Republicans hope that the latest crisis may finally topple the institution. But the odds remain stacked in the royals’ favour
Will this be the moment? Will Meghan and Harry do to the monarchy what Diana threatened but never quite achieved, shaking the institution so severely it eventually collapses? Those who believe Britons should be able to choose their head of state have waited patiently for the crisis that finally undoes the House of Windsor, but this week they allowed themselves an excitement they had not known since the 1990s. Polling is stubbornly consistent, showing support for a republic flatlining at around 20%, but might the Oprah interview and all it revealed trigger a shift? Could this, at last, be it?
The case for republican optimism begins with an acknowledgment that this latest twist is hardly unprecedented. On the contrary, each generation seems to have its own iteration of the same plotline, a tale of love and marriage revealing a cold, closed institution thwarting the happiness of its young. It was Edward and Mrs Simpson for my grandparents; Margaret and Group Captain Peter Townsend for my parents; Charles, Camilla and Diana for me – and now the Sussexes for my kids. The public splits on generational lines, the young shaking their fists at the palace as monarchists feel a tremor of fear, anxious that the public will finally turn on the institution and demand its abolition.
