Being a Hart, which is painfully English, I have always been sort of an Anglophile. Of all your “philes” out there, I guess it is not the worst one to be.
I watched the whining session between Meghan Markle and Prince Harry and America’s sweetheart, Oprah, on Sunday. If you missed it, it was an interview where a multi-millionaire prince and an actress worth tens of millions of dollars commiserated with Oprah, herself a billionaire, about how bad they have it. I guess the lesson for the young folks out there is that, no matter how well you succeed in America, you can always pretend to be a victim of racism and a long list of fashionable “isms” — even if you are a WASPY Prince of England.
Meghan and Harry have shown the world that, to be accepted by the liberal establishment no matter how successful you are, you still have to find some reason to feel that you are oppressed and angry. No matter your circumstances, an easily-triggered sense of resentment and being able to read microaggressions into everything are really the recipe for success.
It is not a good look. The storyline is a spin on an old tale, except in this case Meghan Markle will be the first lady to have turned a Prince into a frog. She’s the Yoko Ono of the British royals.
Keep in mind, America fought one major war and a couple of small ones so we don’t have to pay attention to the royalty in Great Britain. But we do anyway. Everyone loves a fairy tale, and there is something about being born a prince that captivates all of us. We do not have royalty in America, unless you count Queen Latifah or Duke Ellington.
Meghan and Harry (formerly known as Prince) are worth a reported $50 million, but he says that honey hole dried up when he quit the family’s handshaking business. He painted a tough financial picture of the couple, left almost castle-less by Queen Elizabeth when they up and quit being royals.
Worsening their plight, they have gone from an 18,000 square foot home (so you know it is environmentally friendly) in Canada to a 14,000 square foot downsize starter home near Los Angeles. Their current mansion was owned by Mel Gibson, who sold it to them once it was proven to Mel’s satisfaction that they are not Jewish.
The couple’s oppression began when the Queen’s government paid $32 million for their wedding. I think we all remember it. It was the morning that your son, who could never quite throw a spiral, came to you all excited and wanted you to watch the royal wedding with him. It had both pomp and circumstance, although, in my view the pomp was good but they phoned in the circumstance.
I totally get the couple’s desire for independence from England; it is pretty much what the United States did. But Harry and Meghan do not have the lifestyles you guys have and all the lavish success you have been given, and then turn around and complain.
The key to endearing yourself to the American media, a.k.a. the left, is that you can get or be as rich as you want but you have to feel bad about it — and be a victim of something. We cannot have our celebs running around happy. That sets a bad example for the rest of us.
In fact, I did not even know Meghan Markle is half black. I just thought everyone looks a little ethnic standing next to the translucent Prince Harry.
Coming from England and royalty, where there are more Earls than the beer line at a University of Tennessee football game, one would think this couple would be out of place in America. But they seem to be enjoying it, as much as any oppressed couple could.
And I get that it was odd growing up as Prince Harry. Just imagine that when you have your bachelor party and your mates take you to a strip club, you have to put British pound notes with your grandmother’s picture on them in the garter belts of strippers. I guess it is both cool and weird, depending on your attitude.
Ron Hart, a libertarian syndicated op-ed humorist, worked at Goldman Sachs and is an award-winning author and TV/radio commentator. He can be reached at Ron@RonaldHart.com, or visit www.RonaldHart.com.
