Harry and Meghan under fire from media criticism
German ZDF viewers were treated to 43 minutes of denunciations, analyzes and unkind comments on Harry and Meghan on Sunday. If journalist Ulrik Grunewald's film begins with a shot of an idyllic Californian beach, the reflections which accompany the images of Harry and Meghan's American exile are far from positive. Among the angles of attack, their recent high-profile visits abroad. For some journalists like Russell Myers: “If you go to places like Colombia or Nigeria, which have serious socio-economic problems, in the middle of the poorest communities in that country, and you carry tens of thousands of 'euro branded clothing doesn't send the right message.' Another testimony, more personal and intimate, that of Ben McBean. This former soldier lost his left arm and part of his right leg in Afghanistan. He was in the same helicopter as Harry when he was repatriated to England. Shocked by Prince's revelations about the Windsors, soldier says: 'If one of my friends had fallen out with their partner and started posting things on social media and saying my ex is this and that , I would have told him to shut up.” As for Dai Davis, former head of Royal Protection and the Metropolitan Police, he minces no words regarding Harry's writings about his Afghan mission: “It was completely reckless to reveal that he had killed a number of Taliban (…) The Taliban and various groups have put a price on his head (…) And I think he is still valid, which could encourage him to say that he needs security. A clear allusion to Harry's refusal to come with his wife and children to London, rejecting the Metropolitan Police's position of not protecting non-working members of the royal family.
Overwhelming testimonies about their choices
More unexpected, the intervention of Richard Mineards, resident of Montecito, on the couple's integration in the city: “Personally, I don't think Meghan is an asset for us… She doesn't go out much and doesn't get involved truly in the community.” The film also recalls that donations to Archewell increased from 13 million in 2021 to 2 million afterwards and that the couple admitted to only working one hour a day for their foundation. But the most embarrassing in this investigation is the information according to which the German Ministry of Defense financed the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf in 2023 to the tune of 40 million euros. Bad news for the British who will host the Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027…
Americanization perceived as a move away from the Windsors
This steep descent of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on television adds to a haunting music heard in Great Britain, the Americanization of Prince Harry. For proof according to some, the evolution of his accent and his vocabulary. “Dude” (dude) and “You Guys” (you guys), two typically North American expressions seem to have passed into everyday language. Enough to provide elements of comparison with his great-great uncle the Duke of Windsor whose language had evolved, marked by the accent of his American wife Wallis Simpson.
