JANUARY has brought an early contender to the 2020 word of the year stakes. The website dictionary.com defines “Megxit” as a slang term for the decision of couple Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to step back from their senior roles in the British royal family. But just like its precursor Brexit, the deal has yet to be finalised and the whole thing has been a long time coming.

Back in November 2016 Prince Harry issued what was then a rare royal statement warning the media about “the harassment currently being experienced by Meghan Markle and her family”. The statement began with an acknowledgement by Harry of the “fortunate and privileged life he leads” before going to note the discomfort Harry has always experienced about the “significant curiosity” in his personal life and relationships – discomfort doubtless influenced by the experiences of his mother with the media, most memorably described by Earl Spencer in his tribute at Diana’s funeral.

The central point of the 2016 statement was to warn the media that “a line had been crossed” in their reporting about Meghan. “His girlfriend Meghan Markle has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public – the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments.”

Whatever reticence the media may have shown in the aftermath of that statement has since long passed. In the year since their marriage the couple have fought a long, largely fruitless battle with the national tabloid media in particular. Meghan and Harry are still engaged in ongoing legal cases against some of the papers who with a rather distasteful relish have taken the opportunities afforded by Megxit to dedicate page after page of negative coverage towards the couple.

Such coverage has contrasted to some of the comment which has come from elsewhere – such as the New York Times – which published a piece by the British journalist Afua Hirsch entitled “Black Britons Know Why Meghan Markle Wants Out” accompanied by the simple rejoinder subtitle “It’s the racism”.

Whatever the final outcomes of the transition period the couple are entering into, the past days have been a reminder of the acute – almost unique – pressures to which they are subject as they decide on decisions common to so many of us: how best to support your spouse, how best to raise your family and how to balance what’s expected from you with a desire to shape your own future.

It has also been a sad reminder for others that – to pick up on Afua Hirsch – no matter how beautiful you are, whom you marry, what palaces you occupy, or what good deeds you perform, you never get to be entirely free from the racism that takes your achievements and trashes them with dehumanising epithets based on your colour. It’s a truth known to many black Britons who may not know the joys of living in a palace but know all too well the humiliation that comes with racism and eventually leads you to walk out of the door.

  • Arun Arora is vicar of St Nicholas Church, Durham City.