History Repeating

So I am going to wade into the whole Meghan debate, not because I know any more or less than anyone else but because I have long held a fascination with another American divorcee who 84 years ago divided the country and forced the then King of England to Abdicate, of course they never got as far as having the approval of the monarchy and its subjects in order to marry in the grandeur and splendour we saw when Harry and Meghan were wed, theirs was a less forgiving time, believe it or not.

You could say the Queen has already seen an American divorcee ruin her ideal of what family ought to be, I doubt very much she was going to let that happen again which is maybe why she gave Harry such a tough deal, afterall none of this is really that new to her.

Wallis Simpson was a confident, somewhat independent woman who had a very strong mind of her own, one who didn’t have much time for Royal protocol and procedure, many might argue rightly so coming from a very different background, its hard to understand the pressures faced when marrying into the Royal family – I imagine anyway.

The Queen, then just 10 years old witnessed her father, a more timid man compared to his elder brother, propelled into the spotlight, a role he never wanted or had been prepared for. He had difficulty with public speaking and was happier in his role as the ‘Harry’ of the two brothers, though much less boisterous!! She must have seen the years of service in a role thrust upon him take its toll, as did his wife, the Queen Mother, who is said to have never forgiven Wallis Simpson for denying her and her family the life they were meant to have.

Possibly as a result of the stress of becoming King he died relatively young and at the tender age of 22 Princess Elizabeth then found herself Queen of England, a role that was never really intended for her yet one she has fulfilled and committed her entire life to since the day her father passed away.

The Queen has undertaken this role like the proverbial duck to water, putting duty before, well almost everything else whilst still trying to maintain some kind of family life for her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Fast forward to today and, though not as much a constitutional crisis as we faced in 1936 but the Queen, nonetheless has been presented with almost the same situation. A young, vivacious, independent, forward thinking divorced American marries into the royal family, she is used to the spotlight but in a very different way, a positive and uplifiting way, she has a blog, freedom to speak, to voice her thoughts and opinions and who knows maybe Meghan saw her role in the Royal family as a more modern day princess – a lot of the media certainly thought this and for a time they were the new face of the firm.

Yes Meghan had a rough ride from the media, personally I am inclined to feel this is more to do with being American and an actress rather than the colour of her skin, but so have all the women who have joined the firm, remember waitey Kate, doors to manual – the jokes about her mothers previous job as cabin crew. And who can forget how hated Camilla was when her and Charles began dating again, the press and the public vilified her for daring to step into Diana’s shoes – a role she was never trying to undertake. Yet both these women, and others before them, stood their ground, one thing you have to be as a Royal is resilient, Meghan has barely given it 2 years and who knows how favour would have changed.

Only last week I watched the engagement interview from William and Catherine and the main theme – how long it took to propose, how good she was to wait all that time, how long had they known they would marry but chose to tread oh so carefully timewise. In comparison Harry and Meghan’s interview was much more romantic and positive.

At every step of the way the Sussexes have refused to play ball with the traditions that most of us, and the media expect from our Royals the more secrecy you place on things the more we want to know, it really is none of our business who godparents are to your children but we have come to expect that we would know, I’m not saying its right I’m saying its just how we do things in Britain, its tradition and it’s what the Royal Family have based themselves on.

I think that if Harry and Meghan could have ridden the storm and played the game a little wiser, then none of this need happen, only time will tell.

However, just a parting note. Some years ago, for my 40^th birthday, I stayed at what was one of the holiday homes of Wallis Simpson and Edward – it was one of the most amazing and fascinating places I had ever been. Pictures of movie stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton adorned the walls, but there was a cold quiet to the place, a sadness, a sense of loss and regret. I sometimes wonder whether Wallis really wanted to marry Edward, was she in love with the lifestyle more than the man? Was it too much to expect her to play the role of the dutiful wife?

Because what Edward gave up seems to me to be so much more than what he gained in the long run and in that respect I truly hope history does not repeat itself.