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Meghan Markle Defeated the British Monarchy
The Sussexes’ refusal to submit to tradition was a long time coming, and it will shake up the royal family
On Wednesday afternoon, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle — announced on their joint Instagram account that they would be taking a step back as senior members of the royal family, working to become financially independent from the British Crown, and splitting their time between the United Kingdom and North America.
The move is unprecedented for two reasons: Aside from the sublimely millennial move to release news on a social media account, according to Jonny Dymond, royal correspondent and presenter of BBC News, they did not consult any member of the royal family prior to announcing this decision. One could see from how hasty Buckingham Palace’s response to the breaking news was that they were completely blindsided by Harry and Meghan’s exit. But the question begs: Why should they be? Meghan was never the British monarchy or media’s first choice. She’s been unfairly scrutinized from their courtship to the birth of their son Archie. Because she’s always been an outsider predominantly because of her racial background, there is poetic justice in that she was always destined to break protocol because she never was meant to exist inside of the…
