King Charles III could look to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as an example of how to better engage with young people and people of color, two key groups that have expressed declining support for the monarchy in recent years, a new episode of Newsweek's The Royal Report podcast has heard.
Increased focus on how Charles engages with issues pertinent to these groups has been drawn as he begins his reign and, in particular, undertook his first state visit to Commonwealth nation Kenya this month, where he referenced Britain's colonial past.
Newsweek's chief royal correspondent, Jack Royston, told Royal Report listeners that the king's flagging support among young people is one of the key issues facing the monarchy moving forward, with recent polling in Britain suggesting that 40 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds wanted to abolish the monarchy altogether.
Key issues being considered by this group are how the institution addresses its colonial past and how it reconciles the problems faced by Harry and Meghan prior to their 2020 move to the U.S.
One of the issues raised by Harry and Meghan since stepping down as working royals has been racism and how a conversation with an unnamed royal family member about the skin color of their future children was an example of "unconscious bias" within the institution.
Discussing how Charles could better engage with communities, Royston suggested he could look at the model used by Harry and Meghan despite it having opened them up to criticism from the media.
"One thing that I think it's important to keep in mind is that Harry and Meghan were actually already very successful at showing communities of color in Britain and young people that they were on the same page and that they were, you know, the good guys and on the right side of history in relation to race," he noted.
"They did that by simply asking community leaders what was wanted and expected from them and then simply delivering it...it's a simple and effective formula."
Royston explained that the formula is one that the royals have historically already adopted for "non-controversial issues," which has been successful. Still, their reluctance to irk the right-wing press or commentators has made it a riskier outreach tactic for other social causes.
"It's very simple and very effective, but Harry and Meghan triggered a massive backlash from the likes of the Daily Mail and other kind of establishment voices in Britain. So, Charles and William no doubt obviously don't want to do that," he said.
"The question is, if you don't spark the backlash, do you get the credit? Is part of the reason why Harry and Meghan built up so much credit with young people and so much credit with people of color the fact that they took the backlash? The fact that they suffered the angst of the Daily Mail is that the reason they were viewed so positively?"
Discussing Charles' cautious approach in this area, Royston suggested that by removing the potential for controversy and backlash, not only does the king risk creating further distance from the communities waiting for him to act, but he also risks diminishing his interest when he does speak on them.
"That's a big problem for Charles," Royston said. "It's kind of been a problem for Charles for a long time, which is that the projects that he does do and the things that he does say sometimes sail under the radar because people are just less interested in him than they are in William and Kate and Harry and Meghan."
The challenge, Royston suggested, now is for Charles to maintain his newsworthy appeal by not just performing traditional royal functions but finding a way to fit within that framework ways to speak on issues and impacts directly affecting the communities who have less of a vested interest in him than others.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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