Stories Untold: A Bad Week for the Palace
In the days since The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat with media mogul Oprah Winfrey and set alight a powder keg of revelations about their treatment within the palace walls, the news cycle has gone from daily to almost hourly. Deciding when to stop following its many angles down the ever increasing rabbit holes has been tricky.
But there’s alot to unpack in what was said, what was implied and what was never mentioned.
Where to begin?
Learned scholars and academics of great repute have painstakingly deconstructed the racist foundations of colonialism and later Commonwealth that foretold this moment in history. For that, they have my unending gratitude. But as the ITV Newscaster Charlene White has poignantly said: “I’m not your personal Google.” Women and particularly Black and Indigenous Women of Colour have, for too long, done the literal and psychological heavy lifting for the privileged classes. We did not create the system that still values our lives and welfare so cheaply, therefore it is not our responsibility to educate those whose jobs it is to change it. So if you’re channelling your inner Sharon Osbourne and expecting me to educate you, jog on mate. This isn’t for you.
Reality Check
This fractured relationship that eventually lead to Harry and his family stepping back from official duties and setting up house in America has been described by some as a “missed opportunity”. A missed opportunity for the Royal Family to demonstrate their evolution, humanity and relevance. But I’m afraid I must agree with Professor of Black Studies in the School of Social Sciences at Birmingham City University Kehinde Andrews. He’s previously been quoted as saying it was a complete joke to think one biracial woman, who would more than pass the paper bag test , would unseat baked in attitudes of supremacy and ruling by divine birthright.
I’ve had deeply uncomfortable conversations with white people in my professional circle who have been fundamentally unable to understand or accept their privilege. The discomfort of confronting the fact that your very skin shields you from untold horrors in the present day and removes the spectre of historical grief from your consciousness, is one few manage to tolerate. There are countless examples of weaponized white tears that lead to tragic consequences for Black Indigenous People of Colour. The mass hysteria from people who only realized that racism existed during last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, has led to a degree of performative activism that is even more insulting than the original offense.
Co Author of “Access All Areas — The diversity manifesto for TV and beyond” Marcus Ryder MBE has also emphasized the universality of Meghan’s experience where entering British environments as the first or only black woman is concerned. He told me: “The burden is all too often too much to bear and can have a detrimental effect on people’s mental health. I hope coming out of this episode that lesson is acknowledged not just by the Royal Family but by institutions across the UK.”
Against this backdrop, my question is: what did we expect?
Let’s Break It Down
What might have been accomplished in practical terms if this was all handled differently? What are the parallel stories being told by the Royal Family and it’s machinery; and the parents of young Archie Mountbatten-Windsor?
The head of Gloucestershire based PR Agency 10 Yetis Andy Barr provides both perspective and caution in the public’s judgement of the communications machinery on both sides. Which has, on various fronts, gone down like the proverbial lead balloon.
He says “Both parties are skating on the thinnest of thin ice when it comes to public perception and whilst very little is being said outwardly by either the Royals or The MegHarry’s, the behind the scenes communications and briefing’s are at scary levels. MegHarry’s have got their celeb friends briefing off the record and the Royal PR machine is hastily tweaking what were long established visits and meetings in order to present the best optics possible.”
This interview in all but words said to those who still trade in divisive colourism: your privilege will not protect you. During the interview Meghan was at pains to point out how committed she was to the royal life of duty and service. A life she was already leading in her work with the United Nations and campaigning for women’s empowerment. Yet the presumed counter from the Royal Family is that no matter what you do, if you’re an outsider, your best efforts will never be enough.
The Royal Family missed the opportunity to start to chip away at the painful and exhausting reality that a woman of colour must be all things to all people. They failed to take seriously the reality that how Meghan was treated and received — particularly in relation to her mental health — would reverberate among children of mixed heritage and black people. People who have the audacity to hope that the impenetrable halls of power may yet flex and contort to receive and accept those who were not born into it. Whether they liked it or not, how Meghan was handled when she expressed suicidal ideations would have been a better calling card for the mental health charities the royals support than any feeble PR stunt their staff could have orchestrated.
But Barr says “A healthy dollop of scepticism should be applied regarding the approach of the Royal communications.” He adds “although we in the industry can usually see the bigger picture of what is going on, I think the public, in this instance, can also see this as well and this is why The Firm need to slow down and give it time if they stand any chance of bringing some areas of the general public back around.”
Yet The Firm failed to see how Meghan had to walk that fine line between working twice as hard to be considered half as good, yet never in her success presume to outshine the master. By Meghan and Harry’s own admission they are and remain committed to a life of service. Yet the Palace seems to be telling the story that that service can only be recognized as being of value, if it is done with Royal endorsement. As Elaine Welteroth once said: being the first and only is often merely symbolic, as it leaves you without the network or the tools to effect meaningful change.
Growth is uncomfortable.
Yet for a brief moment I can spare them a touch of sympathy and here is why:
Some white people who see themselves as disadvantaged cannot countenance the idea that their whiteness is a privilege. The issue here isn’t that they are part of a racist structure and dominant paradigm. It is if they are able to face that their racism is either passive and subconscious or active and deliberate. That is a more nuanced litmus test for categorizing would be allies. Growth is hard. Growth is gross. As one facebook commentator said: “Admitting that you can do better at the expense of your comfort and privilege hurts because it challenges the status quo. It hurts to grow. And if they want to grow out of racism, they better get used to the pain, there is no other way around it”
Only the truly brave few can cope with how awful that process feels, yet work through it anyway. Most spit out their pacifiers, throw all their toys out of the pram and have full on fragile white privilege tantrums. (Hey Karens!). Why then, would we believe the most famous royals on earth could reasonably and earnestly face their bigotry and irrelevance? In that, they are no different from the rest of us with slightly embarrassing families, made up of creepy old uncles, good looking progressive nephews and grandfathers in denial about their parenting failures.
What next?
It has been a deeply exhausting week for women and women of colour, ironically bookended by International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day. Added to the cringeworthy PR stunts of senior royals; the terse 61 word statement in response from the palace; the public temper tantrum of a man displaying what can only be described as “small dick energy”. We then trudged through the heightened atmosphere of racism, sexism and classism. On this side of the pond the coverage of the kidnap and murder of a young pretty white woman vs. the coverage of Black women who are raped and murdered painfully emphasized how cheaply black lives are valued.
Sadly I genuinely believe we have not heard the last of this fall out.
But what is clear to me is that the public trust in the monarchy and instruments of government that was already on shaky footing among BIPOC has at best, been destroyed completely. Or at worst catapulted back into the pre-Elizabethan age. Yet Ryder believes it is nowhere near that linear or that simple.
He adds “It is hard to reconcile principles of diversity and meritocracy with the hereditary principle. I think any efforts to modernise the role the Royal Family plays in modern Britain will eventually have to address this question and it is one of the hardest issues to address… it seems to me to be a far more important issue than whether they are simply reduced in size or reduced in importance.”
If journalists of colour do not play an active role in mainstream media then the majority of the population will only get their news through the prism of white journalists and that limits their understanding of the entire society they live in.
~Marcus Ryder MBE
Commentators have lamented that the Royal Machinery and the press it cowers in fear of, has learned nothing from Princess Diana’s life and death. Barr concludes in this way: “Shots have been fired but both parties are currently hiding behind a rock waiting for the follow up salvo to be launched. Neither want to "go nuclear” because they both risk un-doing the goodwill that they have built up over the years. It is a delicate communications situation, but lets not forget, The Firm are used to playing the long game (just look at how they re-positioned Camilla over the years) so they need to be careful not to rock the boat too much”.
We can only hope that another outsider — another “first” and “only” — doesn’t have to suffer years of public flagellation and eventual exile in 20 years’ time for any true progress to even begin to be made.
- Katrina Marshall has recently worked in government communications and lectures on anti-racism and diversity.
- For further insights on the role of racism and diversity in the media follow her on Twitter at @kat_isha
- If you have concerns about your mental health and any of the issues discussed in this story please contact https://www.mind.org.uk
