Irish Times writer wickedly skewers the Royals

Harry and Meghan: The union of two great houses, the Windsors and the Celebrities, is complete

HARRY AND MEGHAN
HARRY AND MEGHAN

After Harry and Meghan, the monarchy looks archaic and racist. Well duh

By Patrick Freyne

Having a monarchy next door is a little like having a neighbour who’s really into clowns and has daubed their house with clown murals, displays clown dolls in each window and has an insatiable desire to hear about and discuss clown-related news stories. More specifically, for the Irish, it’s like having a neighbour who’s really into clowns and, also, your grandfather was murdered by a clown.

Beyond this, it’s the stuff of children’s stories. Having a queen as head of state is like having a pirate or a mermaid or Ewok as head of state. What’s the logic? Bees have queens, but the queen bee lays all of the eggs in the hive. The queen of the Britons has laid just four British eggs, and one of those is the sweatless creep Prince Andrew, so it’s hardly deserving of applause.

We cut sporadically to the couple’s own property, where they wander in hoodies, jeans and anoraks, as if to say, ‘We’re just regular rich folk, Oprah, no different from you or Tom Hanks or Jeff Bezos’

The contemporary royals have no real power. They serve entirely to enshrine classism in the British nonconstitution. They live in high luxury and low autonomy, cosplaying as their ancestors, and are the subject of constant psychosocial projection from people mourning the loss of empire. They’re basically a Rorschach test that the tabloids hold up in order to gauge what level of hysterical batshittery their readers are capable of at any moment in time. Continue reading

Prince Harry: we had ‘no other option’ than to stand down as royals

Duke of Sussex makes heartfelt speech about his and Meghan’s decision to step back from roles

The Duke of Sussex has expressed his sadness over his decision to step down from royal duties in his first public remarks on the move, saying he had taken a “leap of faith”.

Giving a speech at a private dinner in London for his charity Sentebale, Prince Harry said: “Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth, and my military associations without public funding. Unfortunately that wasn’t possible.”

He said he had not taken the decision lightly, but there was “no other option”. Speaking “not as a prince, or a duke, but as Harry,” he said he had found the “love and happiness I had hoped for all my life” with Meghan [ . . . ]

Continue at THE GUARDIAN: Prince Harry: we had ‘no other option’ than to stand down as royals | UK news | The Guardian