They both annoy me because they are two of the most privileged people in the world - how many people are actually royal? - and they were showered with every luxury imaginable, and yet they're so unhappy.
The difficulties that Meghan experienced are experienced by all royals except the Queen. They are, broadly, 1) backbiting and 2) having to fit in with the institution's ways, and not being able to go and do your own thing.
Whenever someone marries into the royal family, they attract a lot of jealousy from the press and now people on social media. Kate was hounded for YEARS by the press, called Waity Katie, the Duchess of Doolittle, and they made fun of her mother for being former cabin crew. "Doors to manual, " they'd scream, when Kate came along. Kate was once followed around London for an entire day by a photographer. Kate earned respect by never once reacting in all those years. Oh - and when Kate went to a temple and had to take her shoes off, the press ran an enormous close-up of her feet, pointing out and criticizing every bump and hangnail! Also, once respected journalist (now deceased, James Whitaker) wrote an article flat-out stating that Kate wasn't good enough, and that William's friends didn't think she was, as well. The press reported that she was called The Mattress and The Limpet. Hurtful things to appear in the newspaper.
When the Duchess of York had her children, the press nicknamed her the Duchess of Pork. Sophie Wessex was entrapped by a fake sheikh who was a journalist, and she lost her PR company as a result. Prince Philip has been dogged by affair rumors his whole married life - for over 70 years - and ignored it all. He was VERY badly treated by the court when he married the future queen, because they didn't feel he was good enough for them. Oh - and an intimate conversation between Charles and Camilla was not only taped by a newspaper, the recording AND the transcript were both published, so then everyone knew that Charles wanted to be Camilla's tampon. And when Fergie had an affair with her financial adviser, the press ran a photo of her having her toes sucked by the pool ON THE FRONT PAGE. Kate has had to endure topless pictures of her appearing. Not in the British press, sure, but they were all over the global web.
Given all this, I don't see how Meghan can think that she got press treatment that was worse than the other royals have got over the years. Just the other day, some paper was reporting that Princess Anne, the Queen's daughter, had had seven lovers. How embarrassing for her! Oh, and remember the idiotic fuss about Pippa's bottom by the press after Kate's wedding? How humiliating for her, to have yards of column inches written about your bottom in the national press.
So I think Meghan actually had favorable press treatment. None of it was as bad as the above. Unlike the Duchess of Pork and Waity Katie, she didn't even get called names.
The criticism that Meghan did get, I'd have thought she could rise above it, given her new status and role in life.
And the reason Meghan couldn't go off and do her own interviews is that the RF is a well-oiled machine and each cog has its part. The family works together, supporting each others' interests, not stepping on toes. If you don't want to fit into the mold, fine, but why make it the institution's fault? Why not just say, "Hey, I don't think I'm the right fit for this job?"
They were given an incredibly lavish wedding, approx. a million pounds' worth of designer clothing, same again in jewels, a large house that the taxpayers paid 2million to refurb to the highest standard, a dukedom, Meghan was given an HRH and is officially Princess Henry, they were given opportunities to travel, lots of downtime, and help with future children. All of it given to them. In return all they had to do was ignore the jealous sniping and work for charity. It really doesn't seem like a bad deal.
I'm sure that parts of it really surprised Meghan, and weren't what she thought it would be, but a situation like this - marrying into foreign royalty - was always bound to have teething troubles. I do not feel that she gave her new role, the people, or the country a chance. She was gone so quickly! I think it was a very sad wasted opportunity, and that if she had given her new life a chance, she could have blossomed and made a great contribution over many years. It seems like she didn't even TRY to understand how the monarchy worked, she just came up against a few fences, because her approach was wrong for that environment, and then she just threw all the good away with the bad. She could have made a huge difference within the royals, with the backing, connections, and logistical support they offer in terms of carrying out charity duties.
) and we both married helicopter pilots. Lmao.
