Irish column on Harry and Meghan savagely compares Britain's embattled monarchy to killer clowns, Ewoks
The U.S. has its own contentious history with Britain's monarchy, but Ireland's fraught ties are about 250 years more recent and 4,000 miles closer. In an Irish Times column on Sunday night's bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, Patrick Freyne makes clear he has no great sympathy for her royal guests, Prince Harry and his American celebrity wife, Meghan Markle — or even Oprah, described as "wearing roundy Harry Potter glasses." But he begins with a blithely savage republican broadside against the institution of the British Crown:
Freyne explains that "this isn't a mere royal nonstory" because it trips all sorts of socioeconomic mines, adding that the "charming" and "clever" Harry and Meghan "make the monarchy look like an archaic and endemically racist institution that has no place in the modern world. Well duh."
And while various "sycophants to hereditary tax-suckling grifters" hilariously snipe at the couple's "nascent media empire and lucrative Spotify and Netflix contracts," Freyne predicts, "Harry and Meghan are ultimately going to win." Because the story of Harry and Meghan, he proposes, is ultimately "about the potential union of two great houses, the Windsors and Californian Celebrity. Only one of those things has a future, and it's the one with the Netflix deal." Read Freyne's entire column at The Irish Times.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 25, 2024
Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - TikTok in the firing line, protests on campus, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Paris 2024 Olympics: a guide to the Games
In Depth Everything you need to know about the biggest event in sport
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine using covert US long-range missiles
Speed Read The weapons are part of a $1 billion Ukraine aid package
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76
Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproar
Speed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Kevin Hart awarded Mark Twain Prize
Speed Read He is the 25th recipient of the prestigious comedy prize
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is Downton Abbey set to return for a final film?
Speed Read Imelda Staunton reveals that a third movie may be in the pipeline
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'Oppenheimer' sweeps Oscars with 7 wins
speed read The film won best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best actor (Cillian Murphy)
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Rust' armorer convicted of manslaughter
speed read The film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed by actor Alec Baldwin during rehearsal
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The Beatles are getting 4 intersecting biopics
Speed Read Director Sam Mendes is making four separate movies, each told from the perspective of one band member
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Taylor Swift to Miley Cyrus: female artists dominate 2024 Grammys
Speed Read SZA, Phoebe Bridgers and Lainey Wilson were also among the winners at LA gala
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published