I hadn’t planned to write about THE interview today. After all, I haven’t seen it yet. However … it is everywhere and it is incendiary. Every programme, every news item is demanding of opinion; of reply. That being so, let me – for now – put my thoughts on paper; my knee-jerk reaction and, then tomorrow, having seen the full two hours, I shall be in a better position to comment.
Firstly, Meghan’s choice of career, pre-Harry, was no accident. An obvious lover of the dramatic – my father would have said ‘an hysteric’ – she is first and foremost an actress. I cannot forget the piece she wrote for the New York Times, last November, revealing the trauma of her miscarriage; something awful, something so private and, yet … she wrote about it, supposedly, in the hope of helping others! I’m sorry but the exclamation mark is justified. As one who has experienced, personally, the horror of a miscarriage, her words were laced with hyperbole. ‘I dropped to the floor …’, ‘watching my husband’s heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine’. This is worthy of Mills & Boon, not someone with an altruistic motive for good. I cannot stand unnecessary embellishment designed, in the main, to shine further light on oneself.
Perhaps I am – no, I most definitely am – the product of growing up with a Consultant Psychiatrist for a father. A man whose feet were firmly on the ground and who abhorred nothing more than hysteria; one who was adamant that someone who talked about suicide was not serious about ending his/her life. A cry for help, attention, yes, but, in his experience – considerable – those who intended to go through with it were silent.
If one wishes to court sympathy in this lost world, while precluding judgement, there is no better guarantee than to claim suicidal thoughts and to be the victim of racism. So it was that I was not in the least bit surprised to learn that Meghan had been driven to the brink of suicide. By its very nature and the gravity of the subject matter, this claim is not up for dispute but, offered into the public domain on such an immense stage, it is, without question, designed to incite sympathy.
Mental health. Can those two words be subject to abuse? I, for one, think so. I heard, only the other day, of my friend’s 15-year-old son complaining that the girls in his class were all, supposedly, depressed. They think it’s cool, he said. Of course, they do. Over-use undermines. Over-use/ mis-use leads to abuse!
Back to Meghan’s devastating unhappiness at the hands of the Royal family which drove her to thoughts of taking her own life … She told Harry. She told him she couldn’t be left alone. She told Oprah that she had sought help by approaching the Palace HR which, of course, was denied. Well, for goodness sake, she is not a paid employee! No, come on, that doesn’t add up? Harry – together with Wills and Kate – has talked extensively of mental health, even collaborating on the initiative, Heads Together. Harry, too, has spoken, at length, about his own struggles following the death of his mother, and how he sought therapy; therapy he was never denied. Meanwhile, Meghan, married to Harry, expects us to believe that she had nowhere to go for help other than the palace HR machine – who, subsequently, denied her? Seriously?
The inevitable racist card. Inflammatory in the extreme. Apparently, one of the senior Royals expressed ‘concern’, before Archie’s birth, as to the potential colour of his skin. Yes, the fact that ‘concern’ was verbalised (if that, indeed, was the chosen word) to Harry is regrettable, to say the least, but any justification surely lies in the fact that these words are taken out of context? As Jane Moore suggested on Loose Women, today, it is likely that the conversation was a general one – God forbid, a humorous one – surmising as to the likelihood of the baby sporting ginger hair! The word ‘concern’ was strategically reported, however. Deliberate?
Suffice to say, Meghan refused to reveal the identity of the offending (read ‘offensive’) member of the family – as did Harry – thus, successfully, smearing them all. (Oprah has, now, come forward and absolved both the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh of blame. The soon to be 100-year-old Duke, lying in his hospital bed, will, no doubt be grateful for small mercies!)
What was to be gained from repeating the comment – publicly – particularly as it would be ‘too damaging’ to reveal the identity of the family member? Rhetorical. Meghan has incited the entire black community, once more, exactly as was her intent. One need only witness Charlene White hosting Loose Women at lunchtime. Silly move to make her captain of the ship today of all days! She is aggressive by nature and, clearly, was incandescent with rage from the top of the programme, directing the focus, entirely, to racism.. Wow, she was taking it personally! Jane Moore, the intelligent voice of reason, did her best to inject a balanced view but Charlene was having none of it. Ultimately, the entire segment was consumed by Ms White’s anger, much to the frustration of the other panelists. I can only hope that Jane checked out the Ladies, after the show, before entering!
I did set Good Morning, Britain to record, today, but BT had other ideas. Of course, it is beyond instruction! I did hope to skip through Piers’ predicted volatile reaction but … No need. His rantings are everywhere, with most of which I concur. Not so, Serena! Now, there’s a surprise. She, too, is determined to be defined by her colour, regardless, but that is old news. I have written about that before, at length.
Some quick résumé this has turned out to be! Let me just address the other subject of rancour … Archie’s lack of title. Meghan, of course, is at pains to suggest that, as the first multi-racial great grandchild of the monarch, Archie was denied a title – and, subsequently, protection. Seriously? Aren’t they the couple who ditched a life of duty for privacy – pause for laughter – insisting they wished to lead a ‘normal’ life? At the time of Archie’s naming, didn’t they make much of the fact that he was not to have a title, of their choosing? Amazing how things can be turned around at a whim. Amazing, too, that inherent racism is at the heart of everything!
Amazing, too, that all this comes from a woman accused of bullying; a woman who – allegedly – regularly screamed like a banshee at all around who, in her eyes, fell short; a woman who has – allegedly – terrorised others. Just saying.
I shall be there at 9pm, poised to watch the excruciating, well-rehearsed, poor me performance designed to wound. As I have said before, regret is a long, long time.
‘Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.’
Arthur Miller
This is Trish, signing off, not sure if I shall have anything more to add tomorrow. Sure!
