You can’t light a match without causing an inferno – at least, that’s the case with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Since the royal couple revealed to ITV news presenter Tom Bradby in the documentary, Harry and Meghan: An African Adventure, that they’ve struggled behind the scenes as working members of the royal family, an explosion of conflicting responses has erupted.
In interviews more raw than royal members of the family have ever given before Harry admits that there is a rift between himself and his brother Prince William; that the media presence constantly reminds him of the way he felt after losing his mother, the late Princess Diana, and that his mental health is something he needs to “manage” under the weight of responsibility and scrutiny that comes with his royal duties.
Meghan, who attended her first engagement since the documentary aired on Tuesday, admits that she’s not okay.
“It’s not enough to just survive something, right?” the new mother said. “Like, that’s not the point of life. You’ve got to thrive, you’ve got to feel happy.”
We’ve heard via Max Foster, a royal correspondent for CNN, that a source close to the Sussexes told him that while the royal couple has “single-handedly modernised the monarchy” their advisers remain incapable of “harnessing their value” and don’t give the couple the credit they’re due:
“The institution around the royal family is full of people afraid of and inexperienced at how to best help harness and deploy the value of the royal couple who, they said, ‘have single-handedly modernised the monarchy’,” he reported.
This has, in turn, incensed palace insiders who, according to the Daily Mail, responded with, “None of this is remotely helpful to the monarchy as an institution. It is promoting discord and taking attention away from the good works senior royals do across the board.”
“The truth is that no one is ‘anti’ Harry and Meghan and no one is briefing against them,” the insider continued.
“And it is also just plain wrong to say they have single-handedly modernised the monarchy. Modernisation is an ongoing process led by Her Majesty the Queen.
“It’s akin to saying that the Sussexes are too good for the Royal Family, which is extremely disrespectful to everyone who works for, and on behalf of, the Queen and other senior members of the Royal Family.
“While not everyone agrees with what the duke and duchess have been saying, there has been immense sympathy that they find themselves in such a difficult place and people have been trying to help.”
Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan has weighed in, slamming the couple on Twitter with the comment, “Imagine being two staggeringly privileged royal multi-millionaires going to Africa to make a documentary that supposedly ‘shines a light’ on poverty, violence against women/girls & racial inequality — then, in fact, making it all about their own terrible struggle? I mean, FFS.”
To which BBC Breakfast show host Dan Walker responded with, “Imagine being given a TV show & a newspaper column & using them both to pick on a woman who didn’t want to go out for a second drink with you.”
Meghan is said to have “ghosted” Piers Morgan after going out for a drink with him in London.
A friend and former agent of Meghan, Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, has told the Mail Online that she’d warned Meghan against getting involved with Harry.
“I did speak to Meghan about the British media and it was clear that she didn’t know what she was letting herself in for. She was naive. I still think that now,” Nelthorpe-Cowne told the publication.
She revealed that she told Meghan, “This is serious. This is the end of your normal life, the end of your privacy – everything.
“But she just held up her hand and said: ‘Stop. I don’t want to hear any negativity. This is a happy time for us.'”
Meghan, herself, has admitted that her friends had tried to warn her about the British tabloids.
However, it’s the carnage this has likely caused within the royal family that has the biggest bearing of all.
The senior royals, from the Queen down, are reportedly “worried” and “horrified” by Meghan and Harry’s revelations, with royal author Phil Dampier telling MailOnline: “I am told that the senior royals from the Queen down and courtiers are very worried about the direction Harry and Meghan are taking and it’s very serious.
“I hope on their six week holiday [the couple has announced they’re taking a six-week break from mid-November] they reflect very carefully on what they do next.
“They had turned a corner with the Africa trip but all the good works were overshadowed by this attack on the press. They are either being badly advised or ignoring advice.”
Reports have also emerged that Prince William is worried about Harry and Meghan and hopes they “are all right”.
Where do they go from here?
The couple has announced that they’re taking a six-week break from royal duties from mid-November but what happens when they come back?
There is a degree of scrutiny and an expectation of duty that comes with being a working member of the royal family.
And while the British press is, at times, invasive and unjustifiably condemning, it is unlikely to pare back to only reporting the positive stories.
Meanwhile the Queen likely now finds herself in a difficult position. She has some flames to extinguish and some hot spots to dampen down. She also has to find a way to regenerate public confidence in the royal family.
For all members of the royal family, there is work to be done, but Her Majesty must take into account the emotional wellbeing of her family.
No one envies the royal monarch and her predicament right now.
