Enlarge image
"Time" special edition: criticism of external appearances
Photo: PARI DUKOVIC FOR TIME / VIA REUTERS
The two of them already know that well enough, and now it's just starting again: Duchess Meghan and Prince Harry are the focus - and apart from congratulations and happy reactions, there are promptly some derogatory comments.
This Friday, namely, this year's "Time" 100 issue appears, in which the British magazine honors what it considers to be the most influential personalities.
The 37-year-old grandson of the British Queen and his wife Meghan are not only part of this list, they are even on one of only seven different covers of the magazine worldwide.
The arch-conservative US broadcaster Fox News and the British “Independent” report as relish as the “Bunte”, and some people mock this photo on social media.
The couple is standing there in a terribly unnatural way, the faces of the two have been retouched in an amateur way with image editing programs, and anyway: what exactly makes the two of them important personalities?
At least there are answers to this question.
The editor-in-chief of Time magazine, Edward Felsenthal, said the list of 100 shows "exceptional leaders from around the world who are committed to a better future" and "have plunged into the fray in a year of crisis."
In an essay, the celebrity chef José Andrés praises the commitment of the royal couple: The Duchess, he writes, is an "active, humanitarian and influential advocate for women and girls around the world."
This is not an easy decision for a young duke and a young duchess.
"It would be much easier to enjoy their happiness and be silent."
Following this logic, not only politicians are on the list, which incidentally does not contain any ranking - but also, for example, the singers Billie Eilish and Britney Spears and the athlete Simone Biles.
Overall, the proportion of women roughly corresponds to that of the population: there are 54 female celebrities on the list.
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan were delighted with the honor.
They are "filled with humility," it said on the website of their Archewell Foundation.
At the same time, Harry and his wife used the opportunity for a tribute: The Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had recently shown a "groundbreaking" leadership style.
The WTO boss is also on the "Time" list.
Harry and Meghan particularly emphasized Okonjo-Iweala's efforts to make corona vaccines available to people in developing and emerging countries.
"She has encouraged governments, trade organizations and individuals to understand vaccine distribution and vaccine equity as inseparable from economic recovery," the couple said.
So it is quite possible that the Duchess and the Prince look a bit posed on the "Time" cover.
But at least with their reaction to this honor they showed why they were so beautifully placed there.
mxw / dpa / Reuters
