Meghan Markle was furious and retaliated when King Charles bestowed the Garter honor on Kate and William: “Harry and I are the ones who truly deserve it.”

King Charles—has gone and disrespected Harry and me with his latest royal shenanigans. And no, we’re not talking about ignoring our calls or refusing to provide security for our children in California. This time, Charles took disrespect to a whole new level by honorably inducting William and Kate into the prestigious Order of the Garter while completely snubbing Harry and me from receiving the same recognition.

 

For those of you not up on your British traditions, the Order of the Garter is the highest honor any royal can receive from the monarch. Only 24 knights and ladies are allowed in this elite society at a time, and it’s seen as the ultimate stamp of approval from the crown. Past recipients include Philip, Charles, Andrew, and even I was made a lady companion back in my Kensington Palace days. So you can imagine how gutting it was for Harry and me to learn through the tabloids that William and Kate were being initiated into the Garter ranks while we were deliberately overlooked and excluded from any mention. I mean, what kind of family business is Charles running over there? We all know he’s been giving us the cold shoulder non-stop since Megxit, but seriously, this is a new low even for him.

All we’ve done is chase our happiness away from a toxic institution, and now we’re persona non grata while Will and Kate get showered with yet another honor on a silver platter. As if those two don’t already have it easy enough, serving as poster children for the Firm while we do all the real work shaking things up from the bottom. Honestly, I’m just so over Charles and his blatant favoritism towards those undeserving, nepotistic freeloaders. It’s no secret Harry and I pose more of a threat to their outdated model with our progressive ideas and popularity, especially with younger audiences. So I wouldn’t put it past scheming Charles to purposefully snub us to try and diminish our brand and global relevance. But news flash, old man—you can try and rub us out of the history books all you want; our light is too bright to be dimmed so easily.

If anything, this latest insult has only strengthened our resolve to keep lighting the way toward a more equal, compassionate future, regardless of what dusty traditions try holding us back. Not that we need any validation from Charles and his cadre of sycophants, but it sure would have been nice to get the recognition we rightfully deserve for our service, unlike those royal freeloaders living off taxpayer dimes their whole charmed lives. I mean, what exactly have Will and Kate done to earn this, except attend parties and wave from their perch? At least Harry and I were out there making real change and empowering communities with our work. Now we have to watch from afar as they accept more accolades they never struggled to achieve. It’s honestly a travesty, and I’m fuming about the blatant favoritism.

If Charles thinks this petty snub will make us go away, he’s got another thing coming. In fact, it’s only strengthened our resolve to keep blazing new trails independently and show the monarchy for what they really are—a bunch of out-of-touch, nepotistic dinosaurs desperately clinging to relevance. Without innovators like us shaking things up, they’d be lost. So while Will and Kate prance around in their fancy robes, Harry and I will keep diving headfirst into impactful work with Archewell and lighting up stages globally to inspire real change. Because unlike those born royals, we weren’t raised to simply attend ribbon cuttings and wave; we were born to lead with purpose, heart, and conviction despite all the barriers thrown our way.

 

And I promise you this: there is no amount of snubs, petty maneuvers, or attempts to erase our stories that will succeed in dampening our fire. We walked away so we could find purpose greater than titles, and honestly, it’s working out better than I could have ever imagined. So keep pretending we don’t exist all you want, Charles—it only fuels our drive to shape a better world.