Dame Mary Beard is a British historian specializing in ancient Rome. I would imagine she loves the TikTok trend of women asking their partners how often they think of the Roman Empire. She’s currently promoting her latest book, Emperor of Rome, and she’s been giving tons of interviews in British print media. She has that “cool professor” energy where she can tie ancient history to modern pop culture and modern politics. For weeks, she’s been talking about cancel culture, gender discourse, race throughout history and her Gucci sneakers. Well, Richard Eden at the Daily Mail got her to comment on, guess what? The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Reporting tittle-tattle about the state of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s marriage is important, because it will serve as a historical record of what people are talking about, declares television historian Dame Mary Beard.
‘I’ve been reading that they are going to get a divorce,’ the Cambridge classicist says.
‘Maybe they are, maybe they’re not, but that’s very much the same sort of gossip’ [as in Roman times].
Promoting her new book, Emperor Of Rome, she adds: ‘Before anyone thinks I’m trivialising it, gossip is very important… from a historical point of view.’ Hear, hear…
[From The Daily Mail]
I would love to know what she was asked specifically and the entirety of her answer in context, because it feels like Eden chopped it up to make it specifically about the Sussexes. As for what she says… yeah, I agree, gossip is important. Gossip saves lives! “Gossip” is just a catch-all term for “information-gathering, informal reporting and early warning systems.” Most of what appears in Politico is GOSSIP. Most of what’s said on ESPN is gossip. I also agree that gossip about the Sussexes serves as part of the historical record. Just as gossip about the Wales marriage will be part of the historical record too.
Also: earlier this year, Beard made other comments about Harry and Meghan, saying “They’re going too far” with their interviews and “because they go further than we can, because we can’t have our own Netflix series, it makes us think about how you want to be and how you want to behave. Is Medea a hero? She gives you a lens on to what it would be like to be the kind of person who killed.”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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