It's been almost a month since Queen Elizabeth's death. The UK had been brimming with tradition, pomp, and pageantry, from the installation of the new King and Queen Consort to the late Queen's Funeral; it had been the spectacle for which the British Monarchy is known. World Leaders and royalty from all corners of the earth descended on England to remember the late Queen and to attend her funeral. Thousands of soldiers and military personnel paraded the streets, and thousands of people queued up to walk past her coffin and lined the streets to bid farewell to their Queen.
The new Monarch, King Charles III, regal and seemingly powerful, wasted no time naming his heir Prince William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales. It all seemed like a fairytale; however, just a little scratch of the surface, hidden just beneath, was the reality that this was an institution so desperate to prove its "power" that it used the death of the Monarch to deliver mental and emotional blows to her "much loved" grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
If I ever wondered about the character of the people who run the Monarchy, the ten days between the Queen's death and her burial gave me a clear picture and one that was not pretty. It was grotesque. When news began to circulate that the Queen's health was declining and the family would make their way to Balmoral, the Sussexes released a statement that Meghan would accompany Harry to Scotland. Those within the royal households decided this of all times was the time to begin what would be ten days of doing the most to publicly damage and use the vile British press to abuse the Sussexes in what seemed a plan to put them "In their place."
Many watched in disbelief as British tabloids gleefully splashed headlines from palace sources that King Charles did not want Meghan at Balmoral, that they would not welcome her there. Prince Harry was not allowed on the flight with the other Princes. He was not told (depending on what news outlet you read) or told five minutes before Prince Charles briefed the press that his grandmother was dead. There was then the dinner snub by Princes Charles and William when Harry arrived at Balmoral. Upon his return to England, there was a military uniform ban for Prince Harry, while other royals who were not military veterans or, in some cases, never in the military paraded around in their military Halloween costumes with chocolate medals. There were also the blaring headlines of the palace inviting then publicly uninviting them to the state reception the night before the funeral. One can only determine that these headlines, copied by news outlets worldwide, were specifically designed to humiliate and exclude the Sussexes publicly. The cruel treatment of Harry and Meghan by royal household members was appalling, especially as they were grieving Harry's only mother figure since the tragic death of his mom when he was only twelve years old.
I have long heard about the cruelty of the Windsors; many of us who have been paying attention have seen the damage done to Meghan and Harry, some of which they shared with Oprah and on the mental health documentary, The Me You Can't See. However, watching the inhumanity of the palace and the press play out in real-time as it did during those ten days against two people simply there to pay their respects was devastating. I can only imagine how destructive and painful it was to Harry and Meghan, the targets of that abuse.
So devastating was that experience Sussex supporters and others worldwide prayed and crossed their fingers until there was confirmation that the Sussexes left the UK and returned safely to their family in the US.
Watching their despicable behavior on a world stage, I am not sure what the Royal Family and their courtiers thought they achieved. Maybe the royalists and white supremacists they were playing to celebrated their actions as a show of power and especially "putting that black woman in her place," but to us who watched this from the outside, the Monarchy, King Charles III, and the royal household looked weak, small and vindictive.
Secure leaders do not have to destroy those of lower standing than they are to prove they are powerful.
For the British royal family, pomp, pageantry, spectacle, and fleeting popularity are all they have to distract gullible people from the fact that they are empty vessels, utterly devoid of humanity.
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