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family, meghan, sussex, royal

Harry and Meghan will no longer use 'His and Her Royal Highness,' Buckingham Palace says

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will no longer use the titles His and Her Royal Highness after announcing they would step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family, Buckingham Palace announced Saturday.

Prince Harry and wife Meghan to give up royal highness titles, repay taxpayers money 20%

Buckingham Palace says Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, will no longer use the titles “royal highness” or receive public funds after a deal was struck for them to step aside as senior royals.The palace says the couple will repay some £2.4 million (US$3.1 million) of taxpayers’ money that was spent renovating their home near Windsor Castle.In a statement Saturday, Queen Elizabeth said she was pleased that pleased that “together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my…

Jimmy Fallon: The queen's not wild about Harry and Meghan 35%

The late-night comics riff on Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's royal exit and the reaction of Queen Elizabeth II in Best of Late Night.

Meghan returns to Canada as British royals seek to solve Harry rift 3%

Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, has gone back to Canada to be with their son after the couple provoked a rift with Britain's royal family by unexpectedly announcing they would be stepping back from their roles to spend more time in North America.

Miriam Margolyes has Daniel Radcliffe in stitches on The Graham Norton Show over foreskin comments

Actor appeared on the red sofa with her former Harry Potter co-star

Will Canadian taxpayers fund Harry and Meghan's security? 50%

The royal family says it will not block Harry and Meghan's intent to leave their official roles, but many details are still to be worked out.

Queen Elizabeth moves to control Megxit crisis as Meghan Markle heads to Canada 16%

Queen Elizabeth has moved quickly to take control of the crisis surrounding the decision by Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, to distance themselves from the royal family, ordering royal courtiers to sort out a future role for the pair within days.British media reported Friday that the monarch, who is at her Sandringham estate in eastern England, held a conference call with her son Prince Charles and grandsons Prince William and Prince Harry.The royal family is said to be “hurt’’…

Queen Elizabeth II 'particularly proud' of how Meghan so quickly became one of the family 56%

Meghan and Harry should be flooring it out of royal life 6%

Which side are you on in the war for independence of Harry and Meghan, who are stepping back from royal duties and trying to live their own lives.

Meghan Markle returns to Canada after announcing plan to quit senior royal duties -5%

Duke and Duchess of Sussex recently announced plans to step down as 'senior' members of royal family and become financially independent

Prince Harry and Meghan will no longer use royal titles

Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will not use their HRH ("His and Her Royal Highness") titles as they are no longer working members of the royal family, according to a statement released today from Buckingham Palace.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Fast Facts 50%

Read CNN's Fast Facts about Meghan Markle, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex, wife of Great Britain's Prince Harry.

UK's Harry and Meghan to drop titles and retire as working royals

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will no longer be working members of Britain's monarchy and they will pay their own way in life as they embark on an independent future, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday.

Meghan, Kate, and the Architecture of Misogyny

Are you Team Kate or Team Meghan? If you’re anything like me, you don’t want to pick a side—and you don’t think there should be “sides” at all. Yet ever since Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, parts of the media have pitted the former actor against her sister-in-law.

Where Kate Middleton was once depicted as a dull social climber, she is now presented as the epitome of female virtue: a respectable, silent, discreet, and selfless mother. Meghan must therefore be her opposite—a political, manipulative, “woke” careerist.

Essentially, the two duchesses have been assigned to opposite sides of the culture war. All kinds of seemingly unrelated items have become symbols of one side or the other—quinoa, avocados, the English flag, attitudes toward the death penalty—and now Kate and Meghan have been conscripted too.

Kate is held up as an icon for traditionalists, metaphorically baking cookies (as Hillary Clinton once said stay-at-home mothers do), while Meghan has become the emblem of modern womanhood, outspoken and socially progressive. Never mind that they might just be following their own personalities and interests; they have become representatives of two distinct political positions. By carving up the messiness of female lives into a stark binary, the choices open to all women—not just Meghan and Kate—are limited.

Women’s lives provide a particularly vivid arena for the clash between traditionalism and modernity because we love to interpret women’s choices as commentary on other women’s choices. The Meghan-versus-Kate clash has echoes of the “Mommy Wars,” the feminist shorthand for how every decision made by a mother is interpreted as a rebuke to other mothers who choose differently—breast- versus bottle-feeding, C-section versus “natural birth,” stay-at-home mother versus “supermom.” (It is notable that Prince William and Prince Harry, despite their own different temperaments and approaches, are not being turned into cultural avatars in the same way.)

[Read: The issue with Meghan Markle’s ]Vogue issue

There is a long tradition of regulating female behavior by defining women in opposition to one another. It is a familiar pattern in the coverage of American first ladies too: Think Laura Bush versus Clinton or Melania Trump versus Michelle Obama. While researching my history of feminism, Difficult Women, I was struck by a pattern in which “good girls” are promised an escape from misogyny, as long as they are docile and conformist—a pattern that has race- and class-based overtones. When Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney staged the first suffragette protest, in Manchester in 1905, a newspaper article about the ensuing court case condemned their behavior—they shouted and spat at policemen—saying it resembled that of women “from the slums.” The report added: “It was regrettable that such a charge should be brought against persons who ought, at least, to be able to control themselves.” The aristocrat Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton, another suffragette, wrote in her memoir that upper-class women were inculcated with “a maiming subserviency … so conditional to their very existence that it becomes an aim in itself, an ideal.”

Kate has now been anointed as the standard-bearer of that ideal. Tabloid headlines about her have become noticeably kinder since Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan was announced. She was once deemed vulgar and hopelessly bourgeois, a schemer who chose to study at the University of St Andrews in Scotland precisely to ensnare Prince William. She and her younger sibling Pippa were the “wisteria sisters”—“highly decorative, terribly fragrant and with a ferocious ability to climb.”

How times change. Kate is now the woman against whom Meghan is judged and found wanting. “Of all the pictures published in this tumultuous week for the Royal Family, one stood out for me,” the Daily Mail’s Amanda Platell wrote on January 10. “It was of a smiling mother-of-three in jeans and a jumper … No tears or tantrums here, just a woman happy with her lot and who understands how to behave as a royal.” (Platell, like many other columnists in British right-wing newspapers, is a recent convert to Katemania, having previously condemned her “wardrobe malfunctions,” long hair, approach to parenting, and flight-attendant mother.)

This new valorization of Kate is racially inflected, because Britain’s most durable template of respectable womanhood—the “English rose”—is much less accessible to anyone foreign or dark-skinned. The language used to indicate Meghan’s blackness has been noted by some writers, even as it fails to register with many white Britons: She is “exotic,” “urban,” “straight outta Compton.” The author Afua Hirsch told NPR that mixed-race people see in the coverage of Meghan “very colonial narratives about how we should be so grateful that we were allowed in.” But this “English rose” framing is not an unalloyed benefit for those anointed as the “right” kind of women, either. If minority and working-class women are attacked for being unruly and ungrateful—for not knowing their place—their wealthier white sisters are, in the feminist theorist Catharine MacKinnon’s description, dismissed as “effete, pampered, privileged, protected, flighty, and self-indulgent.”

[Read: Thoroughly modern Meghan]

The pro-Meghan side has also embraced the culture war. She has been presented as a symbol of change—the first person of color in the royal family, an avowed feminist, a divorcée, and a woman with a successful career of her own. But as Nesrine Malik, the author of We Need New Stories, has argued, the radicalism of an actor marrying an aristocrat has often been overstated as a marker of progress. “When black and brown voices heralded the Meghan-Harry wedding as some sort of watershed moment on race it was, to use a problematic word, problematic,” she wrote. Inevitably, there are those who argue that any criticism of Meghan must be driven by racism. Although some of it undoubtedly is, Britain also has a long tradition of deeming royal women unsuitable— yet pointing this out is taken as denialism and white obliviousness.

As a result, much current commentary reads less like scrutiny of the specific situation at hand and more like artillery barrages in a proxy war. The real subject is anxiety over female emancipation and women’s roles in public life. In this framing, any praise for one duchess must be a negative commentary on the other. To be pro-Meghan is to be anti-Kate, and vice versa. Everyone is invited to pick a side, as if choosing a sports team. It is part of a broader trend where political discussions morph into something closer to battles between fandoms.

[Read: The hypocrisy of Harry and Meghan’s decision]

The trouble with a culture war—the reason there’s never a cease-fire—is that everyone gets what they want from it. One side prides itself on “defending traditional values,” speaking the plain truth about snowflake-Millennial duchesses and sticking up for the Queen (What did she do to deserve this?). The other sees itself as championing diversity and progressive values, standing up to racism and calling out the excesses of the media. Television and radio programs get inflammatory debates; participants burnish their in-group membership; big political arguments are thrashed out on-screen alongside pictures of attractive celebrities in lovely clothes.

But all women lose when women’s lives are boiled down to these simple binaries: selfless mother against ruthless careerist. Meghan is a mother too. Kate has political interests, such as mental health and early-childhood education. Both have nannies and live in homes worth millions. Not everything they do is “sending a signal” or “making a statement”; some of their personal choices are just that: personal choices. By focusing only on the differences between them, we lose sight of the institutions—the royal family and the architecture of misogyny—that constrain them both.

Sussex staff 'redeployed' as Meghan stays longer in Canada

Members of staff employed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at their Frogmore Cottage residence are being "redeployed," a source close to the couple told CNN on Friday, raising questions about the royal pair's plans for the future.

#Megxit: Twitter reacts to Meghan and Harry's announcement 50%

The surprise news that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry plan to retire from royalty has triggered a series of humorous reactions on Twitter — as well as harsher comments reflecting polarization on the topic.

Even Prince Harry Has to Hustle

Naomi Fry writes about a resurfaced video of Prince Harry pitching Meghan Markle for voice-over work to the head of Disney, and what it means in the face of the couple’s announcement that they will no longer be senior members of the Royal Family.

Harry and Meghan no longer working members of royal family

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have lost their titles of "His and Her Royal Highness" after announcing they would step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family, Buckingham Palace announced.

UK's Queen Elizabeth calls Prince Harry for crisis meeting

Queen Elizabeth has summoned her grandson Prince Harry for a crisis meeting to discuss future arrangements for him and his wife Meghan following the couple's shock announcement that they want to step back from royal duties.

Commentary: Do Harry and Meghan want to have their royal gateau and eat it, too? -12%

If this were almost any other family, the Meghan and Harry story would be "30-Something Couple Leave Home, Look for Work." But this is the royal family.

Queen Elizabeth backs Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan's part-time plans

Queen Elizabeth has given permission to Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and their son, Archie, to take on a "more independent life as a family." There will be a transition period for what some have dubbed the "Megxit."

A Change In Harry And Meghan's Financial Status Creates Problems 25%

Prince Harry and his wife Megan Markle are giving up their senior royal status to work as they please and become financially independent. No one is exactly sure what that means.

Man charged with killing wife in 1990 cleared hours before his trial after his friend confesses

Prosecutors say Alabama man Jeff Beasley admitted to killing Tracy Harris

Meghan Markle gets twice as much negative press as Kate Middleton, data shows 16%

Analysis supports argument Meghan has been highly criticised in the media

Prince Harry reportedly pitched Meghan Markle for voice-overs to Disney CEO in resurfaced video

Duchess reportedly signed deal with Disney prior to couple's announcement they would be stepping back from royal duties

From Megxit to Prince Andrews sex scandal: a list of British royal crises of the last century 36%

Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s effective resignation from front-line duties is the latest crisis to hit the royal family in the last century.In a shock announcement, the couple said they would spend time in North America and rip up long-established relations with the press.Media reports said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their bombshell statement without notifying either Harry’s grandmother the monarch, or his father Prince Charles.The surprise news follows a turbulent year…

Meghan Markle did not join royal family to discuss future plans because it wasnt necessary

Queen announced decision to support Meghan and Harry stepping away from royal duties on Monday

Royal rift: UK monarchy will look smaller when dust settles -56%

But the changes have come at a terrible cost for Charles, who has seen his brother Prince Andrew disgraced and his once close sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, become estranged. The trials and tribulations of Andrew and Harry - one tainted for a close friendship with a convicted sex offender, the other unwilling to continue his high-profile role - will take both out of their royal duties, leaving a smaller, more modest royal apparatus.

Five royals who stepped back from their duties before Harry and Meghan, from Edward VIII to Prince Andrew 12%

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are not the first to quit their roles as senior members of the British royal family

Megxit summit: Queen Elizabeth gives blessing for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to go it alone 20%

Queen Elizabeth on Monday allowed her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan to split their time between Canada and Britain during a “transition period” in which the family will figure out how to deal with their shock resignation from front-line royal duties.The monarch said she held “very constructive” talks between Harry and his older brother Prince William and their father Prince Charles aimed at charting a course through the fallout of the bombshell announcement.Meghan reportedly joined…

Meghan's estranged father may testify against her, U.K. court documents show

The estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, could be called to testify against the royals in her lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday tabloid, court papers reveal.

Megxit Is the New Brexit in a Britain Split by Age and Politics 25%

The debate over Harry and Meghan’s push for greater independence from royal life is uncannily like the Brexit debate, with young liberals favoring the couple and older conservatives backing the queen.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry: A timeline of their royal journey

Everything that happened from the moment Harry and Meghan met until their bombshell announcement this week

Britains Princes William and Harry deny false story ahead of royal summit -2%

Britain’s Princes William and Harry on Monday put on a rare united front to dismiss a “false story” speculating about their relationship, as senior royals prepared to meet for talks about the younger brother’s future.Harry and his wife Meghan caught the institution off guard last week when they announced their intention to step back from frontline royal duties.The 35-year-old former army officer has previously all but confirmed a rift with his older brother, prompting speculation as to the…