The Hidden Impacts of Inheriting Social Status through the Monarchy

Image: Henk Mohabier, Pexels

Since 1603 Britain has been ruled by the Royal family, with a long line of 16 monarchies. It is estimated that per year the Royal family generates around 50 million pounds in revenue for the UK. Despite some people's opinions of them being that they are useless they provide great revenue for Britain which helps the economy and attracts them to visit other parts of Britain during their travels.

As the years go on the British public's love for the royal family grows fonder and fonder. Since the tragic loss of Queen Elizabeth II in the early months of September the whole of the UK has been grieving the loss of what feels like a grandmother to society as a whole. Since the loss of her majesty people have begun to realise that they do value the royal family more than they thought they did.

It can be seen across the globe that through being a member of the monarchy comes the inheritance of great social status. Being born into the monarchy guarantees you a life of pristine social status which you are then born and raised to keep in check at all times, even if you no longer want to be a part of the royal family.

Earlier on this year Harry Mountbatten Windsor who is the former Duke of Sussex decided to step down from this role, many people thought it was the result of him marrying American Meghan Markle and choosing her over his life in the royal family. Often leaving people with an ill minded judgement on Meghan despite the fact that he also stepped down from his royal duties in 2006 to become an army officer.

But, despite the fact that Harry is no longer officially a part of the royal family he has already inherited the social status of being in the monarchy and can now create a life for his new and growing family separate from the royal family as a whole. After leaving, he had an interview with the world renowned talk show host Oprah Winfrey which went viral. The interview went viral for a number of reasons, the most significant reason being that they are now able to speak freely on the Royal family with nobody from PR to filter what they are saying meaning nothing was off limits Meghan speaks about how marrying into the Royal family made her suicidal and also largely impacted Harry’s mental health.

Being a member of the monarchy puts people under a great pressure  not only are they always being watched but they are also setting an example for the whole nation. This side of inheriting immensely high levels of social status is unspoken the majority of the time. At the time Harry was viewed as a disgrace to the royal family for leaving and doing it for his own ‘selfish’ reasons however, he didn’t ask to be born into a life of playing up for crowds and dealing with such important matters from such a young age inevitably leaving his mental health to deteriorate.

It is unusual for members of the royal family to leave and take their own path but with great societal prestige comes great pressure which not everybody is able to cope with. This is the mass issue of receiving great responsibilities which you did not wish to receive in the first place.

But there are always two sides to every situation. People spend their whole lives wishing to become celebrities and a part of the royal family just to have that social hierarchy but never receive it. So, to them the thought of them being given this elite status through nothing but their last name seems ludicrous and unfair. What did they do to receive such an honouring role within society? That’s the key difference between the monarchy and celebrities, some celebrities tend to be known as ‘trashy’ but at least they did something significant enough to make them of some value to society rather than simply just being born.

The concept of inheriting social status through the monarchy can also be seen through inheriting this through marriage. Both Kate Middelton and Meghan Markle married into the royal family, but they are both depicted completely differently in the media. This is because of each of their upbringings Kate is often depicted to be a stereotypical ‘English rose’ whilst Meghan is viewed to be a menace and disgrace to the royal family as a whole as though she doesn’t really belong.

Since leaving the royal family both Harry and Megan have signed a 100 million dollar Netflix deal. The deal spans across a number of years and would be providing Netflix and its viewers with an insight to what it would be like to be a member of the royal family. That mass of money is enough to set anyone up for the rest of their life even if they were living a lavish unrealistic lifestyle. However, since Harry still has and always will have his social prestige Netflix will be willing to pay him this amount because they know that such a large demographic of people are invested into the royal family and even if your not you can watch the documentary to gain and insight to see if it solidifies your prior views on them or whether you were wrong.     

However, the overall outcome is that from the outside inheriting great social status seems like a spectacular idea but when actually faced with it and what comes along with it, it's significantly harder than anybody would ever be able to comprehend unless faced in this position.