Prince Harry: Carol Vorderman makes dig at prince's intelligence
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Gabon said it was “surprising and patronising” for the couple to use their Netflix series to attack the organisation, which was Queen Elizabeth’s proudest achievement.
The country’s high commissioner to the UK criticised “clumsy” comments about “the Empire 2.0”.
Aichatou Sanni Aoudou said: “To think we would sign up blindly to be vassals to another empire is to suggest we are foolish. This is why many in Gabon would feel patronised by these clumsy remarks.
“We entered the Commonwealth last year with our eyes wide open and hearts full of excitement.”
There was astonishment inside the Royal Household and at the headquarters of the Commonwealth in London that the Sussexes used footage of the Queen to criticise Britain’s role in the Commonwealth.
Harry and Meghan have been accused of tarnishing the late Queen’s legacy (Image: Netflix)
The documentary showed footage of the late monarch at a Commonwealth summit in 2018, and a recording of her broadcasting to the British Empire in 1947.
It was interspersed with criticism of the organisation by writer Afua Hirsch and academic Kehinde Andrews, a professor of black studies at Birmingham City University.
Ms Hirsch said: “I sometimes call the Commonwealth ‘Empire 2.0’ because that is what it is.”
Professor Andrews, who has previously claimed that the Royal Family was deeply embedded in racism, insisted the Commonwealth had not changed from the days of Empire, adding: “If you look at the black people in the Commonwealth, well their conditions are almost just as bad as they were 50 or 100 years ago.”
Royal sources were exasperated that Harry was, in the words of one critic, “trashing the Queen’s life work” by using the Commmonwealth criticism in his TV series.
Another said: “That was astonishing. It really did strike at her legacy.”
Queen Elizabeth II at the 2018 Commonwealth summit (Image: GETTY)
At the Commonwealth headquarters in London, staff questioned why Harry and Meghan chose well-known British critics of the organisation and of the monarchy to take part in the series instead of asking member nations why they joined.
A Commonwealth source challenged the view that it was perpetuating the Empire. He said: “This is very odd, a historic view that seems to ignore why our diverse member states freely joined the Commonwealth based on their shared values and what they gain from their membership.
“The new Commonwealth is led by our equal members and it is them that direct our work, decide on our priorities and benefit from our successes.”
The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, which was previously honoured to have Harry and Meghan as its president and vice-president, has distanced itself from them.
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry and Queen Elizabeth II at the Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony (Image: GETTY)
Chris Kelly, the trust’s chief executive, appeared to take issue with the way the Commonwealth was portrayed in the programme.
He said: “The Commonwealth is a voluntary association that supports peace, human rights, and democracy. The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust works across the Commonwealth to support young leaders who are transforming their communities.”
The exiled couple’s involvement in a series criticising the monarchy and the Commonwealth, which is home to 2.6 billion people or a third of the world’s population, has damaged Britain’s standing in the world and UK foreign policy, according to experts.
David Haigh, chief executive of Brand Finance, which measures the value of UK soft power, said it would temporarily hurt the reputation of the monarchy and the Commonwealth in the US in particular and accused the couple of “sour grapes”.
But he insisted that Britain’s trade and ties with the Commonwealth would ultimately improve after Brexit, which Harry also criticised in the series.
Mr Haigh said of the Sussexes: “Initially, they were extremely keen to be the Queen’s ambassadors in the Commonwealth. I think it was actually because he (Harry) saw it as an opportunity to spend more time in Africa.
“Now it looks like sour grapes. They are throwing bricks at it.”
Earlier this year there was controversy when the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust promoted the online mental health coaching business BetterUp, which employs Prince Harry as its chief impact officer.
Critics said it was Harry, former president of the trust, using his royal connections to drum up business for his employer.
Mr Haigh (of Brand Finance) criticised the link and said it was valuable publicity for the startup. Yesterday he said: “It wasn’t a good look.”
Mr Haigh added that Britain and King Charles needed to reset their relationship with the Commonwealth. “Brexit gives us the opportunity to do that,” he said. “Harry and Meghan’s actions are not helpful. It is damaging. But eventually the UK will enjoy improved trade and relations with Commonwealth countries because leaving the EU will allow that. When the UK joined the EU in 1973 it had to loosen those ties.”
The King and his family are expected to visit Commonwealth countries, especially the 14 overseas realms where he is also monarch, next year to celebrate the new reign. They are also expected to adopt new approaches after criticism of Prince William and Kate’s tour of the Caribbean earlier this year.
King Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 75, have vowed to carry on as normal despite the upset caused by Harry and Meghan. They went to the new city of Wrexham yesterday and met two other stars of a documentary series, Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at Wrexham’s football ground.
Although the monarch and his wife would not be filmed by Netflix cameras with Harry and Meghan, they happily agreed for Disney cameras to follow their meeting yesterday with the actors, whose series Welcome to Wrexham, about taking over the club, has proved a hit.
William, meanwhile, held virtual calls at Windsor with the winners of last week’s Earthshot Prize awards, while Kate was preparing for the televised Christmas carol service she will host at Westminster Abbey next Thursday.
William, 40, was mourning the loss of a close friend last night. Mark Jenkins, a wildlife ranger and experienced bush pilot, and his son were killed in a plane crash in Kenya.
More than two million people watched Harry and Meghan’s Netflix series in the UK on Thursday. The audience of 2.4 million for the first episode is the biggest single-day audience for any Netflix show since the streaming service joined the rating body Barb in October and was more than double the first-day figure for the latest series of The Crown.
COMMENT BY AICHATOU SANNI AOUDOU
As the Commonwealth’s newest member, Gabon finds Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s disparaging remarks about this organisation surprising and patronising.
To use a word Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, would have understood as a fluent speaker of our official language, we are more than a little “déçu” – disappointed.
We are a small nation but we are a proud one. We know full well the realities of imperial exploitation. The French we speak is itself a legacy of rule from Paris.
But we are also capable of moving on.
French companies have been welcomed here for decades, pumping the oil and gas that made our new nation’s economy bloom. France garrisons hundreds of its troops here, our position on the equatorial west coast of Africa giving us strategic importance in a region facing the blight of militant Islamic terrorism.
To think we would sign up blindly to be vassals to another empire is to suggest we are foolish. This is why many in Gabon would feel patronised by these remarks.
We entered the Commonwealth last year with our eyes wide open. We did it to take our place in a confederacy of equals, because we see strength in diversity and because we acknowledge we have much to learn from others – and much to give.
That is what the Commonwealth stands for and why we are proud to be a member.