Harry and Meghan's so-called 'moral courage' is an affront to true heroism, writes Celia Walden. Photo / Getty Images
Harry and Meghan's so-called 'moral courage' is an affront to true heroism, writes Celia Walden. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION:
When you think of great British heroes, who springs to mind?
There are the big names: the leaders who defended the country over the centuries and shaped the nation, the crusaders for social justice and equal rights who fought to make the country fairer, and the innovators and scientists who have helped improve, prolong and save the lives of millions.
Queen Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, Emmeline Pankhurst, Admiral Nelson, Charles Darwin, Alan Turing, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole. The list goes on.
Then there are the quiet men and women of honour. The ones whose acts of bravery astound us daily.
Take 24-year-old Jordan Gatley from Sandbach in Cheshire, who was killed fighting for Ukrainian armed forces along with 36-year-old father-of-three, Scott Sibley, from Lincolnshire. Or what about 25-year-old Benny Reeves from Clacton, who ran into a neighbour's burning home last month to save a woman asleep inside.
Or do you think of Meghan and Harry, who, according to Robert F Kennedy's daughter, were so "heroic" in their stance against the "structural racism" at the heart of our Royal family – and, make no mistake, the UK – that they deserve to be honoured at the NYC Ripple of Hope Gala on December 6, alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy?
Kerry Kennedy says Meghan and Harry were "heroic" in their stance against "structural racism". Photo / AP
"They went to the oldest institution in UK history and told them what they were doing wrong," Kerry Kennedy said at the weekend, "that they couldn't have structural racism within the institution; that they could not maintain a misunderstanding about mental health."
Referencing her late father's visit to apartheid South Africa in 1966, she went on to explain how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex showed a rare "moral courage" by challenging the Royal family's "power structure".
Perhaps Kerry would benefit from revisiting the dictionary definition of "heroism": "putting others first, even at your own peril". And then explain to the US luminaries who have paid up to $US1 million ($1.6 million) to attend the event precisely what it was that these two "imperilled" by abdicating royal responsibilities and hot-footing it to California.
Let's consider the Sussexes' "brave" sacrifices.
They swapped a life of dreary duty for a uniquely self-serving existence in a $21 million Montecito mansion, hobnobbing with the kind of A-list celebrities they chose to fill the St George's Chapel with on their wedding day. An existence that was only possible thanks to the royal titles they have so valiantly fought to keep for themselves and their children.
Never mind that those titles are now tainted with "institutional racism." We'll set that aside for now, in the box marked "flagrant Sussex hypocrisies". It's getting awfully full.
They "courageously" gave up unglamorous work of the kind the Prince and Princess of Wales undertake tirelessly – such as visiting a children's centre in Hillingdon earlier this month, or, last week, an RAF base in Coningsby – in order to do a $170.5 million deal with Netflix and a $31 million deal with Penguin Random House.
Deals that involve a Keeping Up With The Kardashians-style documentary about their "love story" (rumoured to be released this December) and a reportedly "tell-all" memoir that will cement their victim status, all while making a mockery of their vocal yearnings for privacy.
But wait: we're forgetting the registered charity, the Archewell Foundation, that was launched by Meghan and Harry in a blaze of self-publicity in 2020.
The "impact-driven non-profit" "compassion project" raised less in its first year than a fundraising campaign launched by the-then 11-year-old Max Woosey for his local North Devon hospice. Give them a gong, sure: for services to self-publicity and narcissism.
Inflation is one of the biggest problems of our times, but it doesn't just affect currencies. When we call these two pathological egotists "courageous" "heroes" we are promoting a form of linguistic inflation that devalues those words to the point that they are rendered meaningless. That is an affront to true heroism.
The Prince and Princess of Wales will visit the US for the first time since 2014 this month. Photo / AP
Certainly any "compassion" for the brother and sister-in-law who are due to fly out to the US just days before Meghan and Harry receive their award – and deliver an acceptance speech to be viewed through parted fingers – is nowhere to be seen.
After all, this won't just be the future king and queen consort's first official trip to the country since 2014, but the first since the 2021 prime-time royal annihilation which effectively branded the then Duchess of Cambridge a bully and left the monarchy's reputation in tatters.
Imagine trying to hold your head up high as you undertake your many engagements – showcasing issues that include climate change, vulnerable young people, and green tech – when your own family and everything it stands for has been so publicly shamed?
