I have always rejected the notion of monarchy. It seems unimportant to preserve a political system that no longer benefits the country the same way the Government does. The U.K. has a Prime Minister to forge our country’s politics in a way the Monarch no longer needs to do, not to mention the fact that our taxes contribute to the upkeep of the Windsor Dynasty to such vast and endless limits (the Queen’s income alone now soars to £82 million) that without financing the Monarchy there is no doubt we would be significantly better off, economically and socially in the sense that there would no longer be such a rigid sense of Hierarchy above us, reflecting the image of a misconstrued country, when in reality that country no longer morally aligns with the existence of a monarchy at all.
That was my solid belief. That a future without a Monarchy would not at all be a bad one. Until yesterday, when the engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was announced. I have never been one to keep up with what the Royalty of this country are doing, but when I saw it filling up my twitter feed, it struck me as significant in a way no other action from the Royal Family has struck me before. Because Meghan Markle is a mixed race commoner and that in itself holds more weight than most of us realize.
Although it is not a new concept, a Prince marrying a commoner, as we have observed the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, it is still a powerful act. Because throughout history, Royalty married Royalty, bloodlines were kept interspersed and a profound plane of superiority remained, the kind of superiority that allowed the concept of Divine Right of Kings to remain relevant for so long – which was originally and especially prevalent in Jacobean society. But this new idea of Monarchy, this new future for the United Kingdom suggests that the boundaries and barricades held up for so long, dividing Royalty from Commoners and henceforth defining each individuals worth, is crumbling in a way that does not make it look weak, but stronger and more progressive than anyone could have imagined. The simple notion of having a Black common woman marry in to the Monarchy suggests that it may not always be what it has been for so long. That with time, the Monarchy will transform and change and grow to represent what Britain is today, a diverse, multicultural and hopefully soon, egalitarian society in which everyone’s worth is the same.
With time, the Monarchy will transform and change and grow to represent what Britain is today, a diverse, multicultural and hopefully soon, egalitarian society in which everyone’s worth is the same.
No longer does the Monarchy make me cringe, it gives me hope. Hope that in the future it can survive, sustaining the morals and ethics of modern Britain in a way that their messages can hold value, in a way that anti bullying campaigns and mental health awareness and charity fundraisers, all while being the figureheads of our society, means something more than just looking good. A way for the modern Monarchy to progress alongside the political and social sphere of its country, forging better values besides the new faces of our future, a future where hierarchy no longer looks like patriarchy, where it serves a good, moral purpose without seemingly like a useless waste of tax payers money.
In Prince Harry and Meghan Markle I see a future in which everyone can be a part of.
Some may argue this is because of pure coincidence, the fact that Prince Harry chose such an intelligent, charitable, powerful woman to spend the rest of his life with, but in reality, it stems from the Royal Family’s acceptance of love. The idea that marriage no longer needs to be a political statement, that alliances can be forged without the selling of women’s lives and the forceful pushing of men in to loveless relationships. The idea that love is what makes our future hopeful is one that we’ve been preaching for decades, after traumatic terror attacks, brutal abuses of power or denial of freedom because of someone’s gender, and it is coming to pass in a way so obvious that no one can ignore it. Because Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s love symbolizes the future the U.K. can forge and the pathway we can take, and personally, I think it is a beautiful, inspiring thing.
