I.It was a historic movement that divided the country, and kept constitutional experts busy for years. Not Brexit, obviously, but the decision of Megxit, or Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to effectively retire from the royal family.
On January 8, they confirmed plans to raise their son, Archie, abroad, free from the limitations of palace and middle life that the prince felt was hiding his wife as it had once been for his late mother.
What was originally planned as a soft Megxit – holding HRH titles, but working towards self-support – became a tough thing when Buckingham Palace abolished the option of being half-hearted. in and out of royal life. The Sussexes moved to Los Angeles, close to Meghan’s mother; shortly afterwards, Harry’s father, Prince Charles, became ill with coronavirus back home. In the summer the prince was said to be struggling to get used to his new life, although Meghan recently reveals that her birthday in July sheds new light. at what was apparently a difficult time for the couple.
But the year ends on a calmer note. The Sussexes have signed contracts with Netflix and Spotify to produce documentaries and podcasts, have declared financial independence by recouping the £ 2.4m in public money spent refurbishing their British facility. at Frogmore Cottage, and delayed (for undisclosed personal reasons) a potentially difficult court hearing. am Mail on Sunday publication of a letter from Meghan to her father. So did this experiment work in a semi-royal life?
“You can see from Meghan’s comments in conversations posted online that she’s happy to be back in the US,” said Victoria Murphy, a royal journalist for Town & Country magazine and author of Sixty Glorious Years: Queen Elizabeth II. “If you think about what they would have hoped to achieve when they decided to go their own way, I’d say they’ve ticked a lot of those boxes.”
If she had been a working princess, it might have been harder for the duchess to reflect on the Black Lives Matter movement (in a meaningful address at her old school’s summer starter ceremony) or to persuade Americans voting in a controversial presidential election. Harry’s slow but moving cameo look at Strictly Come Dancing to support Competitor JJ Chalmers, who was an injured fellow soldier in Afghanistan, at the same time, was a reminder that he can no longer communicate with the media only on terms that suit him.
However, the ongoing relationship with the Group remains a work in progress. “Harry’s relationship with the crown is not going to diminish over time; if anything it will be closer to being a son, rather than a grandson to the monarch, ”said Murphy. “So everything they do in public will always be discussed in the context of the royal family.” And there have been difficult times; the rejection of the palace allowed Harry to wreath. to lay at the Memorial on Remembrance Day looks small, as he has fought, and it may be a challenge to draft the Queen ‘s annual Christmas message, although Murphy says the monarch usually clarifies personal problems, while the latest installment of the Crown, which features young Harry and William as little boys, does not seem to be swimming in a bowl. mischievous goldfish, but increasing millennial sympathy for the Sussexes.Who would want that life for their own child?