Looking at the photos of Meghan carrying on with business as usual - except in comfier clothing - I feel as if I have fallen down a rabbit hole with her. There appears to be no context or infrastructure to make what I am seeing actually real.
I am reminded of:
‘Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin,' thought Alice
'but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing i ever saw in my life!’
But perhaps if the grin persists for long enough, somehow or other the rest of the cat will materialise around it and the wished-for reality will be established by sheer force of will.
I do not doubt that Meghan is tenacious and that she can push an agenda forward. But overall I think that both Meghan and Harry have been trying to stuff the wrong things into their suitcases and the agenda, therefore, is compromised and ill-defined.
Holding onto the titles. The Commonwealth tour gigs. The money from Harry’s Dad’s biscuit business. The keys to Frogmore. It all just looks grabby.
On the other hand, I don’t think anyone would begrudge Harry taking Invictus with him, or for that matter, Sentebale. And Meghan’s work to help the Grenfell community was imaginative and provides a template worth keeping for later use.
It strikes me that the last lines of the Invictus poem:
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul
seem to sum up the spirit of what Harry and Meghan are currently trying to do. It could be their defining credo, for themselves and for their work.
To reflect this, the remit of Invictus could be broadened. Turn it into an umbrella organisation to help people overcome adversity and take back control of their lives. (And quietly ditch Sussex Royal and the whole confusing royal-but-not-royal schtick!)
The Invictus Games could be one branch. Then there could be Invictus Women. And Invictus Communities. The established working model of the Hubb Community Kitchen could, for example, be copied to help displaced persons elsewhere with more Meghan-championed cookbooks and other fund-raising initiatives.
I also feel Harry needs to revert to Action Man mode pronto. Padding around in his bare feet giving woke speeches to the global elite just isn’t him. Get some huskies and a sled, Harry. Or at least sign up to fly helicopters for an air ambulance charity in Canada and turn up the derring-do dial.
Finally, if the two of them do make it to LA, Meghan could just go with the surreal madness of it all. She could start up a production company to make a show called The Royal Apprentices.
A vacancy has arisen in the Firm. Do you have what it takes to move to merry olde England and join the Windsors?
There must surely be a bunch of anglophile couples out there who like sipping tea, have delusions of grandeur and are just waiting for such an opportunity.
Meghan could build bridges with her Dad too. He could take care of lighting for the show and/or share babysitting duties with Doria. Meghan could hire/fire, Harry could take on the Nick/Margaret role and the Queen could make a guest appearance. (If she can parachute into the Olympics, anything is possible.)
It would be family therapy and a dosh-making opportunity all rolled into one. And it would certainly out-Trump Trump - infinitely more satisfying than simply avoiding him.
So, there you are, Meghan and Harry, why pay for dodgy advice from PR people when you can have my (increasingly) dodgy advice for free!