The Crown is supposed to be blameless.
Like an idealized, exemplary version of his subjects.
However, the revelations of Prince Harry in his memoirs
The Substitute
, published today, Tuesday January 10, continue to tarnish the reputation of the British royal family.
Catherine Mayer, biographer of King Charles III, argued in the columns of the
Guardian
on January 8 that this explosive work could even represent a danger for the future of the constitutional monarchy.
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“Absolutely catastrophic” consequences
The author of
The Heart of a King
(2015) predicts that the Duke of Sussex's behind-the-scenes revelations about the British monarchy will have "absolutely catastrophic" consequences for its legitimacy.
She also says that, for the time being, these consequences are minimized, even ignored, in public discourse and in the press.
This neglect "could mark the beginning of the end of the monarchy, and that's what we need to talk about," says Catherine Mayer.
“There is a general misconception that this is a light story about a British tourist attraction.
It's not just a story of celebrities bickering.
What we are talking about is the status of an important state institution”
Catherine Mayer
The statements made in the Netflix documentary series
Harry & Meghan
in December, then in the memoirs of Prince Harry, were taken through the impoverished prism of sensationalism, argues Catherine Mayer.
“There is a general misconception that this is a light story about a British tourist attraction.
It's not just a story of celebrities bickering.
What we are talking about is the status of an important state institution, with considerable powers and significant funding from taxpayers”.
Indeed, for the British author, it is the foundations of the monarchy that are undermined with the new stories of the renegade couple exiled in the United States.
The third trailer for the
Harry & Meghan documentary
Structural and endogenous causes
The book and the series alone would not carry this augured collapse.
The British king's biographer identified four structural factors weakening royal power: the tabloids' fascination with royal gossip, a loss of trust in the state, the rise of the right, and wide class differences.
To which are added endogenous reasons for the royal institution, mentioned not only in the book and the series, but also in the famous interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 and that of Tom Bradby this January 8.
The Crown would be undermined by racist and misogynistic prejudices, like concerns about the color of Archie's skin, or the insistent questions of Lady Susan Hussey at the place of the black activist Ngozi Fulani.
Predictions
Although a reconciliation had been unlikely before the publication of the memoirs, Catherine Mayer nevertheless believes that the latter should encourage King Charles "to initiate a kind of truce", adding that "[the work] brings back the fallout from his first marriage, and questions about Queen Camilla are already resurfacing.
The royal controversies make according to her “[d] members of the royal family the relays of our anger against racism, misogyny and wealth, declared Catherine Mayer.
This is, after all, an institution that represents inequality, so the stakes are high.”
“The members of the royal family have become the relays of our anger against racism, misogyny and wealth”
Catherine Mayer
Media manipulation
Also, the outcry caused by each revelation of Meghan and Harry, each time a little more exacerbates the media manipulation of which they say they are victims.
According to the biographer, the power of the press over the reputation of the royal family is explained by "the layers of secrecy and obfuscation" that surround the Windsors and therefore, promote misunderstandings.
Catherine Mayer seals her analysis as follows: if these subjects (racism, misogyny, media intimidation) are not dissected, "they have the power, on their own, to dissolve faith in the idea of a hereditary head of state" .
Meghan and Harry: chronicle of a storm announced
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