The British press and social media are atwitter about the possibility – make that probability – of Prince Harry marrying Meaghan Markle. And it’s not because she’s divorced..
Four decades ago, when I was a toddler in Port Antonio, Jamaica, King Edward VIII had to give up his throne to marry “the woman I love,” American Wallis Simpson, because she was divorced.
But that was then. Now, the buzz is because Miss Markle (in photos at right with her mother and with her prince) is black.
Not black by Jamaican standards. After all, her father is white and she looks Caucasian. In Jamaica, where she and her prince are vacationing, she is probably regarded as white. But she’s black to Americans. And to many Britons.
As far as I can tell, she would be the first black member of the British royal family.
In other parts of the world, of course, black royalty is as old as the Queen of Sheba.
But, while the British population has grown increasingly diverse, the monarchy has remained remarkably white.
Now, it seems, this barrier is about to be broken. And reaction in the British press is “mixed.” The Daily Mail, for example, wondered out loud whether the Queen would be likely to “pop around for tea” with Miss Markle’s folks.
But, as far as I am concerned, it’s about time.
Race and Prince Harry’s romance
