A wedding that fulfilled Mazrui’s prophesy and captured the attention of the world

Many of us may have huffed and puffed about the “relevance” of relaying live on our channels the British royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

But we must admit that when it came to the crunch of the event, most of us could not resist the temptation to watch or at least steal a peek, as I did. Since I fell for the show, allow me to share with you, in chitchat form, a few of my own responses to it.

Certainly the goings-on in the old city of Windsor caught or even compelled our attention. This, I think, was because that encounter, intimacy and ultimate union between a British prince and an (African) American film actress had something to say to each of us.

This was regardless of our origins and religious, political or social beliefs, or even age groups.

I will not pretend to speak for royalty, although, as a “musajja wa Kabaka” (a man of the Buganda King), I know a thing or two about the intriguingly stubborn and gripping power of hereditary leadership.

PR STUNT

But it was obvious last Saturday morning that the ancient institution of British royalty had pulled off a PR stunt that may keep many of its critics silent for many years to come. It just would not be prudent now to glibly dismiss the “Throne” as an outdated relic, incapable of adapting to modern times.

For the Transatlantic crowd, Canadian enthusiasm might have been predictable, since the British monarch is still their head of state. But the overwhelming response was from the USA, which was founded not only on a rejection of Kings, Popes and Princes (in 1622) but also on a categorical severance of links with Britain in 1776.

Well, it is no secret that many Americans have a nostalgic fascination with European and especially British aristocracy. Do you remember Hillary Clinton admitting in a Vogue interview to an admiration of some Britons’ upper class accent?

Anyway, for relatively older Americans, Harry and Meghan’s romance was reminiscent of quite a few other such high profile Euro-American affairs. King Edward VIII’s love for American Mrs Wallis Simpson, which led Harry’s great grand-relative to abdicate the British throne in 1936, was frequently mentioned.

But for me, I was particularly reminded of Princess Grace of Monaco, the American film star, Grace Kelly, who dazzled European aristocracy when she married Prince Rainier III, the ruler of the tiny European state of Monaco in 1956.

Mention of film stars naturally brings us to the earned celebrity aspect of the wedding that both contrasted and blended strikingly with the inherited aristocracy, led by Queen Elizabeth II. I could not help a wide grin as I recognised among the guests the scores of performing and creative achievers, most of them Meghan’s friends and colleagues.

It would be invidious to mention even a handful of the names. But I certainly could not fail to notice legends like David and Victoria Beckham and my beloved Serena Williams (Ohanian), to start with the sports connection.

Oprah Winfrey was, as always, in a class of her own, and Priyanka Chopra, the Indian screen icon, eloquently symbolised the width of the net cast over the globe by this nuptial moment.

These stunning young achievers, like Priyanka and her friend and colleague, Meghan (now the Duchess of Sussex), tend to unhinge my feminist awareness that we should not make too much song and dance about looks, lest we be tempted towards objectification. All I can say is that there is nothing wrong with being elegant and good looking, in addition to being as intelligent, articulate and strong as these striking sisters are.

Talking about being strong and articulate, not to say assertive, Meghan Markle startled me with the explicit “soul” (African American) influence she exerted on the ceremony at Windsor’s St George’s Chapel.

MEMORABLE

Indeed, I can confess that what will remain my most memorable moments from that occasion are the spicy and fiery homily on love by the appropriately named Bishop Michael Curry and the Gospel Choir belting out “Stand by Me”. These I will revisit a few times on YouTube.

But then, I am an African and, like many other Africans, both here at home and in the Diaspora, I felt positively connected to the world by the steps Meghan Markle was and is taking towards a universal humanity.

Incidentally, did you note how dignified Doria Ragland, the Duchess’s mother, looked through all those grandiose and unfamiliar circumstances? She reminded me of a classical Fanti princess. 

Understandably, the whole Windsor event reminded me of a prediction made by my Makerere teacher, the late Prof Ali A. Mazrui. He said that a time may come when marrying within one’s own ethnic group will be regarded as incest.

The celebrated humanities scholar made the remark in one of his articles in the legendary Transition journal way back in the 1960s. I guess he was in the middle stages of developing his “triple heritage” theory of the modern African.

Mazrui eventually posited that today’s African was a blend of indigenous African, Asia-Islamic and Western European cultural ingredients. He hinted that, properly appreciated and embraced, this blend is a source of strength and power, and not the alienating confusion that leads to Colin Turnbull’s “lonely African”.

One way of seizing our multiple heritage, the professor suggested provocatively, was through radically exogamous marriages, seeking partners beyond our immediate communities.

The enormous transnational, trans-ethnic, trans-generational and trans-cultural energy generated by Meghan and Harry’s adventure may be regarded as a validation of my dear departed teacher’s hypothesis.

Incidentally, did you realise that when the band struck up the British national anthem, God Save the Queen, most Americans only heard the strains of their patriotic song, My Country It Is of Thee?

It certainly is a small world, and we can only pray that we make it even smaller with genuine borderless mutual understanding and love.

Prof Bukenya is a leading East African scholar of English and Literature. [email protected]