The Duchess of Sussex was especially active over the weekend, posting photos and videos around the International Day of the Girl. Guess who is very upset about all of this Meghan content? Hint: it’s not the British media. They’re quietly thrilled that Meghan is so active on social media, and they’re sooo pleased that she was out in London with Malala last week. So who’s upset? The Princess of Wales and her defenders. There’s a time warp aspect to all of this, like everyone came so close in 2018 to acknowledging that Kate is boring and lazy, but then Kate and her people orchestrated their unhinged smear campaign against Meghan. No one could actually say “Kate still sucks, regardless of whatever is happening with Meghan.” Now that Kate and Meghan are in the same general vicinity and Meghan is on the front pages again, people are remembering that Kate does not come out ahead when she has competition. An excerpt from Nadine Dorries’ Mail column, “Meghan has started a media war – here’s how Kate can win it.”

Love her or loathe her, Meghan knows how to snatch the spotlight. When news broke that the Sussexes were back on British soil, many of us assumed they would lay low for a while, such is their obsession with privacy and security. Not so. The past week has been marked by a renewed media blitz from the Duchess and all eyes are on her again. Which is exactly how she wants it to be.

Take Sunday afternoon, when a video emerged showing Princess Catherine with daughter Charlotte travelling on the London Underground’s Elizabeth Line to go to a private appointment. Of course, there was a security detail present, but Kate was apparently happy to take public transport and give Charlotte a taste of normal life. According to witnesses she chatted with the other travellers, checked her mobile phone and laughed and joked with her daughter.

Within minutes of the video, surreptitiously filmed by a fellow passenger, appearing on a newspaper website, Meghan posted to her Instagram page a video of her own children on a stroll in the countryside. Both wearing backpacks, Archie, seven, pushed a scooter and Lilibet, five, followed, while the family dog trailed behind. Was the timing a coincidence? In my opinion, it wasn’t. Meghan knows exactly how to divert attention her way.

I believe that Meghan’s intentions to establish her own unofficial branch of the Royal Family have become crystal clear in the past few days, starting with her appearance outside London’s Claridge’s Hotel with Nobel Prize-winner and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai last Wednesday. The pair had enjoyed afternoon tea together and their exit from the hotel was scarcely discreet – to the joy of the paparazzi who happened to be on hand. Meghan who, incidentally, looked completely swamped in her £26,000-plus outfit, seized the moment – and our attention.

The Royal Family had better watch out, because Meghan is back and means business – and is intent on becoming queen of the news cycle. How should Kate respond? I admire our future queen very much and I suspect her instinctive reaction will be to ignore Meghan’s ‘look-at-me antics’ and continue with her duties, charitable endeavours and family life.

But this is media war and I want her to win. She and her team must ensure that her public persona is as captivating and as compelling as the causes she represents. She has been through the mother of all health battles, and no one will know the meaning of the words ‘it’s the little things’ better than Kate.

However, her current public image needs a ‘glow up’. Yes, she always looks impeccably dressed and stylish, but dare I say she’s lost a bit of her va va voom since she made it clear that a focus on her work rather than what she’s wearing is what she wants. But, Kate, we can be interested in both!

Meghan has an advantage because she’s not constrained by royal convention and can wear whatever she likes – be as informal or glam as she chooses – and she can handpick the events she attends. She can also post winsome photographs of herself on social media to her heart’s content. We are treated to glimpses of glamour with Kate – when she wears a stunning Jenny Packham gown on a red carpet, for instance – but not often enough.

In contrast with Meghan’s brand, Kate’s image is in danger of becoming stale. Perhaps she needs a fresh PR strategy and a new stylist?

Kate can take comfort from the fact that Meghan will always be B-list – and will never be queen of anything. And where Meghan can appear shallow and flighty, Kate has substance and commitment to duty. Ultimately I know that the British public recognise what is important: not carefully curated social media feeds and staged paparazzi shots, but class and steadfastness. We will always have Kate’s back – but just a little bit of the old sparkle wouldn’t go amiss.

[From The Daily Mail]

“Perhaps she needs a fresh PR strategy and a new stylist?” It wouldn’t hurt. Since the Sussexes’ UK return, Kate has wandered around in ill-fitting school-marm styles and she’s done a series of odd events which seem half-assed (which is her whole thing, but again, there’s a head-to-head comparison now). At no point tn Kate’s fifteen years of princessing has it felt like she is surrounded by competent and professional staff who can help her put together a serious issue portfolio. Kate is a woman in her 40s who has survived the Firm for fifteen years and her image should reflect that. It’s the complacency, which was evident as soon as Harry started dating Meghan. Instead of changing or updating in a real way, Kate bullied Meghan out of the country so Kate could continue to get by on the bare minimum. Now that Meghan’s back, people are once again noticing that Kate is a nothingburger.

Photos courtesy of Meghan’s Instagram, Cover Images.