Britain in Black and White
On a sunny day this April, teenage girls from a local school were having a picnic in a park. I was on a bench near them, reading a book, until the noise got too much. The students were in uniform, easy with one another and bursting with adolescent enthusiasm. They reflected London’s infinite class, race and ethnic variety. Some had clustered around a lovely, mixed-race girl and were weaving wild flowers around her curly hair: “Straighten your hair,” one said. “You’ll look just like Meghan!” They took selfies, squealed over sites for bridal gowns and pored over celeb mags with pictures of Meghan Markle. Idolized and envied by them, she was the luckiest woman in the world. The girl with the floral crown broke the spell: “That’s silly. It will be hard, like, so far from her family, being a princess, mixed race and that.” Her quiet voice went unheard.
The U.K. is extravagantly upbeat, awash with joy over the nuptials of Prince Harry and Markle. They met in London through a mutual friend in the summer of 2016. By October, rumors were rife that Harry, sixth in line to the British throne, had found an unlikely girlfriend—a mixed-race, divorced woman of 36 who is, in addition to being an activist and actress, an American. Kensington Palace confirmed the relationship, and a year later the couple were engaged. The public immediately warmed to this refreshingly real royal-to-be, who seemed to be having a positive influence on the once wayward Harry as well.
And now the wedding, to take place on May 19 in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Instead of presents, guests have been asked to donate to charities. The guest list includes, in addition to friends and family members, 1,200 “ordinary” people selected to gather on the grounds in celebration. These decisions make the event seem as accessible and open as Markle.
Her relaxed entry into the royal family suggests a transformed, cosmopolitan nation. And some of this hype is justified. Great Britain has long been culturallyestimated there were 20,000 black people living in London.
