American style communication, against the tide of the royal family

In the affidavit, the mode of communication chosen by Harry and Megan contradicts the Royal Family’s function, “Never complain, never explain.”

By choosing to attend the Oprah Winfrey show on CBS, Prince Harry and Megan Markle break with the customs and traditions of the royal family. In an interview airing Sunday evening in the United States and Monday in Great Britain, the couple will actually tell each other for a long time and come to terms with the press company and the “company” (royal family). Bittersweet exchanges between Sussex and Buckingham have already begun following a harassment complaint to Megan Markle from former aides.

This mode of communication – talking for two hours with Oprah Winfrey or conversing in a mild tone in James Gordon’s hobby – contradicts the royal family’s customs, which are “never complain, never explain” (never complain, never explain yourself).

Pioneers are not legions, they are all very destructive. In 1994, Prince Charles was embarrassed when he admitted to having an affair. The following year, the BBC interviewed Lady Dee about a scandal involving Charles and Camila’s wedding, and she shocked the royal family.

Queen Comedy and Barbecue

Now if everyone in the royal family has an account on social networks, everything is weighed and measured. These accounts place more importance on the reasons they support than on their people.

It must be said that attempts to break away from traditional communications have left a bitter memory in the Queen. In 1969, when she wanted to restore the image of the monarchy in crisis, the Queen accepted that the BBC was a dynamic Documentary on the privacy of the royal family. The Queen jokes – we even saw her laugh – or even Prince Philip cooks a steak in the barbecue. No scoop or big expressions. However, a decade later, the Queen, considering it too close, decided to ban the airing of this documentary, and now it is almost impossible to find out.

Most recently, in 2019, a televised interview with Prince Andrew, the Queen’s son involved in the Epstein affair, turned out to be a failure and led to his departure from the royal family. Without showing any mercy to the victims, he defended his friendship with the late American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sexually exploiting minors.

“The embarrassment of the royal family”

Agency France-Press (AFP), an expert on British royalty expert Richard Fitzwilliams, predicts that if Megan and Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey is not on the same record, it will “cause embarrassment for the royal family”. “Not very clear vision” by not informing Harry and Megan of the monarchy. Couples in particular risk not only telling their life story and attacking newspapers, but also criticizing members of the royal family – as the first juice suggests.

Jerome Coron, Senior Correspondent View Guest on the BFMTV Friday set, which sees it as “confirmation of the couple’s new identity”. If the British feel betrayed, if they do not appreciate this kind of opening – when they love tabloid magazines so much – Americans are more likely to follow this way of communicating.

“In the United States, Megan Markle has been trying to create her own image, for many years, of the image of a free woman, of a woman who represents the world, of politics.”

However, the timing of this interview is very bad because Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip, is recovering from heart “surgery” at the age of 99 after three weeks in hospital. It may have been an opportunity to postpone the broadcast of the project to find a more favorable moment. If there is one.