Friday, March 09, 2012

The daunting walk down the aisle for Prince Harry's future bride


On his Diamond Jubilee Tour Prince Harry has collected legions of female fans, such as Miss Bahamas Anastagia Pierre, who has expressed a desire to marry him. 

The lucky lady who finds herself engaged - and eventually married - to Harry will marry not just a person, but an institution and a way of life. Besides the changes and adjustments that marriage normally brings, joining the British Royal Family presents several unique challenges she will have to overcome:

(1) Press intrusion: This is the most daunting aspect of Royal life. Although the British monarchy needs the media to remain relevant, the constant press attention is claustrophobic and obsessive. Everything Harry's wife says, does, and wears will be front page news. She will always be photographed and videotaped. Staff will leak stories, and media pundits will take snipes at her. In the words of Princess Diana:
I had a very bad time with the press - they literally haunted and hunted me.
(2) Family traditions and rituals: The British Royal Family has quirky traditions and practices which are landmines for the uninitiated. Safely navigating them will require a quick ability to learn and adaptability.

(3) Meddling courtiers: Each member of the royal family has their own retinue of staff. As in any bureaucracy, employees try to influence the royals' actions and decision-making, and try to increase their power by playing royals off each other. In short, Harry's wife will have to wonder if her staff have her best interests at heart instead of their own.

(4) Public role: Harry's wife will likely be expected to be a dutiful, quiet, "ladylike" clothes horse who carries out the charitable and social duties expected of her. She will not be allowed to tackle controversial issues, and she will have to reconcile social norms of what a princess looks like with her actual body size and attributes. She will inevitably find herself compared to Prince William's wife and Princess Diana. She will have to fight to carve a unique public role for herself

(5) Elitism: British society is very class-based. If Prince Harry's wife comes from a lower socioeconomic class than him, it will attract unfavorable commentary from those, both among Harry's family/friends and the wider UK public, who will see her as a gold digger and social climber.

What do you think? Please leave comments and questions below.

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