The whole world is shocked by the unexpected decision of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle. They said they are going to “abdicate” as they want to spend more time with their son, to launch their own charity project and to move to North America. 

This topic worths discussing. Why not create a lesson around it?

Let us give you some ideas.

Task 1 — Warm up + lead in

Show your students Prince Harry and his wife’s portrait. Ask whether they know who these people are. Then ask whether they have heard the latest news about them. If yes, give  a chance to describe the situation briefly and if no say that you’re going to find out what had happened in the lesson.

Task 2 — The news itself

Let your students read the news written by Prince Harry and his wife and find out whether the news is positive or negative. 

Prince Harry is leaving the royal life: lesson ideas
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Then students answer the questions: 

  1. What have they decided to do?
  2. Where do they want to live?
  3. What project do they plan to launch?
  4. How will this decision reflect their son?

Task 3 — Vocabulary work

Check whether students understand the vocabulary given. Ask to explain these term using their own words:

— reflection

— internal

— a transition 

— senior (members)

— financially independent 

— encouragement

— adjustment

— an appreciation 

— charitable entity

— relevant parties

Explain some difficult words and expressions if needed. Use Cambridge Dictionary.

Task 4 — The reaction

Of course, the topic is in top news around the world now. People started to comment on the post immediately on Instagram*. 

Activity 1

You can give your students a link where they can read some of the comments given.

Anyway, it’s better to prepare some screenshots in advance (in case your student isn’t logged in etc.)

Prince Harry is leaving the royal life: lesson ideas
Prince Harry is leaving the royal life: lesson ideas

Give your students an opportunity to make a conclusion by asking questions like:

“Do people support or condemn the decision? What are their arguments?”

“Whom do they blame?”

“What do you think of it?”

Activity 2 — an interesting fact

Tell your students that the amount of Instagram* account subscribers has increased by 500k followers after the news was published. Discuss why that has happened.

Activity 3 — memes&twits

You can also find some other comments in social networks if you use the hashtag #Megxit

Ask students the reason why the hashtag is named this way.

Key: Firstly, lots of people blame Meghan and suppose that it’s her decision to make her husband leave the Royal family. Secondly, there is a link with Brexit

Prince Harry is leaving the royal life: lesson ideas
Prince Harry is leaving the royal life: lesson ideas
Prince Harry is leaving the royal life: lesson ideas

Then show some of the reactions and discuss them (again, screenshots might be helpful):

Task 5 — The video

Here is an amazing video about Royal crisis. If you think it’s too hard just change video playback speed. Watch it with your students and ask some questions like the following ones: 

Why does the host mention racism and what does Victoria say about it? 

key: There were lots of gossips about Meghan (there are still) connected with her race (her mom is African American). Some people don’t like her and say she has provoked Harry to leave the Royal life. Victoria says their wedding day with Harry represented the Royal Family’s respect and proved that the UK is a multinational society which is ready to accept Meghan as Harry’s wife. She says the problem isn’t a race it’s that the Royal Family has never dealt with such kind of decisions.

What does she say about Queen’s reaction? Why had the negotiations appeared?

key: The Queen wasn’t surprised that they want some changes. The Queen asked Harry and Meghan not to go into public without internal discussions, but they did and this is what has actually surprised her. The information from the couple’s website hadn’t been agreed yet.

What does she say about the financial aspect?

key: The Royal family isn’t going to cut them off financially. They want to be financially independent.

Task 6 — A discussion

Finally, it’s time for students to express their opinion about the topic discussed. If you work with a group it’s better to organize some kind of breakouts (give them questions and let them talk in pairs) or debates (one group is “for” Prince Harry and his wife’s decision and another one is “against”). If you work with an individual student, ask him/her directly. Don’t forget that it shouldn’t be his monologue, you should interact.

Sample questions:

— What do you think about the decision made by Harry and Meghan?

— If you were a prince/princess would you say goodbye to a royal lifestyle?

— If you were the Queen how would you react?

— Do you think it’s a key event in the history of the Royal family?

— Is this news important for your country? Why/why not?

Homework

  1. Vocabulary revision 

Ask your students to make own sentences using new words: 

— reflection

— internal

— a transition 

— senior (members)

— financially independent 

— encouragement

— adjustment

— an appreciation 

— charitable entity

— relevant parties

2. Writing

Let your students express their opinion about the situation in a written form. Give them the link to the post that they should comment on.

*Instagram belongs to Meta Platforms Inc., whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation.
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