One of the things that has bugged me about Sussexit and the coverage – mostly from white journalists, many of whom have a larger agenda – is that many people are editing out one huge point about why the Sussexes went away. The conversation white journalists want to have is that the unrelenting spotlight of media and fame crushed the Duchess of Sussex, when… that was not the case. Meghan wanted to be famous. She had so much ambition for what she could do with her role. She enjoyed the spotlight and she’s a people-person who was entirely comfortable on walkabouts and dinners and cocktail parties and events where she had to shake hands for hours. No, it was the racism, misogyny and double-standards that got to her. She even said it to Tom Bradby: “I never thought this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair.”

I was reminded of the rapidly rewritten narrative as I read Vanessa Grigoriadis’ new piece for New York Magazine, “Meghan Markle’s Bigger Dreams: She isn’t letting the royal family get in her way.” It’s an interesting read, but the first part of the story is all about how Meghan was a hustling, ambitious actress who was eager for more media coverage pre-Harry, and then she was crushed under the royal spotlight and now she’s basically in hiding. Once again, if Meghan could have just been allowed to live her life as a massively popular royal woman and done her work, she would still be in England. Instead, her immediate popularity was seen as threatening and damaging to the monarchy/status quo, and the press and the palaces all worked to bring her down by any means necessary. Anyway, there are some interesting quotes and such from this piece, so here are some highlights:

The post-royal plan: Regardless of where Markle’s being photographed, no one thinks she’ll be content taking hikes for long. What she seems to want for herself is to become the next Oprah, or Michelle Obama, a new, more discreet Kim Kardashian West, but hopefully falling short of a postdivorce Ivana Trump, newly shorn of her golden position in ’80s New York and hawking branded Champagne glasses and baubles on QVC. In other words, what is sometimes called a “goodwill ambassador” but in other contexts a “brand ambassador” by a world that isn’t always so able to tell the difference.

Working with a Clintonista: For this quest, much effort has been put into securing a new court: In her time as a princess, Markle ran through many assistants, courtiers, and press officers and is now reportedly under the firm hand of the Sunshine Sachs firm and Sara Latham, a redheaded American political adviser. Latham is known to be smart, funny, and extremely competent. “Is she nice?,” I ask one of her former colleagues. “She can be,” she says. “People who know her love her.” Latham was John Podesta’s right hand and might be one of the only people who has worked on a presidential campaign (Hillary ’16) and in the White House (circa Bill), 10 Downing, and the British palace. “Sara has a serious pedigree, and she knows how to play the political game — she survived the Clinton orbit forever.”

Should they go away? The PR playbook for Meghan and Harry, says a specialist, is clear. “If I were them, I’d go away for a while,” she says. “They’re caught in a hurricane right now, and all the coverage is process and intrigue and gossip. They need to keep a low profile and let this news cycle exhaust itself.” When it does, she’d advise them to engage in an activity that can generate a unique series of new photos, rather than grant interviews and “tell their story” on Ellen or to Oprah. “They need to roll out a month or two from now with some ‘showing, not telling,’ and positive-leaning charity stuff. Whatever they’re going to do with themselves, they should go do that — go do some Africa and elephants, if that’s the plan. Then you feed the news with those images.”

But most PR experts agree that Meghan shouldn’t look to cash in with high-paying gigs in the near future: A high-level publicist agrees: “The plan has to be world domination, though I don’t think she’ll do a lot of commercial stuff for a while, because she wants to prove the British wrong that she’s just a brat and a gold digger.”

But some people think she needs to move fast: But whatever the advice she’s getting, she may want to be wary of waiting too long to sort out her new image — as any influencer knows, the time to monetize is always “now” and the drama of Megxit may dissipate sooner than you’d think. Royalty is forever, celebrity is not. “Our readers love Kate and the way she’s embraced being a princess,” says a tabloid insider. “On that front, she’s a much better actor than Meghan.”

[From New York Magazine]

LOL, “embraced being a princess.” This is all so loaded, and when I really think about all of the forces that lined up against Meghan, it makes me so angry. She was seen as so threatening to so many people. She was also seen as such an easy target – a biracial American divorcee, of course everyone already had their knives out. But it was so much more than that – Kate became the safe one, the one who “knew her place,” the one who would never really threaten the royal ecosystem. Meghan’s popularity, her work ethic, her politics and her mere existence threatened so much of that same ecosystem. Anyway. What’s next for Meg and Harry? Lord knows, but I’m sure she’s got a plan.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.