Meghan, Duchess of Sussex clearly made sacrifices when she married Prince Harry and joined the royal family. One royal expert shares her thoughts on how Meghan should have been more flexible when it came to joining this unique life of privilege.
Meghan Markle was overwhelmed by the media scrutiny
During an interview for the 2019 documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, Meghan shed some light on the damaging effects of living in the royal spotlight.
“It’s hard. I don’t think anybody could understand that,” she explained. “In all fairness I had no idea, which probably sounds difficult to understand here.”
She continued, “But when I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy but my British friends said to me, ‘I’m sure he’s great but you shouldn’t do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life.’”
Meghan noted that she may have been naïve about just how much media scrutiny she would endure and called the situation “complicated.”
Meghan admitted she couldn’t keep a ‘stiff upper lip’
During the interview, Meghan shared how she attempted to let the constant criticism roll off her back but ultimately found that to be “damaging.”
“I think I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip. I tried. I really tried,” she explained. “But I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging.”
“The biggest thing that I know is that I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair and that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile,” Meghan added.
Was Meghan Markle exaggerating about what she went through?
In an interview with Express, royal historian and author Alison Weir shared her thoughts about Meghan’s claims and said she thought Meghan was perhaps exaggerating about the negative aspects of life in the spotlight.
“When you read about her complaints about how she was treated, I’m sorry, I’m a royalty watcher, I am a royal historian of all periods,” Weir explained. “I have not seen any of what she has complained about in the media.”
The historian continued, “She has married into a life of huge privilege — you have to give up something for that. How much higher could she have aspired?”
“There’s a price to be paid — that’s the loss of your privacy and certain constraints are placed upon you that there’s nothing you can do about it,” Weir added. “But that’s the way it is.”
Weir further shared how Meghan didn’t “appear to have had an understanding of what it would entail to be married into the royal family” when it came to the duchess having to give up her political voice.
“Maybe she didn’t like being upstaged; not being the first person — one who had been the instant center of attention having been an actress,” Weir speculated.
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