Meghan Markle was a famous actress who became a royal. The former Suits star married Prince Harry in 2020, but as we all know, today, they have left their UK life behind. The Sussexes have been heavily criticized for the many allegations they’ve made against the Royal Family and now they are creating a new, more private life in the US.
Both Harry and Meghan have engaged in new projects and as of latest, it’s the Duchess that has created her own lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchid. In the meantime, Harry has embarked on several solo trips overseas, and there have even been rumors about their marriage failing.
Meghan Markle has lost both friends and supporters in recent years because of what has happened. Earlier this week, royal expert and Princess Diana’s former friend Tina Brown said some very harsh words about Meghan, and sadly, there is more to come. Now, another royal expert has lashed out against Meghan–claiming that she has herself to blame.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s start of their new US life hasn’t been all smooth sailing. While they have an amazing home and raising their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, there have been a lot of things that haven’t gone their way when it comes to their public image.
Meghan Markle “upset” over latest marriage rumors
The couple have lost friends because of how they lashed out against the Royal Family through their interviews and Harry’s book, and although some of their business ventures have been successful, there have also been setbacks.
At the same time, rumors about Harry possibly wanting to return to the UK have been all over the news, and as they have undertaken plenty of solo engagements in the last number of months, speculations about their marriage are still discussed.
There has been no official comment about whether the rumors are true or not. However, sadly, according to a GB News source, Meghan Markle is very stressed that the rumors won’t go away.
“She has really felt the strain in recent weeks, and with all the speculation surrounding her and Harry and their marriage,” the source said.
“They haven’t done themselves any favours by doing so many separate events but this is what they have decided to do as it works best for them at the moment as a couple and they both feel they can shine at events that are close to their hearts.”
The insider added, “But it does upset her that, while Harry was getting praised for all of his appearances, she is getting criticised for what she says, what she wears, etc and it brings back hurtful memories of when she was a royal.”
“Their worldwide publicity tour made them look whiney
Even though there have been rumors all over the newspapers about Harry and Meghan living somewhat separate lives, the fact that they have decided not to do all work together could be a conscious decision, according to PR expert Ed Coram James.
Speaking to the Mirror, Coram James explained that the Sussexes have had a “distinct brand as a duo for many years. But since the infamous Oprah interview–which basically was the start of the feud with the royals–their brand has become “more toxic” and “commercially untenable.”
The PR expert stated that big brands most likely are careful to throw money at Harry and Meghan to work with them because of it.
“This is because the ongoing confrontation with the rest of the Royal Family, as well as much of Meghan’s family, have made them appear confrontational and combative, their string of commercial projects that haven’t worked out and have led to a sense that they aren’t the best producers. And their worldwide publicity tour made them look whiney, ungrateful, and unconscious to the enormous privilege that they have enjoyed,” Ed Coram James told the Mirror.
“To overcome the obstacles of appearing spoiled, arrogant, immature, attention-seeking, aggressive, fight-picking, hypocritical, and incompetent is very tricky. But, it is achievable. To do it, they need to lean into the exact opposites of these labels. The first step in this always had to be to dissociate themselves from the brand that had achieved such labels in the first place.
The PR expert continued, “When combined, the Sussexes brand is, from a PR perspective, toxic. But, when separate, they have a genuine chance of creating an entirely separate brand, with completely different labels. If they manage to achieve this, then one day they could again reunite brands, and create a new combined brand that works.”
Meghan Markle brutally criticized by royal expert
Meghan Markle released the news of her new lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchid earlier this year. She plans on selling home decor kitchen items, cookbooks, and also food such as jellies, jams, marmalades, fruit preserves, and edible oils. But although Meghan Markle seems to have a very ambitious plan for her new business, not everyone is convinced that she will succeed.
Royal expert Tina Brown – author of best-selling royal biographies The Diana Chronicles and The Palace Papers – appeared on The Ankler podcast, and gave a brutal verdict on both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s post-royal careers.
“In England, they’re going to constantly make a career out of trashing Harry. But actually, the thing about Harry is he’s very good at being Prince Harry,” Brown said.
“That’s the tragedy of all of this, is that he is the most talented member of the Royal Family, without doubt, in terms of being a prince, which is all he does know how to do… he’s really sort of flawless at it.”
The royal expert and author was a friend of Princess Diana. The two had lunch together just a few weeks before Harry and William’s mother tragically passed away.
When speaking about Meghan, Brown didn’t exactly hold back on her criticism. In fact, she basically claimed that the Duchess has never had a good idea.
“I think [Prince Harry] is pretty much in the thrall of Meghan. The trouble with Meghan is that she has the worst judgment of anyone in the entire world. She’s flawless about getting it all wrong… She really is.”
“All of her ideas are total crap”
Brown added: “She’s a perfectionist about getting it all wrong… Her issue is that she doesn’t listen… She has all these people, asks them their opinion, and then doesn’t follow it. She does what she wants to do. And all of her ideas are total crap, unfortunately.”
As mentioned previously, Harry and Meghan have been lashing out against the Royal Family for several years. In the end, King Charles evicted the Sussexes from Frogmore Cottage just days after Harry’s book, Spare, was released, while Prince William is reportedly not interested in talking or making amends with his brother.
Whose fault it is that the situation has escalated to where it is now doesn’t really matter. Brown, though, told The Ankler podcast that Prince Harry is “blindly” following his wife.
“(Harry is) the lamb to the slaughter in this situation,” Brown concluded. “He was terribly impressed by Meghan. He thought that she knew all, she persuaded him that she was the savvy Hollywood wheeler-dealer who could come in and make them stars and all the rest of it. And he just sort of blindly followed her like a child, really.”
Sadly, Tina Brown isn’t the only expert who takes a swing at Meghan Markle and where she has ended up. Royal expert Hugo Vickers stated that it “can’t be a coincidence” that the Duchess has lost a lot of supporters as well as friends following her royal exit.
Royal expert say Meghan Markle “gradually managed to upset everybody”
“Meghan does seem to have a capacity for losing friends and allies all around the place and Tina Brown, of course, is a very intelligent observer of the scene, and she’s been doing it for a very long time,” Vickers told The Sun.
“For what it’s worth, Meghan lost me as an ally, too, because when she first joined the Royal Family, the line I was taking was she’s the first member to have addressed the United Nations. There was so much that she could do, but she gradually managed to upset everybody, including Tina Brown, and that can’t be a coincidence.”
Moreover, Vickers claimed that wasn’t “particularly committed” to becoming a senior Royal Family member when she married Prince Harry.
“It does seem to me that she wasn’t particularly committed to being a member of the Royal Family. By marrying Prince Harry, her profile went up globally, enormously, and so people wanted to hear more about her, and to some extent more from her,” the royal expert explained.
“I think she probably misunderstood quite a lot of things to be quite honest about what it meant to be a member of the Royal Family, which is a life of complete service and devotion.”
Although Meghan Markle might not be the Royal Family’s favorite individual, she might have a plan to expose even more details about her UK life. During her time as a senior working member of the Royal Family, Meghan Markle reportedly kept a personal diary.
Meghan Markle’s personal diary
In her interview with The Cut in 2023, the Duchess opened up about her and Prince Harry’s new life in California after their royal exit. Meghan revealed that she wasn’t required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement when she and Harry left the monarchy, while also recalling the finding of her journal at Frogmore Cottage.
“You go back, and you open drawers, and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh. This is what I was writing in my journal there,” Meghan said.
Speaking on True Royalty TV’s The Royal Beat, expert Roya Nikkhah explained that there were signs of “thinly veiled threats” in Meghan’s The Cut interview.
“The thinly veiled threats that came in [Meghan’s interview with The Cut] …I think [she] probably hopes it does [feel threatening] to the Royal Family… [But] I think there’s a lot of eye-rolling, going, ‘We’re used to this by now’… [But] that phrase, ‘I have a lot to say until I don’t’ and, ‘I’ve never signed anything that restricts me from talking’… there was a very strong inference there,” Nikkah said.
The royal editor added: “And, of course, the reminder that she keeps a journal, and [her] revelation that, ‘when we came back to Windsor, to Frogmore Cottage for the Jubilee, I rediscovered my journal that I’d left there’ – I was astonished to discover that she had left a highly private diary behind in Windsor, rather than taking it back.
“She’s mentioned a couple of times in the last year or two that she kept a journal, and I think there is a very strong inference that Meghan could write her own memoir,” Nikkah concluded.
“A potential weapon in her back pocket”
Although there haven’t been any talks about Meghan releasing her own book relating to her experiences within the Royal Family, the fact that she yet has her memoir from that time of her life could, according to royal expert Jennie Bond, suggest that exposing it could possibly be “in her back pocket.”
“It’s more than two years since she gave that interview, and she has steered clear of controversy about the Royal Family since,” she told OK!.
“Obviously the journal she mentioned will remain a potential weapon in her back pocket if she ever feels the need to seek some sort of revenge. But she has behaved with discretion and dignity ever since Oprah and the documentary series.”
Bond continued: “I think she is looking forwards, not backwards and is moving on with her life. So I don’t think we should be raising false alarms about any potential memoir.”