I don’t normally do Royal stories on here, but like many other Britons and especially other monarchists, I’ve been mightily perturbed by the recent upheavals in the Royal household involving the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It is, let’s be honest here, not the best look for the ruling house to be so divided.

To be fair here to Prince Harry the Duke of Sussex, I’ve often admired his laddishness, his sense of fun, his desire to fight alongside other British service personnel in Afghanistan and the major part he has played in creating the Invictus Games for wounded ex-service people. I also admit that his position in a monarchical system as the ‘spare’ to the heir to the throne is a difficult role to fullfil. It is a job and a position that involves always being the metaphorical bridesmaid but never the bride. As the younger brother to the heir, Prince Harry was unlikely ever to be considered for the top job and even this remote chance of the throne has been removed now that the succession has been assured, following the birth to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge of Prince George and his siblings.

In a way I feel desperately sorry for the Duke of Sussex, many avenues that would be available to a non-Royal in order to make a name for himself or create a life for himself are off limits to him. These paths are off limits either because he would only be able to do them part time as he has other Royal duties or the path might reflect badly on the monarchical house itself. He can’t start a business or enter into any employment that could cause allegations, whether true or untrue, that he is using his name and heritage in order to get on. He can’t even do what many other ex-service personnel do and become a police officer for reasons of security, PC 49 Windsor would be a bullet magnet if he was sent out on patrol like other police officers. The ‘second son’ position in a monarchical house is not one that I would want for myself or my own son. It’s a ‘half life’ to be quite frank, similar problems have been encountered by Prince Andrew Duke of York, who never really found a proper role in life and instead became a dilettante playboy, who has made monstrously bad choices when it comes to friends.

Like other Britons, I also wanted to give the Duke of Sussex’s new wife Meghan Markle a chance. I don’t particularly care about her race or her previous marriage or the fact that she was an actress, all of this crap is irrelevant. However it’s plain to see that she has had a great deal of difficulty adjusting to life as a member of the Royal Family and to the sort of necessary protocols that this life entails. I read in the Sunday Times recently that she has been a bit too ‘huggy’ and physical with her senior staff. On one occasion she had to be told by a courtier that she needs to call the Duchess Ma’am, as the relationship between the Duchess and her staff would only work if there was a degree of distance between them. The type of informality that must have characterised Meghan Markle’s previousl life is a no-no behind the Palace gates. This sort of thing must have been difficult to have to come to terms with, for a person who has worked in the touchy-feely world of Hollywood. Another thing that must have been difficult for the new Duchess to get her head around is that the Royal Family, as they are the embodiement of the nation rather than political, need to be seen to be apolitical and not involve themselves in controversial projects or make controversial statements. Whilst it may be acceptable for the Hollywood types to bang on about their political views or social views, it is less so for the Royal Family to do the same.

I must admit that I was astonished about how quickly the British public seemed to fall out of love with the Duchess, despite making every effort to welcome her. I’m afraid that a lot of that is, in my view, down to the fact that the Duchess of Sussex cannot do what is expected of her and keep her mouth shut. She has been quite rightly mocked for her insufferable ‘wokeness’. This has included her statements on ‘climate change’, her gift of bananas to sex workers and her virtue signalling over the Grenfell fire that at times verged on Islamopandering. In particular, the Grenfell virtue signalling pissed people off, since it came at a time when not only was the May government chucking the sort of money at the Grenfell tenants (‘Is it because they were mostly black?’) that doesn’t seem to be given to those in Britain who have also suffered natural disasters like floods, but also because of the masses of frauds that seem to have become linked to the Grenfell recovery programme. None of these things exactly helped to endear her to the British public, who are increasingly getting tired of wokeness, Islamopandering and political correctness, as well as the ‘we are all going to die’ hyperbole of the Green movement. Allegations of haughtiness and an attitude of self-entitlement that have been made against the Duchess have also not helped to make her popular with the public.

Whilst it is natural that any man who marries and has a child will become less ‘wild’, the British public have noticed that the changes in Prince Harry seem to be much greater than these natural maturation changes that nearly all men go through. He’s gone from being a bit of a lad to being seen as a pussy-whipped automaton, mouthing ‘woke’ bullshit in what seems like a really worryingly rapid time. The British public does not need another woke buzzword spouter, we have enough of them already, they are called politicians.

I’m not sure that the Duchess of Sussex was either ready or able to take on the role of a Prince’s wife, it is more than being a wife, it is also being part of a Royal team. Maybe she should have been prepared better for this role, or maybe the Duchess does not have it in her to be the sort of team player that this role needs. It’s interesting here to compare the story of two commoners who married into the Royal Family, the Duchess of Sussex and the future Queen Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. The Duchess of Cambridge has taken on board advice from courtiers and played her role admirably. She doesn’t engage in controversial statements or activities and keeps her own private views exactly that, private. Her behaviour since marrying Prince William has, in my view, been exemplary. I believe that in time she will make a positive contribution to the Royal Family and to the nation, when eventually she becomes Queen Catherine, alongside the future King William V.

Despite what some people say, the decision by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to leave Britain and make their home and their own income in Canada and the United States, is not driven by either racism or any sniffiness towards the fact that the Duchess is American. Firstly, Britain is remarkably non-racist and has been so for many years. To give an example of that, when US service people came to the UK to aid us during World War II, Americans had to be told that there was no colour bar in pubs or public places in Britain and this is something that they would find different about the United Kingdom.

The vast majority of Britons of my accquaintaince don’t care about the Duchess’s racial heritage, only that she makes the Duke happy, becomes a team player in the Royal Family and keeps her nose clean. Secondly, it’s really only the Left or those who get all their information from the BBC who are sniffy about the Americans. Yes, there have been times of tension with our American cousins such, as during World War II when the Americans always seemed to be better paid and better dressed than their British military counterparts, something that caused jealousy in the UK. We might make jokes about Americans sometimes or about US – UK historical events such as the ‘regrettable unpleasantness’ of 1812, but often Britons have a habit of making jokes about those that they like as well as those whom they dislike. A Briton telling an American joke may well mean that the Briton in question likes Americans, yes we are a bit odd like that. Even our greatest ever Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, was as many people know, of mixed US – UK heritage.

If, as is being speculated about, the current problems in the House of Windsor are down to the inability of the Duchess of Sussex to keep her gob shut and stop being such a ‘woke-tard’, then only the Duchess is to blame for that. She could have followed the example of the Duchess of Cambridge, who has slotted almost seamlessly into ‘The Firm’, but she has not. She’s ploughed her own furrow and whilst doing so has driven over the toes of many.

I hope that a few years out of Britain and maybe out of the limelight for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, may sort out many of the issues that this couple have and reduce some of the dislike of the Duchess that is being expresed by a remarkable number of Britons and by the Press. I’m not at all sure that they are suitable for any major official position overseas, such as Governor-General of Canada, this job should go to someone with more experience of politics and less of a ‘celebrity’ than the Duke and Duchess are, but maybe some other suitable official role can be found for them?

If the Duke and Duchess, along with the rest of the family, can work through these current problems then all well and good, they can take a break, learn some maturity and come back and hopefully be welcomed back. But if they, or rather the Duchess does not do this, then things could go bad very quickly. As the writer Mandy Baldwin in an article (one that I admire immensely) on the Writer Goes Roaming website has said, if the Duchess of Sussex thinks that she can ‘take on’ the Royal Family then it’s likely that she will come off worst.

Ms Baldwin said:

Me-Again (Meghan) deludes herself that she is causing harm to the monarchy by attempting to make money off it while effectively abducting Hat-Stand, when actually, to the Dynasty, she is no more than the human equivalent of a rat who got into the kitchen for a few minutes, nibbled a bread roll and stole a sausage.

The Dynasty rids itself of danger with consummate skill, designed to allow it’s enemies to destroy themselves, because, after all, to be seen to wield such power of itself endangers the monarchy.  Even those who temporarily wear the crown stand no chance against the might of the Dynasty itself.

As Ms Baldwin said in her piece, the monarchy has existed in Britain for approximately 1200 years since the year 827 with the reign of King Egbert and with only one interregnum under Oliver and Richard Cromwell in the 17^th century and one period of Anarchy in the 12^th century. Monarchies do not survive unless ruthless steps are taken to enable the monarchy to survive and the Windsors (formerly the Saxe-Coburg-Gothas) are no exception.

Ms Baldwin points out that the Windsors had no qualms about throwing the last Tsar of Russia, who was a relative of King George V, under the proverbial bus or exiling a King with Nazi associations and a gold digging twice divorced wife in the form of Wallis Simpson, in order to protect ‘the Firm’. The Queen’s former governess, Marion Crawford was also ruthlessly ostracised by the Royal Family for writing an account of the childhood of the then Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in 1950. I must admit that if it came to a showdown between the Windsors and the Duchess of Sussex, then I’d definitely be putting my money on the Windsors.

If everything goes tits up and the Duchess publishes a ‘tell all’ memoir about life in the Royal Family, or either her or the Duke tries to advance themselves by using their name and status, then I’m afraid it will not end well for them. If that situation arises, then both the Royal Family and the courtiers will form an impenetrable wall with the Royal Family on one side and the Duke and Duchess on the other. If there are casualties that come from this conflict, then I doubt that they will be among the main Royal Family and the main casualty will be the Duchess of Sussex herself. The ball is now very much in the court of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but that doesn’t automatically guarantee that they will get their own way either partially or completely. If their actions look as if they might damage the monarchy, then The Firm’s vengeance will be swift and brutal, something that the Duchess in particular should bear in mind. She’s unlikely to be murdered by the insertion of a red hot poker into the arse (Edward II – allegedy) or drowned in a barrel of wine (the 15^th century Duke of Clarence), the Royals don’t behave like that anymore. But if she poses any danger at all to the Monarchy then she will find that her reputation will be in ruins and her future will not be that of a Duchess of the Realm, but host of a low rent cable TV chat show in Nebraska and her home instead of a palace, a trailer park.