My two cents about the Meghan Markle interview.

[Baitball Blogger]

Last edited Mon Mar 8, 2021, 01:15 PM - Edit history (1)

The big news, for me, is not that the Royal family is racist. The big news is that someone finally stepped out and exposed it.

[Moostache]

1. The very concept of "royal" in 2021?

Laughably anachronistic.

Charles has been a complete pud for decades, what did people expect?

[SallyHemmings]

4. What is the purpose of the Royals in 2021?

[bullwinkle428]

6. Mega tourism dollars for the U.K.

Always follow the money!

[treestar]

35. that's what they say, but does anyone go there because of them?

I went more than once, but the royals had zip to do with it. At least the present ones. I took a look at the palace because once there, you must, and the current royals weren't the first to live in it.

The Tower could be about the royals, but that goes back to the Wars of the Roses.

I went for the history and literature and the royal family has not had to do with real history since the late 18th century.

[Dream Girl]

2. For me, the big is the light it shined on racism in general. Millions and millions of people around

The world saw this interview. I see as a “George Floyd” moment which Ed opened eyes in a different way.

[RKP5637]

3. Yep, not surprised and very glad it's been exposed to the world! n/t

[milestogo]

5. BRAVO, Meghan

[MontanaMama]

7. I found both Meghan and Harry to be believable,

likable and genuine. Pain is painful and those discounting it because they have money missed the point. I thought the whole thing was well done.

[Duppers]

12. Same here.

I'm not over the way his mum, Diana, was treated.

[seta1950]

24. Exactly

Suffering is not exclusive to non rich people. Harry is still hurting, imagine being betrayed by your own father.

[UTUSN]

8. The big news for me is not the totally damnable RACISM or the damnable ROYALISM.

Even here on a *Democratic* website there has always been a fair amount of celebrity-hood about the "royals." When there has been a post (one of mine,years ago) saying that being democratic means equality, not fan clubbing for royalty, the reply was that, oh, it's just a Brit cute harmless personality tourist thing.

Well, the real truth is that the royalty thing is a money grubbing *RACKET*, the still here anachronism that shouldn't still be here.

********That said, it comes down to a certain population that wants to continue living in rose-colored fantasyland - fantasy royals, fantasy those of us who want to believe in silly tales. And, really, silly tales about a variety of topics and levels: Bearded old man in the sky, classism, romance (yes, romance).

Regarding politics, there is something to be said for separating the ceremonial figurehead side from the policy side of leadership. Or perhaps the royals could go private as a business.

Regarding Harry and Meghan, O.K., he was born "trapped," and perhaps she didn't know the extent of the thing she was getting into. But they are still doing O.K. in celebrityhood and cash. I'm not ascribing cynical motives to them about this, but what did they expect?

[Dorian Gray]

9. The royal family

is stupid.

Meghan and Harry are VERY imperfect people. He's spoiled. She didn't go into this well informed.

Having said that, the Royal Family is a mess. Their purpose is to make itself relevant. The lineage relevant so it can exist into perpetuity,. Harry and Meghan's PR didn't coalesce with the RF's needs, so... SPLAT. Their Pure Blood monachy is a mess.

Good that they left. Good that they're doing their own thing. Hopefully they will get their nonprofit up and running and do something good. (It's a bit of a mess right now. They don't know what they're doing.) And if they fail, he has the security net of his mother's wealth and she has the ability to act and go back to work. They'll be fine.

[jaxexpat]

11. It's all good until somebody starts fighting over roses or freeing colonies and stuff.

[GopherGal]

40. Sure they started as rulers, but now they're a reality show...

I think the appeal is the same as many a "reality show" - the public gets the shared social experience of following a real family's relationship dramas.

[Dorian Gray]

41. By George!

I think you're right!

[TygrBright]

10. "Exposed" it? Srsly? Did ANYONE think they AREN'T racist?

They haven't exactly been trying to hide it for the last few hundred years.



ironically,
Bright

[Politicub]

15. I never really considered it. But -- wow -- it is eye opening

at not only their racism, but their toxic behaviors in perpetuating their noble bloodline and excluding the other. That is screwed up, and is a good reminder of how awful nobility is.

I never liked the idea of monarchy, peerage, subjects of the crown, etc. But now I absolutely hate it. Royalty should be abolished everywhere.

[Skittles]

38. THANK YOU

[MOMFUDSKI]

13. Windsors my ass

I read that they were just a bunch of thieves out of Germany. Call me on this if I am wrong. Useless money grubbers and they have to go.

[Amaryllis]

14. Anyone have a link to the entire interview? I only find excerpts.

[dalton99a]

16. Symbiotic relationship between British tabloids and royal family:

[liberalmuse]

17. This is all too common with people who have mass influence

They are incredibly racist, which is nothing new, but the disturbing part is they influence not only the masses (leadership matters) but have a huge say in policy. They are responsible for mass oppression of people of color. These assholes only have wealth because they stole labor and precious resources that belonged to people of color, then continue to systematically oppress them to knock them back down as soon as they start gaining ground.

[Tree Lady]

18. I didn't watch but from what I read

The most disturbing to me was stopping her from getting mental help, probably because they feared it would leak. As if what finally came out wasn't worse.

Makes me think they were trying to drive her to kill herself.

[Budi]

19. Lobbed that big truthbomb over the pond & on the doorstep of the Royal Castle

Yes they did.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

20. My contrarian opinion

The Brits have such a long and storied history documented by the likes of William Shakespeare and an endless list of historians. Pride in that is countered by the knowledge that the royal family is unnecessary. Those who most want it to continue are the conservatives.

This family is different because it is documented daily by the tabloid press. The balance between protecting the crown and appealing to the rabble makes for an impossible situation.

They are all fortunate to be able to still make amends going forward. Will they though? Charles will likely become King for a brief time and then the whole operation is going to be debated in Parliament and the pubs.

[Ford_Prefect]

21. Didn't I read somewhere that there was a country which began as a rejection of Royal mythology?

This whole classist argument in which aristocracy is step by step closer to God than ordinary people, with the Royals at the top as the archetype of divinely blessed makes no sense. The pattern of Royal Worship repeated by the entire press has no basis in anything other than this myth.

British people and by extension Americans are not descended from the British Royal line nor their German cousins. The original British Royals were a tribal group that conquered others just as Genghis Khan did in his day. The whole mythology is sad and based on maintaining the power and wealth of the Medieval Roman Church and several groups of aristocrats. It makes no sense at all if you are a non-believer, or a protestant.

I seem to recall something written a little over 200 years ago that suggested another approach...I wonder how that turned out?

[TimeToGo]

25. Yes, I'm always confused about British royal stuff

They aren't ours. I don't care about them. I'm happy for them to be called out for transgressions, but other than that they are just "royalty" from another country. The myth and mystique is just part of their deal -- it's not real.

[PCIntern]

22. My puzzled question is...

How can I possibly believe that she would marry into this family and not understand the nature of their existence and the complexities associated with it? In 20-whatever that she married him, who won earth didnt know that this is an exceedingly problematic situation Into which she was getting herself, associated with unusual people. And I’m being very polite out of deference to those people who “love” this royal tradition.

I refuse to believe anyone who is remotely educated doesn’t understand that princess Diana was driven to insanity and eventually to her death literally by all of this. I found that statement of Meghan’s to be most disingenuous.

[Mr.Bill]

34. At least she was smart enough

to marry one that would leave with her when the time came. It didn't go that way for Diana, or Fergie either.

[treestar]

36. She married who she loved

Why does she have to give that up? And why do they have to make it unpleasant for her? It's not necessary. There's no justification for it.

[IbogaProject]

23. they are figureheads over a global crime spree

They are the benevolent appearing figureheads who distract from the global crime spree they and the usury banking system bring over the world.
Nobel privilege, secret holdings of assets and non progressive taxation systems need to all be abolished.

[Joinfortmill]

26. Harry laid out there. Today is not a good day to be a British Royal.

[Liberty Belle]

27. Racism, but also the subjugation and abuse of women royals.

Look how shoddily poor Princes Diana was treated to the point that she became bulemic, depressed, and had herself smuggled out of the palace in a carpet roll at one point.

Women should not be expected to give up their keys, their passports, and their freedom when they marry into the royal famiily. They should be allowed to continue visiting with friends or whatever else they wish to do, in addition to their royal appearances of course.

With Megan, things were even worse than with Diana in some ways because of pure racism. The concerns over the color of her baby's skin and taking away her family's security, not giving her child a prince designation can also stem only from racism - there is no precedent or other logical reason for this.

I hope the British and worldiwide press start hammering the royals on both of these issues.

Men are not subject to the same scrutiny or restrictions. Prince Harry, before his marriage, was free to party in Vegas and do largely as he pleased. In the 21st century the double standard against women and minorities needs to be eliminated if the royals wish to survive. Instead of pressuring Megan and Harry to leave the royal familiy, why didn't they pressure the racists to get out?

The press needs to be relentless in ferreting out who the royals are that were behind the racist actions directed at Megan and her son, and shame them to the max degree possible.

Also Prince Charles refusing to take his son's phone calls or go to bat for him is shameful. No wonder the Queen has refused to step down and make him king. Charles could have done a tell-all interview to pressure the royals into restoring his son's privileges and security, but cowardly, chose not to do so.

[Beringia]

28. I think it must be hard to have to rely on 1 parent, and now he is on the skids with that one too

[Ford_Prefect]

30. There is the old sobriquet about the rich being different than you and me...They own everything.

Of course it doesn't excuse their vices, or excesses, nor does it require them. I suppose when you aren't subject to rules, laws, and consequences your judgement might include a bit of bias regarding how to respect other people. Imagine...

“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different. ”

― F. Scott Fitzgerald

[tinrobot]

29. The whole premise of royalty is elitist and very close to being racist.

Racism is about denying privileges to people because of who their parents were.

Giving people special privileges because of their parents is the same concept, only reversed.

I guess the royals could have embraced the opportunity to be more accepting. They didn't.

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

32. AS a black woman, I find this hilariously stupid & crazily nonsensical because there have been 2...

Last edited Mon Mar 8, 2021, 09:06 PM - Edit history (1)

count them TWO BLACK queens of England. The first was the dark skinned Phillipa of Hainaut, (Jun 24, 1314 - Aug 15, 1369), who was of Black Moorish ancestry, born in Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut in the Low Countries of northern France, now known as present day Belgium. It had been ruled by BLACK Moorish tribes. She was queen as well as political advisor to Edward the 3rd & when he was away fighting in the Hundred Years war, she ruled as REGENT, quite unusual for a woman in the Middle Ages. Now girlfriend was BAD...when Ed was away, when her husband’s old enemy King David II of Scotland invaded England. Sis put together an army & kicked King Dave's arse in battle, putting his rusty dusty in chains as a prisoner of war. When she died, Edward was so brokenhearted that it was said that he never really recovered. Before his own death in in 1377, he had beautiful sculpture for her tomb in Westminster created as a tribute to the love of his life. Their son, Edward the IV, had the same phenotype as his mother & was known as the the "Black" prince.

The Second BLACK queen was Mad King George's honey, born Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, in present day Germany (May 19, 1744 - Nov 17, 1818). She was dark skinned & would have been viewed as a medium light skinned black woman. She directly descended from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, a BLACK BRANCH of the Portuguese Royal House. According to the Washington Post, Valdes said that Portuguese royal Alfonso III's mistress Ouruana was a Black Moor. He pointed to Charlotte's physician using the outdated and offensive term "mulatto" to describe her appearance. He also said a prime minister depicted her in a racist manner by describing stereotypical features, writing: “Her nose is too wide and her lips too thick.”

Valdes also observed various portraits of Queen Charlotte, noting they featured the royal with a darker skin tone and curly hair. "Six different lines can be traced from English Queen Charlotte back to Margarita de Castro y Sousa, in a gene pool which because of royal inbreeding was already minuscule, thus explaining the Queen's unmistakable African appearance," he wrote. "The... characteristics of the Queen's portraits certainly had political significance since artists of that period were expected to play down, soften or even obliterate undesirable features in a subjects's face." Something that black people are all too familiar with, unfortunately.

The marriage between George & Charlotte was very happy & loving for the first 25 years but the King's onset & gradual worsening of mental illness eventually broke it. She was "auntie" to Mozart, (yeah, THAT Mozart), whom she met when he was 8 years old. He went on to dedicate six sonatas to her & Opus 3 a year later. Unsurprisingly, she was a great patron of the arts but shockingly, she was also a patron of Sciences & Philanthropy. One of her closest friends was Marie Antoinette & she actually had rooms prepared for her in light of the turmoil of the French revolution but we all know that Marie was never able to leave France.

The craziest thing is the city of Charlotte NC, was named for her, a BLACK QUEEN, how also strongly opposed slavery- a very well known City of a state that was considered close to the heart of the deepest slave region was named after a German born black woman! Racist idiots in the area probably have no idea. So, for this to be happening, is ridiculously hypocritical, especially considering that Elizabeth descends from the house of Hapsburg & Prince Phillip is Greek. Diana, on the other hand, was a TRUE British blue blood. I think the entire situation is disgusting & I believe in karma. I'll have my popcorn ready for when this comes back full bore. Stupid AF . I'll bet that the racist comments about that sweet baby boy came from either the queen, Charles' wife or sadly, his brother or his wife. Just goes to show you that neither money, family name nor economic status can buy you class....

[Baitball Blogger]

33. thank you for your post. Very informative.

[mnhtnbb]

37. One correction to your post: Charlotte is not and never has been the state capital of North Carolina

Raleigh is the capital city, although it hasn't always been so.

https://www.ourstate.com/why-is-raleigh-the-capital-of-north-carolina/

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

39. Ooh sorry & thank you for the correction. I was just happy that I got the city correct for the

state because for some unknown reason, I always confuse Charlotte & Charleston in terms of what state they're located in & my father's side of the family comes from the Carolinas, both north & south. I'll correct it... Thanks again, MNHTNBB!