Meghan, Archie… and the cousins he will never really know
We got a gorgeous glimpse of Meghan and Harry’s son, Archie, last week – but the joy of her son’s first birthday has come at an otherwise troubled time for his mum…
The world got the image it was waiting for last Wednesday, when a video was released of Meghan and birthday boy Archie, one, from their Californian home.
Filmed by dad, Harry, 35, the video showed the duchess, 38, reading children’s book Duck! Rabbit! to Archie, to help launch Save the Children’s Save with Stories campaign. But it came at a difficult time for Meghan – who was dealt a bitter blow last week, as she lost the first phase of her court battle against a British newspaper.
The Duchess of Sussex – who, with Harry, is believed to have dialled into the virtual hearing at the Royal Courts of
Justice from their new home in LA – is suing Associated Newspapers over five articles in The Mail On Sunday that appeared last February.
The paper reproduced parts of a handwritten letter Meghan sent to her estranged father, Thomas, 75, the previous August stating he had ‘broken her heart into a million pieces’. The letter was written after Thomas missed the Royal wedding in May 2018, claiming he had suffered a heart attack and was unable to fly.
The 38-year-old mum-of-one argues that the letter was private, but the publisher argues it was not obviously confidential.
And in last week’s preliminary hearing, the judge struck out Meghan’s allegations that the publisher acted ‘dishonestly’ by omitting certain passages of the letter, calling parts of her complaint ‘vague’, ‘irrelevant’, ‘embarrassing’ and ‘lacking in particulars’.
Reacting to her defeat, Mark Stephens, partner at London law firm Howard Kennedy, said: ‘This judgement is like a train ploughing into a petrol tanker on a level crossing… It is a complete disaster. She’s been humiliated today… She would be well advised to settle and walk away.’
Mr Stephens added that, should it go to trial, the evidence of Meghan and her father would be examined under oath. ‘If she is going to be humiliated in person, there will be no worse outcome for her,’ he added.
And there was more bad press for the Duchess last week when a videographer, who wished to remain anonymous, as he is still working in the industry, told a newspaper his recollections of shooting Meghan during her Suits days, when she was living and working in Toronto.
‘She was high maintenance and rude,’ he said, describing her appearance with a large
entourage as ‘like something out of Mean Girls’. He went on to say, ‘Right from the moment she arrived, she was acting like a diva. I wasn’t impressed. Everyone thought, “she is acting like an A-lister when she is not even a D-lister”.’
In addition, a new book about the history of one of the Royal residences, Kensington Palace by Tom Quinn (£14, bitebackpublishing.com) also included criticisms of Meghan’s behaviour.
According to a palace insider, ‘Kate was very warm towards Meghan when she arrived. But tensions were bound to arise because Meghan inevitably had to accept that although she is a duchess she is not married to the next king. Although Harry loved their cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace, Meghan was conscious that it was tiny in comparison to the vast apartment complex where Kate and William live. Harry has nothing to prove. Meghan has everything to prove. That’s the problem.’
A former member of the Palace PR team also told the author, ‘Like many people not used to dealing with servants, Meghan overdoes the imperiousness; so on the one hand she wants to be like Diana, a people’s princess, and on the other she wants people to stand to attention when she clicks her fingers.’
Although relations with Kate and William are frosty, some Royals are said to retain affection for Meghan. A former employee went on to compare Meghan to Princess Margaret, in the book, saying ‘Margaret was a rebel and in some ways Meghan is too, although she cleverly ingratiates herself with Prince Charles and with the Queen, who adores her.’
But Meghan and Harry are hoping to tell their side of the story, in a new biography due out this summer. Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the making of a Modern Royal Family is described as going ‘beyond the headlines to reveal unknown details of Harry and Meghan’s life together, dispelling the many rumours and misconceptions that plague the couple’. It is said to have been written ‘with unique access and with the participation of those closest to the couple’.
With tensions still running high within The Firm, it could kick up a new, even more explosive storm...