Mike's Musings - A Royal Miss
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There’s been much talk about the future of Harry and Meghan and whether they will be moving to Canada to escape the incessant and scurrilous British press. Personally, I don’t much care.
Come and live here in the GTA, on Vancouver Island, in Hollywood … I don’t care.
Harry seems like a good man, devoted to his family, served his country well in military service. He’ll make a fine addition to Canada and I’m sure our immigration service will look kindly on his application. Meghan is a fine actor, seems by all accounts to be a devoted mother, and I think she has comported herself well in the face of horrendous, racist, nasty and unwarranted attacks on her character. I liked her work in the TV series Suits … especially because her love interest was a character by the name of Mike “Ross” (awfully close to “Ras!”), who was a pretend lawyer on the show. A “pretend lawyer” is sometimes how I’m described professionally, so, hey … a guy can dream!
Other than that, I don’t care.
I might be a bit frustrated if taxpayers have to pick up their security costs, but if any other citizen of Canada was being harassed by paparazzi, the criminally insane or worse, on a daily basis, I’d expect police to protect that citizen 24/7 too.
No, my real frustration is around how the “Palace” and “Royal watchers” in the media have treated this story as a great constitutional crisis and a threat to the very institution of the monarchy, and yet the Queen has never – not once – issued a statement or condemnation of the fact that Prince Andrew was consorting with a known pedophile, the now very dead, Jeffrey Epstein.
I saw lots of statements from the Queen expressing “disappointment” in the decision of Prince Harry and Meghan the Duchess of Sussex to “no longer be senior Royals” (whatever that means). I’ve seen hours and hours of press coverage and plenty of ink spilled by editorialists on how excited (or blasé) Canadians are to have real royals as potential neighbours. But not nearly enough attention is being paid to the Prince Andrew/Jeffrey Epstein story.
This is sad and frustrating and is a missed opportunity. The issue of sexual abuse, sexual harassment and the power dynamic of wealthy, powerful men who abuse young women is a defining and important issue in our time. The prosecution of Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein – and so many others - are important stories and deserve our attention. Imagine how much more positive attention this issue would get if the Queen – a strong and distinguished woman – were to speak with clarity and conviction condemning this behaviour.
The “Palace” could have used its bully-pulpit and the attention of the worlds media to shine a light into a dark and seedy place – a place where more sunlight would be a welcome disinfectant. The Queen could have done a lot of good. Instead, she expressed “disappointment” that a fifth-in-line-to-the-throne grandson and his beautiful wife have expressed a desire for more privacy, while at the same time has chosen to stay absolutely silent on a much bigger issue.
Yes, what I’m suggesting for the Queen would have been enormously difficult for her personally, and would, in effect, mean disavowing her own son – and that cannot be diminished. On the other hand, I keep hearing from monarchists that the Royal institution is above all a “duty” and “bigger than any one person”. With all due respect to Her Majesty, she missed the opportunity to unequivocally prove that point.
Mike Ras is a keen observer of public policy, politics and media. For his day job, he’s director of government relations with a prominent Canadian financial institution. A resident of Mississauga, part-time “professor” in the Government Relations program at Seneca College and an active volunteer with a number of local charities.
Connect with him on Twitter here.
