Demand for privacy is starting to feel like something else

Harry and Meghan have refused to follow royal tradition with the birth of their first child. But this is starting to look like something else.

COMMENT

Forty-eight days. That is how long it has been since Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex has been spied in public.

In the days and then weeks since then, precious few details about her whereabouts or wellbeing have been released: We are pretty sure she is at Frogmore Cottage, mum Doria Ragland is on hand and she’s whiling away her time (let’s assume) by alphabetising her crystal collection and WhatsApp group chatting with Oprah and Amal Clooney.

What we do know for certain is that when The Baby does decide to make its grand entrance, we the unwashed masses will be in the dark for a while.

In April, the Duke and Duchess put out a statement saying that they “have taken a personal decision to keep the plans around the arrival of their baby private” and that they “look forward to sharing the exciting news with everyone once they have had an opportunity to celebrate privately as a new family”.

But as time wears on, this strategy and the total paucity of information about the baby is starting to rankle.

Meghan has not been seen in public since appearing at New Zealand House on March 19. Picture: Ian Vogler/WPA Pool/Getty Images

Of course, the arrival of a wee one is a moment of incredible joy and love for any new parents. That experience is one that they should be able to enjoy without a surfeit of white-coated triple-barrelled specialists and the Queen’s gynaecologist curiously peering at them.

However, there is a very fine line between maximising their privacy at such a special time and fulfilling their royal responsibility and, right now, it is starting to seem like Harry is botching this.

It’s been 48 days since Meghan has been seen in public. Picture: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

For one thing, the total media blackout is starting to feel childish and the abject refusal to proffer any information is reading like surly immature resentment towards the press.

Harry clearly deeply dislikes the media. The intrusion of the UK tabloids was the reason his two biggest loves before Meghan, Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas, broke up with him. He is also widely reported to still blame rabid media intrusion for his mother’s death.

But glaringly excluding the press belies an understanding of the highly precarious relationship the royal family has with the fourth estate. It requires a deft balancing act and obstreperously slamming the door shut on the media even being given the most minor access is incredibly naive.

“It’s the way Harry is at the moment, he’s just got this bee in his bonnet that all the media are to be ignored,” said Arthur Edwards, a photographer for The Sun, told the New York Times.

The same piece quotes a senior British journalist, saying: “This is the shattering of a tradition that goes back for decades. There is a price to be paid for that, and that price is mockery.”

I also wonder if I am also alone in thinking that this blackout is nearly starting to feel not only punitive but manipulative.

After a highly visible pregnancy Meghan has gone into lockdown. Picture: Yui Mok/ Getty Images

Overnight, the Sussex media apparatuses sent the internet into paroxysms of interest after Instagram posting alerts, with essentially the whole world assuming that this would be the baby announcement.

Instead, it was a post about mental health month. They surely must have known how people would react given the timing.

Similarly, like it or not, Harry can’t escape the uncomfortable contract the royal family has with the British public. The monarchy’s longevity is entirely predicated on the hoi polloi’s continued support and acquiescence.

This particular bargain comes with a price tag, i.e. allowing the masses, to a degree they might find uncomfortable, into their lives, no matter how much Harry might be chafe against this.

The public is understanding — to a point. They don’t want to be treated as if their interest in the Windsor clan is somehow wrong or that their passion for the royal family is viewed by some members as a pernicious force to be held at bay.

Waiting game. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Being a member of the royal family might come with duty but it also offers a global platform to spruik the charities you are keen on, means you can live in a legit castle and have access to the annual $150 million Sovereign Grant. If Harry and Meghan decide the cost of being royal is too high, then the solution is easy — leave.

Ditch the HRH, hand back the diamonds and decamp to, say, Malibu. They could spend their days Instagramming with a vengeance, giving TED Talks and sunning themselves on Beyonce’s yacht in St Barts.

It is time for Harry and Meghan to stop seeing themselves as victims and to acknowledge the reality of their lives, the occasional awkward photo shoot and all.