On January eighteenth of this year to the surprise of royal watchers everywhere, Meghan and Harry announced their intentions to step back from their royal duties. We will find out later it was just as much of a surprise to the Queen Mum and the rest of the royal brood. Their roles as senior royals will shift in Spring 2020, and Meaghan and Harry will split time between North America and the UK.
The Dutchess with demands
We saw glimpses of a couple pushing royal boundaries in the months leading up to their wedding in May 2018; now proof has surfaced of her stringent wedding day demands. Rumors circulated Meghan wanted to wear an emerald tiara, but the Queen stepped in, telling Meghan she had to wear another picked out by the monarch. More push-back came from the royal couple when it came to the official wedding photos. As we’ve seen in the past, the royal couple would stand; The Duke and Dutchess draped themselves over the steps of the cathedral. But, when she stepped into the role of Dutchess, she found out quickly many things are done for tradition’s sake when you’re a royal.
The lambasting of Meghan Markle
The world continued to be speculative of the royal couple but mainly of Meghan. There were two narratives when it came to how the public viewed Harry’s part in all this commotion. Either Harry is enabling Meghan, and she gets her way, or Meghan has Harry wrapped around her finger, and she gets her way. Watchers of the royal family began to postulate at the time Harry and Meghan got engaged; she was in it for the spotlight. The criticism had never stopped for Meghan. The more she bucked tradition, the more the public condemned her. Markle couldn’t sway the court of public opinion in her favor.
Then came baby Archie
When the Dutchess of Sussex became pregnant, the vilification seemed to ramp up. It didn’t help the denigration when Markle had a baby shower in New York City with celebrity friends at a popular restaurant called The Mark. As royal tradition goes, baby showers are to remain a low-key event out of public view. Friends like Abigail Spencer and Serena Williams filed into the venue, and photographer and photographers were in full-affect, especially getting the Queen’s knickers in a twist. While pregnant, Markle also broke the royal golden rule of not traveling while expecting. As a newly minted mom, Markle visited a woman’s shelter in Vancouver and had tea with the staff. The nay-sayers thought the visit had less to do with charity and more with a PR stunt.
The speculation: is Meghan using her HRH title to boost branding?
In January talks between the Queen and the couple came to an end with both parties seemingly satisfied. Even though the final agreement with the Queen stated the Duke and Dutchess could retain their HRH titles, they were supposedly not going to use them. Markle disparagers ly picked up on something when looking at her website page as a patron; it had been swept clean of any reference to the HRH title. But, if you turn to her charity aligned Smart Set clothing page, it still reads Her Royal Highness. Speculation swirled Meghan was using the HRH title for branding purposes. Unfortunately, given her past brashness, it’s not a notion without merit.
Meghan’s life is ever-evolving, and she’s a chameleon, from hobnobbing back with celebrity friends to doing voice-overs for Disney. After all, Harry practically laid bare Meghan’s resume to a Disney executive in a reception line. If you think only Meghan suffers criticism, think again. That minor mishap cost Harry major popularity points as the same critics of Meghan’s viewed the faux pas as gauche, embarrassing and shameless.