Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stepped back as senior royals in March 2020, less than two years after their fairytale wedding at Windsor Castle – and it’s been claimed Meghan was never fully prepared for the role
During her stint as a senior royal, Meghan Markle was actively involved with numerous charities and spearheaded several key initiatives. Her focus areas included mental health, women’s rights, animal welfare, and community cohesion. Despite The Duchess of Sussex’s keen interest in charitable work, her relatively short tenure within the Royal family surprised many observers some suggest her exit was influenced by misunderstandings about her role.
Former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond shared her insights with OK! stating: “I have always held the view that Meghan failed to understand that she would never be the top dog in the Royal Family… or even the deputy top dog.”
Jennie further commented: “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be in complete control and charge of your life. There’s nothing wrong with seeking the limelight. It’s just that the Royal Family was the wrong vehicle for her ambitions.”
However, Jennie also shed light on what truly drives Meghan, which might not align with public perception.
Royal expert Jennie Bond has weighed in on Meghan’s true aspirations as she doesn’t believe she ‘craves a superstar profile’ (
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REX/Shutterstock)
“I’m not sure she craves a superstar profile,” Jennie noted. “In fact she’s been quite low-key in recent times, presumably enjoying her family life in California. But she has projects in the pipeline with her website and I’m sure she will enjoy being in control of every detail.”
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“She is an independent woman with strong views and she is perfectly entitled to deploy her skills in any way she wants.”
Jennie’s comments come after a commentator pointed out that Meghan seemed more inclined towards a life under the public eye, unlike Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie who have chosen a more “quiet” existence.
Jane Barr, writing in the From Berkshire to Buckingham newsletter, argued that the concept of Harry and Meghan being “half in, half out” in terms of their Royal responsibilities simply wouldn’t have been feasible. She suggested: “She [Meghan] would not have been happy with the ultimately quiet or truly independent/non-royal lives that William and Harry’s cousins actually live.”
The Duke and Duchess recently returned from a trip to Nigeria, which was widely considered an ‘unofficial royal tour’ (
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Getty)
Jane then continued: “Looking back to Megxit, Harry was not just the grandson of the Queen, the same relationship all his cousins had to the sovereign, he was the son of the future King. William and Harry were – from birth – preeminent royals, while their cousins, although celebrated, surely, began as secondary royals and only continued to fade as the years went by.
“Harry seems so bitter about being the spare, but he has always been quite senior to his cousins, and treated accordingly.”
She elaborated, pointing out that unlike Beatrice and Eugenie who maintain regular jobs without high-profile deals, “Meghan wanted to take her HRH and her title and be a superstar in her own sphere on the international stage.”
Royal commentator Duncan Larcombe also recently suggested that Meghan is overshadowing her husband, fitting into Harry’s tendency to play “second fiddle”.
Speaking to OK! earlier this month, he said: “Meghan is a very strong character, very driven, extremely ambitious, and those are the kind of characteristics that mean she will almost always inevitably outshine Harry and grab the attention from him. Harry is entirely in her shadow. But he’s never really been at ease with the attention, he’s never really enjoyed it.”
During the couple’s recent Nigeria tour, Meghan stole the limelight, according to one commentator (
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Duncan then added: “Whether it’s deliberate or not, Meghan is definitely a magnet for attention. Although we saw a huge amount of money spent on her combined outfits for Nigeria so maybe it’s not a complete accident that she steals the limelight. Their Nigeria trip was ‘The Meghan Show’ and Harry was the side.”.
