Queen Elizabeth faced a fateful decision when she had to decide whether to agree to Prince Harry and Meghan becoming " part time Royals ". The monarchy of England dates back centuries and it has always been something that the people hold in awe. In many ways the person who sat on the throne held a similar reverence to God.
Queen Victoria was a very reserved Queen and the palace gates were kept locked against outside intrusion. It was during her reign that the British Empire reached its apex and that mystique was preserved until a Royal scandal evoked newspaper headlines around the world. The Prince of Wales refused coronation as king unless he was allowed to marry an American woman divorcee.
Permission was refused and that man went into exile and his brother became the new King. He served the country during the hazardous days of the second world war, and on his death the throne passed to his eldest daughter. Most would agree that she has been an exemplary Monarch and she has certainly opened the palace by inviting the television cameras inside and dispelling many of the myths surrounding the Monarchy.
Unfortunately, during Elizabeth's reign the twenty-first century caught up with the Royals. Most of her children suffered divorces and the travails of the Prince of Wales and his wife, Princess Diana read like a tabloid news story. The Prince eventually married his mistress and seems likely to become the next King of England.
The Monarchy today is very different from the time of Queen Victoria. We have a whole bunch of senior and junior Royals who appear on cue to shake hands, cut ribbons and open events. The Queen and her consort husband are gradually handing their duties to the younger Royals and now a Duke and a Duchess are going missing in action.
There is no way the news media is going to ignore Harry and Meghan. They may even find they are more in the spotlight than during their days as working Royals and it is likely they will face the cameras in whatever they do to earn a living. They will spend part of each year in Canada and the other in Britain and their life will continue to be of public interest.
It is possible they will not engage in commercial activity if their lifestyle is financed from the estate Prince Charles inherited as Prince of Wales, but that would end their stated obsession of withdrawal from public life. It would be distasteful to many people to imagine the couple living on handouts from Harry's rich father as that would be viewed as another Royal extravagance.
There may also be a degree of criticism that Megan stayed in Canada and let Harry face his audience with the Queen alone. No doubt some viewers will make the connection to that previous king who abdicated because he was refused permission to wed a divorced American woman. Harry married a divorced American woman and he is also abdicating his Royal duties.
Most people will wish Harry and Meghan well but the ongoing publicity is not going to do much to preserve the mystique that has been the bond between the Throne and the common people !
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