Chasing Stigma

The rival Royal Rumble continues, as how much Meghan and Prince Harry have suffered since the comment about “how dark the couple’s firstborn child Archie’s skin might be when she was pregnant.” Is it realistic for Meghan Markle, the first coloured American person to marry a British Senior Royal in modern history, to expect no one would be curious about the skin colour of her new born. 

It is equally understandable when one is victimised, then such feelings do matter.

Kehinde Andrews, Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham University has said, “the fact that a Black woman marrying into the Royal family in the 21^st century was novel, should tell you all you need to know”.

But as we also know, Meghan was not royal, she and her progeny could still be hounded in public life, Does this not show that she did not fit in? Arguably, it was difficult to fit in.

What does it mean to be a Royal ?   

Lived experience is there to tell us that the Royal Family is an institution. What we still question is whether Meghan was properly briefed? If she knew her role beforehand and still wanted to marry Harry and accepted her role in this institution, she need not necessarily have to be briefed in everything this institution stands for, or was Meghan more of a film celebrity. It is a well known fact that Americans are fascinated with royalty?

If it was a “situ comedy” like all such periodic reality film dramas, everything in it is has a season and like seasons, things will come, things will go. That is the essence of the comedy?

It seems that Prince Harry has been caught up in this drama?  But, the sons of the Late Princess Diana,  knew their duty to “King and Country”. Prince Harry accepted and performed his duty over many years and was willing to continue to do so in the years ahead.

As it stands now, Meghan is able to control the narrative, because she is on home ground and a sympathetic U.S. President.  However, the opposite was true when Harry and Meghan were living in the UK. 

The question now in our minds is how much the rumble matters?

Britain, like many other Colonial nations has had a past history. It has tried hard to wean itself away from mistakes of its past. It would not have a present known as the Commonwealth, if not for the fact that 54 or more sovereign nations are members of this free society, with H.M. Queen Elizabeth II as the accepted Head of the Commonwealth. Besides, no one government exercises power over others in the Commonwealth. They are amongst the world’s biggest, smallest, richest, and poorest countries.

At the same time there appears to be a “political dimension” to this rumble, relayed by Oprah Winfrey's TV interview on 07 March 2021. This interview seems to portray Britain, as backward looking country?                                      

There is the Labour Opposition, which is trailing the Conservatives in opinion polls at present, some are out and out Republican in their mindset, who want to use this episode to win support at the next election, which is years ahead.

Then, there is also the Age Gap inside UK – Young versus Old Citizens. The Coronavirus has accentuated this situation. The ethnic minorities who have suffered the most, are looking for a voice.

Further, there are the Whites who feel more comfortable dealing with Blacks of a lighter skin tone. Generally, we notice, there seems to be an “identity spectrum”?

How about some Blacks who are wanting to use this opportunity to show show how far they have been victimised in pay and conditions at work during the pandemic. 

Britain today is a cosmopolitan mix of colour, race, creed and identity. Once the fault line was race, which was considered a mark of shame in Western society. Now, it is a badge of pride. Diversity wins.

Victor Cherubim