Empire of the son
Court Circular , Issue 1687 ‘Flunkey’ writes…
NO ONE really believed H&M’s promise that they were back in the UK to live a quiet life. We all know they are here for a year (at most) to stir up trouble before flouncing off again to sell stories about how appalling the royals are.

But this time they’ll not be going back to California, where their grifting has been exposed, but to the Commonwealth, where they can really set about agitating the Windsors.

During their quasi-royal tour last year, Meghan made a guest appearance on Masterchef Australia where she grabbed headlines by taking a call on-air from hubby. Now she has announced she will appear as co-host on its Junior Masterchef offshoot in 2027 – dangling the possibility that her elusive kids, Archie and Lilibet, might come along.

The timing of the announcement, as her father-in-law Brian began his Caribbean tour, which takes in the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, was no accident. H&M gained a lot of support across sections of the Commonwealth after Meghan accused the royals of racism five years ago.

Sir Hilary Beckles, chairman of the Caribbean Reparations Commission and a formidable force at this year’s summit, called for members to rally around “the black royals, who are victims of the institutional racism embedded in the culture and consciousness of the royal family. The young black prince, Archie, is poised, in the years ahead to become a symbol and lightning rod of this movement.”

And race, in the form of slavery and reparations, continues to dominate Commonwealth agendas, leaving the monarchy vulnerable as Downing Street sends mixed messages publicly about whether or not the UK is to apologise for its involvement in the slave trade.

Antiguan authorities warned in advance that any “phony sanctimony” no longer cuts the mustard: “We are not simpletons.”

Britain’s delegates, repeating the folly of two years ago in Samoa, had tried to keep slavery and reparations off the agenda, only to be sharply reminded that the old country can no longer give orders.

British intransigence could well see the Commonwealth remodel itself, ditching the monarchy and its echoes of empire. It nearly happened in 2018 when Brian came close to failing to be anointed as the next head of the Commonwealth, which is not a hereditary position. The insurgents were stymied by the late queen’s lobbying and the fact that there was no alternative unifying figure.

But with William noticeably cold towards the bloc (since a disastrous tour of the Caribbean in 2022 he has only visited Commonwealth countries when they are hosting his Earthshot Prize), the way is open for another push for change. And among those being whispered about in Antigua to succeed Brian are H and/or M, simultaneously royal and unroyal, traditionalists and iconoclasts, black and white. Really?