They famously warred over flower girl tights, but a new battle is erupting between Kate and Meghan, and this time it’s being played out in public. When the Coronation Commission, which Prince Philip chaired, was formed in 1952 to plan the ascension of Queen Elizabeth, someone floated a novel idea: Why not broadcast the grand, bloated spectacle on TV?
For 60 times previously, the August – and lengthy – ceremony had been carried out far away from the prying eyes of the proletariat with only grandees and politicians (stateswomen? Huh!) stuffed into Westminster Abbey to bear witness. Now, thanks to the latest in newfangled whizzbangery, all the pomp and circumstance could be beamed into living rooms the length and breadth of the nation.
While initially, the Commission resisted the notion, they soon gave way to public feeling (and the urging of Winston Churchhill) and ta-da! And thus, the age of the sovereign as a mass entertainment spectacle was born.
It was a savvy move, shifting the young, green Queen from totemic figurehead to flesh and blood woman. By making her real and inviting the masses to be a part of this historic and precious moment, Philip ensured they were personally invested in her reign.
But you know what they say: The more that changes, the more that stays the same.
Now, 68 years later, their grandson and granddaughter-in-law William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, are doing precisely the same thing, with the couple launching their own YouTube channel this week. Within a day of launching, they had nearly 320,000 subscribers. Their adorable 25-second debut video featured clips of the couple joking around and chatting to one another had garnered just under two million views. The sticking point here is this:
They are not the only duke and duchess to have gotten into the content game of late. Last year, Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, signed not one but two mega-deals with streaming giants Netflix and Spotify to create TV series, documentaries, and podcasts. So, to regroup here. We have two royal couples who are both preparing to spend more time cranking out videos to charm the masses and sell themselves as profound philanthropic forces for the modern age.
Or, to put it another way: Both couples are now getting ready to try and run up wins on the board on the same very fertile, precious turf. The battle is now on to see who will go viral first, rack up millions of views than win over the critics first. A sure apples and oranges thing is going on here. While Harry and Meghan are working on documentaries, docu-series, feature films, scripted shows, and children’s television for Netflix, thus far, the videos that William and Kate have helped produce have included such soporific outings watching him give a 14-minute speech to something called the charity commission.
