I FOR one am pleased that Harry and Meghan are “stepping back from their royal duties”. Well, they can’t have their cake and eat it. They either leave The Firm entirely and work for a living elsewhere, or earn their contributions from the Civil List by undertaking the royal duties required by a member of the family.
It has been obvious for some time that Meghan has been unhappy in her role and didn’t like what was expected of her as Harry’s wife. The transparent and patronising PR exercises of cooking meals with the Grenfell Tower survivors and visiting amenities for disadvantaged teenagers in south London all tailed off, as did one of their mental health charities which was so similar to The Samaritans it caused consternation in some quarters.
I do feel that the monarchy is beginning to crumble and not before time. It is an outmoded and expensive institution which has no purpose in a modern democracy. When Scotland achieves independence the unravelling of the English establishment will be their problem, not ours.
Susan Rowberry
Duns
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