Romance cheers up a careworn nation

Prince's engagement to actress Meghan has provided a ray of sunshine amid the storm clouds of Brexit hanging over UK

News of an impending royal wedding this week hit Britain like a ray of sunshine on a stormy day, with the long-awaited announcement that Prince Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth, is engaged to his US actress girlfriend Meghan Markle.

In a politically divided country in which the media has been obsessing about the twists and turns of the inconclusive Brexit negotiations on the terms of the UK's departure from the European Union, there was finally something to celebrate.

There will doubtless be no shortage of harrumphing republicans in coming days who will decry all the attention the latest royal romance will focus on a monarchical system they regard as costly and archaic. But they are probably in a significant minority these days - and anyway, no one is currently proposing a Brexit-style referendum on the future of the monarchy.

As fifth in line to the throne, there is almost zero chance that Harry will ever occupy it, or that Meghan will ever reign alongside him. His 91-year-old grandmother seems in no hurry to end her 65-year reign by abdicating in favor of Prince Charles, her eldest son. Next in line is his eldest son, Prince William.

Elizabeth this week celebrated the 70th anniversary of her marriage to her lifetime consort Prince Philip, another royal romance that briefly brightened the austerity of postwar Britain.

The British have a fickle love-hate relationship with their royals. Even Queen Victoria, the icon of the monarchical system, had spells of widespread unpopularity that helped to fuel a republican movement.

Queen Elizabeth herself alienated many of her subjects because of what was seen as her inadequate response to the death of Princess Diana, Charles' headline-hogging former wife and mother to William and Harry, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997.

It was an episode that underlined Britain's sometimes confused emotional relationship with the royal family. The death of the woman the then prime minister Tony Blair dubbed the "People's Princess" prompted a mawkish outpouring of grief among hordes of ordinary people who, at the same time, were criticizing the Queen for her perceived lack of feeling.

Elizabeth has since recovered. No one really knows anything about her private thoughts and feelings, beyond her renowned passion for horseracing, and the British seem to like it that way: like children, monarchs should be seen but not heard.

One reason for Charles' relative lack of popularity is his readiness to express his opinion and wield his influence on a range of subjects, from public architecture to organic farming.

Harry, 33, his younger son, has meanwhile fulfilled the well-established role of joker in the royal pack. His headline-grabbing scrapes have, over the years, established him as the family's amiable naughty boy.

His romance with Meghan, which began in 2016, has provided endless copy for Britain's popular press, as well as some light relief from Brexit. The 36-year-old actress, who was married once before, is now guaranteed to generate headlines for years to come.

Even a columnist in the republican-leaning Guardian acknowledged recently that Meghan could provide a welcome breath of fresh air. Georgina Lawton, who admitted "I have never been much of a royalist" wrote that the royal bride-to-be was an accomplished actress and philanthropist who had shunned many traditional royal dating protocols.

She was also the mixed-race daughter of an African-American mother and white father. "A union between her and Prince Harry would be socially momentous for the country, and especially so for us brown-skinned Brits who never saw ourselves reflected in the all-white Palace lineage," Lawton wrote.

For the moment, not even the most dour republican would wish the couple anything but a happy life together. That said, the public and its press can be remarkably erratic when it comes to the royals.

Harry might recall that, in the weeks before his late mother was elevated to secular sainthood by a fawning press, the same papers had been castigating her for a jet-set lifestyle that they said was leading her to neglect her sons.

The author is a senior editorial consultant for China Daily. Contact the writer at editor@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 12/01/2017 page10)