‘An attack on the Queen’s proudest legacy’: Meghan and Harry’s Netflix show is accused of ‘offensive’ attack on late Monarch after Commonwealth was branded ‘Empire 2.0’
- Commonwealth was branded ‘Empire 2.0’ in Harry and Meghan Netflix show
- Bombshell docuseries has been accused of attacking the late Queen’s legacy
- Couple served as President and Vice President of Queen’s Commonwealth Trust
Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Netflix documentary has been accused of attacking the late Queen’s legacy after branding the Commonwealth ‘Empire 2.0’.
The association of nations, much-loved by Her Majesty, is given the label by academic Afua Hirsch, while author Kehinde Andrews claims ‘nothing has changed’ from the UK’s colonial past, apart from the Royal Family’s ‘better PR’.
The commentators suggest this racist legacy made it difficult for Meghan to be both assimilated into the firm and widely accepted and loved by the British public.
But the comments have been described as ‘deeply offensive’ by some viewers.
Prince Harry and Meghan previously served as President and Vice President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, which supports youth empowerment in Commonwealth countries.
When Meghan was announced as Vice President in March 2019, she said her work would ‘highlight the Trust’s partnerships with young people across the Commonwealth, and in particular its work supporting women and girls.’
However, the couple lost their patronages when they stepped down as working royals in January 2020.
Giving her analysis of the remarks, Mailplus+ Royal Editor Rebecca English said: ‘A lot of people I’ve spoken to found this particularly offensive when it comes to Harry and his much-loved grandmother and see it really as a direct attack on her and her legacy – when she of course isn’t around to defend it.’
Harry and Meghan in episode three of their bombshell Netflix documentary: Prince Harry and Meghan previously served as President and Vice President of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust
Author Afua Hirsch (pictured) brands the Commonwealth Empire 2.0 in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary, before describing Harry as ‘anti-racist’
She said that while Harry and Meghan do not comment themselves on the Commonwealth, their hired talking heads do, adding: ‘This programme of course, we mustn’t forget, is produced by Archewell, their production company.’
The comments have also created a backlash on social media.
TV pundit Dan Wootton tweeted: ‘The only mercy in the late Queen’s death is she didn’t have to watch Harry and Meghan using Netflix to trash her beloved Commonwealth to millions around the world as the Empire 2.0. Disgraceful.’
Another pointed out that Harry and Meghan were once president and vice president of the Queen Commonwealth Trust, accusing the pair of being ‘hypocrites’.
Twitter users react to the Commonwealth being branded Empire 2.0 in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix docuseries
The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental association that consists mainly of former territories once controlled by the British Empire.
Association is voluntary. Headed by the King and based at the Marlborough House in London, the association is voluntary and is designed to promote peace, human rights, democracy and other core values among its member nations.
It currently holds more than 2.5 billion people and encompasses more than 11.5 million square miles (29.9 million square kilometers).
The Queen was dedicated to the organisation and made more than 200 visits to Commonwealth countries during her historic 70-year reign.
It comes after the Sussexes’ Netflix documentary today unleashed a series of incendiary claims labelling Britain a ‘racist’ country.
In one segment, Harry says the Royal Family has ‘unconscious bias’, and is ‘part of the problem’ when it comes to racism in Britain.
The accusations are levelled across the first three hour-long episodes of Harry & Meghan, which dropped at 8am on Thursday.
Lengthy segments are also given to academics Afua Hirsch and David Olusoga (pictured) who say British tradition is ‘filled with racist imagery’ and say anti-immigration sentiment is a ‘cipher for race’
Even the UK’s departure from the EU is dragged into the fray, as Harry says the series is not ‘just about our story’, adding: ‘This has always been much bigger than us’, amid the back drop of a Brexit protest (pictured) followed by former-PM Boris Johnson vowing to ‘take back control of this country’
What is the Commonwealth of Nations?
What is the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental association that consists mainly of former territories once controlled by the British Empire.
Association in the Commonwealth of Nations is voluntary. The organisation was headed by Queen Elizabeth II and based at the Marlborough House in London. The Commonwealth is designed to promote peace, human rights, democracy and other core values among its member nations.
The Commonwealth currently holds more than 2.4 billion people and encompasses more than 11.5 million square miles (29.9 million square kilometers). Its GDP is estimated to be in excess of $14.6 trillion (£10.4 trillion) as of 2014.
Which countries are in the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth consists of 53 independent countries, the vast majority of which were at one point controlled by the British Empire.
The United Kingdom is one of the member states in the Commonwealth of Nations, as are Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Other member states include India, Pakistan, Singapore, Barbados, Namibia and Papua New Guinea. The member states of the Commonwealth of Nations hail from Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Oceania.
What is the history of the Commonwealth?
The origins of the Commonwealth of Nations date back almost a century.
The 1926 Balfour Declaration enshrined equality and autonomy to the Dominions of the British Empire, while the 1931 Statute of Westminster further codified the independence of the Empire’s Dominions and officially established the Commonwealth.
After a wave of decolonization swept across the world after World War II, the Commonwealth of Nations was officially declared by the London Declaration on April 28, 1949.
Over the years, a number of countries have either voluntarily left or joined the Commonwealth, while others have recognized their own Heads of State in lieu of the British Monarchy. Yet it remains one of the world’s preeminent intergovernmental organizations to this day.
What is the Commonwealth flag?
The Commonwealth flag was adopted in 1976 and modified in 2013.
It consists of a gold globe that represents the global nature of the Commonwealth surrounded by 24 gold spears set against a blue background.
How is Commonwealth Day celebrated?
Observance of Commonwealth Day is not uniform across all 53 member states.
In the United Kingdom, the Union Jack is flown over all government buildings while the Queen gives a special address focused on a particular theme each year and attends a special multi-faith service at Westminster Abbey with the Royal Family.
In Canada, the Union Jack is raised alongside the Canadian flag on government buildings, military bases and other establishments. In the Bahamas and Belize, Commonwealth Day is officially marked in schools with special assemblies and the reading of the Monarch’s address.
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