Privacy and the Private within European Court Culture

T he explosive  interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, pointed to several issues surrounding the modern monarchy and royal court in the United Kingdom. More importantly, the interview has brought to the fore a tension that has existed since premodern times — the conflict between the public and private embedded within the institution of monarchy and royal court culture. This conflict over the public and private lives of the British royal family and the court’s involvement has never been more viscerally fought over or caused such havoc than it has in modern times. During the interview, Markle proclaimed ‘There is the family and there’s the people that are running the institution’, both of which she charged subjected her to mistreatment and racism. This distinction between the family and the ‘institution’ is important because it not only characterises the political culture of the British royal establishment in the modern context, but it also identifies a clear power divide. The ‘institution’, or ‘firm’ as it is more commonly referred to by the royal family themselves, is particularly relevant for the collection of essays presented here, because the firm is very much the royal court, regardless of its label. According to the Sussexes, the royal court was the source of their problems — from their mistreatment by not providing support in dealing with the media and the violation of their privacy, to the firm’s attitudes towards race and racism— because of the firm’s priority for and devotion to the monarchy and its business endeavours. The prioritising of the royal establishment over the wellbeing of the Sussexes led to their decision to step back from royal duties in February . The modern court’s role is in many ways similar to its historical predecessors, in which the court is made up of the monarch and their family (primarily the senior members of the royal family, peers of the realm, civil servants, and household staff). Yet, the modern British royal court is markedly different due to its current constitution and organisation which is shaped by the media interchange. On the one hand, the firm depends on the media for public relations to support their charities and business activities, communicate their point of view and share royal news. On the other hand, the royal establishment are beholden to the public and have to deal with the demands of the media. In fact, following on from the  interview, Harry and Meghan released a follow up Netflix documentary in December . During the documentary, Harry explains in detail, complete with diagrams, that a ‘press pack of royal correspondents is essentially just an extended PR arm of the royal family.’ Continuing, Harry then