Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's Latest Controversy Points to a Troubling Reality That the Late Queen Elizabeth II Saw Coming
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had a bit of a misfire, with experts soon suggesting that the way the pair have accepted multi-faceted royal roles incorporating charity work and entertainment may be precisely the dilemma the late Queen Elizabeth II envisioned when she advised against a hybrid royal role.
After the Duke of Sussex stepped back from running the charity Sentebale, a royal expert gave his opinion on the events, during his appearance on The Sun's Royal Exclusive Show.
The controversy ratcheted up after the Duchess of Sussex attended a polo match with her other high-profile friend, Serena Williams.
An embarrassing incident at Florida's Grand Champions Polo Club marred the April 2024 event. Sources claim Meghan seemed to have influenced who was standing next to Harry during the trophy presentation. There was a moment when Sentebale chair Dr. Sophie Chandauka had to step away from Harry, ducking beneath the trophy to stand beside Meghan.
Explaining the matter, according to reports, Harry did so at the request of a Netflix crew he invited to record the event. Attendees felt the tension and wondered just what the event would be like if the former "Suits" star wasn't present at the ceremony.
Hybrid Role
Dampier was asked to think back to the Queen's description of a "hybrid" role as "not possible" for the royals—something the Sussexes were hoping for so they could still undertake royal engagements while also having a commercial element to their work. Dampier was eager to remind that the queen had been right all along,
"Yeah, absolutely. The Queen saw it straight away," Dampier stated. "She saw the dangers of commercializing the royal family, combining a sort of hybrid model of doing royal jobs and cashing in with commercial stuff."
Dampier went on to say that the decision was one of the Queen's requests since she wanted to avoid the family from potentially getting into a situation in which royal duties intermingled with a media opportunity, such as what happened at the polo match.
He went on, "And that's exactly the sort of thing that she was trying to avoid. That's exactly the thing that she told them not to do."
"And that's what happened with this polo match. She thought, the doctor thought that it was just going to be presenting the trophy and it was all going to be part of the charity."
