The Sussexes ‘stand with the people of Ukraine against this breach of… law’

Three royal “things” happened over the course of about seven hours yesterday. One, Kensington Palace issued their press release and tweet confirming the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s big tour of Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas. Two, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex confirmed that they would attend the NAACP Image Awards and that they would be receiving the President’s Award for their social justice work. Three, the Sussexes issued a statement on their Archewell site about the situation in Ukraine:

Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and all of us at Archewell stand with the people of Ukraine against this breach of international and humanitarian law and encourage the global community and its leaders to do the same.

[From Archewell]

My gut-reaction is that the differences between the two couples couldn’t be starker. Harry and Meghan are receiving an award for their commitment to social justice, and they’re using the power of their pulpit to make a clear message of support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. William and Kate were the ones who looked like they weren’t reading the room, issuing a press release about their keen neocolonialist busywork tour in the middle of the first full day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Would it really have been that difficult for Kensington Palace to wait a day or two before issuing the press release? Would it really have been that difficult for the Cambridges to issue their own personal statement supporting Ukrainians?

So, obviously, the Daily Mail had to… make fun of Harry and Meghan for acting like the humanitarians they are.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle raised eyebrows today after intervening in the Ukraine crisis with a statement condemning Vladimir Putin’s invasion, amid jokes that the Russian president would be ‘shaking in his boots’.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wrote on the website of their Archewell charity: ‘Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and all of us at Archewell stand with the people of Ukraine against this breach of international and humanitarian law and encourage the global community and its leaders to do the same.’

But the couple, who live in an £11million mansion in Montecito, California, some 6,000 miles away from Kyiv, were criticised for a ‘breathtakingly arrogant’ statement and accused of ‘once again making this about them’.

Today, Twitter was abuzz with reaction after Harry and Meghan issued their statement – which was headed ‘We Stand With The People Of Ukraine’ – as some social media users posted memes poking fun at the couple. Royal biographer Angela Levin, author of 2018 book Harry: Conversations with the Prince, said that the statement was ‘breathtakingly arrogant’, also tweeting: ‘Only a few days ago Harry was calling himself ‘just a regular guy’.’

GB News host Colin Brazier added: ‘Nothing throws an invasion into reverse like a lightning strike from the Sussexes.’ And broadcaster Piers Morgan tweeted: ‘This will really rattle Putin.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Does Angela Levin think that Harry being a regular guy means that he can’t also be a humanitarian who cares about the suffering of Ukrainians? Harry and Meghan never claimed that their words would stop an invasion! The purpose of people like the Sussexes making these kinds of statements is that A) people actually do want to know where they stand, and B) it stops the narratives about “why haven’t they said anything.” They would have been damned either way, and I’m glad they made the statement. I genuinely believe that people like Angela Levin are mad that William and Kate didn’t think to make a simple statement of support as well.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, WENN.