Meghan Markle is undoubtedly the most disputed member of the British Royal Family. Ever since their move to Los Angeles this year, Meghan and Harry are being constantly under scrutiny by the press and the royals alike. What are they up to? Will their plans collide with the Crown? Will their popularity threaten to eclipse that of William and Kate? In any event, Meghan is remarkable (yes pun intended). Let’s have a look at the milestones in her life so far. Why? Because her vita clearly indicates that she was never to conform to a deeply traditional and – in her perspective – probably ancient institution like the Crown. We will explore why Meghan Markle clashed with the Royal Family and “had it her way”. The rebel princess!
*** So, grab your mug, get comfy and enjoy. ***
Before we kick it off, take a look at Meghan Markle’s milestones so far.
Reason #1: Financially independent
Yep! Meghan Markle was a self-made millionaire when she met Harry and already had a successful career that set her apart from her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, for example. Kate was dubbed “Waity Katy” by the press for not holding a proper job and getting financially independent from her affluent parents while she waited almost 9 years for William to finally pop the question. When the voices became too loud, Kate agreed to 1-2 alibi jobs to fend off her sternest critics. She worked part-time at the fashion label Jigsaw and then at her parents’ company Party Pieces. That was, of course, a very convenient arrangement …
Meghan Markle, however, couldn’t afford not to work as there was no parental company to fall back on. At an early age she started to earn money on her own. Set out to become an actress, she accepted all sorts of TV offers, like being a number girl on a US-American gameshow. Meghan knew the TV business from her father, Thomas Markle, who worked behind the scenes of many TV productions. She knew she had to wait for her breakthrough role. And this is what happened in 2011, when Meghan was cast to play the role of paralegal Rachel Zane on Suits. She starred in that hit series for 7 seasons and relocated for the better part of the whole year to Toronto, where the series was shot.
In one of her last seasons on the show, Meghan earned about $70,000 per episode. While this is lightyears away from the §1,000,000 the cast of The Big Bang Theory had earned per episode, it meant the long-sought financial independence for Meghan. She had made it. She bought herself a beautiful house in Toronto. This house was a far cry from the posh and sometimes vulgarly rich mansions of her Hollywood counterparts, but it was hers! She earned it fair and square and was sure immensely proud of it.
Now, let’s take a look over the pond to see what the British Royal Family made of these information, which they surely must have gotten. There is no scenario in the world to believe that Meghan Markle wasn’t thoroughly vetted by the palace!
Well, the palace – like in the past with Princess Diana, for example – did what they always did: they totally underestimated the person joining their fold. Let’s take Robert Lacey’s words here to pinpoint the situation:
There is only one self-made millionaire in the Royal Family and that is Meghan Markle. If they had sat down with her at the start and said, ‘Let’s talk about the things you are interested in’, things might have been different.
Robert Lacey
Robert Lacey penned the book The Battle of the Brothers, that analyzes the conflict between Prince William and his younger brother Prince Harry. He rightfully finds fault in the palace’s inability to handle Meghan Markle. Part of this is down to pure arrogance. Whatever the royal courtiers in charge were thinking, but someone like Meghan Markle could have never been squeezed into a traditional role:
They just sent her off to watch the Queen opening the Mersey Bridge. There is nothing wrong with that, but they made the mistake of dealing with the spare’s wife thinking she was just a routine royal. She was never going to be a routine royal
Robert Lacey
Reason #2: Social media star
Meghan was never one to settle and to relax. Once she had that foothold into Hollywood, she made sure to expand her reach. Using the popularity of Suits and her character Rachel Zane, she founded her lifestyle blog “The Tig” (named after her favorite wine) in 2014. The Tig became a huge success and earned her even more dollars. By then she was a millionaire and riding it high. She was able to accumulate 3 million followers on Instagram and also had a Twitter and Facebook account to go by with. With that she had established her own brand. Meghan Markle sure understood how social media works and became an expert. More even: She didn’t need anyone to show her the ropes and tell her what to post and what not to post! Something which the palace was soon to find out.
With being part of the royal family everything changed. She shut down her beloved blog and her social media accounts. Thus, she also shut down her voice. Meghan used her influence not only to share lifestyle tips. She was very outspoken on social and political topics as well. As a royal, she was told not to do that. A royal NEVER shares political viewpoints. It was obvious that this wouldn’t work with Meghan… Well, to give her credit: She tried! She tried to abide by those rules before her rift with the royal family. After that, she openly endorsed Joe Biden in his presidential bid against Donald Trump in 2020 and infuriated the palace. After that, palace officials eagerly published a note telling everyone that the Crown remains politically neutral and refrains from commenting political affairs, let alone endorsing any political candidates. A slap into Meghan’s face? Or just setting the record straight? Either way, Meghan won’t be silenced! That’s a fact.
A foreshadowing for this was when Meghan and Harry had severed their ties from William and Kate’s Instagram account in 2019. What was rumored to be the first die-hard evidence for the royal rift between the Cambridges and the Sussexes was at closer look actually a smart move. Four dedicated royals who share at least a hundred charities and patronages among each other need more online space to promote their causes. Meghan and Harry wanted to carve out more space for their own and didn’t want to be William and Kate’s third wheel. That’s why they founded their own Instagram account which soon gained more followers (13 mio.) than William and Kate’s (12.6 mio.).
If at all, Meghan and Harry’s work ethic should have been applauded as it shows how dedicated and committed both were. The palace, however, got this one wrong AGAIN. In their textbook, Meghan and Harry needed to be kept in check and be controlled in order to avoid them eclipsing William and Kate. By then, Meghan advanced to be one of the most popular royals. She ticked all boxes: Good-looking, smart, great fashion style and fresh! And to top it off: She made Harry happy.
Meghan and Harry cut themselves loose in January 2020 by stepping down as senior royals and moving to Meghan’s hometown L.A. By having cornered both, the palace lost almost all control over them and in September 2020 Meghan and Harry broke the bombshell news of having closed a mega-deal with no other than streaming giant Netflix. It’ not been officially confirmed, but rumor has it that Netflix was ready to shell out $70 million for that deal! With that pocketed deal, Meghan and Harry certainly gained more than they had bargained for: Financial independence + influence! This deal cashes in on Meghan and Harry’s popularity and is the epitome of a long social media career that Meghan had started just 6 years back.
Meghan 2 : Palace 0!
Reason #3: Culture clash
Meghan was born and bred in the US. As such she never grew up with the notion of monarchy. In Great Britain every school kid knows that there is a higher institution “hovering” above all the others. They know that these people – whether you like them or not – are considered to be “superior” to others. On TV and in the news they see how people react to the royal family. It is a display of deference that comes in big and small gestures. Britains are familiar with royal gestures like curtsying and addressing members of the royal family with their appropriate titles. They know the difference between an earl and a duke. They know that the Queen is called her Majesty and not her royal highness. In short: Deference is to a certain extent imprinted in the British DNA. Even the fiercest British critics of the Queen would first curtsy to her before voicing the tiniest bit of criticism towards her – if at all!
Now, with Meghan the things are different. Meghan grew up in a country that prides itself from having gained independence from Britain. Equally, on the other side of the pond every American school kid knows the history between the American colonies and the King George III. who failed to understand his colonial subjects and their quest for freedom. Meghan grew up in a country in which “all men [and women as well] are created equal”. Curtsying is something that happens in Walt Disney movies but certainly not in real life in the US.
For Meghan, this meant that she had to learn the long and thoroughly instilled British deference from scratch. And here is the problem: Learning it is one thing. Living, breathing and embracing it to its fullest is another. Meghan did her best to conform to these traditions and curtsied to the Queen on a number of occasions.
But deference is more than going through the usual moves. Behind palace doors, there were multiple clashes between Meghan and royal courtiers. Some resigned because they couldn’t handle Meghan’s way. They complained about emails that were sent to them as early as 5am. Meghan, on the other hand, failed to understand that things moved rather slowly in her new world. She certainly was impatient when things didn’t move fast or efficient enough.
One example is the tiara fitting prior to her wedding. She had her hairdresser on foot and thought she could dispatch someone to fetch the tiara for her trial fitting. The lady in charge for the crown jewels was not in London that day and that’s why the whole fitting had to be cancelled. What didn’t help was that Harry had a heated exchange with the lady in charge and rumors were spilled that Harry was alleged to say that whatever Meghan wants Meghan gets. Soon after the wedding, the palace leaked more information about Meghan in an attempt to cast her in an unflattering light. Meghan was now deemed demanding, pushy and disrespectful towards the Crown!
Well, this new image is not entirely fair on Meghan. One has to give her credit for wanting to fit in. Problem was that she tried to do this with the only means she knew by then, which were the ones that had helped her come that far: persistence, being sharp and quick and never to give up . Being up early in the morning, writing emails is not necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary! In the “real world” – meaning outside gilded palaces – that would have been considered as proactive and hands-on! Meghan made the daunting realization that her way is not compatible with the Crown.
The only way to solve that problem was to separate from the institution. As a 38-year-old self-made millionaire with a totally different cultural mindset there was no way to expect her to succumb to the royal rules. Also given the fact that Meghan and Harry would have always been expected to play second fiddle to William and Kate. In Meghan’s world, there is only one direction, which is moving ahead. She wouldn’t let anyone clip her wings. The photo below is testament to her mindset. That photo was taken during their farewell stint to Britain at a time when they faced massive criticism for having left the UK for good. Both held their heads up high and braved the daunting floods of criticism that was coming their way.
In hindsight, most of the clashes were foreseeable and an honest head-to-head talk would have prevented many of the problems that unfolded in 2019 and 2020. After lots of trials and tribulations, Meghan, Harry and their son Archie (2) have found some solace far away in Los Angeles. As for now, the tensions between the Crown and the Sussexes have boiled down. One can only hope that both sides find a way to support their own agendas without ruffling the other side’s feathers too much. It should be possible.
And who knows, maybe one day the Crown will come to realize and appreciate Meghan Markle’s tremendous assets and won’t be afraid of them but instead find a way to use these for a greater cause. Just like with Princess Diana, the Crown was always apprehensive and maybe also a little bit jealous of popular and successful family members. It’s about time that the British royal institution learned from its past mistakes! Let’s hope they will. Soon. Because with George, Charlotte and Louis the next generation is already in line and in 10-15 years ready to date potential future members of the royal family. Let’s hope. Wonders do happen sometimes …
