Anyone whose memory stretches as far back as January might be confused by the spectacle of American conservatives professing their love for Britain’s monarchy. Two days before Donald Trump left office, his “1776 Commission” praised the Declaration of Independence as a historically momentous document that made America a “unique” nation. During the Obama administration, the iconography of America’s revolutionary struggle against the British Crown was so pervasive that the right wing of the GOP actually called itself the “Tea Party.”

Yet when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry criticized the royal family in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, the response of at least some figures in prominent conservative institutions was to hail the very institution America’s founders were rebelling against in 1776. Multiple defenses of the monarchy appeared in publications like the Federalist and the National Review. The Heritage Foundation hosted a virtual event entitled “The Crown Under Fire: Why the Left’s Campaign to Cancel the Monarchy and Undermine a Cornerstone of Western Democracy will Fail.”

It’s hard to read that without thinking of the official slogans of the ruling party in George Orwell’s novel 1984. War is peace! Freedom is slavery! The monarchy is a cornerstone of democracy!