When Harry wed Meghan.

I fail to remember how Harry and Meghan met but it definitely wasn’t “When Harry met Sally” referring to the comedy film.  Could it have been that Harry might have seen Meghan in the law series “Suits” and found himself deeply attracted to her?

Sometime later with an expensive wedding behind them, and a lovely son Archie and a new baby girl on the way due this Summer, we will be watching them talk about their experiences as members of the Royal Household and the way they were treated.

Harry’s father – Prince Charles, dated both Asian women and black women and was a big fan of black music when he was younger and probably still is.

But now the Royal Family has someone sixth in line to the throne married to a mixed-race African American/White woman, (once divorced)   we have a scandal on our hands which has been eagerly taken up by the media, and tonight we shall be “treated” to Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to find out why they left England for the USA and why Meghan felt close to suicide during her time in the UK post marriage.

Then there is the question of ruminations on the colour of any child born between Harry and Meghan without naming the person who made inappropriate comments and why. The comments had not come from The Queen or Prince Philip.

Surely in 2021 mixed-race children should be as welcome, if not more so, into society as “other” children?  Boris Johnson, PM has four children from his former wife who is half Indian –  Marina Wheeler.  Priti Patel has a mixed-race son from her “White” husband, Colin Powell – formerly a top man in the US army who was mixed race African American/White.  Bill Clinton has a mixed-race son from his former black sports coach, Arnie Schwarzenegger has a mixed-race son from his Hispanic housekeeper as well as four children from his former wife, Maria Shriver. So why should the Royal Family be different?  The media has been enjoying bringing Meghan into general disrepute and I know people who have mixed-race children who won’t support her.  These kind of people take the side of the media is trying to decry and put down a well-loved Prince’s wife without knowing what they are talking about.  People with mixed-race children who have radical anti- Meghan views whilst still being Royalist seem like their allegiances are misaligned.

The South African Author Andre Brink wrote about the issues we are discussing and hails from the apartheid era of the country’s past. In Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff is undoubtedly not white-skinned. Lucille Ball – the actress and comedienne had many issues relating to her marriage to Cuban Desi Arnaz. But that is in the past

Meanwhile, no doubt the media circus will run and run.  A pregnant woman who is in her very late thirties is not in the best condition to undergo the stress that has developed around her and her husband.

However, back here in the UK, we have food banks for the under-privileged, people giving donations to families who couldn’t use computers for their children’s education during a lockdown,  a “successful” campaign by people to demote those who were involved in the slave trade, and generally, ever since Nelson Mandela became a hero, many better conditions for “ethnic minority” groups.

So let’s be realistic about skin colour too.  In the cities in the UK we have a multi racial population, not without the problems it brings. I think it is time critics should be counting their blessings and be grateful for the good we have in our lives.  Bullying and racism does go on and it is a two way process which simply escalates if it is not nipped in the bud.  I was interviewed for an Equal Opportunity Officer for Sheffield Fire Station and had to prepare a power point talk of how I would run the position. One of my slides identified the fact that we ALL know people who are gay, some of us have gay people in the family, we ALL know people in cross-cultural marriages, some of them are in the family and etc etc. Its food for thought what any reader might say if they were given this challenge to get the job.

Penny Nair Price