Meghan Markle Is Not the People’s Princess
For all the talk of social justice on her new podcast, Archetypes, Meghan Markle seems only to vaguely endorse trickle-down celebrity feminism — and to promote herself as a symbol of the enlightened liberal ruling class.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, during Trooping the Colour in London, England, 2018.(Chris Jackson / Getty Images)
On the eve of their posh wedding, some commentators suggested that Meghan and Harry were poised to give the royal family a much-needed makeover. “Can Meghan Markle modernize the monarchy?” asked the Economist, the same longtime magazine that helped Britain’s elite “modernize” the United Kingdom’s economy during the seventy-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. (Never mind Charles III — Britain’s true king is the market.)
On the surface, the answer was no. Harry and Meghan understandably chafed under the iron grip of the $28 billion empire known as “the Firm,” and announced they were leaving the family business in early 2020. The months of Sturm und Drang that followed, culminating with the couple’s high-profile “Megxit,” was probably inevitable. The monarchy is not capable of drastic change and Markle, like most other millennials, isn’t as enamored with the musty institution as past generations have been.
Plus, why play by the archaic rules of a fading institution when you can start a new reign of your own?
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