I didn’t watch the Meghan and Harry interview – but I still get asked about it

Last week Meghan and Harry did their Oprah interview – I didn’t watch it. In the same way as there are some TV shows I don’t watch: not to make a point or anything, but, well. We can’t watch everything, can we?

Plus, there’s so much on offer these days. Just going on the Netflix homepage is in itself an overwhelming experience for me – so much stuff, where to start?! And then there’s all the other catch up and streaming services. There’s too much choice. We usually only end up watching recommendations from friends, of which this Oprah interview wasn’t one.

I guess, on the upside, it’s not too much of an investment though; there’s only one season, with one episode, so that could be a draw. But then again, you’ll be back to square one the next night – what to watch now we’ve already seen that? I knew we should have gone for something we could binge on!

The next morning, having not watched Meghan and Harry, I had to do a newspaper interview in my capacity as a British Asian Trust ambassador. They had called and texted me about supporting a venture of theirs during chaotic homeschooling – I had said yes in a rush (was also on a Zoom call at the time) thinking it was to tweet support. Turns out, you can now win a virtual curry with me (booby prize I know, curry with Katy Perry probably being the main draw!) It also entailed an interview.

“Prince Charles is an ambassador of the British Asian Trust, isn’t he? Do you think he’s the royal that Meghan and Harry are referring to?”, the journalist asked me. Having not seen the interview, I was genuinely clueless as to what he was referring to. I haven’t seen it, I apologised – and I wasn’t really that interested. The journalist went on to explain about the comment having something to do with the colour of the royal baby, to which I said, “I really don’t know who said that.” I mean how would I? And what has this got to with the British Asian Trust’s virtual curry night?

He then went on to ask me about the pitfalls of a mixed-race relationship, many of the questions in relation to Meghan and Harry. I managed to diplomatically answer and swerve left, right and centre. It’s not that I don’t have an opinion on stuff, it’s just everything is so case specific – and stating your opinions on things, especially when in print, can give undue weight to casual statements. Social media will agree with me – it’s made a career out of it. Of course I have an opinion, we all do – on most things – but that doesn’t mean that my opinion’s important, or that I actually always care.

Having navigated through the Meghan and Harry inquisition, I breathed a sigh of relief as we moved on to chat about the non-contentious children’s books I write. I explained they’re about an Asian girl, but they can also be described as, “Bridget Jones meets Wimpy Kid”.

We spoke of the fact that, growing up, book characters were never ethnic ones, and you have to “see it to be it” – if you’ll excuse the cliche. Somehow, though, this brought us back on to skin colour – and I mentioned that growing up, me and other Asian friends of mine felt that culturally fairer skin was perceived as more attractive. I also mentioned that some people went as far as using skin creams that could supposedly help achieve this. Luckily, though, I moved the conversation on before he could mention Meghan and Harry again.

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The same week, I chaired a virtual discussion with Princess Beatrice, among others, on International Women’s Day. “Wonder what she makes of Meghan and Harry?” commented a friend. “She must know who the mystery ‘racist’ royal is. What do you think she thinks about her dad?” Once again, “I don’t know,” was all I could come up with. “She seemed really nice and down to earth”, I added, just to have something to say. Which she was – but I know very little on her views about stuff other than International Women’s Day.

And with the week nearly over, I was asked to write last week’s column – you’re reading this week’s one, right now. I never know what to write about – and I never want to be too opinionated (it’s the best way to get the trolls out). “You could write about Meghan and Harry?” a colleague suggested, to which I replied – for the millionth time – that I didn’t even watch the interview (stop stalking me, Meghan and Harry!) Suffice to say, I picked a safe topic: one that Piers Morgan wouldn’t give the time of day.

Finally, having avoided Meghan and Harry, I saw a newspaper article claiming that I used to “fantasise about being white”. Er... I don’t remember that! And... cue the trolls. Meanwhile, my non-contentious column for The Independent, about local shopping, apparently managed to spark an outcry on an Ealing Facebook group – when I accused a local shopping street of being hit by the Nineties recession: edgy. Cue the trolls. You can’t win. Maybe I should have written about Meghan and Harry, after all? At least it gave me something to write about this week.

Konnie Huq’s children’s book about a British, Asian, Muslim girl but also a bit like Bridget Jones meets Wimpy Kid with laugh out loud humour and funny cartoons is out now. It contains no opinions other than those of Cookie, a fictional character and does not feature Prince Harry or Meghan Markle