Scrutiny, family woes pile pressure on pregnant Meghan
LONDON — When Meghan Markle became engaged to Prince Harry, the American TV star seemed to charm everyone she met. She and Harry toured Britain to adoring crowds, and she pledged to hit the ground running once she officially joined the royal circle.
Britain’s rambunctious, royalobsessed media praised her as something different, a fresh take on an old “firm” in need of a bit of dazzle.
Nine months after her wedding extravaganza and now formally known as the Duchess of Sussex, the 37-year-old is pregnant — and finding that life in the royal fishbowl carries not just glamour and great charitable opportunities, but liabilities as well.
Meghan is engaged in a painful, public rift with her father — played out in international tabloids, of course — and dealing with speculation that she is feuding with Prince William’s wife, Kate.
Her half-sister, Samantha, has been sniping at her in public, and the once-fawning media have criticized her for everything from being hard on her household staff to spending too much time cradling her “baby bump.”
“I should think she’s finding it pretty difficult,” said Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine. “It’s such a minefield, being a member of the Royal Family. Perhaps she should have eased herself into it a little more.”
She said Meghan has, as with Diana, the late Princess of Wales, probably been shocked at just how intrusive the media can be. “I don’t think they realized quite how nasty it would become,” she said of the continuing spat between Meghan and her father and half-sister.
Seward said Meghan will never be able to quell tabloid rumours about rifts in the royal household — stories that rely on unnamed “sources” will continue to bedevil her.
Meghan has maintained her equilibrium in public, keeping up a hectic schedule that includes travel and charitable appearances even as the birth of her first child nears.
She has been unfailingly elegant and gracious in public, and retailers say her fashion influence — dubbed the “Markle sparkle” — remains intact, shown by the spike in interest in Stow products after Meghan was seen carrying one of its leather travel organizers.
Talk of a royal feud between the spouses of Prince William and Prince Harry was fuelled late last year by Harry and Meghan’s announced plan to move out of central London, where they live on the grounds of Kensington Palace along with William and Kate, in favour of Frogmore Cottage, in a rural setting near Windsor Castle.
Some in the media jumped to the conclusion that Meghan was not only unable to get along with Kate, but had also prompted a split between William and Harry.
No one outside the royal inner circle knows for sure if there is ill will between Meghan and Kate. But there is no denying the ugly break between Meghan and her father, who has shared an anguished letter from Meghan with the Mail on Sunday.
“If you love me, as you tell the press you do, please stop,” Meghan implores her father, who has frequently spoken to the tabloids about Meghan and the Royal Family. “Please allow us to live our lives in peace. Please stop lying, please stop creating so much pain, please stop exploiting my relationship with my husband.”
Royal expert Hugo Vickers said the strained relations between Meghan and her father have “all become ridiculous, a tabloid scam.”
“The best thing would be some sort of reconciliation with him, but it may have gone too far.”
The elder Markle, 74, did not come to Meghan’s wedding in May, citing a last-minute heart ailment, so Harry’s father, Prince Charles, walked her down the aisle. He has complained that he can’t reach his own daughter now that she is part of the Royal Family.
Markle’s complaints, and a string of media stories criticizing Meghan, prompted a group of her friends, including actor George Clooney, to warn that Meghan was being subjected to unhealthy scrutiny.