queen’s 68-year reign, Britain has been involved in dozens of conflicts which means that Her Majesty has had plenty of practice when it comes to adopting a war footing. Not only that, she has navigated the bloodletting of the War of the Wales’ and Sarah, Duchess of York’s various, semi-regular public skirmishes with propriety.
All of that hard won experience could come in handy because as of this week, with the house of Windsor becoming mired in an increasingly hostile, messy and headline-hogging face-off with its two most famous self-imposed exiles.
Which is to say, the Sussex Royal Civil War has just been ratcheted up a notch thanks to one particularly misguided (if not just plain mean) decision about a wreath and a new set of controversial photos.
Petty, this lot? Nevahhhh …
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First up, on the weekend, The Times revealed that the palace had denied Prince Harry’s request to have a wreath laid on his behalf during the annual ceremony at the London cenotaph, a move that must have been a bitter, personal blow for the Prince. (The Queen, however, was reportedly not told about her grandson’s request.)
Then, early on Monday morning Sydney-time, the office of the Duke and Duchess released seven images of the couple placing wreaths of their own (made of flowers picked from their own garden) on the graves of two Commonwealth Servicemen (including one Australian) at the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
So, here we have two competing events, on two continents, with two lots of members of the house of Windsor …
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For Harry and Meghan, undertaking a nearly simultaneous commemoration as the royal family showcases a certain impressive defiance and refusal to be cowed into polite silence. However, given the events of the last year, month, and even week, the Sussexes’ cemetery visit reads as provocative, if not impressively mutinous.
Let’s start here by getting one thing clear: As a former serviceman who did two tours on the frontline in Afghanistan, Remembrance Day is a deeply significant occasion for Harry and it is obvious he would want to mark the day in a meaningful way.
According to The Telegraph, a spokesman for the couple said: “It was important to the Duke and Duchess to be able to personally recognise Remembrance in their own way, to pay tribute to those who have served and to those who gave their lives.”
The contentious element here is not that he paid his respects but the manner in which he did it. There are any number of other ways he could very publicly honoured those who have served, say by engaging with various veterans charities or even sharing an image that placed the focus on the fallen.
Instead, he and wife Meghan opted to observe the occasion with a photographer in tow, turning what was surely designed to be a heartfelt moment into something that critics were quick to point out looked disturbingly like a PR opportunity.
(This would seem to be the third time the couple has taken a professional snapper along for a ‘personal’ outing, after they did so in August when they took part in a charity day handing out school supplies to kids and in early September when they visited an LA preschool to mark the anniversary of Diana’s death.)
There is a certain tragedy to this Remembrance Day situation given Harry’s commitment to returned service men and women is so obvious and is the hallmark of his royal career. You don’t have to look any further than the Invictus Games, the defining, global success of Harry’s royal career, to see the extent of his eagerness and desire to support the armed services community.
Speaking to the military podcast Declassified this week the Prince said: “Being able to wear my uniform, being able to stand up in service of one’s country, these are among the greatest honours there are in life. To me, the uniform is a symbol of something much bigger, it’s symbolic of our commitment to protecting our country, as well as protecting our values.”
Beyond that, Harry is also deeply sensitive about the perception of his current relationship with the military. Last month, lawyers acting for the royal said that a report in the Mail on Sunday which claimed that Harry “has not been in touch by phone, letter nor email since his last appearance as an honorary Marine in March” was “false and defamatory”.
However, at issue here is not only the question of wisdom, or the lack thereof, of this whole undertaking, but that it seems tantamount to a declaration of outright war with Buckingham Palace.
After having been so publicly rebuffed by the palace to be a part of Sunday’s service at the Cenotaph, the Sussexes’ decision to lay wreaths of their own in California could be interpreted as a glorious two-fingered salute.
(Side note: Harry and Meghan could have had every intention of laying their own wreaths in LA even if the royal family had agreed to the Duke’s request so we don’t know whether this was definitely a tit-for-tat move.)
Since news broke ten months ago that Harry and Meghan wanted out of full-time working royal life, the fear was that they would set up a competing ‘court’ which would be far more dazzling and interesting than that of the gaggle of titled professional plaque-unveilers back in London, thus permanently eclipsing the house of Windsor.
With Sunday’s quasi-royal outing bearing all the hallmarks of an official engagement (very grown up outfits! Medals! Dignified poise and serious faces!) the Sussexes have shown every indication that this ominous future (for Buckingham Palace) is fast coming true.
The underlying message here is that Harry and Meghan are not willing to pliantly accept the royal machine’s attempts to curtail or control their actions, their outing serving as a blunt repudiation of any suggestion they might fall into line and to accept the limits that Buckingham Palace is trying to impose on them from afar.
In short, Harry and Meghan are not willing to go quietly into the Californian night.
The palace’s blunt rebuttal of the Prince’s all-too-reasonable wreath request seems both petty and a cruel exercise in putting Harry in his place.
Beyond that, it is a reminder that this very intractability of the royal machine to even minorly deviate from tradition is how Harry and Meghan wound up living 8000km away from London, and not by the royal family’s side on Sunday.
At the heart of all this seems to be a fight over who gets to dictate the terms of the Sussexes’ public role and this week’s events point to a brewing trans-Atlantic battle of wits and PR with neither side showing any indication they might capitulate.
Given how public and blatant these most recent events have been, it seems to suggest this is going to be a messy and protracted stoush and given these latest escalations, that neither side might suddenly back down. The rift between London and Los Angeles, after the events of the last few days, is only getting bigger.
When Harry and Meghan flew out of the UK in March, the last time they set foot on British soil, it was to create a new life and to embrace their emancipation from the royal family. Today, they might have new careers, a new house, a new Netflix deal, a new fortune and a new coterie of celeb friends but it would seem they are still fighting the same very personal war of independence they have been waging since 2018.
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with more than 15 years experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
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