What we are as people, what we can become, and what the world sees of us may be the same, or different, and I guess that is all a question of perspective. But what we cannot do is live in the public eye, or the ‘limelight,’ without driving nails in the coffin of our own respectability. Certainly, Megxit has dominated headlines, airtime, screen time, and attention with a fervour that almost beggar’s belief this week. The privileged, little-boy-lost, ‘Richie Rich,’ who, like Peter Pan, has never really grown up, and his waif like, chic, beautiful, divorcee, Meghan, together as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, presented a Pandora’s Box promising to titivate, but has mercilessly scandalised and more, ironically, much of which is the ‘pot, kettle and black’ heterogeneity.
According to legend, when Prometheus stole fire, Zeus foisted Pandora, and her gift box upon Prometheus’ brother. Of course, eventually the box was opened and evil, sickness and death were unleashed upon the world. Now, the Sussex’s revelations form an uncanny resemblance to the consequences laid bare in mythology, which Chamber’s idiomatic dictionary references “a source of great and unexpected troubles,” while Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable refers to “something that seems of value but is really a curse.” Both appear so eerily accurate as to wonder whether it was Heriod’s ‘Work and Days,’ or Oprah Winfrey’s ‘Primetime Special,’ that has unleashed such malevolence.
In choosing to go public, and engage the sycophantic Winfrey’s television and social media platform, it is not that the pair have chosen a battle, or a battleground wisely, but that they have taken what may well turn out to be fool’s gold, thus removing every shred of self-respect, and letting the birds have every breadcrumb that may have been left, a la Hansel and Gretel, for the petulant pair to find their way back home to the safe haven that is the British monarchy. We can only gasp at the appalling sense of entitlement and naivety that has driven the young couple, formerly lauded as the ‘breath of fresh air,’ that would reach out to the younger generations, in a way the Royal Family had not been seen to do since Diana, into the open arms of… well… Hansel and Gretel thought their nemesis was a kindly soul too, didn’t they?
The truth is, that I don’t care at all about the rights and wrongs of the situation, but about the insecurities led this pampered pair to think that they deserved more than what they were getting? Did they think they could have the job and not do the work? Did they think they could take all the ‘perks’ and not do the hard yards? They already had a life of privilege, position, and no small wealth, and if it meant serving a nation, what was the problem? They were sworn to serve a small, select group of globally respected nations, bound by language and royalty, with their diverse nationalities, cultures, traditions that most of us would consider a dream job!
I watched ‘Suits’ week after week, hoping that Mike Ross and Rachel Zane would get together and be happy, and after a prolonged ‘will they-won’t they,’ once they did, I stopped watching the series. Conversely, Harry and Meghan were a train crash, a soap opera, with daily backbiting, family truths, and lies, each presenting a clearer (and more present) danger to the wider Royal family. I hope an extraordinarily fragile Harry carries his regrets wisely. I hope an indignant Meghan can find her way without further malice. I pray that young Archie and his siblings are not raised with their parent’s chip on their shoulders.
Most of all though, I pray that the antagonism on display is recognised, by this generation for what it is, the vexatious consequence of childish pique, of immature umbrage, of misguided privilege, and misspent judgement.
Ray Petersen
petersen_ray@hotmail.com
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