LONDON – #TeamMeghan or #TeamLiz?
Britain’s destructive culture war is opening up a new front fueled by explosive allegations from Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. But for now, the ruling Conservatives of the UK are staying out of the rough and tumble – with some recalling the high constitutional measures.
In a 2-hour interview with TV guest Oprah Winfrey that began in the US on Sunday night and on UK terrestrial TV on Monday, the couple said there were “concerns and conversations” before their son Archie was born with one member of the royal family over the color of his skin.
Asked by Winfrey if there were any concerns that her baby would be “too brown,” Markle said: “If that’s what you think, that’s very safe. Winfrey confirmed on behalf of Harry that neither the queen nor her husband had been said.
The Labor Party jumped against it, with Shadow Education Secretary Kate Green urging the palace to investigate the claims, and her party leader Keir Starmer said, “they really should be. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a majority of the Conservative Party have been trying to stay out.
The only minister on the list with a strong opinion was Zac Goldsmith at a foreign office – a member of the House of Lords – who tweeted: “Harry is blowing up his family. What Meghan wants, Meghan gets. ”
Other miners have tried to dissipate tension. Alister Jack, Scotland’s secretary of state, told POLITICO he had not seen the interview and did not want to comment directly. But he said: “Like every family they have had their problems before but every family is recovering and moving on from there and there is no doubt that the family will this too. ”
“[The queen] and her husband is perhaps the most famous and beloved couple in the world. I have nothing but respect for her, ”he said.
Others are aware of just how toxic the racist claim is for the royal family and for the UK as a whole. “It simply came to our notice then [about Archie’s skin color,] some of the consequences for the monarchy are very serious in Britain today, ”said a former Conservative minister.
“Zac’s views on the one hand, many colleagues genuinely think that some of the long-term consequences are significant and could threaten people’s success to the throne. The position of the constitutional monarchy, the position of the union, the situation of the Commonwealth would all be jeopardized, ”they said.
A quick vote since the claims were made public reveals that among voters, a response to the interview is circulating party lines. In a YouGov poll of 4,654 adults on Tuesday, taken after the interview aired in the UK, 38 per cent of Labor supporters found their deepest sympathy for Harry and Meghan, the compared to just 8 per cent of Conservatives. In contrast, 64 per cent of Conservatives said they had sympathy for the queen and the royal family in general.
But a second Conservative deputy minister warned against playing to the bottom of the party. “This is one of the things you need to think about in your response in the sense that it may seem safe to oppose Meghan because your voters seem to be against Meghan. , but you have to think ahead to the future, ”they said. “The future is young people and people from a minority ethnic background seem to be very friendly with Meghan, and adding a stranger to them may cost you further down the line.”
The reaction also splits on generational sequences. Forty-eight percent of 18-24 year olds and 28 percent of 25 to 49 year olds were sympathetic to Markle and Prince Harry compared to just 9 percent of people over 65.
Silent sympathy
There may also be a quiet sympathy for the Sussexes on the Conservative benches. A handful of Conservative MPs, including Gillian Keegan and Vicky Ford who are both now ministers in the Johnson government, signed a letter in 2019 organized by Labor MP Holly Lynch expresses loyalty to the Duchess of Sussex about her treatment of the media.
Most of signatories came from the Labor Party, although Lynch explained that many Conservative women would not have been able to sign the letter because they were on the front bench or did not see her original email.
“Opinions about the royal family will be mixed across the political benches, but I hope that all MPs are concerned about challenging discrimination, prejudice and racism and that is what I would hope that unites BP. This is what unites all Labor MPs for sure, ”said Lynch.
Antoinette Sandbach, a former Conservative MP who opposed the Liberal Democrats in 2019 and signed Lynch’s letter, said: “I am as royal as you can be. I am a huge fan of the queen, I wrote to her as an MP circulating birthday cards from my constituents. I’m a big supporter of the Royal family, but I think they’re getting this wrong. ”
“I hope they keep the way back open for both of them. I thought Harry came over as a very believable thing. I have a lot of sympathy for them, ”she said.
The second former Conservative minister said: “I think if people turn around the vehicles and say that Meghan’s rubbish is the best way to deal with this, they will miss the opportunity to modernize and change the monarchy. It would be amazing if people would follow through on this and say if there are any lessons that can be learned from this. Meghan and Harry made important points. ”
People should not be in a hurry to choose a side in the PR battle across the ocean. “I don’t think that’s the right approach,” he said.