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Will Harry and Meghan live happily ever after?

By Tunde Oyedoyin, London
26 January 2020   |   3:11 am
When, in 1966, Percy Sledge, hit the airwaves with his award winning song “when a man loves a woman,” he did mention that the lover man doesn’t mind trading his world to keep hold of what he’s got.

When, in 1966, Percy Sledge, hit the airwaves with his award winning song “when a man loves a woman,” he did mention that the lover man doesn’t mind trading his world to keep hold of what he’s got. For obvious reasons, he definitely didn’t have the sixth in line to the throne of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 11, in mind.

Despite that, Prince Harry’s decision to relocate his young family to Canada, hoping the ‘leap of faith’ (to forge a different model as part-time royals) brings a more peaceful life for Meghan and baby Archie, looks the part of what the late American singer was trying to tell his fans and listeners to watch out for.

Though Harry may not have defined what the leap of faith means in its entirety, sources close to the couple have fingered the media spotlight on them as being the archenemy. The Queen herself referenced the this in a statement, noting that: “l recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.”

Perhaps, what she didn’t say was that l understand this leap of faith is a desire to please your dear wife, who wants to likes having her way. A case in point is her decision to have their baby at home. After all, Harry has been in the media almost all his life and it’s all part and parcel of being a royal. In his past life, he’s been photographed with the ‘boys’, partying hard as if there’s no tomorrow and doing what eminently eligible bachelors do.

By the way, here’s the backstory. It was just less than two years ago when the 35-year old Prince married his retired actress Americana -Canadian wife before a celebrity guest list congregation, including a global audience that watched from across the world. The fairy tale solemnisation between royalty and the world of acting was supposed to lead to a happy life ever after marriage. In the words of our very own Sefi Atta, “everything good will come,” to them and truly, they did afterward.

It wasn’t even long before they were assigned the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by the grandma of the groom, her majesty the Queen. Though the odds of Harry being King is slimmer than for the Supreme Court of Nigeria to reverse its recent decision on the Imo state governorship election, being His or Her Royal Highness is still worth its weight in gold. It is both a call and an honour to serve both the Queen and country and even the Commonwealth. It would be a disservice to someone of Harry’s caliber to say they don’t know the terms and conditions of being -until recently – the third in line to the throne.

Even Mr. Thomas Markle, knows that much to tell channel 5 that: “When they got married, they took on an obligation, and that obligation is to be part of the royals and to represent the royals”. Harry’s father-in-law added, “it would be foolish for them not to,” especially as it is: “one of the greatest long-living institutions ever.” Continuing, he said: “every young girl wants to become a princess and she got that….”

But with the couple’s January 8 Instagram announcement that they were stepping back as senior royals, their leap of faith triggered a hardline deal from the Olori ebi (head of the family) who, according to reports, had told the young royals to hold on. Perhaps, the plan was for the Palace to do a deal with Harry and Meghan, before giving them the green light to go public with their decision. Well, they just couldn’t be bothered to even shop for patience on EBay or at Amazon. We live in an instant age, anyway, and waiting seems an endangered virtue, especially if your wife is a ‘feminist.’

According to reports, both senior royals and the Queen didn’t get to know of the announcement till a few minutes before the couple broke the news on social media. A pound for pound response was, perhaps the least of reactions Harry and Meghan expected. In other words, the 93-year monarch just wanted them to know that the buck stops with her at Buckingham Palace, and not at their former bedroom in Frogmore Cottage.

In other words, if a grandson and his wife think they can choose to be part -time senior members of my kingdom, l, Queen Elizabeth 11, the olori ebi (family head) of the House of Windsor and alayeluwa of England, has decided to strip you both of the His and Her Royal Highness, HRH titles that the palace bestowed on you at my discretion. Besides, you Duke, you must drop all your official military roles and then off you go in the direction of your leap of faith.

Interestingly, on Sunday, Harry, disclosed to a charity dinner in aid of ‘ Sentebale’ that: “Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the Commonwealth and my military associations. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.” Watch this, the prince added, “it brings me great sadness that it came to this.” Really? Well, sorry, love. Wake up and smell the coffee (bi ko.)

You can’t begrudge Her Majesty, though. Of course, the Olori ebi, just wouldn’t allow the young royals to take the monarchy for a ride. In fact, Mr. Markle, is in support of Her Majesty, he told a channel the 5 documentary Harry and his daughter are “cheapening” the royals by wanting to commercialise their status. He actually said of his daughter and Harry: “l think both of them are turning into lost souls.”

Here’s the takeaway, will the House of Windsor ever remain the same after this breakaway? Though the jurors are still out on this, there’s nothing to suggest it won’t. As a matter of fact, what the Queen appeared to have cleverly done is to separate the monarchy from family, and in so doing, made it clear to her heirs and any young and future royals and their spouses, that: young hearts, “are at liberty to ‘run free’, if they want to. Well, they still carry royal blood, but forget about being a part-time Duke or Duchess.”

More importantly, prospective spouses of the heirs of Her Majesty should also be warned that they cannot use the paparazzi as an alibi to hide their desire to take a ‘leap of faith.’ it won’t wash, both before Her Majesty and the British public. They had better not think of throwing the race card as well. What is even strangest in the Harry and Meghan saga is how a couple who soaked in the pomp and glamour of their one in a million kind of wedding now turn around less than two years afterward and accuse the same media – that gave them much global leverage – of being the enemy? Even most E class celebrities know that fame and media scrutiny are two sides of the same coin.

It would have been better and perhaps more effective for Meghan and Harry to have invoked the wrath of Sango- the Yoruba acclaimed god of thunder – on the media than to attempt to blame it as the reason for their supposedly ‘leap of faith.’ Not many Britons and even their well wishers will need the brain of an Albert Einstein to suspect the couple may be acting out the script written and directed by a retired American-Canadian actress. As for whether Harry and Meghan will live happily ever after? Time will surely tell.

But think about this, which right thinking prince will forfeit a publicly funded 26-room mansion for a leap of faith in Canada? Percy Sledge could be right after all, ‘when a nan loves a woman,’ not only can she do no wrong, when she’s playing him for a fool, he’s the last to know it.’ As already mentioned, the Queen is not against wanting to live independently of her kingdom, it’s just that the evidence suggests that their wanting to be part-time royals doesn’t wash before the Olori ebi, and perhaps in the eyes of other senior royals in the clan.

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