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The ex-royals often make headlines, currently with good news: Duchess Meghan is celebrating her 40th birthday. On this occasion we ask ourselves: Why is Gossip about them so interesting in the first place?
What happened until now …
A little crash course for Career of short-term Royal Meghan and her lover Harry - for everyone who hasn't followed it in such detail in the past two and a half years: At the beginning there was Hollywood love story perfect, the happy ending seemed mapped out - the American actress & the British prince.
"Meghan initially swept like a fresh whirlwind by the royal family. After the official engagement in November 2017, the press pounced on this modern American who had already had a career as a series starlet. She was divorced, is a woman of color, she campaigns for women's rights. That would have done the royals very well, she would have can be celebrated and loved, like Diana, "summarizes Royal expert Marion Nachtwey." But it went wrong. For presumably less serious reasons than with her mother-in-law. Because Meghan is loved by her husband."
After the dream wedding in May 2018 (they celebrated with over 600 invited guests) son Archie was born a year later. In January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced her exit from the royal family(Why was it even called "Megxit" and not "Haxit" ?!). A few months later, the family moved to the USA, but the ex-royals weren't really quiet there either: Meghan published a personal text in the New York Times about her miscarriage, which she suffered at the end of 2020. One of the biggest PR coups to date: An interview with Oprah Winfrey, which was broadcast on March 7th of this year and discussed worldwide. (You can find out what the Queen had to say about the Oprah interview here.) Wherever Meghan and Harry appear, there is a lot to report.
The press is busy: there is also a Netflix documentary in which Harry talked about his "Genetic Pain" (you can find out what that means here) and the birth of her daughter Lilibet Diana on June 4, 2021. From the public will everything closely watched- celebrated and criticized. Nachtwey, who follows all the steps of the couple closely, sums up: "They polarize so strongly because they Public share in their problems permit. Because they were so free to tread a new path, they made a tough decision. Some think it is not appropriate to put on a perfectly staged soul trip show, others think they are right, they shouldn't put up with anything from the royal family."
The next scandal is already inevitable: Harry is planning an autobiography about his life. Nachtwey sees it relatively calmly: "Big secrets are probably not to be expected, but when a royal, who is world-famous, tells about his life, we just hang on to his lips because we all want to play little mice in the palaces around the At the end of the day, their problems, worries, desires and fears are not that different from ours."
We don't know Meghan & Harry: why are we gossiping about them anyway?
Why do we even care about this gossip? Why do we like to blaspheme others that we have sometimes never met personally? We asked Carine Anderle, the psychotherapist specializes in behavioral psychology. Let's take a quick look at the royals before we clarify why we like to blaspheme so much. "There is so much media coverage of the Royal Family in particular that for many people they almost seem like family members or good friends," says the psychologist. "The Royals do not fulfill a political, but primarily an entertainment purpose, which also benefits the family itself. In Great Britain in particular, the coverage of the Royals is even more extreme, for many Brits they are like an extended family. For example, the tragic accidental death of Lady Diana: an unbelievable number of people was hit by this tragedy as if a close relative had died. Who often deals with the life of other people, builds an emotional connection - regardless of whether we know these people."
So we care because we constantly confronted with itwe have known them often since they were born and have followed their development for decades, they represent a projection surface for many. "Gossip over others - above all, over to speak to famous or particularly successful people and observing their lives is as old as humanity itself. There was already spicy information about the great and powerful in ancient Egypt - depicted on hieroglyphics - and in ancient Rome, "explains Anderle." It is a primeval human need, ours To compare 'everyday' life and problems with those of others and to see that even the famous, but also the neighbor or colleague basically very similar problems have like ourselves. "At the same time, the contents of the gossip form very strong social and cultural norms away. They convey what is currently socially accepted and what is less.
Many scientists have already dealt with the psychology of gossiping. Sociologist Max Gluckmann, who researched this in the 1960s, described Gossip is the social glue that holds groups together. "Gossiping is usually very emotional and creates a feeling of intimacy between those involved," summarizes Carina Anderle. "It strengthens - at least the group feeling, and helps us to compare our own behavior with social norms and to exchange important social information. I would describe everything that allows us to come into contact with one another as 'social glue'. Interests or gossip about others."
The expert clearly distinguishes between two dimensions:
- Gossip about others in the sense of an exchange of informationand satisfaction of curiosity: "It's a completely natural part of human conversation, it's fun, and has a social purpose. A 2019 study showed that around three quarters of our conversations are structured like this."
- That mean aligning, condemning and defiling Another: "It welds the blasphemers together as a group for a short time and gives those who devalue others a feeling of superiority for a short time. In the long term, however, it makes us ourselves prone to own insecurities and feelings of shame. "Means: We believe that we have to hide our problems, feel inhibited from being allowed to live our lives according to our own ideas - for fear of condemnation." Unfortunately, those who condemn others also tend to do the same for themselves shame."
So we learn from this: Long-term makes us judging others is stricter towards ourselves."Because we switch off our empathy when we express ourselves negatively about others. Particularly interesting for us are those topics that affect our own insecurities, so they put us under indirect pressure." Psychologist Carina Anderle has another example: " The little tummy that Kate presented the day after the birth of Prince George was a 'sensation'."
