Can Kate cope with Meghan mania?
On THE day Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced the wonderful news of their engagement, his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge, was making a lowkey visit to a museum.
Kate was her usual charming and highly competent self, chatting to youngsters and lending support to a charity associated with the museum.
But I couldn’t help noticing that, having been terribly poorly again with her third pregnancy, Kate looked tired. Her blue-and-white frock was pretty but mumsy, as if it had come from a 1989 Laura Ashley catalogue.
This was a far cry from the bedazzling Meghan in the grounds of Kensington Palace wearing a chic white coat — the garment sold out in minutes and the designer’s website crashed — which accentuated her gym-toned slim figure as her mane of black hair shone in the winter sun.
Asked about the engagement, Kate said she and William were ‘absolutely thrilled’ and — in somewhat stilted language — wished the couple ‘all the best and hope they enjoy this happy moment’. Her mood seemed flat.
Yes, she was tired from her pregnancy. And who would blame her if she felt some apprehension at Meghan’s whirlwind appearance on her turf?
For this week we’ve seen the arrival of a new fairytale princess: Meghan the TV star, humanitarian, fighter for women’s rights, champion of the impoverished, icon of inclusiveness. It is not just that Meghan — eloquent and supremely confident in front of the TV cameras — is now going to grab the fashion headlines. Her emergence changes the family dynamic.
Until now it’s always been William and Kate, the star couple, alongside the slightly forlorn singleton, Harry.
They were the three musketeers fighting for the causes they cherished in tribute to the boys’ mother: the homeless, mentally ill, those affected by land mines, children suffering from HIV.
The irony is that Kate and Meghan have a great deal in common — both are strong, beautiful women from ordinary backgrounds who set their cap at a prince and won his heart.
BUT, as yesterday’s hugely successful walkabout in nottingham showed, Meghan for now is the box office royal. Witness how she and Harry were utterly at ease with the crowd, highfiving, hugging, happy and relaxed.
I hesitate to say this, but they made William and Kate look a mite formal and po-faced in comparison.
Yes, Meghan mania is here. And Kate may have difficulty coping with it. Whether the Diana-style adulation these young women receive is good for them, their families or the long-term health of the Royal Family is another matter altogether.