Racism claims of ‘Duchess Different’
THE Duchess of Sussex believes successful women of colour like her are wrongly labelled ‘demanding or aggressive’, the controversial biography claims.
Meghan is said to have thought some of the stories about her were ‘sexist and prejudiced’.
A close friend told the authors of Finding Freedom that she was regarded as ‘Duchess Different’ and that she was not liked by some because she stood out.
‘It was open season on Meghan, with many looking for anything and everything to criticise,’ an extract from the book serialised by The Sunday Times says. ‘“Duchess
Different,” a close friend of Meghan’s said. “That’s what people have a problem with. She’s the easiest person in the world to work with. Certain people just don’t like the fact she stands out.”’
Shortly after Harry and Meghan’s marriage in 2018, reports emerged about how Meghan was wasting no time in putting her stamp on The Firm. The former actress was said to have a formidable work ethic, rising at 5am each morning and issuing a stream of ideas to her key aides about how to shape her role. In their book, however, authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand suggest the Duchess was upset at the way her decisive and assertive nature was depicted.
They wrote: ‘Meghan felt as though some of the commentary and tabloid stories were more than a culture clash; they were sexist and prejudiced.
‘If a man got up before dawn to work, he was applauded for his work ethic. If a woman did it, she was deemed difficult or “a bitch”. The double standard was exacerbated when it came to successful women of colour, often labelled demanding or aggressive.’ The authors went on to claim that while racism ‘takes a different form in the UK from in America’, it remains ‘ingrained’ here. Mr Scobie, who has a Scottish father and an Iranian mother, reportedly left his first job at Heat magazine after he was racially abused by an executive.
It is claimed that a member of staff at Buckingham Palace once said he was ‘surprised’ to hear the Royal journalist, who went to a public school, speak with received pronunciation.
In their book, the authors state: ‘Racism takes a different form in the UK from in America, but there is no mistaking its existence and how ingrained it is. A major theme of racism in the UK centres on the question of who is authentically “British”. It can come through in subtle acts of bias, micro-aggressions such as the palace staffer who told the bi-racial co-author of these words, “I never expected you to speak the way you do”, or the newspaper headline “Memo to Meghan: we Brits prefer true royalty to fashion royalty”.
‘While the columnist was criticising Meghan for her Vogue editorials, there was another way to read it, which is that to be British meant to be born and bred in the UK – and be white.’