COMPREHENSION ECRITE: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

Bonjour à tous, aujourd'hui une petite lecture consacrée à un évènement "récent", l'abandon par le Prince Harry et Meghan Markle de leurs fonctions dans la famille Royale et leur émigration au Canada. L'article s'intéresse aux raisons qui ont poussé le couple à prendre cette décision. Essayez de répondre aux questions en anglais. J'ai numéroté les paragraphes afin de vous faciliter la tâche. A rendre pour le vendredi 19 juin (par mail).

Farewell, Harry and Meghan, you realised that being a royal is no way to live

By Tanya Gold, 08/03/2020, The Telegraph

1.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex perform their final engagement as working members of the royal family on Monday. Meghan has a reach that the rest of the family do not: at the Robert Clack school in Dagenham on Friday, the children whooped when she kissed a schoolboy. On Saturday at the Royal Albert Hall she received a standing ovation. For those who care about the survival of the monarchy, she was an asset. She mirrored a younger, more diverse Britain. But it’s too late now. The family have failed the Sussexes.

2. The Sussexes have self-awareness: enough to know that being a modern-day royal is no way to live. It wasn’t that what was offered was too little. Rather, it was too much. The projection we perform on the royal family is not innocent. If you look only at the surface, you see bunting and smiles. But monarchy is an anachronism for a reason. 

3. The Sussexes know that the psychological contortion required to pretend to embody a nation is emotional death. William and Harry’s recent interest in mental health is a muted cry. Monarchy killed their mother. You can talk about drunk drivers and seatbelts but why was she there, in that tunnel, at that time?

4. “I think being part of this family, in this role, in this job, every single time I see a camera,” Harry said, “every single time I hear a click, every single time I see a flash it takes me straight back.” He also said: “I will not be bullied into carrying on a game that killed my mum.” 

5. There was a role waiting for Meghan. If you want to know what it was, look at the Duchess of Cambridge – who is immaculate, and always seems to be laughing.

6. Meghan tried. She hugged; she talked about feelings. The mockery – and the anger – began. Her father’s story was bought and published. She resisted palace advice and was briefed against for making the Duchess of Cambridge cry. There was racism, but her crime was really that she was unwilling to meet the insatiable expectations; unwilling to be consumed. Then came the unforgivable sin. She said she was unhappy. You cannot do this if you are a royal: we like our victims pliant.

7. “I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a ‘stiff upper lip’,” she told the ITV interviewer Tom Bradby. “I really tried, but I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging. I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair.” It was never going to be fair.

8. I suspect the Duke of Sussex, like his great-great uncle Edward VIII, married a woman, however unconsciously, who would rescue him from this shabby and duplicitous splendour. He lived a half-formed life under a half-broken enchantment. If you have been a demigod, can you exist in the real world, represented today by Canada? We will see. I wish them well.

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

Paragraph 1: According to the article, why was Megham Markle a positive addition to the Royal Family?

Paragraph 2: “Monarchy is an anachronism”: what does that sentence mean ? (explain what is “an anachronism”)

Paragraph 3: Translate this sentence into French: “The Sussexes know that the psychological contortion required to pretend to embody a nation is emotional death.”

Paragraph 4: Prince Harry says in the article: “I will not be bullied into carrying on a game that killed my mum.”  What is the “game” which killed Harry’s mum?

Paragraph 5: “There was a role waiting for Meghan.” What is that role?

Paragraph 6: What “bad things” happened to Meghan Markle when she became a royal? Mention 3 things.

RESEARCH ON INTERNET: 

Paragraph 7 : Meghan Markle tried to have the British “stiff upper lip”: what does this expression mean?

Paragraph 8 : What happened to Edward VIII ? You can summarize in 1 or 2 sentences.

OPINION: If you were in the same situation as Prince Harry or Meghan Markle (a member of a royal family), would you stay or would you decide to abandon your titles like them?