Something bad happens to the Mountbatten-Windsor dynasty whenever one of its senior figures goes one-to-one in front of the cameras, or a book. The king, his ex-wife, both of his brothers and now his second son have all found themselves roasted by the media. The accession of Charles III and the publication of Prince Harry’s autobiography have shone an inescapable spotlight on the monarchy. This is being accentuated by the torrent of news and gossip which our culture now demands like so much coal needed to feed a furnace.
It is a stance which skews the balance between the important and the trivial. It also takes no notice of the distinction to be drawn between the throne and the royal family. This confusion across all media is dangerous. It represents an existential threat, and the royals know it.
It may be too late. It’s got to the stage where the Firm seems to exist only at the behest of the Third Estate, all which, for good or ill, represents us the citizenry (and not just in the UK). If the major part of our transaction with the institution is gossipy consumption the royals have no alternative but to reciprocate. So we connive at being granted the privilege of watching and judging an institution that ostensibly depends on us for its very existence.
The first casualty of this loss of traction is meaning. As Bagehot warned what would happen if the monarchy let daylight into its magic: too much exposure and the currency is devalued, so to speak. The very point of the crown is progressively drained away, never to be recovered. “That strain again – it had a dying fall…” as Shakespeare put it.
It is increasingly clear that the royal family is more and more seduced by the media’s insatiable appetite for gossip. This has been the case for years but the relevant context features 24/7 social media online which exerts a particular pressure on the palace’s PR assumptions that the media blizzard can somehow be controlled, most immediately by the Sussex’s current litigation against parts of the press.
My own feeling is that the monarchy, and within it the royal family, will like the Church of England wither over time and fade away. The trend will begin with the Commonwealth whose purpose and achievement have no resonance in the British citizenry. Next to go, following Barbados, will be Jamaica and then Australia. That leaves the tiny ocean islands at the mercy of Britain’s aid policy. Then there will be Dutch-like driftings away by young royals: precisely what the Sussex family is doing already. In this light, Prince Harry’s book is prescient and timely.
Rimbovalia 