Prince Harry gets engaged to an American and the world goes nuts

There's something we need to talk about and it's really quite important. I swore several months ago I was not going to get sucked into writing a blog about same sex marriage and that it was so low on my radar that it didn't even factor. Of course, I'm bringing it up now because of something related yet unrelated.

As you may have heard the news last night, Prince Harry and his girlfriend, Meghan Markle announced their engagement and upcoming Spring wedding.

Apparently it's a big deal because not only is Meghan 36, and he's 33 (Ashton Kutcher anyone!), she's also a divorcee (Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Charles, hello! Does anyone remember the negative press they got for several years?), she's also an African American citizen and once again, call the Police and lock the gates because she's an actress, an actress! Oh heaven forbid! This is a total disaster!

Well according to several newspapers, this is a very big deal.

I would like to take the time to correct the media and simply state the following:

After an 18 month courtship, which saw her meet key members of the Royal Family including Her Majesty Herself, the Queen, Prince William, his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge Kate, and many others, Prince Harry has proposed to his American girlfriend Meghan Markle. Ms Markle, a divorcee moved to London earlier this month after quitting her role as Rachel Zane on the legal drama Suits. This is a huge moment in history as Prince Harry was known for his bad boy ways in his younger days. Could this engagement mark the beginning of a new chapter in Prince Harry's life? Has he finally settled down?

That my readers is actually all that needs to be said. Whether or not Markle is white, black, yellow, purple is irrelevant.  Cue Michael Jackson's Black or White:

The only thing that's actually relevant is that the Prince and the actress are engaged to be married. It's 2017, nearly 2018, and for the MSM to make such a big deal out of skin colour shows that there is still prejudice towards people of different ethnicities. Those only actually disappear when people stop mentioning someone's race. Meghan has done perfectly well on her own and forged an excellent career for herself before meeting the prince, so why even bring race into it?

Although Meghan Markle is an American, it obviously doesn't occur to mainstream media journalists that people move around the world in greater numbers than ever before, which actually means the likelihood of marrying someone who was born in another country is significantly increased, and therefore a non event. If the same sex marriage brigade are to be believed then the only thing that should actually matter is whether or not a couple actually love eachother and not their ethnic background. The Royal Family are just like any other family around the world. They have feelings and they have to live their lives as they wish. In many ways Prince Harry is lucky because he's 6th in line to the throne (once Kate and William's third baby is born) so he has more leeway than others. He is also the youngest in his blood line and as we all know, the youngest child often gets away with more than the oldest one(s).

Now that we've got that out of the way, the Royal Wedding is going to be in the Spring. It can't be before March or April at the very earliest because his brother, Prince William and Kate are expecting their third baby, so the family will already be tied up with the organisation of that. It's likely to be May or June which gives William and Kate the space and time to get used to having a third child, and the family to organise what will be a massive event.

Prince Harry has always been the bad boy of the Royal Family, so him settling down is a huge deal. He's previously been linked to his sister in law, Pippa Middleton and singer Ellie Goulding but finally settled on Ms Markle after an 18 month courtship.

So what does the marriage actually mean?

Well, despite some Australians and New Zealanders being republicans and wanting to leave the Commonwealth, the interest in the Royal Family means that we are less likely to become republics. People are still very fond of the Royal Family, and even though most people don't like Prince Charles or what him to be King, the Royal Family are still hugely relevant.

Forget for a moment that they are born into huge wealth and royalty, they do a lot of good and help hundreds of charities around the world. They inspire people and give them something to aspire to. Given that Meghan, Kate, the late Princess Diana and even Camilla were commoners prior to joining the Royal Family, everyone can aspire to become royalty.

It's expected that Prince Harry and Meghan will become full time royal representatives now that they are engaged and that their duties will increase when they are married.

Fortunately for us here in Australia, that will mean we can expect Prince Harry and Meghan to make a royal visit in either late 2018 or 2019 (most likely 2019), and that is very exciting, especially for us younger Royal Family followers.

The only thing that I wish is that John Key and Tony Abbott were still Prime Ministers of NZ and Australia respectively. They would've lapped up the opportunity to mix with royalty and genuinely care about the royal family. Prime Ministers Jacinda Ardern and Malcolm Turnbull have made it very clear that they are republications and want NZ and Australia to break away from the commonwealth. Key and Abbott were much better on the world stage than Ardern and Turnbull.

That aside, Royal Family followers are going to be doubly treated next year with both a new royal baby AND a royal wedding!

Hospitals around the world can expect the names Harry, Henry, Meghan, William, Kate, Charlotte and George to increase in popularity.

We can also expect Royal Family followers to go mad when Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce that they're planning a visit down under.

Concert Review: Lorde - Melodrama Tour, Sydney Opera House, 22nd November 2017

Every so often an artist comes along who strikes a chord with people of all ages. In the 90s that was Mariah Carey and Madonna. For a while, Britney Spears was the Queen of pop, as was Beyonce and Taylor Swift in recent years, until Swift's reputation got damaged (Taylor Swift's reputation, and her latest album of the same name will be discussed in another blog).

It's very rare though that a singer from New Zealand will hit the international stage, which makes Lorde's ascent to the top even more magical.

It all started five years ago when Lorde, who at the time was living in Takapuna/Devonport on Auckland's North Shore uploaded an EP to the internet. Her debut song, Royals was captivating and propelled her to the top of the US charts and many other charts around the world.

Four years after her debut, Lorde released Melodramaa, which has since had the singles Green Light, Liability, Homemade Dynamite and promotional single, Perfect Places.

Naturally, international artists of Lorde's standing embark on world tours, and that's exactly what Lorde has done. Even though she could fill stadiums, Lorde chose smaller, more intimate venues, one of which was the Sydney Opera House, which has a capacity of 5,500.

She played two shows at the iconic venue, on the 21st and 22nd of November 2017. I was lucky enough to be at the show on the 22nd of November.

The support act was George Maples, an electronica singer from Sydney, who has just released her debut album, Lovers. She wasn't anything special.

As with all shows there was about half an hour between the time that Maples' set finished and Lorde's started. Looking around the venue there were literally people of all ages from 10 right through to 60. Lorde has mass appeal.

Lorde opened with Homemade Dynamite and as you'd imagine, she has stage presence and oozes charisma when she's out there on stage. Unlike other artists of her calibre, Lorde has a scaled back show, but it doesn't matter because you can't help but be captivated by her singing.

In between songs, she spoke to the audience. Early on in the show, she said that Sydney was the most beautiful place that she's played and she couldn't believe that she was actually playing at the Opera House. She was really taken aback by the whole thing. Now we all know that artists say that the city they're in is their favourite, but later on in the show Lorde said that whenever she's in Sydney she goes out on a boat and that it's the only other city that actually feels like her home.

The show was split into three parts, with three costume changes. Her first outfit was a black boho inspired maxi skirt and a dark grey sparkly top. She then changed a third of the way through into a blue dress that easily could have belonged on a commune. The final outfit was similar, but was red.

Musically, the best part of the show was the final third where she played all her biggest hits: Royals, which the crowd went crazy for and sung along to, Perfect Places, Team and Green Light, which she was emotional before singing and asked the audience to sing along with her.

After Green Light a couple of minutes of fireworks were let off, and then she departed the stage before returning for an encore of her song, Loveless from Melodrama.

All in all, Lorde cannot only sing but she can work a crowd and truly connect with her audience. There is no lip syncing during the show. Every song is sung 100% live.

The highlights of the show were when she sung Royals; and when she spoke about how she was so grateful to be singing at the Opera House.

The lowlight was the song chosen for the encore. If I'd been in charge of the set list arrangement, I would have ended with Royals, the song that got her entire career started.

Overall the show deserves 4.5/5 stars.