At least we know why Archewell got Markled
We’ve found out why Harry and Meghan haven’t been able to complete any projects since leaving the Royal Family, as they’ve spent the last four weeks calling “business leaders, heads of corporations, and chief marketing officers” and telling them that social media is unwell.
Harry and Meghan started doing this around the same time this seemingly random campaign called “Stop Hate for Profit” started. I’ve seen some comments saying that Harry is taking credit for other people’s hard work but he doesn’t claim to be a part of the campaign itself and makes it sound like he and Meghan are these social media vigilantes.
Obviously, these phone calls were incredibly time consuming, and that must explain why neither Sussex has been able to find a job. We can’t expect the ex-royals who had to post everything on their social media so that it coincided with projects and other large announcements from other members of the family to be able to multitask. Except that the campaign started a month ago. So, what they’ve been up to the rest of the time since March is unclear. But it must be incredibly difficult since they overlooked the signature line on their Archewell application.
What Did Harry actually Say?
With Meghan I at least understand generally where direction she’s trying to go. With Harry there’s so much fluff in his writing that I just wanted to take my red pen and x out entire paragraphs. After reading this 1400-word essay I think I finally understood what he is getting at. (FYI, all of my blog posts are more than 14oo-words, so Harry, watch out because I might steal your thunder).
The gist of Harry’s essay is that we need to change the digital landscape because it’s harming our mental health and dividing us. Apparently, Harry has had enough conversations with experts that he feels comfortable lecturing us common folk about how we need to change online practices. We have to remodel social media around compassion and truth. What this means? I have no idea. And of course, Harry doesn’t say because he’s just putting words on the page at this point.
An interesting part of his essay is when he says that the onus to change social media rests on advertisers and not on regulators and legislators. I think this definitely has some meat to it compared to the platitudes that make up the rest of this essay, but coming from Harry it just seems naïve. But I do want to point out that business often can respond to societal ills faster than the government. An example I think of, is a billion-dollar US based insurance company (the name escapes me, I’m sorry I read the story months ago) pledged to stop insurance deals with fossil fuel companies. And this was their way of doing their part to help the environment. Thus, instead of our government intervening and attempting to wean business off of oil, this company did it themselves.
There are several examples of the market reacting faster than government. Thus, I don’t want this blog post to slam the “Stop Hate For Profit” campaign, because I think it’s a good idea and likely will merit some changes in Facebook’s problematic advertising. My issue with Harry’s article is that he proves his ignorance and how out of touch he is with most people while also talking down to his audience!
Harry is the worst messenger
In the first few paragraphs of the essay Harry states that he and Meghan “believe that communities thrive when the frameworks around them are built from compassion, trust and well-being.” This statement almost injured me with how far back I rolled my eyes. What? How does Harry know anything about what makes for a successful community? He grew up in a Palace, he went to the best schools and even now that he’s left all that behind, he lives in a million-dollar mansion. He doesn’t know anything about being part of a community. Nor has he ever suffered from the problems that face some of the most disadvantaged communities.
He also posits the rest of his essay as if society is at a precipice or a point of no return. As if we are all changing everything because of the events of the last few months. Change takes time, and we often get it wrong. If he had accompanied this sense of urgency with any tangible reason, it would have had more of an effect. Instead he left it vague. Well, I’ll give him a reason. With tons of kids not attending school in person in the fall the amount of time they spend on social media is going to SKYROCKET and I’m sure it will be detrimental to their mental health. Lockdown hasn’t been nice to anybody. But Harry doesn’t mention this, and I think it would have been a nice salient point amid the word salad.
The Duke of Sussex
I want to end this post by talking about Harry’s use of his title. He signs off on his essay, with his signature “Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.” Where most people put their qualification. But that’s exactly the point, what are Harry’s qualifications? None!
The only reason he has the Duke of Sussex title is because he and Meghan convinced the Queen that they would dedicate their lives to serving the Royal Family. If she’d known they were going to do a runner she would have made them deal with being “Prince and Princess Henry of Wales.” The title is a slap in the face for me. I now know that their first 2 years of marriage were nothing more than platform building, and they hoped to take their Sussex Royal Instagram with them when they sold out the royal family. Thus, it really is insulting that he still uses this title that was given to him because he lied about his dedication to the royal family.
Further, he and Meghan keep talking about equality and equity. While at the same time signing off on their lawsuits with “HRH the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.” I’m sorry, but there is nothing equitable about using a peerage title while living in Los Angeles. They both seem to love using their titles, and I honestly wish the Queen had made them stop using them because they would have thrown an even bigger temper tantrum.
In Conclusion
I’ve seen a lot of people saying Harry wants to censor us. That may be the case, but I read this essay to be more of a caffeinated word salad in which Harry proves he is the last person who should be taking credit for this campaign. The actual campaign seems promising, but I wish that Harry and Meghan weren’t able to use it as free PR. There is still no reason behind why neither of them has a job and that 12 month review in which Charles will cut them off is looming. Tick tock.
In short, social media is problematic. But I don’t need an unemployed Prince to tell me how to fix it.
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