I’ve talked a lot about how I believe Prince Harry was already on a good path and putting in the work on himself before he even met Meghan. Meghan is often credited/blamed for Harry’s awakening, but I truly think Harry was already there – he was in therapy, he was figuring out his life, he was launching interesting projects. The reason he fell so hard and so fast for Meghan was because he was “ready” for Meghan and what she brought to the table. That being said, I do think that falling for Meghan was the first time Harry saw himself, his family and the institution around them for what it’s always been: an institution of white supremacy. Harry went on a journey SO FAST to understand what was happening to Meghan. This was discussed in an NPR interview with Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, authors of Finding Freedom:
Scobie on Harry’s wokeness: ‘Harry’s journey to wokeness has been very public. We’ve seen him learning and educating himself along the way, but this experience of witnessing Meghan face racist remarks and commentary would have been the first time he’d seen someone in his life or someone he was particularly close to affected by it in a certain way. We talk about some of the more obvious examples in some of the media coverage but I think that the things that have flown under the radar are some of the othering of Meghan we’ve seen. We’ve sort of seen it repeatedly that she’s not one of us. And now, what do they mean by not one of us? And I think there are things like that which Harry’s really had to become more attuned to and learn to see when it happens in front of him. And Meghan would have been the person that guided him on that journey.’
Durand on why they stepped away: ‘Harry really was looking out for his family. His wife felt aggrieved, and they thought that the best decision that they could make was to step back, have a little bit more privacy but still be in a situation where they could carry on their mission, devote themselves to the causes that were so important to them.’
Scobie on William & Harry’s issues: ‘I think it’s one of the early stories you saw come out of this book was this conversation that took place between Harry and William where William seemingly gives sort of brotherly advice to Harry about sort of perhaps watching the speed at which his relationship with Meghan was progressing. And I think there’ve been some people have commented that that might have been a moment where Harry was too sensitive. But I think we need to really look at the overall picture here and what led up to that moment. Harry was already aware of some of the murmurings that were taking place behind his back within the royal household about Meghan. He’d also experienced some of his own friends speaking about Meghan or making negative remarks behind her back that word had traveled back to him about. So when William sat down and had that conversation with him, that was the starting point.’
It’s so bizarre to me that this is even being debated or that there are still people in denial about how Meghan was treated and why. It was one of the most hateful smear campaigns I have ever seen in my years of gossip-watching and gossip-perpetrating, and yes, the British establishment really did not know what to do when their white prince fell for a biracial American woman. I also think talking about Harry’s “journey to wokeness” trivializes the very real threats Harry and Meghan faced and still face.
As for what Scobie says about the brothers…. I appreciate the fact that Scobie is trying to put the fallout in a larger context. “Emotional Harry” didn’t simply write off “Wise William” because William told him to take it slow. Harry knows his brother. Harry knew what people were saying – Scobie is saying that in that context, Harry knew exactly what William was trying to do, which is be a patronizing a–hole.
Here’s Woke Harry saying woke sh-t.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.
I think it says a lot about the people hating on Harry and Meghan for Harry being woke now. If you find that to be a negative thing, and something that threatens the monarchy and the relationships in it, then it’s not the “Woke” guy that needs to change.
I definitely think Harry was already on the path to “wokeness” (I really hate that term, it sounds so trivial) when he met Meghan; if he wasn’t, I don’t think she would have been interested in him.
I do like to imagine the heads exploding over in KP/Anmer/Windsor every time Harry gives a speech/interview about racial issues though.
I wish we could do away with ‘woke’ . It sounds pretentious and that is why the DM uses it with Harry and Meghan.
Because white people took it and pretty much broke it/ weaponised it. “Woke” comes from the phrase “stay woke” (credited to Erika Badu but Danny Glover’s song popularised it). It just means that you have to have constant vigiliance about your surroundings, what you think, etc. Aware doesn’t have the same nuance.
I wish we could do away with white people taking terms that have long existed in the black community and overusing it to the point it becomes trite and then declaring the term “over” that they have NO ownership of.
That being said, I’d be okay if the term went back to being not part of the public lexicon.
I hate it to. It’s patronizing and diminishing. It makes me cringe. Especially now. Aware is a better word. This just makes him look like the average white mail who tried to say the right things without having any real meaning behind it. I don’t think that’s the case with him.
BECKS1 -ITA. H & M must have had a strong connection from the beginning, otherwise why bother? The crap started pretty early. It’s not like they were living a fairytale before the wedding. Both were taking huge risks entering into the marriage (Meg giving up her career, Harry knowing full well what the press & RF were capable of), so that to me is evidence that Harry was already far along that path.
Durand is still trying the ” how Meghan felt” angle, which is paramount to ” sorry if I offended you” – a show of sympathy that is not much sympathetic at all, but I like that Omid, while being very cordial, uses the “we” when he discusses the racial overtones of the campaign against Meghan. He also makes a similar observation we have been doing: Harry knows this people and knows how they speak. If he was mad at William for his tone, it was because he knew what William was saying.
I think Durand came onboard as to not completelly piss off the RF. A commentator that wants to place no real blame on the RF, but rather on ” feelings” and on unnamed courtiers.
Notice Omid’s co -author says “Meghan was aggrieved” with no mention that Harry was as well. I don’t know why Omid wrote the book with this woman.
@aurora, the structure of the sentence is curious. It’s passive, placing the object, Meghan, in the subject’s role. Usually we would name the person performing the action, in this case it’s the RF, RR, whoever was doing the aggrieving. By placing the object in place of the subject, it focuses on the object’s response, in many ways, letting the subject off the hook. It’s a way to shift responsibility from the people doing the aggrieving, and making the person receiving the abuse, responsible for how she reacts. It’s a common linguistic trick to avoid blaming the ones on whom blame rests.
Thank you! Like Harry didn’t also feel aggrieved at his family’s disgusting behavior.
Maybe Durand had better contacts inside the palace – she has not been particularly fair to Meghan over the years.
My guess is because she had sources inside the palace who wouldn’t talk to him for oblivious reasons. Which gives the book the both sides angle to which the reader can come to their own conclusion.
For some people it isn’t even uncomfortable- they are so far removed from anyone different from themselves and their own experience that they have literally no idea.
It is on them. To educate themselves about others and the world.
I have friends who are white, properly middle class people, who genuinely have no concept of what poverty looks like. All of their friends are wealthy professionals, everyone they meet in work is the same, all their social circles reflect them and their views.
They have no concept of their privilege and are aghast when there is mention of it. They are high identifiers with having built their own luck on their own hard work. This is nonsense of course.
They have an occasional friend who is black who is also a professional or v well off and so they believe they know about race.
Harry – got to experience racism. He faced it through the eyes of someone he loved and will face it and bear it with them and with their children. He is finally learning about poverty, structural difference, patriarchy and colonialism. It is a steep learning curve but he is on it and it must be uncomfortable.
It is rubbish that he needed to be taught or shown that. But in his circles no one was ever ever talking about it. In his life it was never something he would see or understand.
We need to acknowledge that lots of people only learn by experience otherwise they deny deny deny rather than face the discomfort or need to make a change
I think Harry was on a path of wanting to do more, wanting to do devote his time to important causes. But the issues of racism and racial inequality? No I think that came directly from being with Meghan and seeing up close and personal what that looks like. He never talked about those specific issues pre-Mwghan. Harry may well have been on his way to “wokeness” (I hate that phrase). But Meghan got him there QUICK. Harry is a like a LOT of white or non-black people who enter relationships with black people. The “concept” becomes a reality.
gosh I wish I could vote your comment up 1000000000 times
I 100% agree with you.
“But the issues of racism and racial inequality? No I think that came directly from being with Meghan and seeing up close and personal what that looks like.” — exactly! H finally understood the reality of POC.
I don’t hate ‘woke’ because it is a word that has been weaponized by the right!
The word “woke” makes me cringe, I’m certain a journalist and author can find a better way to describe Prince Harry’s evolution. “Woke” used to be an inside joke on Black Twitter, now its a perjorative used by right wing trolls to describe anyone with a conscience.
“Woke” existed LOOOOOOOONG before Black Twitter.
Yeah woke has been bastardised in England by people like Piers Morgan which is typical and a shame.
Seems like people missed the Heads Together campaign and from 2013 when Harry was talking about gender equality at Beyoncé’s Chime for change concert and talking about importance of girls education on his tours and being a feminist . Funny the people who cry about Meghan ‘stealing their Prince’ didn’t know him at all.
But yeah a lot of people see ugly reality when they are in a mixed relationship & being threatened for being a race traitor and having baby experience racism at 3 days old will do that to you.
Apparently Carolyn was the one who had the book idea and brought Omid onboard. I believe they have been working on this for 2 years (which is why it seems a rehash of old stories) but the idea was to provide a counterpoint to the smear stories which I think they knew at the time those stories were out there- weren’t totally true.
Carolyn seems a royal fan and I think Omid will still be on the royal beat for a while so that’s why I’ve always said Finding Freedom wouldn’t get to the heart of the real tea and isn’t the Sussexes book. And from what I’ve seen so far it seems very ‘both sides’& with palace apparently being relieved about its contents- I don’t think my take was wrong.
I wonder if Omid will come out with his own book in the future which is why there isn’t anything earth shattering in this book? He’s pretty outspoken on Twitter so there has got to be a reason he’s pulling punches in the book, at least based on the reports I’ve read.
@MsIam, I wonder what he’s going to do because unless he’s looking to change careers, he’s a royal reporter, not just a Sussex reporter. I haven’t been following his twitter feed closely but I do listen to his podcast The Heir Pod and he’s usually pretty complementary to most of the royals that aren’t well-regard here (e.g. The Cambridges and the Queen). Which is one of the reasons why I never expected anything earth-shattering from Finding Freedom.
@Maxime duCamp I heard he is already writing articles on other subjects, so I doubt he will become a Katie Nichols to Meghan´s Cate. Omid might be complimentary and he is half brit, but he is also half not. He is on record speaking about facing some of the prejudices and biases Meghan did and he has more empathy and intelligence than the regular royal commentator- this is to mean, I do not believe he will dedicate his whole life to being a royal commentator. It is a great difference from the usual ” die hard monarchists” that cover them.
I don’t want Omid go come out with another book in the future even if he is his a co-author he just plays both sides
“ Scobie is saying that in that context, Harry knew exactly what William was trying to do, which is be a patronizing a–hole.”
This x 10
I mean, not everyone waits 10 years to get engaged. Kind of depends on when you meet, 18 vs. 28 or 38. A year and half is a pretty decent window to know if you’re compatible for marriage, especially by your mid thirties!
Time for Harry to cut ties with the royal fam for good and get out of the white supremacy clan that’s ruled the world for centuries. Why bother attaching your work with the royal family and what it stands for? I think Harry and Meghan should have never tried to use Sussex title when they left…it detracts on the message of inclusivity and equality when you’re using ur title that’s passed down from generations based solely on the color of your skin and ur birth.
Based on all the excerpts that’s put out so far, this is not a Harry/Meghan book. This is a smart take from a professional reporter who knows how to do his job. I think the balance spin on the book comes from Omid rather than Carolyn who from comments she’s made about Meghan seems no different from the other RR. She brought Scobie in to try a different approach and it’s paying off for her and them. People keep portraying this as Meghan’s take, but I don’t think they had anything to do with this book. It’s possible people they know felt free to respond to Scobie, again because he knows how to be professional.
If you’ve been paying even casual attention to Harry over the last few years prior to Meghan entering his life, where Harry presently is should not be a surprise. If all you knew of Harry was the various messes he’s got up to over the years, then yeah – shocking!
Can’t wait for this book. Online I found that there is a chapter on Samantha, titled ” A problem with Samantha”. Looking like Scammy is going to get a dose of her own medicine and get trashed in this book. Toxic Tom has his own chapter too. They’ll claim it’s not true of course. Dollar bet the Fail lawyers are looking at the book to see if anything damages the paper’s defense in the lawsuit