Needless to say, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from Royal Family duties to pursue more independence in North America has profoundly blind-sided people. Within one day of the couple’s historic announcement, Madame Tussauds wax museum in London has removed both Harry and Meghan’s figures from the Royal Family display.
“The museum, known for housing wax figures of celebrities and prominent people, removed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from the royal family display following the couple’s stunning news,” reported USA Today.
On Thursday, the museum made this shift in the collection official with a post on Twitter showing that the new Royal Family display will have all the usual faces everyone knows and loves – Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince William, Duchess Kate – but no Meghan and no Harry, as if they had somehow vanished into the commoner winds of tomorrow. Further adding insult to injury, the museum added the hashtag #Megxit along with a shoulder shrug emoji.
“We’ve got to respect their wishes #Megxit,” the glaringly unsubtle (some might say passive-aggressive) post stated.
We’ve got to respect their wishes 🤷♂️ #Megxit pic.twitter.com/mb936VcqRd
— Madame Tussauds London (@MadameTussauds) January 9, 2020
In an official statement, Steve Davies, General Manager at Madame Tussauds London, said that the figures of Harry & Meghan will remain at the museum, albeit in a new home.
“Alongside the rest of the world we are reacting to the surprising news that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be stepping back as senior Royals. From today Meghan and Harry’s figures will no longer appear in our Royal Family set,” said Davies. “As two of our most popular and well-loved figures they will of course remain an important feature at Madame Tussauds London as we watch to see what the next chapter holds for the them.”
The museum has since been getting trolled on social media while being slapped with labels as sober as “petty” and extreme as “racist” due to Meghan Markle being a half-black woman.
“Not this passive aggressive, racist hashtag,” said Twitter user.
“There’s a whole damn war going on and there’s massive bush fires in Australia yet Madame Tussauds‘ thought they’d be ‘petty’ by removing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from the Royal family display?! It’s not even been 24hrs, they’re still royalty, just choose to live differently,” said another user.
“There’s always so much to do when I visit London, so thanks for helping me cross one thing off the list. I guess I’m just surprised that your Twitter is run by a petty 14-year old,” said another.
One Twitter user noted that the museum did not remove Prince Philip from the display when he retired from Royal duties. “Why wasn’t Prince Philip removed when he retired from public duties?” the user asked. “He is no longer seen in public, if you are removing the Sussexes for their desire for a bit more privacy, I think you should do the same for the retired prince. But I guess that wouldn’t be white of you.”
In the shocking announcement on Wednesday, Harry and Meghan said that they will seek to “become financially independent” by splitting time between the United Kingdom and North America.
“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 couple said. “We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America, continuing to honor our duty to The Queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages.”