Robert Lacey quoted in Observer article ahead of the Harry and Meghan interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The anger of public responses in the buildup to Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is a sign of the growing chasm between the generations, say expert royal watchers and social analysts.
“Anthropologically it is so interesting, and that has always been my concern really,” said Robert Lacey, author and royal adviser to Netflix’s hit series The Crown. “In a secular society, they [the royal family] are the closest thing we have to religion. Down the years, they only matter if they matter to people – and clearly they still do. That is why Harry and Meghan are going on primetime television in America.”
Social media, with compelling episodes of The Crown and the sustained popularity of Meghan Markle’s former television show, Suits, mean that younger observers on both sides of the Atlantic feel they are still relevant.
“There is great appeal this time for young people,” added Lacey, who has been writing about the royal family for 40 years. “I’m also enormously struck by the differences between American and British reactions. It’s quite extraordinary how Americans see it solely as a question of the Sussexes ‘finding freedom’. Whereas here we still tend to accept you will be restricted if you are a member of the royal family.”
Read the full article: Harry and Meghan stir public debate ahead of Oprah interview
Robert Lacey is the author of Battle of Brothers: William, Harry and the Inside Story of a Family in Tumult.
