In the Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan, Meghan recalls the deference shown to the Queen when they first met: however, she does so by making a gesture of a “curtsy,” a bow, under Harry’s eyes, amid laughter exaggerates. And sparked outrage in London
One bow too many. In the second episode of the Harry & Meghan documentary series that just went online on Netflix (episodes 4, 5 and 6 coming in a week), it really is a curtsey, a bow, the classic drip that has many viewers overflowing British. And that caused some outrage in London.
Taking a step back: The docu-series was heralded by the Dukes as a confessional truth about everything that wasn’t working out at the palace after the Sussex wedding, leading them to decide to give up their official roles and go overseas.
Racism and neo-imperialism accusations – the series speaks of the Commonwealth as Empire 2.0 – are raining down on the royal family. When Harry critiques a building where decisions are meant to be made with the head (“to a boy, that means marrying someone who fits a cliché”) rather than the heart: “My mother certainly has the biggest part if not everything, taken , its decisions with the heart. And I’m my mother’s son.”
The prince did not spare his father, now King Charles III, when he said: “The most important thing for both of us is not to repeat the mistakes of our parents.”
But more than any other innuendo, innuendo or explanation, it was just a bow that sparked outrage across the channel.
In fact, at a certain point in the series, Meghan recounts her first meeting with the Queen; and the husband remembers how complicated it was for him to have to tell “an American” that he should have bowed to Elizabeth. The camera then cuts to Meghan sitting next to Harry on a sofa. At this point, Meghan mimics a deep curtsey, spreads her arms and leans forward. A gesture that the Duchess blatantly exaggerated (and accompanied with a wry smile: “When I was done,” she explains in the series, “I asked: was I okay?”): as if she wanted the traditional sign of the respect for the sovereign in her capacity as head of state in an incomprehensible move, totally out of time.
This is the moment as Meghan describes how she first met the late Queen Elizabeth and how she didn’t understand why she had to curtsey to Harry’s grandmother?
He looks a little uncomfortable with the whole thing#HarryandMeghan pic.twitter.com/H9qr7DqwHq— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) December 8, 2022
A delicate passage, also because it touches on the memory of the beloved Queen Elizabeth: So much so that Harry himself – also according to the former secretary of the Queen, Dickie Arbiter – could not help but show an unnerved look in the docuseries. detached . Almost – exceptionally – to distance himself from his wife. Because Harry, who grew up at court, knows perfectly well that in this reverence lies the whole sense of the crown, of the monarchy. It is a gesture of respect for authority and ultimately for the country that embodies it. And if, of course, the functional rules of the monarchy can be considered antiquated and no longer up-to-date, they still belong to the institution. So in this case they are also part of the respect for the character of Elizabeth II.
“It’s a true monarchy,” commented a Palazzo source. “Harry and Meghan didn’t understand that it’s not about acting.”
And to understand the meaning of a “bow,” suffice it to look at these images of the reception in front of the Cop27 that King Charles III. at Buckingham Palace. Invited green entrepreneurs like Stella McCartney, whom the king greeted with a hug… which the designer then returned with a bow. Because this is not just the protocol, but the very meaning of respect for the institution.
The fact is that the hierarchy, which gives clear primacy to the King and Queen and then the Prince of Wales with Kate and descending to the other members of the royal family, is probably the element that has been closest to Meghan in her short season at court . He never understood the reason for this primacy, which is dictated by centuries-old rules – the same ones that govern succession.
As historian Hugo Vickers explained to us, “in court the members of the House of Windsor must be ready to respond, to appear if the sovereign so requests”. In short, there are no co-protagonist parts: only supporting actors. The protagonists are the king and secondarily the queen. And even in this position – as Prince Philip has experienced first-hand – autonomy is measured.
No reaction from the royal palace, as determined by the old custom (“Never explain, never jammer”: never explain, never rightify) since the time of the Queen for the representatives of the Windsor Firm. The Windsors are not expected to comment now or next week when part two of the series airs.
But in the secret rooms of the palace there is certainly another passage in the series that has already greatly saddened Harry’s brother William.
It’s the fact that Harry & Meghan has resurrected images from Diana’s famous 1995 interview for the BBC’s Panorama programme. Because William himself – in light of the revelations of the Dyson Report, which revealed how that interview had been deceived by the Princess – had received a promise from the BBC never to air that interview again.
Instead, this interview – which was stolen with the scam and led to the failure of Carlo and Diana’s love affair – has now been re-proposed to the public. Enough to imagine William’s anger at Harry.
December 9, 2022 (change December 9, 2022 | 20:07)
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