The Fall of the House of Sussex - The Sequel

The highlights of Prince Harry's and his wife Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey should make it clear once and for all why Great Britain should become a republic.

When I heard that Meghan had contemplated suicide over the nasty things said about her in private and the lousy treatment she apparently got from her in-laws, I decided that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made the right call by stepping back from their royal duties.  Some folks think that the biracial Meghan, who will never be a royal queen - her husband is too far own the line of succession for that to happen - was being a drama queen (and relying on her skills as an actress) in her interview with Oprah, but she seemed legitimately disturbed.  You would too, if one of your in-laws expressed fear over the possibility of your baby's skin ending up too dark.

And why would you bother doing your duty for a family like that?

Meghan has gone out of her way to laud Queen Elizabeth II for being "wonderful" to her, and she says those who run Buckingham Palace are more to blame for her troubles than the family themselves, but family members who have been kind to her - and to Harry - seem more the exception than the rule.  Britain need not bother carrying on with a family patriarchy/matriarchy that should have been retired long ago.  Rather than let Harry's father become King Charles III, let him run for President of the United Republic of Great Britain.

Please note that I did not include Northern Ireland in that fanciful name.

The Return of the House of Windsor

Just so you know, CNN finally aired the last two episodes of "The Windsors," the miniseries covering the lives of the British royal family in the last one hundred years or so, featuring Queen Elizabeth II (below), this past Labor Day weekend, six months late and having been interminably postponed due to COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter. If you missed it, at least the series is now available on On Demand in its entirety. 

And the final two episodes of the second season of "Race For the White House" are airing later this month.  After that, a slew of new CNN documentaries, about John Lewis and First Ladies, are set to air.

Please note that any of these broadcasts may be delayed yet again if more serious news breaks at the most inconvenient times.  Because while things seem to have settled down (and thanks to COVID-19, how could things ever settle down completely before the pandemic ends?), any one of these planned broadcasts could be pre-empted at any moment due to the instability of the times.  Don't forget the ongoing hurricane threat, either.  Heck, CNN once pre-empted a documentary about the Eagles (which I still haven't seen) to cover a blizzard  I happened to be living through that night.  I wanted to see a CNN documentary to take my mind off the weather!

Oh yeah, "The Windsors."  Well, the fifth episode was heartbreaking, as it covered the dissolution of Charles and Diana's marriage and how the pres turned against Diana in the months and weeks leading up to her fatal car crash, a crash the paparazzi might have caused.  The sixth and final episode was more heartening, showing what fine young men William and Harry turned out to be.  When this queen leaves the scene, it will be interesting to see how the monarchy evolves in the brief period that will be known as the Carolean era (which I assume is what the reign of the future King Charles III will be called), as well as how it evolves when William is on the throne.  The failure to account for King Edward VII, the first monarch of the current royal family, was perplexing - the producers apparently decided that the story began when Edward's son, George V, changed the family name to Windsor from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha - because Edward had a number of character traits that emerged in his descendants.  But overall, it's a good documentary.  Again, the entire six-part series is on On Demand, so watch it.  I highly recommend it.

The Happy Couple

Hip hip hooray for Harry and Meghan!

And I'm sure this marriage will be more blessed than the last one between British royalty and an American divorcée.

I couldn't help but notice how many American women - especially actresses - have married Britishers, but you don't hear too much about British women marrying American men - Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are an exception.  So why don't more Britgirls marry Yanks?  Isn't it obvious?  Women from both sides of the Atlantic  prefer British men because, well, let's face it - we American dudes are uncivilized and generally stupid!

Look at the barbaric idiot running the country. 

As fate would have it, I know a British woman who married an American and lives in New York.  They celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary this year.

Their tenth.

Weird.   

She's Just Wild About Harry

And now for the lighter side of the news (actually, this blog is the lighter side of the news) . . .

It's official:  His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (call him Harry), and American actress Meghan Markle are engaged.

The happy couple are getting married in 2018.  The wedding promises to be Britain's biggest event of the year.

Right, we gotta stop European royalty from marrying our actresses and depleting our movies and television productions of our bright young female talent.  But when you realize that Hollywood is run by perverts, you can see that we have our work cut out for us.  

Hmm . . . Prince Harry or King Harvey - what's it gonna be? As if the answer weren't a foregone conclusion.

And while they didn't marry royalty, it's easy to see why Elizabeth McGovern and Jennifer Connelly also married Brits.