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Their Special Day
It’s Meghan and Harry’s first anniversary Sunday, and for the occasion they delighted their millions of Instagram followers with a special video showreel, including many previously unseen black and white images of their big day at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor.
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The showreel again shows just how willing Meghan and Harry are to flout royal convention and do things their own way—and to reach out to their fans directly, bypassing conventional media.
Its own glossy TV segment, it is set to “This Little Light of Mine,” which they chose for their recessional. It begins with a caption announcing “One year ago today...” We see the couple very happy, Meghan walking down the aisle with Charles, the signing of registers, Meghan with mom Doria, the bridesmaids and pages, and then over the sound of bells, there are images of crowds. At the end of the showreel, another card reads: “Thank you for making the memory of this day so special.”
In Denial
On Friday evening, CBS screened a major documentary about Meghan Markle called Harry and Meghan Plus One. It was presented by one of her best friends, Gayle King, who just under two months ago attended Meghan’s baby shower in New York and subsequently chatted about that party in affectionate terms.
The show featured a tearful contribution from her pal and makeup artist Daniel Martin, who became emotional as he discussed how unfairly Meghan has been treated by the global media.
Tearful interventions by your pals on primetime is not how the Palace has traditionally done things media-wise, but if this is the way Meghan wants to get her message out, the man or woman on the street would probably, so far as they had an opinion, wish her luck.
So why, then, is the Palace taking the extraordinary step of denying that Meghan gave her friends permission to speak out? In a statement triggered by The Sun’s claims that friends were given the all-clear to speak out, the palace said Meghan did not have “any involvement in the CBS special” and that she had not “requested or given permission to friends to participate.”
This smacks more of internal politics at Buckingham Palace than anything else.
The notion that Martin—who, let’s not forget, just four months ago was tweeting adoring pictures of Meghan’s avocado toast from inside her home—and other friends included in the special such as Jessica Alba didn’t message her and check if it was OK to participate, or receive the nod that it was, strains credibility to the breaking point.
So why say it? Well, remember the meltdown at Meghan’s previous press office, which they shared with William and Kate, who were given no warning that five of her friends were giving a series of coordinated interviews to People magazine?
The fallout was so intense that a few weeks later it was announced that Meghan and Harry were setting up an all-new press office with all-new staff.
It was firmly suggested to Meghan and Harry that there be no more media freelancing after that debacle.
This TV show appears to be exactly that. So Meghan’s stout denial that she had any input at all strikes seasoned royal observers as a mere token, a polite way to save the face of her staff and give them deniability, however implausible.
Bereft
Caution, if you’re reading this in a public place, maybe don’t don’t watch the astonishing “One More Minute” video by Prince William’s charity Child Bereavement UK right now, but do watch it at some point.
The video won charity film of the year out of a field of more than 400 (imagine being a judge on that), and features ordinary people and famous names (chef Mary Berry and soccer star Rio Ferdinand among them) imagining what they would do or say if they had one more minute with their departed loved one.
William doesn’t actually imagine one more minute with his mother but provides a powerful message at the end encouraging bereaved people to seek support. Say what you like about the institution of monarchy, but the young royal’s willingness to support extremely unsexy charities should be saluted.
Thoughts on Morton
Andrew Morton, the bête noire of the royal family for his sensational book on Princess Diana which nearly brought them down, has kind words for Meghan Markle, saying she is a source of “stability and the structure” for Prince Harry, who has always been “desperate for a family.”
Speaking on Yahoo’s Royal Box about the birth of his son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, Morton said: “I was looking at some pictures of Harry when he was about eight years old and he’s cradling a friend’s baby. He was always adoring of children and you can see that today. He’s gone from being a little boy who liked kids to being an adult who was desperate for a family. It has always been the way that Prince Harry has needed Meghan more than she’s needed Harry because she’s provided the stability and the structure.”
In his 2011 book, William and Catherine: Their Lives, Their Wedding, Morton revealed just how significant a toll his parents’ marital woes took on Harry, writing that on one occasion, “young Harry launched an attack on his father, ineffectually beating him on the legs with his fists” while telling him, “I hate you.”
Grandpa Charles
Relations have moved on since then, thankfully. On Thursday this week, Prince Charles finally met his grandson Archie. No word on whether he passed on a present from Bavarian Premier Markus Söder, who gifted a pair of baby Lederhosen to the infant during Charles’ tour of Germany.
This Week in Royal History
Happy anniversary, Meghan and Harry! The couple married on May 19, 2018, although it’s been such a rollercoaster it kind of feels longer ago. That wedding, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, was hyped as a royal game-changer, and certainly—from rumored family feuds, to privacy, to media controversies—it has been an incident-packed year. Meghan and Harry are determined to be royals and activists on their own terms. The outlook: exciting, expect more turbulence.
Royal Fashion Watch
Kate Middleton looked pretty darn fabulous this week in a $1,750 Alessandra Rich polka dot dress that balanced the conservative (that neck and collars) and the daring (the center, buttoned slit).
Unanswered
William couldn’t make it because he had to attend the FA Cup Final (he is president of the Football Association and skipped it last year for Harry’s wedding), but Charles and Harry were both there, as were Kate’s sister Pippa, her brother James, and her parents. Of Kate, however, there was not a sign, and no explanation for her absence has emerged. Yet.
