Prince Harry and Meghan's struggle with royal life not unique, says expert
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not “unique” in struggling to cope with royal life, a constitutional expert who appeared in their Netflix documentary has said.
Prof Robert Hazell, of the Constitution Unit at University College London, said that a lack of privacy was a common issue “across European monarchies”.
Prof Hazell appeared in the first episode of the Netflix series to discuss his book The Role of Monarchy in Modern Democracy.
In a new post shared on the Constitution Units’ website, he and colleague Dr Bob Morris argue that “all royals suffer from constant intrusion into their private lives”.
They said that while the British Royal family had been subject to “extraordinary invasions” of their privacy by the tabloid press, other monarchies across Europe experienced similar problems.
However, they added: “There is a symbiosis between monarchy and the media which makes it difficult for royals to criticise the press.
“If they do so, they risk getting a bad press; and monarchy depends on the press to publicise what it does and to maintain popular support.”
The authors added that investigative journalism helps keep “monarchies on their toes” by scrutinising their expenditure, staffing and choice of friends.
Concluding the article, the authors said: “A final comment on Harry and Meghan is this. The Netflix documentary conveys the impression that they have been uniquely victimised.
“But this post has shown that the difficulties they faced are shared by all the royal families of Europe.
“It is monarchy which is unique, in the extraordinary demands which it makes of close members of the Royal family.”
They said the public tended to think that the Royal family led “privileged lives” in “glittering palaces with lots of servants”.
“But in truth it is a gilded cage, and because the benefits monarchy brings to parliamentary democracy can involve a high personal price, it is understandable if sometimes the more junior royals might want to escape”, they added.
The final three episodes of Harry & Meghan on Netflix saw the Duke of Sussex claim it was “terrifying” to have his brother, the Prince of Wales, allegedly shout and scream at him at the Sandringham summit in front of the Queen during the Megxit crisis.
It was the latest in a raft of allegations made by the couple, which included the condemnation of the treatment of Meghan by the media.
The day after the revelations, the couple released a message wishing the public a "joyful holiday season".
However, it made no mention of Christmas. This is more common in the USA where the greeting is often "Happy Holidays".
The card also features a photograph of them taken at the Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award ceremony earlier this month.
