Every royal nuptial and birth must be commemorated in the form of plates and mugs. It must be part of the unwritten British constitution. These commemorative goods are always knocked out in great haste and often of dubious taste as well as questionable quality. The recent engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has been no exception, as this image shows. I am not sure if the bad quality of the photograph is doing a favour or disfavour to the rather shoddy-looking mugs available at a typical souvenir shop in central London. At any rate, I always wonder who would buy such mugs, unless as a joke or in order to annoy the recipient: my [insert a relative] went to Britain and all I got was this mug.
It will be interesting to see what kind of role Prince Harry and Ms Markle will carve out for themselves in the future, as the succession looks pretty secure with Prince William’s line. Less constrained by the succession thus their possible future constitutional roles, they are likely to be freer to pursue their interests, or become royal celebrities with a high profile, though perhaps there is also a possibility that they will slide into relative obscurity. The monarchy has had to evolve, adapt, and reinvent itself in order to survive, and Prince Harry and Ms Markle will be playing a role in that continuing history.