Dear Harry and Meghan, welcome back to Britain. I hope that things go well for you. But let’s be honest: a lot of us are a bit worried about your return. Please allow me to explain why I think this is.
We feel that you do not really understand what the monarchy means to us. This might sound strange – you, Harry, were born into it and know it from the inside, so why should you take lectures from a commoner? But maybe an insider can sometimes be blind to what is clear to outsiders.
The monarchy is how a certain aspect of our national psyche is expressed. It’s an old-fashioned part of our national psyche, but it is not dead. It is difficult to talk about, because our culture is very used to ironising and disparaging it, and is embarrassed about affirming it directly. I’m talking about a few related things: reticence, a sense of duty, respect for traditional order.
The monarchy is not a platform for other causes. It is its own cause
Most of us are reluctant to affirm these things in a strong way: we do not want to sound like cultural conservatives or reactionaries who dislike modern Britain. But most of us do affirm these things in a vague and deep way. And support for the monarchy – quiet support, not flag-waving – is a crucial way in which we do so.
