Harry and Meghan + more things

Harry and Meghan

Disclaimer: not much of a royalist

I don’t care that much about the comings and goings of the Royal Family, let alone minor players like Harry and Meghan. I am a citizen of a republic not a subject of the Windsors. I can remember watching the first wedding of Princess Anne on our black and while television. But beyond the sound of the wedding march; I really didn’t have much of a clue of what was going on. My Mam went around the kitchen doing what she needed to be done. This was on in the background, but didn’t feel important.

By comparison, watching the state funeral Eamon de Valera; had much more of an impact. I could feel the seriousness of my grandparents and my Uncle who lived on the family farm watching the procession of the flag-draped coffin through Dublin to Glasnevin cemetery.

I have been vaguely aware of controversy surrounding Harry and Meghan, but not the detail. I know, that if I asked, my Mum would be able to give me a blow-by-blow account while my Dad would roll his eyes. If you’d have asked me three months ago if I would have been writing part of a post focusing on Harry and Meghan, I would have expressed a strong doubt.

South Park

That all changed when they saw South Park’s episode about Harry and Meghan’s ‘worldwide privacy tour’. It seemed to be a lightning rod for their collective doubts about the couple. I then had to give them a crash course on the cultural relevance of South Park. Hong Kong friends didn’t ask about Harry and Meghan, but instead asked why South Park used Harry and Meghan to pick on Canada?

Generational and racial fault lines

How Race and Age Impact How Harry and Meghan Are Viewed – Variety– interesting data on how Americans perceive Prince Harry & Meghan Markle. I was surprised by their high degree of relevance and their role as yet another fault line in American society.