The couple’s “take-this-job-and-shove-it” moment, delivered on
Instagram, tops the fed-up flight attendant of 2010 who cursed passengers over the PA system, then exited by way of the escape chute, becoming a folk hero along the way.
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That guy was later arrested. And who knows? With the queen reportedly seeking a quick resolution to the scandal — maybe by now Buckingham Palace guards have rounded up the rogue royals, and Harry is in the back of a horse-drawn carriage muttering, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
But back in the real world, where access to money, celebrities, and air travel with no checked-bag fees are what people fantasize about escaping to, the royals’ move has nonetheless captivated the public.
“That was the first thing I thought of — I would like to step back from my duties,” said Alison Dagnes, a political science professor, the author of books on scandal, and perhaps most pertinent, the mother of two.
“They don’t tell you this when you’re a kid, but there’s a lot to do,” she said. “My students are so excited to go off into the ‘real world’ and I’m like, ‘Don’t do it!’ ”
In Boston, a middle-aged woman who comes from a large, contentious clan fantasized about stepping away from her familial duties and alerting her dear ones via social media, not in person.
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“The beauty of it was that Meghan and Harry didn’t even need to talk to the relatives,” said the woman, who didn’t want to be named for fear of family wrath. “They didn’t have to see their tears, the anger, the threats.”
Americans who have become certified royal experts by watching “The Crown” know that being a royal can be extremely boring. Dressing, dealing with protocol, giving and receiving little bows. Like you’d almost rather be in a human resources meeting about a proposed change in mileage reimbursement.
Those who have obsessively followed Meghan — who know, say, that Misha Nonoo the clothing designer, is a BFF — understand that things have not been easy for her. That what at first looked like a great role in fact carried stress beyond the pressure to appear delighted 24/7 and sit so your legs cross primly at the ankles.
As The New York Times reported, “She was too bold, too outspoken, too difficult, too American, too multicultural, the critics said. She should not have alienated the news media by refusing to join in their celebrity games. She should not have spent so much money renovating the house the royal family was kind enough to bestow upon her and her husband.”
Within minutes of the young royals’ announcement, media coverage reached a saturation point that even President Trump might envy, but even so, questions remain unanswered:
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Are Meghan and Harry still on the Amazon Prime account? Will the queen turn their home, Frogmore Cottage, into a gym? How will Kate and Will explain this to George, Charlotte, and Louis (when he’s older)?
(Suggested consumer story for British papers: “How to talk to the heirs about their uncle and aunt stepping back from their duties.”)
How long have M & H been plotting this? They haven’t even been married for that long. But the Daily Mail is reporting that the couple trademarked over 100 items, from hoodies to socks “SIX MONTHS before they split with the monarchy.”
In many ways, this royal diss is so far removed from commoners’ lives it’s hard to relate to.
Most people who leave the family business don’t have their wax likenesses removed from London’s Madame Tussauds museum, for example.
But wax or not, they are subject to the same laws of human emotion as the rest of us, said Sherry Kuehl, author of the “Snarky in the Suburbs” books.
“Take ‘royal’ out of it and they’re just a family,” she said. “There are going to be chasms in that relationship that will never be healed. I think they’re going to be lonely.”
Perhaps, but at least they’ll have gotten out of all those duties.
Beth Teitell can be reached at beth.teitell@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @bethteitell.
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January 10, 2020 at 08:08AM
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How come only the royals can step back from their duties? - The Boston Globe
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