Netflix’s Harry and Meghan documentary exposes a deeper rot in the British society

While watching Netflix’s new documentary Harry & Meghan, I also felt the same. As a fan of The Crown, there was nothing from Harry & Meghan’s tell-all interview that took me by surprise. Of course, the royals were all capable of these things and more. It’s because it’s not a matter of principles but about survival.

In uncertain terms, the documentary alleges that senior members of the royal family felt insecure and threatened by Meghan’s flair, panache and growing popularity. Some similarities between Diana and Meghan, and their experiences with the royal family are too good to be just coincidences. But, it appears that the royal family has a habit of never learning from its past mistakes. When will they learn? This must have been the question that arose in the minds of those who are familiar with most, if not all, scandals that the royal family has been embroiled in.

The royals are burdened with the responsibility of being the image of perfection in all matters that are considered sacred by those who can’t get over the fact that Britain is no longer the greatest empire in the world. And that process is brutal on the family members, who are born into times that are characterized by free will and self-expression but have a duty to uphold the belief system that was conceived in the Elizabethan era.

Meghan was also a victim of such great expectations. When she was married into the royal family, she was expected to usher in change, revolutionize the institution from the inside out. If you think about it, Meghan is the princess who crossed the seas to rescue her prince and take him on board the “freedom flight.”

However, there was another angle that I think received less attention compared to what the royals did to Harry and Meghan. It was what the tabloid media did to the couple. It’s shocking that since Diana, neither the royals nor the media have changed. And by that token, a significant size of the British population.

If anything, the British media has only gotten bolder with its overtly intrusive coverage of the royal family. The media seems to have gone beyond the point that it no longer considers the members of the family as human beings. For the media, the royals are just objects of fascination and a relic of the country’s past that deserves no sympathy but exploitation for amusement. Going by the accounts of Prince Harry, barring the palace and luxury that comes with being an offspring of a certain bloodline, it’s almost dehumanizing to be a member of the royal family.

The Crown shows us the struggles of the royal family to stay relevant in modern Britain. The Harry & Meghan documentary tells us the British monarchy is critical to the survival of Britain’s tabloid media.