Harry and Meghan's Move: 'Cute,' Not Enough

Kim Janssen wants royals to renounce titles, but others are keen for 'spinoff'
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 9, 2020 8:32 AM CST
Harry and Meghan's Move: 'Cute,' Not Enough
Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, visit Canada House in London on Tuesday.   (Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool Photo via AP)

"It's cute whenever thirty-something rich kids want to become financially independent of their parents." So begins Kim Janssen's call for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to "have the courage of your convictions" and "renounce your snobby, stupid titles." Prince Harry and Meghan's stunning announcement of their intention "to wean themselves from the teat of the British state, upon which they have feasted for far too long" doesn't go quite far enough, Janssen, a London native, writes at the Los Angeles Times. She allows that it's tough for Americans to really get the harm at play—in a nutshell, the country's royals "serve as a bulwark to the ugly British class system." But some Americans got it: those men behind the US Constitution, which bars such titles.

Kaitlin Menza of the "Royally Obsessed" podcast is a bit more sympathetic, focusing on the "relentless media attention" the couple has received. "By stepping back, Harry can allow his brother, his father, and his grandmother to shine, as they were born to do, while protecting his wife and their son from further pain," she writes at NBC News. At Bloomberg, Sarah Green Carmichael argues "this is one spinoff that could work for everyone involved." Not only is it in keeping with a long-term plan for a more focused, "slimmed-down monarchy," but it seems best for Harry and Meghan. Why not leave them to the "issues they care deeply about"? writes Carmichael. "They have clearly struggled to balance the public and private aspects of royal life, and frankly, seem pretty miserable." (The decision reportedly came as news to the queen.)

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