The royal family's recent appearances have sent a subtle message to Harry and Meghan, writes Daniela Elser. Photo / Getty Images
The royal family's recent appearances have sent a subtle message to Harry and Meghan, writes Daniela Elser. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION:
When you think of guerrilla fighters, the image that might come to mind is of beret-wearing revolutionaries crawling through jungle undergrowth as they fight to topple some corrupt government.
But what if guerrilla fighters wore suits? What if they didn't wage their clandestine campaigns in the tropical heat but in the streets of Westminster and Kensington? What if their goal wasn't to overthrow a government or centralise the means of production but to deliver a series of painful blows in a festering PR war?
This week, the big royal story has been Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's aggressively photoshopped appearance on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people issue. Social media has had a field day mocking the highly questionable image and any hopes that outing might cement their status as leaders on the global humanitarian stage have been dashed in a flurry of memes.
But quite a few other things have been going on in Planet Royal, things that, put together might suggest that The Firm has not taken the threat posed by the renegade, loose-lipped duo lying down.
The first tantalising clue here came last week when Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall was named patron of Nigeria's first sexual assault referral centre. The next day, the 74-year-old praised the "brave female journalists" in Afghanistan.
Next, Sir Ken Olisa, the first black Lord-Lieutenant for London, revealed that the Queen supported the Black Lives Matter movement, and said: "They [the royals] care passionately about making this one nation bound by the same values."
On Monday, it was announced that Prince William's landmark environmental project, the Earthshot Prize, had partnered with the John F Kennedy Library Foundation and had got the tick of approval from the late President's daughter, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy.
Come Thursday, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge emerged after her mysterious 66-day long absence from public view to thank the military personnel involved in the UK's evacuation from Kabul.
So let me sum up: Over the past 10 days, and in quick succession, the royal family has aligned itself with racial justice, gender equality, support for Afghanistan, and has got the endorsement of the Democratic establishment in the US.
Hmm, does this particular territory remind you of what some other titled, professional do-gooders have been up to? Remind you of, say, the issues and work of two green juice-loving, yoga-practising, Oprah-texting members of the royal house?
Take a bird's-eye view of the recent royal moves and whether strategically, or by pure chance, the palace has managed to encroach on charitable territory that Harry and Meghan have been painstakingly staking out for years now.
Sure, the Sussexes don't own climate change. (Greta Thunberg and Dame Emma Thompson would have something to say about that.) Likewise, William has long been championing environmental issues, and domestic violence has been one of Camilla's key areas of focus in the 16 years she has been an HRH.
The royal family's recent appearances have sent a subtle message to Harry and Meghan, writes Daniela Elser. Photo / Getty Images
But that doesn't change the fact that, again, either on purpose or by accident, there is now something of a philanthropic land grab going on, with the royal house and the breakaway state of Sussex now both laying claim to similar ground.
The consequences of this recent charity push out of London could have unfortunate consequences for the Sussexes. Sometime around late October or November, they are slated to return to work after taking five months of parental leave following the birth of their second child, daughter Lilibet, in early June.
With the US and much of the world reopening, there is every chance we will finally see them, after a few false starts, put the (Tesla) pedal to the metal.
Central to that will be establishing themselves as the natural, worldstage-strutting leaders on a clutch of core issues such as, you guessed it, racial justice, gender equality, climate change and conservation and support for veterans.
Now, rather than the path being clear for them to forge ahead and to really take ownership on these fronts, Harry and Meghan face being forced into a protracted PR battle with the royal house.
Realistically, there are only a finite number of eyeballs, charity donations and retweets any one cause can garner at a time. The events of this month potentially set the stage for a race to see who can come out on top.
I think we can agree that being forced to share – tiaras, polo ponies or good works – is far from ideal for anyone involved.
There is more at stake here for the Sussexes, than for the house of Windsor, as they work to establish their US brand and public identities after having skipped out on royal life.
Without the reflected glow of being able to use their HRHs and to market themselves as royal (vale @SussexRoyal and its 10 million followers) the couple now have to teach a nation that rebelled against the crown what they stand for and why they matter, a project that could also have implications for their future earning potential. (Netflix deals are not for life you know.)
That campaign has become harder now the Windsors have come along to, perhaps incidentally, stymie their ability to really plant their flag on a number of these fronts.
Or to put it another way, on both sides of the Atlantic we have members of Her Majesty's family trying to scramble up the same charitable mountain.
The clear winner in all of this are the causes themselves. The more that various Windsors drum up noise and agitate about climate change and gender equality, the better for the world.
Viva la (royal) revolution then! It's going to be a corker.
• Daniela Elser is a royal expert and a writer with more than 15 years' experience working with a number of Australia's leading media titles.
