I support Prince William’s statement today that the Royal family is very much not racist. Someone must have the courage to face the question straight and defend the royal family, unlike Prince Charles who avoided the question altogether. After all, the racist charge must be proven by more details, which the Winfrey interview, although a highly scripted conversation, has failed to provide.
Why The Racism Charge Is Doubtful
Even if someone inside the royal family said something inappropriate, it does not prove the entire family, especially the “head of the household” the Queen, is racist.
Frankly, if the royal family had accepted Meghan, who is 50% black, it logically should be easier to accept Archie, who would be only 25% black. Speaking of royal titles, Meghan has long been called Duchess of Sussex, and there is no racial discrimination there.
I have not paid much attention before to the royal family in the UK, but based on my observations of their reactions, I must say they have won my respect. I now understand why the Brits like and respect their queen, who is a long time tested good face of the country.
Just look at the statement of the Queen after the Winfrey interview, it tells the world racism will be treated seriously — even though “recollections may vary.” This is a perfectly sound position and we actually all can learn from the Queen in her skillful handling of nothing short of a world wide PR crisis across the Atlantic.
Xi, Jinping of China Should Learn From The Queen
Beijing has been over-reacting to international criticisms since Xi, Jinping took power. There are evidences that Xi himself has been behind the “Wolf Worrier” diplomacy “featuring Rambo-like protagonists who fight enemies at home and abroad to defend Chinese interests” as the CNN article has summarized. The idea is “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” which goes back to Mao, Zedong in the old time.
The problem is that Mao lived in the cold war era and it was acceptable back then to play the game of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” Today in a peaceful time what is needed most is good skills in communications and negotiations, not worriers. The latter can only get things worse and hurts China’s soft power. Worse, it may escalate trivial conflicts into a full-blooded war.
Conflicts Are Everywhere, Skills of Handling Them Are Scarce
One reality we must face is that differences across nations will always exist — even between allies of the same political system. Some of the differences will inevitably be caused by misunderstandings and bias. After the Winfrey interview, the polls in the US and UK differed quite bit: 68% Americans were supportive of Meghan and Harry, while only 12% Brits did so and 33% no sympathy for Duke & Duchess at all.
What we do about the differences? The smarter way is to follow Confucius — not Mao — because it helps solve the differences and make better communications. China will win more international respect and gain soft power if it did what the Queen did.
For example, when the US criticizes China on human rights, it would be smarter for China to say something like this: “Thanks for the criticism, China is still a developing country and we know there are rooms for improvement. Although Chinese have different priorities in human rights, and every nation faces human rights challenge, our goal is to raise our human right to your level.”
The Inconsistent Communications
The evidences seem to indicate inconsistent communications — mostly on the Meghan /Harry side — rather than racism.
One good example of inconsistent communications is that Prince Harry took the private jet, not commercial jet, on the couple’s vacation to France. This happened when Harry often talks about environment protection. Prince William and Kate Middleton on the other hand often just fly the commercial jet.
Another example more directly related to this Winfrey interview is the Queen’s Statement on January 13, 2020. There the Queen had made it very clear:
“My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family. Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”
“Harry and Meghan have made clear that they do not want to be reliant on public funds in their new lives.” (emphasis added by me)
I came across this by accident while I was reading something else. Anyway, it is good for the Queen to let the public know her decision and the reasons behind. It is also fortunate to leave a public record for us to trace back in the aftermath of the Winfrey interview.
I do not want to accuse the young couple, especially Meghan, of hypocrisy because I have no evidence that she had the intent to play the word game to the Queen last year, which led the Queen to publish the above statement. However, it is obvious that the couple had inconsistent communications. That is, sometime before last January, when the Queen statement was published, Meghan and Harry must have talked to the Queen about not living on public funds in their new lives. This convinced the Queen to publish the above statement.
I would not be surprised if the Queen, before making her statement public, had talked with the couple about such a statement. If so, then it makes no sense for Meghan to claim in the interview that it was the monarch that cut them off financially.
By the same token, Archie’s security must come from the public funds and if Meghan and Harry really desired independence, Archie’s protection should be a part of the formula.
Wanting The Cake & Eating It
My hypothesis — without any evidence, which is the defining feature of all hypotheses — is that the couple wanted to have a cake and eat it. They wanted to project an image to the Queen and also to the public how much they care about independence, including financial independence. On the other hand, they still want to have titles and other royal privileges. When they did not get the latter part, they decided to complain to Winfrey.
The couple has some “home field advantages”, as all the media are on this side of the Atlantic. An even bigger advantage is from wrapping up the complaint by a label of racism, which for sure will grab much public attention. However, just like Harry should not have claimed that Prince Charles and Prince William are both “trapped” in the royal institutions — he was not in the position to speak for his father and brother — we should not take the couple’s words for everything.