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My Take
Opinion
My Take
Alex Lo

Harry and Meghan make you miss the British ‘stiff upper lip’

  • National character once exemplified by ‘keep calm and carry on’ now one of whining and whinging universally encouraged by social media

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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Photo: Getty Images
Alex Lo has been an SCMP columnist since 2012, covering major issues affecting Hong Kong and the rest of China.

I searched online for the phrase “stiff upper lip”, and pictures of Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex came up. Google’s search engine, it seems, has a wicked sense of humour. (Try it, I am not making this up.)

The world’s most (in)famous royal couple are the very opposite of this much-touted British national character. You know, reserve and perseverance in the face of adversity; never complain, never explain.

From their Netflix docuseries to Harry’s ghostwritten memoirs, Spare, the pair have made a highly lucrative business out of explaining and complaining.

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They have fully embraced the celebrity culture of spilling out everything in the United States. The prince is now more American than British and may have done more to damage the royal brand than his parents.

No wonder polite society in Britain is up in arms against the couple.

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America’s reverse colonisation of the former mother country is complete. Not only does Britain today have no independent foreign policy, its own royal family are at the mercy of a former US actress.

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