This is Pastor Tim’s Article that appeared in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, Jan 21.
I have mentioned in this article a couple of times that I am a frequent scroller of my Google news feed. It is the normal start to my day is to click on and read an article or two. I want to know what is going on in the world. Any of you familiar with the Google news feed know that there is a wide variety of topics and issues covered in these stories. Almost every day, there is an article on the British Royal family. So, the past few days, I have taken it upon myself to learn about something I previously knew nothing about.
One of the favorite topics of articles are about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. I just read that these two have made a public statement that they are stepping back from their Royal family obligations in order to become more “financially independent.” Is the economy in the European Union so bad that the Prince and Princess need to get side jobs? If so, no wonder Brexit has become a thing.
I don’t believe that Prince Harry and his lovely bride are hurting much financially. There has to be some other reason for their desire to step away from their Royal obligations. I can imagine being in the public eye every minute of every day is crushing. But, honestly, how hard can their lives be? Could it be hard enough to motivate them to quit their family? If that is the case, then Meghan Markle has just lived the dream of every in-law who ever lived.
What is the point of the Royal family? It is hard for us Americans to get our minds around because I can’t think of an American counterpart to the Royal family. They are to represent their country and sort of bridge the gap between politics and celebrities. I can remember I just graduated from college when Princess Diana was killed. It seemed like the whole world stopped. People in our country got up in the middle of the night to watch the weddings of Prince William and Kate and Prince Harry and Meghan.
The Royal family seems to be famous for the purpose of being famous. We love the elegance and the lavishness of what we see them doing. They show up at special events and make the news just for going out for a walk. I can certainly understand why that would get old – all of the trolling and judging of their appearance, articles about how a glance or a snub would be reported as a rift in the family. How do these two brides, Kate and Meghan, get along with the Queen? Just on and on.
My question is, didn’t Meghan know this? Was she living under a rock her whole life? Before she met Prince Henry, she was a beautiful young actress in Hollywood, a place we can all agree has more than its fair share of beautiful young actresses. But out of the whole world, she literally married Prince Charming and became a Princess herself. And now she has decided to step away from that life.
If you want my honest opinion here, the person I feel sorry for is Prince Harry. He married this beautiful American actress who clearly didn’t understand what it was going to cost her to be a princess and now is having to choose between his family and his wife, a place no man wants to be. I believe that this is a career choice by Meghan and we will see her show up with a Netflix special or some other media outlet. It is likely that stepping away from her Royal obligations will make her even richer than becoming a princess in the first place.
Ribbon cutting ceremonies, waving to huge crowds and being adored by most of the known world was not enough. Meghan wasn’t happy with the life she was living because she felt there were opportunities for her that she didn’t have time to pursue. So, an official exit has been proposed. Apparently, Meghan flew to Canada and left Harry to have a meeting with the Royal family to discuss the details of this arrangement. I am trying to imagine a more frightening scenario than this. I’m not coming up with anything.
The lesson to learn from this is even if you are a princess, there are people both in your family and in your world who are counting on you and sometimes you are going to have to make sacrifices for their good.