Coronavirus: Harry and Meghan choose celebrity over duty during COVID-19 crisis

As hundreds die, thousands grieve and millions face job losses, the Sussexes flaunt their wealth in a tactless, tone deaf display.

Prince Harry and wife Meghan took a private jet to their new hideaway. Picture: AFP

Coronavirus: the great leveller. Infecting princes and prime ministers, making hermits of most, hushing the concrete council estate and the millionaires’ leafy square. And yet some still seem to soar above it all.

Last week it was reported that, just before Trudeau and Trump closed the longest border in the world, a private jet soared over it, bearing our lately departed Duke and Duchess of Sussex from their hideout in Canada to their new home in California.

It is said that the couple are living in a compound near Hollywood, where they plan to settle permanently. Speaking of their hasty flight, a source declared that because “the borders were closing and flights were stopping”, Harry and Meghan “had to get out”, making Canada sound more like a chaotic war zone than a country of gentle folk and maple syrup pancakes.

The timing of this move might delicately be described as tactless. As Prince Charles fights Covid-19, as hundreds die and thousands grieve, and millions suffer distress and financial uncertainty; as a quarter of the world’s population are allowed little further than their own front door, the duke and duchess chose this moment to display their wealth and the freedom it can buy, to sever ties more definitively from crown and Commonwealth, to further their own interests.

Indeed, the timing is so crass that we have to wonder whether it was deliberate. Perhaps, to paraphrase that odious line coined on 9/11, the Sussexes thought this pandemic was “a good time to bury difficult news"? If this was the rationale, it was entirely wrong. Making the move to California, and making it now, only inflames the irritation many feel over the couple’s actions in recent months.

I am a great friend and admirer of the Queen & the United Kingdom. It was reported that Harry and Meghan, who left the Kingdom, would reside permanently in Canada. Now they have left Canada for the U.S. however, the U.S. will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2020

I am one of those who thought the union of Harry and Meghan an exciting thing for our country. The woman is beautiful, charismatic, blessed with Cleopatra-like poise. She glows as though lit from within by 1000 watts. Harry’s discovery of Meghan seemed as great a boon to Britain as the uncovering of a fresh field of oil in the North Sea.

Then came Megxit part 1: a disappointing rejection of this nation by those who had been offered all its riches on a plate. Still, we could find it in our hearts to understand their need for a life away from the spotlight; we could give them credit for staying within the Commonwealth, and we could be hopeful about their pledge to spend a lot of time in Britain.

The Queen has been forced into isolation. Picture: AFP

Now Megxit part 2 has blown those charitable assumptions about part 1 out of the water. The couple who professed to hate media intrusion have headed to a place where their every move will be captured by paparazzi. The people who make so much of their bonds with the Commonwealth - and who reportedly toyed with a move to Africa - have moved out of it. The duke and duchess who still style their communications with a crown motif, whose brand is explicitly built on the back of the British royal family, have decided that in this moment of crisis they will leave the old firm to it.

According to the Times report on the couple’s move, “the royal family is said to be disappointed that Prince Harry and Meghan have not returned to Britain to perform a supportive role.” Disappointed - exquisite understatement! The word carries the weight of 100 courtiers’ raised eyebrows, and the Queen’s own quiet despair. The theme of Her Majesty’s reign has been humility over haughtiness; whenever possible you stand beside your people, not above them. She learnt that from her mother, who insisted that she and King George VI stayed at Buckingham Palace during the Blitz, and who was “glad” when the Luftwaffe bombed the palace because it meant she could “look the East End in the face”.

Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor donned overalls in the Auxiliary Territorial Service and learned how to drive military trucks alongside other patriotic teenage girls. This is the record, so when her recent statement on coronavirus assured that “my family and I stand ready to play our part”, we knew she meant it. To such a woman, the decision of Harry and Meghan to move to California at this time must beggar belief. Showing solidarity through this crisis would not mean risking their lives or even leaving their home; just hunkering down at Frogmore Cottage and ordering in Deliveroo would have been enough for now, with perhaps a few hospital visits to praise NHS staff later on.

Prince Charles has tested positive to COVID-19. Picture: Getty Images

There will be those who argue that the couple have no obligation to this country at all, because their royal “contract” is now up. But the deal the Queen reached with the Sussexes left them with royal titles to enjoy, their security bill footed, the use of Frogmore Cottage - and thus a reasonable expectation that even though they might not be cutting ribbons on rainy days in Wigan, they would show some solidarity in a time of national crisis.

Simply staying in Canada would at least have been inconspicuous (and would have made more sense given that coronavirus is rampaging through Los Angeles). Instead they have chosen this time to move to Hollywood and lay the foundations for lucrative new careers, not out of the spotlight but firmly in it.

Toes across the nation curled recently when footage emerged from last year’s The Lion King premiere showing Prince Harry telling a stunned Disney boss that his wife was available for voiceover work. Last week we saw the result, as the studio released the trailer for a new wildlife documentary voiced by “Meghan, Duchess of Sussex”. Disney’s writers didn’t miss a trick in the film’s tagline: “Powerful stories that show just how far family can take you.” Indeed.

This is what rankles about the Sussexes. Not, for goodness sake, the duchess’s race. Not her sex. It is the hypocrisy. While they have publicly and rather disrespectfully rejected the “shackles” of being British royals, they are only too happy to exploit the status that comes with it. But the price for the Dior and diamonds and adulation should be duty. It should be showing solidarity when the nation needs it, not sweeping in only for a few grand occasions. Contrast their behaviour with that of William and Kate, who have lent their weight to Public Health England’s campaign to protect people’s mental health during the coronavirus crisis.

Still, the Sussexes have made their choice.

By making this move, at this time, the break with the royal family feels decisive. There is a loose end, though. We must hope that as they embark on their new lives, Harry and Meghan do the decent thing and seek to cover their own security costs.

For Britain to maintain protection for the US-based couple would always have been unpopular; in the light of the coronavirus hit on our economy it is inconceivable. If the Sussexes are no longer servants of the British people, they should no longer expect to be supported by us either.

The Times