Blame it on pandemic brain but I’ve been weirdly intrigued with the whole Meghan Markle/Prince Harry drama. To be honest I’ve always had a thing for the British royal family. It started with Princess Diana.
I remember as a 20-year-old getting up at 3 a.m. to watch another 20-year-old get married. I was all agog over everything from the horse drawn glass coach to the puffed sleeve glory of the silk taffeta wedding dress embellished with 10,000 pearls and a 25-foot train.
The only thing amiss in the whole spectacle was that Princess Diana’s wedding dress was seriously crumpled. It literally looked like she slept in it. How does that happen? My grandmother would have had her trusty Sunbeam iron at the ready. There would have been no wrinkles on her watch. But besides the whole creased gown and the reception menu (gag) – chicken breasts stuffed with lamb mousse and a five-foot-tall fruitcake – I was enchanted by the spectacle.
In fact, I became so obsessed that my mother gave me a subscription to “Majesty” magazine – the “quality royal publication” as a birthday present that same year. As Diana’s life played out as a cautionary tale to anyone wishing for the moniker of princess I became less thrilled with the royal family.
But now almost four decades here I am enthralled again. I, like 17 million other Americans, sat with rapt attention watching the Meghan and Harry Oprah interview. (Full disclosure – Team Meghan forever.) My takeaway was family dynamics no matter what income or crown jewel bracket you may inhabit are always complicated.
Now I know there’s a chorus out there saying Meghan knew what she was getting herself into when she married Prince Harry. But does anyone really know what life looks like after you tie the knot? Customarily families attempt to rein in at least a modicum of their egregious traits until one officially becomes a legal member.
And what non royal human, even those of us who read “Majesty” magazine and have watched all 40 episodes of the “The Crown,” can even begin to decipher what life with the Windsors would be like? Poor Meghan says she didn’t even google Harry. Girlfriend, that was a mistake. Any potential husband deserves a deep dive.
That said, who can blame her (especially after having a child) upon finding out what her long-term existence looked like for saying, “adios suckers.” You can’t throw a rock and not hit someone who hasn’t fled from their family and moved many, many miles away from the crazy. It’s called self-preservation.
I also feel sorry for Meghan and I know people will mock me for having pity for a beautiful, multi-millionaire with a mansion in Santa Barbara but this woman has been through the wringer. Even her own dad did her dirty.
Can you imagine your dad being a no show at your wedding? Never mind that it’s going to be watched by almost 30 million people. Plus, if there was ever a time where you might need some fatherly input it’s when you’re about to get married.
There’s a hilarious photo from my wedding where my dad is about to walk me down the aisle
and he looks, well, angry. This is because he just told me that I was marrying into a family who didn’t exactly adore me. I was like, yeah, no kidding. His sage piece of advice was “They don’t like you. But they’re also scared of you and if you’re smart you’ll keep it that way.”
Yes, this was the fatherly advice send-off I got right before my walk down the aisle. Hysterical and yet so on point for my dad. I did though heed his counsel and let’s just say so far so good – 37 years and counting. Maybe Meghan could have also used this guidance.
Snarky in the Suburbs 