On Wednesday afternoon, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, better known to Americans as “Harghan,” released a statement announcing that they’re stepping back as senior members of the royal family to work on become financially independent. Furthermore, they will now be splitting their time between the U.K. and North America.
If the pair’s courtship, subsequent marriage and shabby treatment from the U.K. press already played like the stuff of movies, today’s news is an appropriate third-act twist. This royal resignation is easily the most interesting thing to come out of that family since the devastating Prince Andrew interview about Jeffrey Epstein late last year, and it’s far more pleasant to talk about. And what timing!
We’re only one week into 2020, and everyone is already exhausted. Very few sane people had “War with Iran” on their vision boards for the year, but every day has drawn us perilously closer to The Secret-ing it into reality. Between all the talk of ballistic missiles and potential retaliation, checking the news in 2020 has been a task to brace for as though chugging down a double-shot of DayQuil. After a week of stomach-churning tension, a blast of deliciously dramatic yet neutral news is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Twitter users have been sunning themselves in the warm glow of premium joke fodder all afternoon.
Some acknowledged the Brexit-ness of this announcement.
https://twitter.com/juliareinstein/status/1214983237493284865
https://twitter.com/lauraolin/status/1214983544910622720
“You want Brexit? I’ll give you a fucking Brexit.” — Meghan Thee Markle
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) January 8, 2020
Others saw echoes of movies past.
harry watches Endgame once pic.twitter.com/WFClIkTEW0
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) January 8, 2020
Prince Harry going to move to Queens I hear pic.twitter.com/zNeEpHiP1k
— Adam Warner (@agwarner) January 8, 2020
Meghan finally got around to watching “Get Out” over the holidays. https://t.co/f82PQU2hVy
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) January 8, 2020
Some people were excited about the television possibilities in the future.
The Crown hive…. season 12 is gonna be i n s a n e https://t.co/P2t4lkFRq3
— claudia irizarry aponte (@clauirizarry) January 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/bfishbfish/status/1214981917373800448
Season 9 of The Crown just got interesting. https://t.co/9e6nR6Dnl9
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) January 8, 2020
There were those who predicted it would turn out this way.
https://twitter.com/KaraRBrown/status/1214985649431834624
https://twitter.com/Lexialex/status/1214982392273723392
i told yall https://t.co/rcrCqkJtXl
— Astead (@AsteadWH) January 8, 2020
And those who are having a hard time wrapping their head around the “financially independent” part.
Imagine being in your late 30s and having the entire world in awe after you declared on Instagram that you wanted to be financially independent.
— Clare Malone (@ClareMalone) January 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/geekylonglegs/status/1214990201640108032
https://twitter.com/kathbarbadoro/status/1215002581833007104
Some venerated news outlets couldn’t resist getting in on the action.
Northwestern graduate moving closer to home after spending time abroad https://t.co/TZ18eIOXdQ
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) January 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/DanielleAlberti/status/1214982666237419522
Of course, most people were just happy to celebrate the liberation of Meghan Markle from the clutches of the Royal Family and invasive media.
meghan and harry leaving that dusty palace pic.twitter.com/8NNkwwug1v
— hunter harris (@hunteryharris) January 8, 2020
One black person showed up and the whole royal family fell apart.
— Travon (@Travon) January 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/Nicole_Cliffe/status/1214980238498656256
a sitcom where Meghan teaches Harry how to do workforce things such as using Turbotax & meal prepping & filling out a W-1, please
— delia (@delia_cai) January 8, 2020
https://twitter.com/camillard/status/1214984166296735752
This is my FAVORITE heist. The woman straight up stole a prince. Incredible. ✨
— Isaac Fitzgerald (@IsaacFitzgerald) January 8, 2020
This is why Meghan left https://t.co/ZjugsubGbO
— erin b. logan (@erinblogan) January 8, 2020
Good luck, Harry and Meghan! Fast Company would bow to you, if only it were still encouraged.
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