Harry and Meghan LA: What the couple could learn from the Queen during COVID-19

As millions of people in the UK suffer at the hands of COVID-19, Harry and Meghan could learn a thing or two from the Queen.

COMMENT

The Queen was only 10 years old when her uncle King Edward VIII abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson, shunting her nervous, stuttering father onto the throne to a job he never wanted.

Edward’s decision to put love ahead of the monarchy not only irrevocably changed his life, but that of his niece Elizabeth, who suddenly became the heir apparent.

The corollary here would be if Prince Charles had abdicated in the ’90s leaving Prince Andrew as the heir apparent and Princess Beatrice as the next Queen.

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Even at such a young age the young Princess Elizabeth knew she did not want the top job either.

Princess Elizabeth was not born as the heir to the throne.

According to royal historian Robert Lacey, little Elizabeth used to pray on her knees at night that her mother might yet have a son, thus bumping her one spot down the line of succession and saving her from a future of onerous duty.

Clearly, fate did not heed the young royal’s wishes and at the age of just 26, she was crowned.

At the same age, Meghan Markle had already been cast on the quiz show Deal or No Deal and it would be four years before her real big break when she was cast as Rachel Zane in Suits.

Meghan Markle in a scene from Suits. Picture: Supplied

This week, both women have dominated royal news: The Queen as she turns 94 and Meghan Duchess of Sussex as she and husband Harry Duke of Sussex take on Fleet Street in an escalating battle.

On one hand, both women have a lot in common, such as impressive work ethics and the drive to use their positions to help others. Yet on the other hand, they have shown significantly different approaches when life veers dramatically off course.

In 1952, the Queen was a young wife and mother who did not expect to assume the throne for decades.

Sadly that year her father passed away at the young age of 56, leaving her with an unthinkable weight of responsibility on her shoulders.

Rightly or wrongly, Her Majesty put her royal job ahead of her own family, leaving Prince Charles and Princess Anne for months at a time while she visited the far flung reaches of her empire.

The young Princess Elizabeth.

Every day she would plough through the red box stuffed with laws to approve and briefing documents to read.

Even now, she only takes two days a year off from making her way through the reams of government documents sent to her.

Since the COVID-19 crisis started in February, the Queen and the royal family have as a whole stepped in to rally an already Brexit-worn nation to fight the virus.

Earlier this month, the Queen appeared on TVs not only in Britain but in Europe, the US and Australia offering up a formidable lesson in leadership and poise.

Unsurprisingly, her popularity has jumped, as has that of other frontline Windsors such as William and Kate the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Queen Elizabeth II’s 94th birthday was celebrated in isolation on Tuesday, April 21. Picture: AP

By contrast, Harry and Meghan began the year by announcing they wanted to renegotiate their royal contract.

On April 1, that divorce came into full effect, with the couple no longer able to use their styling as His/Her Royal Highness or allowed to call themselves “royal”.

On the upside, they now had the freedom of living outside the royal tent to create the lives they wanted.

When Harry and Meghan appeared on TV screens themselves last October as part of a documentary about their South African tour, the toll their royal roles were taking on them was painfully clear.

When several months later they announced they wanted things to change, there was incredible sympathy and support.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex told the UK’s tabloid press they are ending all co-operation with them on April 20. Picture: AFP

Like countless children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, simply because their forebears suffered in jobs they disliked or were denied the freedom to change their lives, they wisely understood this should not mean they should have to suffer similarly.

However in the intervening months between their initial announcement and April 1, COVID-19 has marched across the globe, with the UK going into lockdown in March and Prince Charles testing positive for the virus.

Millions of people are suffering and 18,000 lives have been lost in the UK alone.

As for Harry and Meghan?

They are an entire continent and an ocean away from the UK, seemingly having stuck with their original plan to forge a new life in Los Angeles.

Harry and Meghan were seen in LA this week wearing masks as they delivered meals to residents in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Picture: MEGA

The question here is, where is the line between (rightly) pursuing personal happiness, versus stepping up and taking on the mantle of duty, even when it is the last thing you want?

It is an incredibly thorny issue but if the Sussexes were to follow the Queen’s example then the answer lies in shouldering at least some of the burden of duty.

Much of Her Majesty’s life has been about sacrifice – of choice and of freedom.

While Harry and Meghan have been out and about doing their bit such as volunteering to deliver food in LA and supporting key charities back in London, it is marked that they do not outwardly seem to have made any significant personal concessions during this time.

For example, simply returning to the UK to be closer to the royal family to offer some (socially distanced) moral support would have been a powerful gesture not only on a personal level but for Britain as a whole.

Or, they could have decided to put their royal exit on hold for six or 12 months and rolled up their sleeves and stood shoulder to shoulder alongside the other working HRHs trying to help a beleaguered, suffering Britain.

In her address to the UK and the Commonwealth earlier this month, Queen Elizabeth II urged people to rise to the challenge posed by the coronavirus outbreak. Picture: Buckingham Palace/AFP

Harry and Meghan are truly a potent force and their signature brand of charisma and royal sparkle could bring so much comfort to the Windsors and the UK as a whole right now.

Sure, for the Sussexes, the prospect of pausing their new life would be frustrating but they would be far from alone given that billions of people have had to put their plans, lives and dreams on hold too.

The Queen celebrated her birthday this week at Windsor Castle, separated from her family and loved ones and surrounded by a select group of longtime staffers.

If there is one thing we could all stand to learn from her is that when fate intervenes, we all have a duty to step up.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.