Secretary of State under Nicolas Sarkozy, then François Hollande's right-hand man at the Elysee Palace, Jean-Pierre Jouyet was also French Ambassador to the United Kingdom (2017-2019).
He analyzes the consequences of the shock interview granted by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle to Oprah Winfrey, broadcast Sunday, March 7 on the American channel CBS.
Will this interview damage the image of the queen and the royal family?
JEAN-PIERRE JOUYET.
Compared to other past events, I do not believe that this seriously calls into question it.
With her international prestige and advanced age, the Queen is more than ever the symbol of the United Kingdom.
Especially in this period marked by Brexit.
Why Brexit?
Because because of Brexit, Scotland asks for its independence, there are problems linked to the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland… Faced with this, the Queen appears as the surest guarantor of the unity of the kingdom.
Elizabeth II is the only international political figure to have known the Second World War, the English are well aware of her prestige.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are also careful not to scratch it ...
Yes, the image of the Queen must not be touched.
Their interview will weigh more on themselves than on the royal family.
Because the British will be united behind the Queen.
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This hadn't been the case with Diana, why is it any different?
Things are not as tragic as Lady Di's fate.
And, in Meghan's case, the Queen has asserted her rights in a more skillful and understandable way than with her ex-daughter-in-law.
In addition, the Sovereign is now thirty years older, Harry and Meghan are in no way rivals in popularity like Princess Diana could be compared to the Queen.
VIDEO. Interview with Oprah Winfrey: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle charge the royal family
But can they be compared to William, heir to the crown, and his wife Kate?
No more.
William and Kate respect monarchical precepts while leading their lives.
When I was French Ambassador to London, my residence was next to theirs.
Well, we saw this young couple entertaining friends and having fun on Saturday nights, putting on music, etc.
Do you think this episode will turn against its protagonists?
Yes.
The English are upset to see Harry and Meghan give an interview on American television, thus making publicity and money on the back of the Queen.
The British people are extremely attached to their institutions.
The accusations of racism in Buckingham are serious ...
I don't believe them to be true, I see them as a provocation.
I have attended so many receptions of all the ambassadors of the world by The Queen, of all faiths and colors, and have never seen the slightest racism on the part of the Crown.
The United Kingdom is the country with the largest number of foreign communities, the Queen allowed this phenomenon to develop throughout her reign!
Frankly, making such an accusation at the very moment when the trial on the death of George Floyd is being held in the United States, it does not lack spice ...
Shouldn't this family modernize, open up?
It's already done.
Look at Charles and the other children of Elizabeth II, they had several spouses, several lives.
The family has modernized since Lady Di's death, has adapted to the movement of the world, but it knows how to resist provocations.
Perhaps Buckingham needed more communication with the British people.
At the same time,
The Crown
series
, whatever the palace says, strengthens the Crown.
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Interview with Meghan and Harry: "The British royal family is like all the others"
The royal family is weakened by these divisions?
There are clans, but we are no longer in 1936, with an Edward VIII who abdicated as much for his marriage to a divorcee as for his sympathies with the Nazi regime.
Politically, this interview can close ranks - of people, the media, parliamentarians… - around the Queen.
If there are clan problems, it is the Queen's succession that they will arise.