The Duchess of Sussex covers this week’s issues of Us Weekly and People Magazine. The cover stories don’t really contain breaking news in either case, but they’re still sort of interesting because they’re connected. Us Weekly’s story is about how Meghan wants to change the “royal rules” and even more specifically, change the way royals communicate with the public:
Duchess Meghan has been active in charity work since she’s been in the public eye. And in the new issue of Us Weekly, a source reveals just how serious she is about using her role as a royal to make a difference in the world.
The Duchess of Sussex’s ideas for modernizing the monarchy include revamping the way the royal family interacts with its subjects. “Some of the things Meghan wants to do, specifically when it comes to communication, will break from tradition,” an insider tells Us. “She wants to have a direct voice to have more impact.”
This is so American, by the way. Americans look at the British royal family and we think, “but why can’t they just give an interviews and really talk about all of this piece by piece?” But yes, I believe this – Meghan has clearly been unhappy with the way the Kensington Palace Communications office operates, and that’s one of the big reasons why the Sussexes will be getting their own separate comm office. And clearly, a big part of the Sussexes’ media strategy going forward will be a focus on the American press for favorable and positive coverage. While the British papers were in meltdown mode about Meghan’s New York baby shower last week, the American press was overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic. So it was People Magazine that got the exclusive this week from Meghan’s good friend Daniel Martin:
Meghan Markle’s baby shower in New York City on Feb. 20 may have seemed like a Hollywood event from the outside, but for those inside, it was an intimate and warm gathering of many of the close friends who have supported Meghan throughout her first year of royal life.
“It was exactly what she needed, and it was a reunion for all of us, too, who hadn’t seen each other since the wedding,” Meghan’s longtime friend and wedding makeup artist Daniel Martin tells PEOPLE. “Snow was falling outside, and it was so cozy — we all sat on couches or on the floor and told stories and caught up. It was like going to a family reunion.”
Adds another attendee: “It was all baby talk. She was getting tons of advice.”
The gathering was a mini-homecoming for the Duchess of Sussex, who doesn’t get to see her friends as often as she’d like since moving to London. And after realizing that baby showers aren’t a popular tradition in the U.K., her friends decided to host one for her in one of her all-time favorite cities.
“She’s American, and New York is the place to do it,” says a palace insider.
And anyone who suggests Meghan should slow down doesn’t know her very well.
“She’s a worker; she loves to work,” says a source. “She loves to do good. So for her, it’s just fun.”
As Meghan and Harry eagerly count down the days until they meet their new baby, the friends who celebrated Meghan at her shower can’t wait to be her baby’s extended family. “That baby is going to be loved by all of us,” says Martin.
A not-so-subtle reminder to the British press: you’re not the only game in town. No matter how much the British press believes Meghan is “theirs” to bully, harass and defame, Meghan keeps providing reminders that she’s perfectly willing to use her platform globally.
Covers courtesy of Us Weekly and People.
Might be a uphill battle. Hope it works.
Go Duchess.
Some people saying that the royals having
personal social media breaks their mistery and glamour or whatever but I think it’s nice, I like Madeleine is Sweden Instagram or Mette-Marit sharing what books she’s reading etc, it makes you feel closer to them
Yes! But I don’t know how close the BRF want to be to their subjects. They need distant for their stiff upper lips. It may be Heads Together but not literally… that’s how things get transmitted.
Doesn’t Princess Madeleine live in Florida these days? She’s not really a working Royal anymore.
There is a fine line between mystery and being completely out of touch. It’s 2019, social media is part of most people’s daily lives. The BRF needs to catch up to the reality of their subjects.
Exactly. The BRF needs to public to care about them, but how are we supposed to develop a fondness for the Cambridge children if we never see them? What would have been the harm in releasing a photo of their alleged ski trip last week?
Obviously there needs to be a balance, but the access Meghan allows sure makes her more interesting to follow.
I’m just waiting on the faux outrage and pearl clutching, “who does she think she is?” social climbing like comments that usually comes with stories like these. 🍿🍿😂
I think she’s been hinting at this since the release of her coat of arms. The song bird representing communication?? She’s planning her long game.
Hmm. Anyone else side eyeing the US Weekly cover, which (to me) plays on the old stereotype that Kate is down to earth and Meghan is all Hollywood? Look at the reasons it gives for them breaking the rules…yeah, hard pass.
I think the British press underestimated Meghan, underestimated how many would stand up for her, and OVERestimated their dominance of her press.
I hope she does take the British press to task and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.
Yeah, that US Weekly cover isn’t flattering to Megan.
Nicely put.
I don’t worry too much about covers, they’re usually pretty outrageous. Often they have nothing to do with the story inside, they just wanted you to pick it up and read it.
I really hope they have underestimated Meghan. God knows the BRF needs some modernization.
New mathematical formula to add to the curriculum:
Nannys+drivers+chutney+317 blue coats+tennis courts+jeggings+taxpayer funded renos+300 days off/yearxBUTTONS = “no-frills home life”
Mmhmm. Pippilongdivision I see the newspeak and it grates.
Kate is no frills. Making her cheesy pasta for the kiddies and staying home most nights, likely knitting scarves in front of the fire. I guess Megs well known love of home cooking gets ignored. Her roast chicken and avocado toast is too posh.
And she’s too shishi because of her celeb friends. Meanwhile Kate has friends with titles, she’s so down to earth.
Smh
Rae, I totally side-eyed the cover too. I don’t know about all of you but “no frills” to me means you don’t live in a gorgeous 21 room mansion, you are not making cheesy pasta in your gigantic, stone country home. Kate and Meghan are “all frills”, “all over a ton of frills”. To try and paint it any other way is ridiculous. It’s fine, they are royalty. But we are not idiots who believe they live “no frills” lives. Oh and Pippilongdivision …. I would have kicked but in math if those were the equations.
I agree with mm11 above, I feel much closer to the Swedish royal family due to the fact that they post photos of the kids and what they’re doing, how Estelle is enjoying school, etc. This makes their subjects feel more invested in their royal family.
I would love to see Meghan have more “direct voice” in her royal role. For instance, the think pieces she’s written in the past are excellent and there is no reason why she shouldn’t continue to do so when she feels the need. Also, one thing that C&C do that I wish the younger royals would do is give quick, short quotes directly to the royal reporters about the charity they visited that day, the great work they do, etc. Lastly, most of the European royal women work with the UN in one capacity or another, why don’t the British royals? That’s one thing that I was really sad to see Meghan give up when she married in.
Yeah I would’ve love to see Meghan keep working with the UN I imagine she will in the future.
I suppose there’s a bit of “Americanism” in there but I also think it’s that she’s had a real life before all this royalness. She is old enough to have already established herself and – for want of a better term – brand.
I think that’s partly why Harry was drawn to her. And look, I’m not slagging Kate or any previous royal brides but they grew up with the royal tradition mind set/British press. Diana was too young to have anything to her name, Kate didn’t appear to want to (ok, just that one little dig) so conforming was part and parcel.
So bravo Meghan, do it your way. They’ll catch up, or just bitch about you behind your back and to the tabloids and the press will do whatever but then they’ll do that anyway.
I wish I understood what they were trying to achieve better. She chooses America over the UK for not only press, but also things like clothing. She would get less crap about the cost of her clothes if the money was supporting a British industry and the British economy. When the King of Morocco said that she was a good ambassador for Britain, she replied that she was American. She may have been joking, but she has a very strong preference for America over the UK. It all seems counter productive to me when her job is to represent Britain and the Queen.
I wonder if she’ll push for the Polo Baby to have dual citizenship?
I assume the baby will have american citenship automatically, no? She’s still an american citizen
From what I understand, you have to apply for recognition of the child’s birth abroad to a US citizen. If that’s not done straight away, it can cause problems later as US citizens are required to enter the US on their US passports.
She told the Ambassador she is American and she is right, she is not a British subject yet, we don’t know if she will give up her American citizenship when she becomes a British citizen.
If you check most of the clothing labels in British stores, are the clothes made in Great Britain? I doubt it.
Her still being American is not the part I took issue with. It’s the fact that she doesn’t seem to have embraced her role as a representative of Britain that bothers me. Her lifestyle is funded by them for a reason.
A lot more goes into the clothing industry than just where the clothes are made.
She’s not really choosing American clothing brands, she’s going with high-end French and Italian brands. I do think she could choose more UK clothing brands and I hope she does that more in the future. The clothes aren’t usually made in the UK but UK brands contribute more to the UK economy than foreign brands do.
And as for the child’s citizenship, I suppose whether they apply for recognition of the child’s US citizenship will depend on whether Meghan is planning to relinquish her own US citizenship. I would be surprised if she does that, so I think they’ll probably apply for recognition of the baby’s US citizenship. It can be an enormous pain if the child is going to live his or her life outside the US though, that dual taxation thing is a nightmare.
One of my friends was born in the US and was American and but lived most of her childhood and adulthood in Canada and was ultimately a dual citizen. She never had to deal with any taxation issues. She was even able to vote for the president.
How much did she earn in income? It’s only an issue if you make over $110k or so.
I’m a little confused too. I thought she was financially supported by British tax payers, putting her focus on the US surely isn’t a wise move.
I don’t think it could hurt. Meghan understands that aspect better than the royals, because social media and the illusion of accessibility are huge parts of expanding your profile in this day and age. They will hate her no matter what; and when her child comes there will be a whole new set of smears pitting the kids and their upbringings against one another *gross*
She also has well connected friends with well connected PR firms. No better time to utilize those resources
The CBC did a story on a researcher who found that the great majority of the vitriol toward MmM came from America, followed by the UK and then Canada. I found that very interesting. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/meghan-markle-duchess-of-sussex-faces-online-bullying-1.5037143
That is fascinating, thank you for sharing it.
The first comment I read on that link talked about an actress who faked her way into the Royal Family. Also mentioned real (born) royals deserve our compassion. There has been a few comments added since then, but it really sucked to read that one first.
Oh my god, that article!! I didn’t think I could dislike Camilla Tominey more, but that article did it. Just vile.
It is not a shock that a majority of the racist comments against Meghan come from the US. The MAGAs are out in force, especially anonymously.
Well, yes, but we are constantly being told how awful and racist the British people are, based on Daily Mail comments. Actually, most people who care about the royals are middle aged, middle class, middle income, white women who live in the middle of population centres. In the US.
Hmm, the U.S. has approx. 325 million people, to the UK’s 65 million and Canada’s 36 million. I know it’s de rigeur to “blame MAGA,” but if they’re going by the number of comments alone to say that most of her detractors are American without taking into account the VAST discrepancy in population, that’s extremely misleading. For example, if there were 65 million negative comments from the UK and 66 million from the US, that means the Americans made more negative comments, sure, but also that the comments accounted for 100% of the UK’s population, and only about 20% of the US population. Which society is actually more racist in that case? This whole thing is obviously calculated to minimize the VERY RACIST undertones of the coverage of (and comments on) Meghan in the UK press using data sets that are like comparing apples and swingsets.
No numbers were given. We have no idea if the percentage of negative comments made was proportional to the relative population size or not. And I don’t think this woman doing the research in Brighton had a particular agenda.
The UK press is certainly being racist, much more so than the rest of the media, but this was about where the negative social media comments are coming from and the largest portion is the US.
Hence all these positive articles about her from People, US, and VF, etc…. That’s her mouth piece. Take a notice.
So first the British press didn’t seem to care much about the gender fluid statement. It’s a little story way down the page in the daily mail. I think that Meghan is making a mistake with her PR. All really “big” individuals keep it very close to their chests. Beyonce, Taylor etc. She is opening herself up to much to the press and it usually doesn’t end well. Even Taylor learned that the hard way. And those around Beyonce know not to speak. Mystery is a good thing I think. It’s concerning how she is counting on “friends” to spread her message. I don’t know if it will all just make the British press kind of go whatever and not write about her as much as I noticed on there recent trip there was more in the US tabloids than the British press. I don’t think that the major papers mentioned it at all. So in s fee years it will be interesting how this all works out
Guess she should just sit there and take all the abuse from the British media and her horrible family.
Why should she allow others to say whatever crap they want and allow them to get away with it?
She proved her father is a liar.
I agree with what you say, Yoyo. Her new family isn’t doing a damn thing to help her, so she should just swallow all the sh*t they throw at her, day after day? She should just sit back and allow a vicious press to define her existence and soon, the existence of her child?
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Honest question here. Why does it bother her this much that the UK press is negative ? She is a royal now. Her life and position are set for life. Unlike her previous acting job, she doesnt depend on popularity or likeableness to, lets say, land her next gig. As someone else said in the comments, people at her level just live and ignore the haters. I thought the People issue with her friends quotes was both ridiculous and unnecessary. She should be above it. But I guess it must drive her crazy to not be able to control her public image as she used to. Her insta page was carefully curated.
Honestly, this country is a fishbowl and the press has a lot of power, even today. It’s a small country, geographically. It can be suffocating, even if you’re just a normal person who can’t take any more of Brexit.
Everyone reads the papers. Everyone watches the news. She doesn’t live in California. She lives in London/Berkshire, where everyone knows who she is and is watching for her to mess up. I don’t blame her in the slightest for trying to find another narrative.
You mean the story by Katie nicholl? Yeah I really wouldn’t believe her fanfiction.
I wish her the best with that because lord knows it’s going to be am epic battle with all the old guards determined to keep the status quo.
I did have to laugh at this line, though: “She loves to do good. So for her, it’s just fun.” It made me think of Clueless – “I have not seen such good-doing since your mother.”
Oh man. That’s a really bad picture of kate us weekly used.
British press may not be the “only game in town” but it’s the only one that matters. BRF exists to serve the Queen, the country and the British government are secondary to the Queen. They serve in support of one thing: the monarch. Every “official”action is in support of and in honor of The Queen and therefore flows to the country. If your agenda is aligned with The Queen, great! If not, don’t engage in it. Kate and Meghan have a huge platform, but a very narrow way to use it. I guess it’s a littl like being First Lady for life. They need the press on their side, is what I’m saying. It’s a lifetime of eating shit and thanking them for it. But in a glamorous way! Lol
Did she say, she like to do good? Stop putting other people words in her mouth.
Isn’t she using her friends to speak on her behalf though? I doubt any of the various friend tidbits we’ve been hearing lately were done without Meghan’s knowledge or approval else she would have shut it down fast.
However the very sentence “she likes to do good, so she’s just having fun” shows what an ill thought out strategy that is.
She’s more experienced with social media dnd 21st C communications than the rest of the BRF. She could probably teach the KP communications staff a thing or two as well. I’m not saying she’s Oprah level but she clearly had a handle on it with the Tig. I’m betting if she’s “allowed” to have more input such as a Sussex Twitter or Insta she would do a great job of it. For ex: Chelsea Clinton is so good at scotching rumors and responding to weirdos succinctly that she pretty much writes her own story. In addition she would be bypassing the guttershow that is the British tabloid press.
Chelsea Clinton is an individual that only answers for herself.
Meghan is a defacto representant of the royal family and the queen (though inexplicably she told the King of Morrocco that she was an American and not the queen’s ambassador, which is basically her job)
Every little post she makes will be scrutinized by the fire of a thousand suns. Everything will be twisted and turned, just imagine the number of racist comments. This is a very very bad idea.
Meghan had a little lifestyle blog taking about restaurants and stuff, she is definitely not a PR/social media guru. Let the professionals handle this. If she doesn’t like the people in her staff, then hire better ones, but let them deal with it.
What sort of direct communication does she want to have though, i wonder? And on what will this greater impact be?
If its regarding women’s education etc, i’m pretty sure the UK has that covered already and frankly she’s not saying anything that we’ve not heard before. In any case, the whole point of having a constitutional monarchy is for the royals to be as uncontroversial as possible. I mean, Brexit is the biggest upheaval in the UK of the last 20 years or so, and The Queen herself has never uttered a single word for or against.
If she’s doing it for the benefit of the commonwealth, she can rest assured that we weren’t sitting idle waiting to be saved by royal family.
So what else is left? I suppose all this is not so much for the altruistic greater good, but more to squash any negative news about herself. It’s understandable of course, but trying to phrase as “having a more impact” is a little disingenuous.
Excellent! +1
@MrsBump
I enjoy reading your insightful comments. You remind me of LAK.
A direct voice equals accountability which is why it doesn’t happen. I think we should wait to see what does happen before suspecting a possibly disingenuous motive.
Anything the royals do has pretty much already been done. Royalty is vestigial at least as heads of state with presumably no power. We can’t target Meghan for that. Royalty is supposed to affirm the values of the state and if she can do that with education, then good.
The spare gets thrown under the bus. We all know that. Meghan’s a smart woman for trying a different method.
Quelled surprised.