Royal Family, Common Problems

On a certain level, it is easy to dismiss the recent interview of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as frivolous and irrelevant to the lives of the rest of us. To most Americans, the concept of a royal family is a joke to begin with, an anachronism of history.

On the other hand, there were certain aspects of the interview that made the travails faced by Harry and Meghan all too real — and extremely relevant to the 21st century.

The revelation that Meghan contemplated suicide, but received no mental health support among the royal family because it would make them “look bad,” was shocking, but it is something to which ordinary families can relate.

Mental health problems still carry a stigma in society at-large. If nothing else, Meghan Markle’s willingness to discuss her issues hopefully will serve as an inspiration both to those suffering from depression (among other mental health illnesses) and their families to seek help in the same way that we do for physical health issues before it is too late.

Then of course, there was the discussion of race, which demonstrated just how deeply embedded racism remains in every strata of society across the globe in 2021.

The concept of royalty may be a bunch of nonsense, but the issues of mental health and racism are not and we are grateful that Harry and Meghan were willing to share their personal and painful experiences to shed light on these matters that bear relevance to everybody, regardless of social status.