A long time has passed since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they quit the royal family. The couple said they wanted their financial independence and added they will split their time between the UK and North America respectively.
A keynote from their statement to the press read, “After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution.”
“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.”
The aftermath of that debacle saw the Sussex royals retreat into their personal confines, and only recently came out in public.
However, their appearance at the Global Citizen Live concert came with much criticism after their speech on vaccine inequity seemed to trivialize the issue.
Read on to find out more details.
The Sussex’s Speech
The royals made it a date at the Global Citizen Live event, amid much fuss from the crowd. Later, they mounted the stage and gave a passionate speech to the crowd about the need for more vaccines around the world.
Currently, the vaccination process in most countries is uneven. While some can vaccinate their citizens with ease others are finding it difficult to garner enough vaccines.
Markle said, “This year, the world’s expected to produce enough doses to meet the target of vaccinating 70% of people in every single country.”
“But it is wrong that so much of the vaccine supply has only gone to just 10 wealthy nations so far, and not everyone else. It’s just not OK.”
Harry also had much to say on the subject. He pleaded that top pharmaceutical conglomerates reveal their production process of making the vaccines, to curb insufficiency. Thereafter, he opined that developing countries had the means to reproduce the vaccines if given a chance.
“These countries have the means, the ability, and the workers to start manufacturing. All they’re waiting for is the vaccine intellectual property to be waived and for the vaccine technology to be transferred over.”
Experts Disapprove Of Prince Harry And Megan’s Message
Several experts have come out to fault the couple’s idea on the issue of vaccine inequity. They cited that the issue was not with the pharmaceutical companies hoarding their patents, but with vaccine distribution within those countries.
“We agree with the Sussexes that action is needed now to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are quickly and equitably shared around the world,” Thomas Cueni, the director-general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations told The Telegraph.
“However, waiving intellectual property rights of Covid-19 vaccines will not increase production nor provide practical solutions needed to battle this global health crisis.”
The press house also noted that Cueni’s view purported that “trade barriers, supply chain bottlenecks, a lack of raw materials, and indecision on the part of wealthy nations to donate excess doses are the problems vaccine equity is facing.”
Dr. Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading in England further admonished the couple’s opinion stating; “With the RNA vaccines, in particular, I don’t believe that there are many places in the developing world that could manufacture them at scale.”
Meghan Markle & Harry Were Also Bashed On Twitter
The couple’s criticism came in the wake of strong disapproval from Twitter users some days ago.
They visited the One World Trade Centre, New York alongside New York City mayor Bill de Blasio.
“I’m just baffled by them using the potential impact of their first in-person appearance in months to basically do a photo op with one of the least popular politicians in the New York area,” One Twitter user said.
“No charity or work connection, no real meaning beyond a quick ‘pause’ at the 9/11 memorial.”
Another user said, “I hope there is something else that they reveal later in the visit that makes it make sense? Otherwise, it’s just an appearance for the sake of it.”
Meghan Markle & Harry Might Be Leaving The Reclusive Life Behind
Meghan and Harry‘s withdrawal from the royal family coincided with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This prompted the Sussexes to seek a life of privacy while attending their scheduled events virtually.
However, things seem to have changed with the couple’s recent public appearance at the Global Citizen Live event, One World Trade Center, and a school in Harlem all situated in New York.
Royal author Omid Scobie has predicted that Meghan and Harry are coming into an “era of visibility.”
“They’re a couple who do very well in those moments of human interaction. They need to be on the ground,” Scobie disclosed to People Magazine.
“They say that the proof is in the pudding, and what we are about to see is that pudding.”
