Queen Elizabeth Is Ensuring the Future of the Monarchy in a Brilliant Way

From opening up about mental health to welcoming non-royal spouses into the fold, it’s clear the Windsor family is undergoing some major changes. Turns out, Queen Elizabeth is driving the charge for a more modern royal family. 

Colleen Harris, who worked on Prince Charles’s press team from 1998 to 2003 and was also the first black member of the royal staff, opened up about the changes Elizabeth is making to help the aristocracy get with the times. 

“She’s insuring the future of the monarchy by being open and flexible and adapting,” Harris told People. “She’s allowing it to rebrand…We have come a real long way. They are not stuffy and immovable.” 

Although this shift was visible when the late Princess Diana was nicknamed the princess of the people, Harris argues that Kate Middleton, a woman of non-royal lineage, was the real game changer. “People then sort of thought, an ordinary person can grow up and marry into the royal family. How exciting, how different!” Harris explained.

But it was Meghan Markle, an American actress and divorcée of mixed race, who was the largest harbinger of change. As Harris put it, “With [Meghan], that takes it even a step further.”

Gan-Gan for the forward-thinking win. 

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