The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s recent claims and revelations against the Royal Family have been described as a “side show” with very little impact on the monarchy. Eric Abetz, the former senator of Tasmania and new campaign chair for the Australian Monarchist League (AML) doesn’t believe the “soap opera” of Meghan and Harry has dented the popularity of the royals in his country.
Asked whether the monarch may have lost the favour of Australians following the string of revelations and claims made by the Sussexes in particular between December and January, the former politician told Express.co.uk: “The soap opera of Harry and Meghan is a side show and the Australian people can and do differentiate between personalities and the system.
“The people understand that with privilege comes responsibility, onerous responsibility.
“Her Majesty was an exemplar of how that looked and what it meant in daily life.
“Harry and Meghan, for whatever reason, did not wish to live up to the responsibility required of them and therefore opted out. That was their right.
“This has not impacted the sentiment of the Australian people to the constitutional monarchy.”
Within six weeks, the Duke and Duchess shared several intimate details about their life, romance and relationship.
They also made potentially damaging claims against the Palace and Royal Family members, including the allegation that other royal communications offices were briefing against them to improve the image of their principals.
After the release by Netflix in December of a six-part docu-series featuring the Sussexes, Prince Harry took part in a series of interviews to promote the launch of his memoir, Spare.
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These sit-downs delved deeper into some of the allegations he made in his pages, telling for example US journalist Anderson Cooper the Queen Consort was “dangerous” in the early 2000s because she needed to rehabilitate her image and was willing to “trade” with the press to achieve that goal.
No member of the Royal Family commented on the allegations made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, nor did Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace.
Details from the book, the interviews and the ongoing feud between the Sussexes and the royals were widely reported Down Under, much like in the US and in the UK.
On January 10, the day Spare was released worldwide, Australia’s Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said the coverage revealed the extent of the feud within the Royal Family.
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He also argued the rift and its reports prompted questions about his country’s future links with the monarchy.
He told Nine’s Today program: “At one level, it’s gossip. At another level, it’s a shame to see a family bust-up, but perhaps at the deepest level, why do we still need to keep following a dysfunctional British family to be the head of state of Australia?”
Mr Shorten is a member of the Australian Labor Party, which won the majority at last year’s elections.
The Labors have openly backed republicanism in the past, but a spokesperson for the party said last May the priority of Anthony Albanese’s administration was on was creating a Voice to Parliament giving the Government the opportunity to make policies with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people rather than for them.
