Meghan Markle, the daughter-in-law of the British Royal Family, is lying on the ground, and Queen Elizabeth II is depicted as one who is kneeling down on Meghan’s neck. The Duchess of Sussex is exclaiming in French: “Because I couldn’t breathe anymore!”

The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has angered the Britons by publishing such a cover image cartoon in its latest edition. From the image, it is clear that the cartoon invokes the unfortunate death of George Floyd. The magazine has been published after Markle and her husband Harry’s controversial interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier in March 2021.

Floyd, a 46-year-old Afro-American man, was arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit bill in Minneapolis in May 2020, and during his arrest, Derek Chauvin, a White Police Officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, knelt on Floyd’s neck for about nine and a half minutes, after which Floyd stopped pleading and was found lying down motionless. Later, another police officer found no pulse, when urged to check. The image of the event had gone viral on the Social Media. People, across the globe, heard Floyd’s last plea: “I can’t breathe.” This killing triggered a new movement, called Black Lives Matter, against Racism and Apartheid across the US. Later, the movement also rocked Britain and other countries in Europe. On March 12, 2021, the family of Floyd reached a USD 27 million “wrongful death” settlement with the Minnesota City. Many consider the comparison of the British Queen and Meghan with the Floyd Episode disrespectful and exaggerated!

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan recently appeared in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, the renowned American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex openly discussed the reason behind their decision to leave the Buckingham Palace on that day. Meghan, the daughter of an African-American mother and a former actress, exclaimed to Winfrey that it had become extremely difficult for her to breath inside the Palace! She reportedly admitted that she had planned to commit suicide, as the members of the Royal Family resorted to discussions about how dark the colour of the skin of her baby might be!

Following the allegations of Racism, the Royal Family issued a statement, saying that Queen Elizabeth II was shocked to know of this issue, and the Family would look into the matter. Meanwhile, Prince Harry’s elder brother, Prince William, claimed that the British Royal Family was not at all Racist! Although Harry did not disclose who had misbehaved with his wife, he said that Queen Elizabeth II and her husband had never commented on his child. In fact, Meghan and he have cordial relation with the Queen.

Majority of the Europeans are of the opinion that Charlie Hebdo has made a mistake by relating Meghan’s allegations against the Royal Family to the assassination of George Floyd in its cover. According to them, the move is unwelcome. Many believe that the two incidents have been oversimplified. A Netizen has tweeted: “Is this the free speech that Charlie Hebdo is so passionate about? Racism, disrespect and offence passed off as satire? I’m sorry but no Je suis for me. This is nothing but racist bigotry and inciting hate. Do better with your platform and grow up.”

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das