iPaulina

Megxit is the Start of the End of the Monarchy

“We have bullied William’s younger brother over the last two years with constant media attention, harassment and cruel speculation, to the extent that he is prepared to put an ocean between himself and the British paparazzi.”

The paparazzi have a history of harassing royalty. The British public follow the royal family with a possessiveness bordering on unhealthy, their claims to public interest sometimes spurious at best. Following the surprise announcement of Harry and Meghan’s step-back from British public life, many media pundits were quick to express their outraged patriotism, lambasting the royal couple.

Harry is actually walking down a previously-trodden path: his great great uncle, Edward VII, married an American divorcee and then waltzed off into the sunset, leaving a shocked British public in the dust. Similar media horror has followed Harry’s decision to forgo his royal titles in favour of a new life abroad. Piers Morgan, for example, has taken to twitter to call Meghan a ‘piece of work’, smug with the news that Meghan and Harry will have to repay the £2.4 million spent on the refurbishment of Frogmore Cottage.

However, this whirlwind of media publicity, with screaming newspaper headlines and TV presenters bandying around references to ‘seven figures sums of taxpayers’ money’, masks the real significance of this whole affair.

Megxit forecasts the death of the monarchy. It is a parody of Brexit. It highlights the viciousness of British media consumers and the opportunistic journalistic tendencies that feed off our interest, exposing the complete lack of the stiff upper lip respect that the British prize themselves on.

First Brexit polarised our country, then paralysed it, and now Megxit has exposed the ugly childishness running underneath. The royal family are officially media icons, actors in funny era costumes playing out their drama on our TV screens while we watch on, depraved voyeurs, unable to say goodbye to the last relic of imperialism that still stirs fuzzy memories of Britain being the empire on which the sun never set.

In a poll done by the market research consultancy ComRes, it was found that 53% of the British public say that Britain would be worse off without royalty. However, our reluctance to dissolve the monarchy does not invalidate the fact that institutions are growing and dying at an unprecedented pace. If the Queen dies tomorrow, it is unlikely that the British public would show the same support to her son as we do to the much-loved nonagenarian.

The fact remains that we have bullied William’s younger brother over the last two years with constant media attention, harassment and cruel speculation, to the extent that he is prepared to put an ocean between himself and the British paparazzi. Now we are left minus two royals, having officially blown the death trumpet of the monarchy ourselves and wondering where exactly we messed up so badly. It’s only a matter of time before the British monarchy is no more.

Yana VII