Few families can claim to be the Waltons. For most of us real folk, if we heard “Goodnight, John Boy,” from one of our kin – even on a so-called good day for most families  – we’d be wise to duck and run like the dickens for cover because someone we’re related to is probably considering clunking us over the head with a wood junk, knocking us into next Tuesday. 

Goodnight, in some books,  could well be code for good-bye and good riddance and is likely a sign it could possibly be the last day on this earth due to some perceived slight. 

Taking it to the Grave

I’ve heard of relations who even plan on taking anger and grudges well beyond this life by literally taking them to the grave. 

There’s tales of family members, while healthy and nowhere near having a foot anywhere near six-feet worth of soil, warning another to dare not come to their funeral. Now that’s grudge-holding with conviction. 

Thanks to Facebook, picking a side in many a family feud has even become a spectator sport as dueling clan clickety-clack e-bullets back and forth – until somebody gets blocked and the free-for-all ends in cricket-thriving silence. 

Heck, depending on the lay-of-the-family-landscape (and perhaps the wind direction) at any given time, even a darling like yours truly can either be in – or way (way, way, way) out of favour with next of kin. But I’m not unique. 

This relation-racketing isn’t new, folks. We all have stories. I’ve heard one about a charming father-in-law who referred to their son’s partner using the same wrong name for six years. Once the couple were no longer together, suddenly the former father-in-law remembered her actual name, she noted wryly.  

So, with all our own brought-on-by-blood-baggage to lug around, why is it so many feel the need to drag out and dwell on the fact that there’s possibly something sibling-in-law-sinister happening within the Royal family?

Scandalous Details 

We’ve all read the so-called scandalous details. Harry’s pregnant wife, Meghan Markle, has a troubled relationship with her sister and her father. Wow. That’s news? 

For some, it is, I suppose, considering Markle has made headlines for everything from a donning a “messy” bun to the way she absentmindedly cradled her pregnant belly while giving a speech. 

There’s much talk of fierce feuding between Markle and sister-in-law Kate Middleton. Women’s Day reported recently the Duchess of Sussex has been nicknamed everything from Hurricane Meghan to Difficult Duchess because others in the family – like Kate – find her bossy and moody. Well, she is pregnant, people. Bossy and moody are par for the course, as many can attest. 

Not everyone is taking the bashing lightly. Actor George Clooney weighed in on the mess in an interview saying in part; “She’s a woman who is seven months pregnant and she has been pursued and vilified and chased in the same way that [Princess] Diana was and it’s history repeating itself. We’ve seen how that ends.” 

A not-so-subtly solemn reminder if there ever was one. I’m not saying that loyal royal watchers shouldn’t be hungry for their fix when it comes to real royal news, but let’s just remember one thing. 

As we’re in this trivial pursuit for racy royal rumble news, most of us are actually tossing stones from our own very fragile glass castles. 

Pam Pardy Ghent, The Herald’s Managing Editor, can be reached by emailing [email protected]