The queen has spoken. And she’s said something we’re already only too familiar with: reality is subjective (and it usually gives way to the accounts of those who hold the most power). In other words, “Recollections may vary.” The shade-drenched statement (whether the queen was aware of its shadiness or not) comes on the heels of Meghan Markle’s still talked about interview with Oprah on Sunday, during which, among other “bombshells,” she revealed that the color of her then unborn son’s skin tone was a topic of “discussion” for an unnamed senior royal (again, probably Prince Charles). Oprah, who now famously responded, “Who is having that conversation?,” offered an expression that likely mirrored any person of color watching.
Yet, at the same time, those living in the “commonwealths” of the queen are none too surprised that the oldest Establishment in England can’t shake its colonial viewpoints. Canada was still a “dominion” until 1982, for fuck’s sake. And let’s not forget Markle spent plenty of time in Toronto during her Suits stint (the salary of which seems definitely to have gone “up her nose” during the time she was fucking with the fashion industry).
To these revelations put forth by Markle with a candor not seen since Princess Diana’s 1995 Panorama interview, the queen was swift to respond, “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.” Once more, it is the “I can’t believe reality is subjective!” connotation that aims to undercuttingly denigrate the accounts given by both Meghan and Harry regarding how they were treated throughout their brief attempt at going all out for their Duke and Duchess roles.
To add to the wounds of the royal family, Harry also essentially thanked Meghan for rescuing him from what would have been a life of imprisonment. Harry was also blunt in announcing that, were it not for Meghan, he likely never would have awakened from his stupor long enough to see he was locked inside of a cage. A pretty golden one, but still a cage nonetheless.
“What a sodding ingrate!” one can hear the queen screaming in the “watching room” with Philip (or his clone) hooked up next to her on a ventilator. And it was in that moment she took royal pen to royal paper and started scratching out the rough idea of how she would respond to such insolence. Did Meghan not understand that the only reality that mattered was the queen’s own? The one she specifically shaped for all the other royals to adhere to. They were nothing more than her subjects, designed to be wielded for whatever purpose she saw them fit for.
Thus, for Meghan to shatter the stalwart fabric they had only just recovered after Diana’s own reign of terror was an affront to the queen like no other. Enough for her to meet Meghan’s fire with her own unique British brand of frigidity. Hence an “apology” that could somehow focus more on belittlement than any form of mea culpa. The terms used by Her Majesty are the distancing and disinterested ones of an HR executive rotely following protocol. “Concerning” and “taken very seriously” being the keywords wielded to indicate some level of alarm, though certainly not enough to take a harsher look at the systemic racism that set off worldwide protests last year. No, no. Instead, the queen was sure to get the ultimate dig in by saying the matter would be “addressed by the family privately.” A not so subtle way of declaring: “We’re all going to sit around drinking tea and talking shit about what impertinent fuckers you are.”
To “Lilibet,” the only reality is that which she carefully crafts within the confines of an alternate England. One in which she never deals with the commoners, a group her own grandson is now apparently a member of (even if they’re Montecito elites–it’s still “common” by Liz’s standards). But then, that is one reality, above all the other unpleasant ones, she simply cannot address. So thank God (or something) that “truth” really is whatever you make of it–especially when you have the political and financial clout to do so. But how much longer can Queenie really keep control over the Matrix, even in Britain?
