The top 7 “woke” moments of Prince Harry and Meghan (and why it’s okay!)

The Harry & Meghan documentary was released on Netflix on December 8.

The series explores the love story between the British prince and American actress and activist. 

It includes some very “woke” moments that champion the far left of the social and political spectrum. 

Let’s take a look at the top woke moments of Harry and Meghan and what they mean. 

1) Meghan vs. dish soap

As a youngster, Meghan saw an advertisement which ticked her off. 

It was for dish soap, and referred to washing dishes as something done by a woman. 

Young Meghan was offended: were women the only ones who washed dishes? Says who?

She wrote a letter to the company and had the ad’s language change so it wasn’t gendered and referred to washing dishes as a unisex activity. 

This was her first taste of activism, and it whetted her appetite to change the world. 

Why is this “woke?”

The simple fact of word policing is very much a woke tactic. Complaining about words and the way things are phrased is typical for the woke crusade against sexism, capitalism, inequality and things they find unfair and oppressive.

Meghan may have found a dish soap commercial offensive, but imagine the privilege of being able to write a letter campaign about word usage while other young women in Ghana are being forcibly married off at 14…

Woke, indeed…

2) ‘Equity’ at the UN 

Another of the top woke moments of Prince Harry and Meghan comes during Meghan’s “equity” speech at the United Nations. 

This is in episode two and refers to her desire to see a world and gender relations built on the concept of equity. 

Why is “equity” a woke concept?

It’s because unlike equality or equal respect, equity is about correcting past injustices or perceptions of injustice and reshaping the world in the way progressives want it to be. 

Simply speaking, it’s woke and extreme because equity means equal outcome and changing whatever necessary to make outcomes as equal as possible. 

That necessarily entails some very big changes in society and in the way we do things, and it’s quite different from the concept of equality. 

Equity means that what happens in a given situation should be directly related to adjusting and fixing perceived injustices. 

So if a person of color scores lower on a test, this would be perceived as a reflection of historical injustice and disadvantages affecting them (even if indirectly) rather than the issue or failing of one individual. 

As people like conservative commentator Ben Shapiro have pointed out, “equity” inevitably results in use of state power to forcibly redistribute wealth, rights and power in order to make outcomes more equal. 

3) Racist jewelry

The next big woke moment in this series is from episode 3 when Princess Michael of Kent causes a stir by wearing a historically racist broach to an event. 

The broach disrespectfully depicts a person of African origin and caused quite a controversy, especially due to Meghan being partly of black heritage. 

“This is the woman who’s turning the traditional British monarchy on its head,” the monarchy remarks about Meghan.

To be sure, the royal family of the UK has a history of racism, imperialism and disrespecting people of color, including murdering them and undermining their tribes and nations. 

But to boil that down to a racist piece of jewelry and make these kinds of subjects the focus of a multi-million dollar Netflix documentary certainly seems kind of elitist and woke. 

4) Volun-tourism

In the documentary, Meghan remarks that when she had breaks from being on set in Suits and movies she was in, she preferred to jet overseas and volunteers. 

We see shots of her helping orphans in Rwanda and surrounded by disadvantaged folks in various countries. 

Harry, too, got a start early on in volunteering, going to Lesotho and helping out in building and helping the infrastructure. 

Now there’s nothing wrong with volunteering, and certain areas of the world and societies do indeed need help, infrastructure and support. 

But the idea of going on a trip and “finding yourself” while also helping poor people of color is very much a trope and a stereotype of woke Westerners.

You know what I’m talking about…

The smiling blond girl standing in a crowd of black orphans and smiling for her Instagram. 

The spiritual “bro” having his selfie in a rice paddy while helping learn the ways of the poor peasant farmers. 

Is there something wrong with volunteering and being known to volunteer? By no means! And it is admirable!

But it’s also generally kind of woke, particularly when there’s a lot of skin contrast involved and talk of “equity,” racial “legacy” and things like that.

5) Trying to make up for historical injustice 

In the documentary series and their work more widely, Harry and Meghan focus a lot on the historical injustices of the British Empire. 

To be sure, there were many, and racism often played a part. 

But this kind of narrative spin is definitely along woke lines, and represents a specific focus and intensive treatment that’s often not found in documentaries touching on the royal family. 

The kinds of experts called on in the Netflix series and throughout the narrative arc are well known left-leaning and woke individuals such as Afua Hirsch. 

This decision of who to include gives Harry and Meghan’s story a definite authorial voice: the voice of the woke left. 

The story does not necessarily completely reject the queen or the British empire, but it’s clear that Harry and Meghan feel it is deeply “problematic.”

The post-Empire Commonwealth is also portrayed as a place that’s basically fake and is a way for the UK and Western businesses to keep extracting wealth and abusing poorer members of the Commonwealth in Africa and the developing world. 

Has no UK business ever engaged in a non-extractive, non-exploitative relationship with a developing country? Certainly many have…

But by choosing to pursue a more black-and-white and emotionalized approach to the whole topic and the legacy of the British Empire, Harry and Meghan firmly plant their flag in the woke camp. 

6) Meghan cutting family ties

Meghan’s problems with her relatives including her dad end up coming across as quite woke. 

After all, many woke activists and individuals spend a lot of time complaining about their family and friends and how they’re doing something wrong. 

Particularly, problems with Samantha Markle and Meghan’s dad Thomas Markle end up causing a lot of drama. 

Many woke individuals end up clashing with their families because of strong beliefs about the inadequacy of certain ways of doing things. 

They may disagree about the religious, cultural or social beliefs of their families and even end up cutting ties, particularly if parents or family members won’t accept their identity as LGBT or has a different view on racism, sexism or economic inequality. 

This kind of strident divide is part of what has caused woke issues and the cultural left to be seen as extreme and unforgiving. 

Although Meghan and Harry portray themselves as having tried their best to reconcile with their family, their decision to eventually part ways is certainly in keeping with a woke view of things. 

7) We’ll never be royals…

Perhaps the most woke moment of Prince Harry and Meghan is them stepping away from the royal family. 

This storied institution which Meghan tried her best to fit into and felt like it never really accepted her. 

When Harry and Meghan cut their ties with the royal family and stopped participating in the royal circuit in 2020 it was a very dramatic moment. 

They got support from Oprah and many friends and allies, but it was a definite divorce and ideological trauma, particularly for Harry who was raised in it. 

Harry himself repeatedly notes that he has to do what’s best for his family and for the safety of his wife and child Archie. 

Walking away from the royals is peak woke. 

It’s a rejection of tradition, institutional power, whiteness and economic domination. 

It’s saying goodbye to the larger family structure and the family “business” and blazing your own trail instead. 

It’s definitely woke. 

What’s the problem with woke, anyway?

Meghan herself has made it clear that being seen as “woke” doesn’t bother her in the slightest. 

In fact she considers wokeness to be a good thing.

Why? 

It’s simple: Meghan believes wokeness is, at heart, a fight against racism and sexism. As an anti-racist and feminist, that dual goal appeals to her and what she stands for. 

Simple, at least for her. 

However it’s not so simple for those who disagree about what wokeness is and the woke agenda. 

This is in sharp contrast to critics like commentator Allister Heath, who wrote in the Sun that Meghan and Harry are cynically spearheading a dangerous woke crusade against the goodness of Britain and the monarchy. 

According to Heath, “their Netflix ‘documentary’ is an egregious betrayal — it weaponises the anti-Western, anti-British woke ideology for personal gain.”

In other words, Heath says Meghan and Harry are spoiled and immature individuals who have seized on complaints about racism and imperialism just to get more rich, famous and topical. 

Others, like right-leaning American TV host Megyn Kelly, have called Meghan “whiny, woke and annoying.” 

She said that the documentary series Harry & Meghan is completely biased and is just about the couple trying to “look good” and present a sympathetic portrait of themselves. 

Is this true? 

It seems far more likely that Meghan and Harry legitimately believe in many woke ideas and concepts and have therefore repeated those beliefs in their documentary. 

Is this part of some sinister plot to overthrow the world or take it over for some global cabal? That seems unlikely indeed. In fact, the royal family itself is deeply connected to many corporations, charities and global initiatives that are far more akin to a cabal than Harry and Meghan’s relatively self-contained life. 

Waking up to the good side of wokeness

Twitter CEO Elon Musk recently said that a “woke mind virus” is destroying humanity and will collapse everything good if not defeated. 

What does he mean? He says that wokeness is just childish complaining and finding fault with every powerful institution and historical fact in order to complain and play the victim. 

But there’s a very good side to wokeness that many have overlooked, and it’s good even in privileged celebrities like Meghan Markle and Prince Harry…

Why?

Consider the following…

Harry and Meghan may be privileged and rich, but if they weren’t then nobody would have heard of them. 

Their wealth and privilege is what allows them to send the message they do and have a public influence. 

Then consider the next item:

Wokeness may come across as silly or victimizing, but if you look it’s more about the form than the content. 

While things like complaining about a dish soap commercial do indeed seem very trivial and kind of privileged, they are also what is in the sphere of influence for someone in the West. 

Plus, Meghan has volunteered overseas among refugees and in much more serious crises, so dismissing her youthful activism as pure showiness wouldn’t be fair.

What’s even more is that many of the root problems that wokeness is aimed against are very real. 

Dismissing them as just complaining is unfair. 

Racism is a real problem and comes in many forms. So is inequality and exploitation of workers, women and minorities. 

To say these problems are just the province of whining Westerners is ignorant and incorrect. They are problems that extend throughout the world and ruin real lives, lead to crises and drown people in despair and servitude. 

Wokeness isn’t bad, it’s necessary. 

While its tactics and dramatics may be too much for some, its overall goal of a more just and compassionate world is hard to argue with.

What’s wrong with making the world a better place and encouraging respect? It’s a goal that’s worth striving for, especially when being led by people of influence like Harry and Meghan.