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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Romantic Date Night Gets Political

What could this mean for the future of the monarchy?
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Over the weekend, Meghan Markle’s soon-to-be sister-in-law Kate Middleton sparked a minor controversy at the BAFTA Awards when she opted to wear dark green with, potentially, a subtle black-ribboned nod to the #TimesUp and #MeToo movement rather than wearing all-black like most of the women in attendance. As many royal experts pointed out, it’s against protocol for a member of the royal family to make a political statement—even on matters such as sexual harassment and assault. But just a few miles away on Friday night Markle and fiancé Prince Harry capped off Valentine’s Day week with a date to one of the most unabashedly political pieces of entertainment in years: the musical Hamilton. Kensington Palace declined to comment on Meghan and Harry’s taste in theater.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s colorblind, Tony award-winning treatment of the founding fathers play was already an envelope-pushing event before the New York cast engaged Vice President Mike Pence during his attendance in 2016. That interaction proved an irresistible target for Donald Trump who has also been roundly criticized by Miranda time and again. The musical—which features a villainous, sneering King George III—has potentially even deeper political ramifications in England. Harry’s father Prince Charles, for example, once called his ancestor George III a “misunderstood” man and his most respected monarch.

So if wearing a black dress on the BAFTA red carpet is seen as too political for the royal family, what does a night out at Hamilton mean? Well, for one, it means Markle is eager to share the things she loves with her future husband. The actress had already seen Hamilton in New York in 2016 with close friend Priyanka Chopra. “About last night. Thank you to my babe @priyankachopra for the best date night #Hamilton #NYC,” Markle captioned a photo of the two of them on her since-deleted Instagram account. Hopefully Harry measured up to the date night standard Chopra set.

This isn’t the first time Meghan and Harry have enjoyed a night out at the theater together. But gone are the days of their early courtship when the pair could stroll up, unexpected, in casual beanies to a production A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The duo were long expected to attend Hamilton with Lin-Manuel Miranda expressing his excitement in having them join the crowd. When the show opened in London late last year, Miranda said he would put a pair of tickets aside for Meghan and Harry should they decide to attend: “That would be an absolute treat–obviously that would be an honor for us.”