Apparently, there was a documentary on British television over the weekend called Harry and Meghan: The New Revelations. It was about, I suppose, the excerpts from Finding Freedom. What is hilarious to me is that there are so many British people – not to mention royal commentators – insisting that Harry and Meghan are boring and terrible and everyone needs to move on and stop paying attention to them, and yet… the British media outlets absolutely still see the Sussexes as revenue streams and cash-cows. Anyway, Andrew Morton was interviewed on the documentary and he had some notable sympathy for Meghan. Morton is best known as Princess Diana’s once-authorized biographer, and while Morton has absolutely said and done some problematic sh-t, he’s also been making some interesting points about how little the monarchy has actually changed since the days of Diana.
Lady Diana’s biographer Andrew Morton has claimed that Meghan Markle may have felt frustrated by the fact she could not speak for herself. Speaking during Channel 5 documentary, Harry and Meghan: The New Revelations, the royal author, most famous for writing Diana: Her True Story, reveals how he feels for ‘poor’ Meghan, who had wanted to do her best when she joined the royal family.
Commenting on the Duchess of Sussex’s first steps as a royal, Morton claims opinionated 21st-century woman Meghan was bound to struggle to adapt to the ‘say nothing’ royal rule of thumb – adding that Finding Freedom was her chance to set the record straight. Morton goes on to say that he believes Finding Freedom was Meghan’s way of trying to express how she approached the royal family and ‘how she was dismayed by the easy criticism of everything that she was trying to do.’
‘She’s been frustrated by the fact that she’s not been able to give her side of the story,’ he explains. ‘All kinds of stories have come out about her, and she’s not been able to answer back, and it’s something she’s found immensely frustrating.’
Morton adds that Prince Harry’s apparent hostility for the media, and especially for tabloids and paparazzi, has only grown stronger over the years. The documentary touches on the fact that Meghan, being an active, outspoken feminist and wanting to speak on different political issues, was going to experience a ‘culture clash’ with the traditional – and white – royal family. Morton also says he feels that modern woman Meghan wanted to do her best when she moved to the UK to be with Harry.
‘I feel for this poor girl, I mean, she came into this country, parachuted in,’ he explains. ‘She’s marrying into a very difficult family, that everybody finds difficult to come into. And she’s someone who didn’t know an awful lot about British history, British culture and as she said herself ‘she’s gonna hit the ground running’. And she hit the ground running, but she found she came up against a brick wall.’
Looking back at Meghan’s first engagement with the Queen, which took place at Merseyside in 2018, Morton says Meghan ‘was trying her best’ but had no idea how to behave. She didn’t know the protocol, she didn’t know the etiquette. I’ll give you a perfect example,’ he explains. ‘She went up to Liverpool with the Queen, and she’s sitting on the chairs and it’s a windy day. She doesn’t know what side of the car to get into,to get out of, what hand to hold her handbag in, and you can see that kind of confusion in her face. Meghan, even though she’s an actress, has had to swap the red carpet for the royal road show.’
Was a memo sent out from the palace or something? Why are all of these (male) commentators going on and on about how “Meghan didn’t know the rules.” This is what Edward Enninful said too – that Meghan didn’t know “the rules,” which is all part of the Holy Royal Protocol, and no one has ever written these rules down and yet everyone is supposed to know the rules, and as we all saw, the rules were often applied arbitrarily or solely for Meghan. But really, the “rules” conversation is just another way to otherize Meghan and to tell her (repeatedly) that she “didn’t know her place.” Meghan legitimately did feel silenced and otherized and smeared… because they were silencing her, otherizing her and smearing her.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red and WENN.
Did he really just say ‘an opinionated woman’? WTH.
She is an opinionated woman and should be proud of it (Said as another opinionated woman)
I think you’re missing the point. No one says “opinionated man” and men aren’t called on to defend being outspoken.
@Bettyrose yes they do but those men are called “bold” and “decisive”
It may be code for ‘nasty woman’ but I don’t read either as an insult any longer, however and whether it’s meant as such XOXO ‘another opinionated woman’
Came here to say this. Opinionated coming from me would be a compliment. Coming from him in this context is a clear smear.
Plus, if she didn’t know the rules, you could’ve just shown her the rules. She’s a smart woman, she would have picked it up quickly
It is clearly code for ‘uppity black woman’
WORD.
It is code for black with a brain.
To be fair it doesn’t look like Andrew Morton said that. The person writing the news article put it in to describe Meghan. It’s *not* a quote from Morton. I don’t know if he’s a feminist but at least here that was not his word choice. If you look at the direct quotes he’s quite respectful.
Was she supposed to learn the rules via osmosis? Meghan not “knowing the rules” reflects on the monarchy who should have someone to teach her.
Also how petty is most of this stuff? She didn’t know which side of the car to get out of or how to hold her bag? Is this stuff really what drives the monarchy?
Let’s not forget, she was also “chastised” for not wearing a hat on that first outing with Petty Betty. Apparently, Meg was told TQ was wearing a hat, and by some cosmic revelation, Meg was *supposed to know* that meant MEG was supposed to wear a hat, too! And she was knocked as “disrespectful” for not wearing one on that trip.
I feel like Angela Kelly was exactly zero help in all of this. She seems the type to expect things like the hat osmosis and be terribly offended when it doesn’t happen, and yet, be one of the few people in a position to actually DO something about it.
“Cosmic revelation” = Angela Kelly
I would submit that Angela Kelly purposely did not share the infamous “protocol” with Meghan, then stood by, silent, when Meghan was roasted for her “mistake.” I believe she was actively working against Meghan the entire time, either in a passive aggressive manner, or directly when possible. The entire courtier army did the same thing – don’t teach her, but scorch the earth around her with criticism when she made a “mistake.” That’s Class A mean girl behavior right there.
These rules are useless, and no one would no about them unless advised.
But it also just raises the question again as to why anyone would want to marry into this family?
Harry was the driving force behind tiaragate.
Again, royal commentators and courtiers, why is this rule so sacred? What happens when one doesn’t wear a hat with the Queen?
Isn’t the Queen the person who wears the crown? I would think that it would be okay since the Queen can “distinguish” herself by wearing a queenly hat.
Wearing Givenchy isn’t enough anymore?
Why didn’t she get the princess lessons Kate got? Especially since she’s American. She wouldn’t know the first thing about being royal so they should have helped her instead of throwing her under the bus.
This, exactly. Who (outside a very tiny portion of stuffy toff society) knows or cares about the rules?! Certainly a woman born and raised in the US would not have a clue (no shade to her – why should she?). We’ve seen time and again that Meghan is both intelligent and passionate. I’m confident that if anyone had taken her under their wing and said something along the lines of “these rules seem quite silly and arbitrary, but they’re very important to the Queen. Here’s what you need to know…) then she would likely have followed them. But you can’t follow rules that you could never even imagine existed.
I doubt Kate ever got ‘princess lessons’. That was another fan fiction by stans who were trying to excuse Kate’s failure to work. ‘But she’s busy doing princess lessons in Wales, she cannot work for years yet’.
Sophie said at one point, nobody teaches you how to do this job. You learn by doing and watching.
” no one has ever written these rules down and yet everyone is supposed to know the rules, and as we all saw, the rules were often applied arbitrarily” – yes. By design. This is “how to snob, page 1”. It’s a system designed to exclude someone and it works ruthlessly – it’s not just about knowing the rules, it’s about knowing how and when to ignore and transgress them. Otherwise it’ll be too easy and outsiders could “learn” and “fit in” (the horror!)
You know the rethoric about how Kate “never put a foot wrong”? It’s not a compliment, it’s a reminder she’s middle class, and she has to constantly be on her toes. The true aristocrat puts their feet wherever they please, even on the poor proles heads, and the proles have to lump it, basically. Diana did what she wanted, by and large. Camilla did what she wanted. William does as he pleases. Kate can’t.
Meghan (who’s smarter) didn’t try to play a game she couldn’t win, and has been run out.
I think this run of interviews and commentators is just a victory lap – horaay, the system works, snobbery reigns and the middle classes married-ins should watch their step.
Meanwhile H&M are living with a lot less stress, I’d wager.
This, exactly. It just proves they structure around the RF (and therefore the RF itself) had the goal of dismantling Meghan since the engagement. Assholes.
Sarcasm ON/
I know when I’m observing a beautiful, radiant woman entering/exiting a car I’m completely obsessed with the door she’s using, the hand with which she’s holding her purse, whether she’s wearing palace-approved jewelry, perfume, clothes, makeup, hairstyle and nail polish, and whether or not she’ll be to opinion-y when she reaches her destination.
/Sarcasm OFF
This reminds me of the couple of jobs I’ve had with VERY bad managers. In essence, “You’ll know what I want when I catch you not doing it (without ever having been told what it was.”).
The unspoken rules are simply a way to reinforce social class hierarchies, and make it pretty well impossible for anyone not born into the system to come into it.
I was sabotaged this same way by a co-worker at my first real life, adult job. She thought she should have gotten the executive position I occupied. I was young, naive, and was not familiar with the cutthroat ways when working at a television station. She did much the same as the courtiers – did not teach me what I needed to know, as she was supposed to do, and I made some horrible errors as a result. I lasted five months there, and quit, disillusioned, wrecked, and with no confidence. It turned out well, though. I entered federal government service and made a 25 year career out of it, much more capable and knowledgeable.
I agree with him. Meghan did not know the rules. Plus, she hadn’t been in the royal family long enough to know and/or learn about those hidden rules.
Way back when Meghan first entered the family there was conversation on one of the threads about knowing the rules. I commented then and will comment now. Meghan did not know the rules. Some you will learn or be told. Those are usually obvious. It’s the invisible rules, the hidden rules, that no one will tell you about that will sink your ship. And, you will only know that you’ve broken one of the rules (or several) when you are ostracized. This exists everywhere you go.
In some ways, Meghan was in a no-win situation anyway. She had more than what they were used too. She had too much on the ball, too much independence, too much prior life experience calling her own shots, too different than anything the family and courtiers were used to, and too American. I do think race played a role but with so much other stuff to add to the pot that it just got cooked into the stew as another reason to treat her as “other”.
@Chelle, in the end, she had too much success by not knowing and/or not abiding by these rules, and that’s why they wanted her out. Many minorities know the feeling (ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.)
I hope Meghan and the Obamas have had a chat about this. How amazing would it be for Meghan to appear on Michelle’s podcast?!
This! To me, “etiquette” means “manners”. They make it sound like she showed up and, I don’t know, started eating with her hands. Instead, their specific examples deal with arcane rules (based on a SYSTEM of bullshit “blood purity”) that dictate stuff like which hand she uses to hold her bag or how she enters a car. That has nothing to do with civility or respect for others; it’s more like a list of secret codes to get into a private club.
Ah, is that why Kate uses both hands to hold her tiny pillpox purses? So she never uses the wrong hand?
Unwritten rules, meticulous adherence to etiquette e an idea that formality should always be observed are ways the ruling class has to prevent social mobility and gate keep who has access to what. This is typical society of court.
Ugh. That’s it in a nutshell.
THIS!! If people are too busy having to learn insane protocols, they will be too occupied/embarrassed if they mess up/ feeling smug when they see someone else mess up/ etc to bring down the stupid system they are participating in.
and you know what else? Historically speaking, British Royals, as compensation for their gradual loss of political power, have sought to amplify their ” soft power” and their favorite ways of doing this was adding titles to themselves, getting a bigger share of jewels and expanding the notion of Empire. Victoria is a classic example. Ridiculed as being a shadow Queen by some due to her withdrawing of services, she only got out of her catatonic state when her daughter married a Kaiser. She could not have anything of that! So she started showing up more, commissioned some statues and have herself be declared Empress of India.
They lost India? Well, how about Commonwealth then- with the Queen being Head of it?
Each title has jewerly, protocol and traditions attached to it. Why do you think we get all these nonsesnse articles about the meamings behind the brroche the Queen wears or whatever? because they came up witgh this shit to show the world how distinct they are from everyone else.
There are rules of conduct and common courtesy we should all adhere to to live in society and not give offense- like say thank you and sorry. But this is obviously about Meghan not being one of them because she ” did not know the rules” aka, she was not born into it or sold her soul to serve it.
YUP. And they didn’t give her princess lessons or teach her the rules because they didn’t want her to become part of the inner circle. They didn’t believe she belonged so they made sure she stayed an outsider.
Bingo! All act as barriers to keep “others” out.
That family knew how to behave during the Commonwealth service and the wedding? Rude, entitled people.
They knew how to get in and out of their cars and sit in the correct order of precedence. That’s the most important thing, not silly things like how to listen attentively to a sermon without snickering and rolling your eyes or snubbing your sister-in-law in public.
How about the rudeness of Charles and Camilla giggling hysterically at singers who were entertaining them during one of their royal tours. Or the eye rolling William does. And Kate taking soooo long to learn to put garment weights on her skirt hems. and these are the next two couples who will be monarch and consorts.
Actually I’m surprised no one instructed her on these details, like which car door etc
I’m sure they did a bit, but the problem is that
a) there are way too many “rules”
b) some of these rules seemed to be made up on the spot just so they could say Meghan broke them
c) I think a lot of the rules are so freaking dumb, Meghan was like “are you kidding me with this sh*t?” Tights and nails, and hats and legs crossing and other utter BS.
Bottom line is, I don’t think the problem is she didn;t know how to behave. I think it’s that it never would have been good enough, regardless of how much she tried, AND she wanted to work and affect change rather than worry about her nail polish color.
People lost their minds when she CLOSED HER OWN CAR DOOR!
I do agree with this – I’m not talking about the stuff like “the queen prefers women wear stockings” or nail polish or whatever – but things like getting in and out of a car with the Queen, if the Queen is wearing a hat you should wear a hat, etc – some of those are things that she would have no idea about and if no one told her, how is she supposed to know? I feel like the courtiers did that on purpose to set her up for failure.
Becks1, this is what I find as the source of the The Firm insuring that she was never to be accepted or to welcomed. Had The Firm truly welcomed Meghan, she would have been given a thorough teaching of the official and unofficial rules. We know that there are many unofficial rules as they have been repeated enough to know that they are actually rules.
The bottom line is that they had no intention of accepting or welcoming Meghan, otherwise she would have been officially taught what the rules were.
Wasn’t one of the reasons given for W&K’s long engagement so that “Kate could learn the rules”? The rules are stupid. Imagine wringing your hands because someone opened their own car door. And yes they were applied unfairly toward Meghan but they use them for anyone they don’t like. Carole Middleton for chewing gum. Michelle Obama for putting her arms around the Queen (although it looked like the Queen made the first move there). Look at the ridiculous protocol they make prime ministers go through during their meetings with the Queen. So in Morton’s and Enniful’s case, they’re just the messengers of the very dumb news.
William kept her hidden and separate from the Windsors for that decade. She wasn’t learning how to act on the job as a royal during that time, because William was still trying/hoping not to marry her. He didn’t keep her away from them out of concern for Kate, but because the Middletons were his way of escaping his responsibilities.
The idea of ‘princess lessons’ has been debunked, Sophie even debunked them. People were trying to find excuses as to why Kate had lied in her engagement interview, why she didn’t hit the ground running as she promised. We got everything from the Malta Lie to Princess Lessons to Kate only has to be a housewife and never work as a royal. All excuses.
Kate only met the Queen at Peter Phillips Wedding rather late in the game. WIlliam was not with her he went to the wedding of Jecca’s brother instead.
That still blows my mind. William couldn’t even be bothered to be with her the first time she met the queen. I mean…..I guess no one can say that Kate didn’t know what to expect with him, in terms of respect.
William just plain waited until or if he was good and ready to marry her. Kate “learning the rules” seemed to be idleness and hopping in and out of nightclubs with William and the posh set. He broke up with her and cheated on her. Later he settled for her.
I think someone like Kate clings to those rules as it gives her something to cling to and feel superior about. Hence the awful behavior at the Commonwealth Day Ceremony when she felt rules and protocol were changed.
Geraldine Granger, I will never forget how Her Laziness behaves that day as she clearly is a petty, jealous and vindictive bitch as we all knew she has always been. She couldn’t and can’t stand to not be front and center of everyone’s admiration as her ego can’t handle it. Given that her husband can’t stand the sight of her, whereas Harry adores and loves Meghan, she is seething with jealousy!
I hate when people say “ This poor girl” how condescending
Yes! That poor girl is yet another way to otherwise. She was never going to be good enough for the snobs “poor modern biracial girl”. Uugh that disgusting pompous family and BM deserve the irrelevance that is coming.
The poor girl … this makes my blood boil. As if she, a 30 something woman, is woefully dumb and incapable. Morton is simply cashing in on the Anti Sussex mantra. Plain & simple. Don’t take the bait. Like cream, she will rise. You watch.
You mean like Fergie?!!!!
Sorry had to. UGH.
Would you really want to live your life down to pointless, fake rules about what hand to hold your handbag in or what side of the car to enter? Re: the handbag thing, I watched the doc on Netflix featuring Morton’s interview recordings of Diana, and she said the exact same thing about her first public engagement. He’s just reading off of his book from 25 years ago.
Woe be the handbag and car door, but Cathy can flash her a** multiple times at Royal engagements – that’s royal protocol, right?
I know. Like who gives a flying F about handbag holding? These people are so out of touch.
Diana was roasted for appearing in that black strapless dress in her first royal appearance but that didn’t open the floodgates for a full-on, nonstop, relentless smear of her by the British media. The book comes out tomorrow and hopefully, this is the end of the royals pre-game offensive covering their rear ends for how they crushed Meghan for the fun of it.
That strapless black gown was my favorite thing Diana ever wore, except for the blue dress after Charles and she divorced that had the spaghetti straps with bows. I always thought that dress was a big FU to the RF. I wish Diana had been around for this. I think she would have helped Meghan.
My favorite dress was the black chiffon she wore to the annual Serpentine Summer Party.
who cares about any of this stuff! especially now, it’s seems so absurd to look at something a normal person wouldnt notice (which side of the car or how someone holds their bag) and create a media war over it. i cant believe that anyone thinks paying for this family is actually doing anything
The more these royal hangers-on speak, the less appealing British culture sounds. Do women not have opinions in the UK? They act like she showed up burning a bra or carried a copy of Sexual Politics to her engagement with the Queen. Maybe the reason she was so confused about protocol is because everyone was making it up on the spot, and only when it applied to her. A smart, college educated trilingual woman wouldn’t have failed to notice the double standards, and her loving and supportive husband wouldn’t have failed to put people on the spot about it.
lol burning a bra! yes, i used to live there and even a non-royal with opinions struggles. for example, i had a job where women weren’t invited to the meetings. and men often wouldn’t greet me, only my husband. im so glad im out of there
That’s interesting. I tend to think of Brits as more feminist than Americans. They’ve had female PMs, don’t have politicians running on the single platform of denying women bodily autonomy, and are all around less puritanical about sex.
I can see why people think that outwardly but actually living there is another story. i mean, just look how meghan was treated. besides being black, her biggest crime was having an opinion. i had an american coworker too (male) who even said he was bothered by the way women were treated. it overall feels less modern in many ways
Until following Meghan it never made sense to me England was behind the rest of Europe when it came to women’s athletics. As an American I would have expected England to be among the leaders, especially seeing the English women who come to work in the American news and entertainment industires.
the following Meghan opened my eyes to the reality of the level of the misogyny, despite the having had female prime ministers.
His example is ridiculous. She didn’t know what hand to hold her handbag in? Horrors!
@TeamMeg Believe me, this counts as intense sympathy from a Brit. Especially one of Morton’s generation.
As an uncultured American, can you please share what hand is correct to hold one’s handbag? Mine goes from either hand at anytime.
@Crazy Left hand so you can shake with the right..? (I assume, after googling photos of TQ and Diana.)
Rigid Family Rules = Toxic Family. Notice it was never important to the BRF who Meghan was, what could they do for her to make her feel welcome. It was sit down, be quiet, know your place, learn the protocol.
Diana who was actually moved into an apartment (after the engagement) at BP did not know the “rules” after the wedding. She bought expensive gifts for her in laws at Christmas and only on Christmas day did she learn the royals only gave gag gifts. Nobody ever told her or apprised her, even her husband. She also was not told about protocols while in residence at Balmoral. She said her relatives to be did very little to assist her during her time living at BP.
“She didn’t know the rules” she was NEW to living in the country AND being apart of the royal family. She wasn’t even allowed a grace period to learn whatever rules were in place.
Agree. I think the policy was to let her figure it out and sink or swim. I’ve not heard it mentioned whether or not she was given specific instructions on protocol royal etiquette. It seemed she from most of her public appearances with a crowd, Meghan did not wear hats in general, and she really doesn’t look good in those formal hats. As for the appearance with the Queen, she should have worn one, but maybe she was told that a hat wasn’t required so she took it at face value. The fact that’s these incidents from what are now two years ago show that them leaving is not the slam dunk those who never welcomed her probably fantasized about, resulting in a lot of coulda,shoulda,woulda.
I disagree that she doesn’t look good in formal hats. I think she just had to get her hat game going. I loved her in that big Audrey Hepburn sort of hat at one of the Remembrance Day services. I also loved her green fascinator with the netting. I absolutely HATE those little beret types of hates though. I think once she found her style she looked pretty good in most of her hats.
If only there were a bunch of paid lackeys around who could TEACH newbies the rules and protocol… ah well. I guess nothing can be done. Back to incest!
I mean, I’m not surprised that a royal family WOULD expect someone to follow these kind of ridiculous etiquette rules. But why didn’t anyone sit down with her and tell her explicitly “This is what you do. The Queen is going to get out of the car, you do x, y, z, put your bag in this hand, then do this, then do that, then get in the car, and we’ll all have a drink when we get back to the castle, you will be absolutely fantastic.” And then repeat it 50 times. No one helped her, then ridiculous standards were applied that aren’t necessarily applied to everyone, and then they eviscerated her for not understanding or knowing what to do. No one HELPED her. They wanted her to fail.
I wonder about that too. I was reading Michelle Obama’s book and she mentions in her meetings with the Queen, she was given specific briefings and protocol notes. Also Meghan likes to prepare so if she was told specific rules, I think she absolutely would have followed it. She even said as much in the South Africa interview, that if she was told she was doing something wrong, she would try to correct it. I feel like it is way more complicated than some American not wanting to follow rules. No matter how it’s dressed up or explained, the Royal family did not want her there and thought she was getting all the attention that they thought was theirs, and now that they’re gone, still can’t understand why they are still getting all the attention that they feel should shift back to them.
Gawd. The royals have (had) a lifetime of learning and living the “Royal way to behave”, (to “behave”. Jaysus.). but they expect a – shock, horror *American* – commoner to have it down pat in a few weeks or months? What did she do that was so bad? She didn’t pick her nose in public as far as I know, show her knickers to the world, have her bra strap hanging out a la Sophia Loren, or swear while a microphone was on. What a bunch of prissy, impossible-to-please stuffed shirts. No, they had the knives out very early in the piece. They were not putting up with a recalcitrant Harry and his thinking, independent fancy woman upsetting their gig. Bunch of vile hypocrites.
If you never tell someone the rules, you can’t expect them to follow them!
Kaiser: in the UK, everything is about the rules. There are rules for queuing (and different rules for bus stops and post offices), business etiquette, afternoon tea, lunch invitations, reading habits and so much more. The Royal puppet show, which is put on for the public, operates largely in the way the public (‘paying public’) wants it to. There are so many layers of perceived royal etiquette by Joan from Plymouth to the Duke of Rutland with all the permutations in between that it’s unfathomable. I don’t think any of you across the Pond, with all due respect, have the slightest idea how hidebound and straitened we are.
Royal etiquette is rubbish! What’s the royal rule for a HRH prince to rape trafficked sexslaves? What is the royal rule for the Queen to protect her son from facing the FBI? Royal rules are pure fiction.
If that is the case ,then how is any outsider expected to know this without instruction or after immediately moving to the country? It’s like learning a foreign language. No matter how intelligent or enthusiastic you are, it’s difficult for an adult to master a new language within a few months. It’s takes years of study. It Meghan was supposed to be fluent immediately, with no room for a learning curve.
It sounds extremely constipating.
I’m sorry this is a load of shit by someone who wants to believe in the falsehood of ‘British exceptionalism’ and that the British are some how a league above the rest as middle class person who mingles occasionally with the upperclass myself this is a load of rubbish, there is nothing spectacular or ‘Unfathomable’ about British ‘etiquette’. Etiquette only exists as long as the most ‘important’ person in the room deams it okay. ‘Etiquette’ is about class exclusion. If say the queen where to decide she wanted to publicly shit in a bucket, that would make it okay for everyone else below to shit in a bucket. If the pauper on the street or a commoner wanted to shit in a bucket everyone ontop would find that gauche and shit in a gold plated toilet to differentiate themselves . Etiquette is about power play and genuflecting and showing submission to those more powerful.
I remember reading after the Michelle Obama incident and someone from Royal Household coming out and saying about 2 years ago that there is no royal protocol as such except as concerns order of precedence and events with dignitaries etc. So what were the rules that she didn’t know? She followed behind Kate at their events. And Kate& Camilla were at Fortnum& Mason event with the Queen where she wore a hat and they didn’t so doubt the hat thing is a rule. I think things like crossing your legs (which seen royals from Queen, Diana to Kate do) is just about Being careful
not to flash.
Meghan did an event as a newcomer with the Queen& didn’t know Queen’s preference for where to sit in car but used common sense and asked. Is that day the best example they have of not knowing the rules?
As for no complain no explain we know the royals are extremely flexible on that ‘rule’, it was only being wielded against Meghan to allow press to smear her with impunity.
Also I thought Morton claimed when doing press for his Meghan book that Meghan had studied Diana so interesting he’s now saying Meghan didn’t know anything about royalty and Britain etc. It’s funny how they don’t keep up with their own narratives.
I don’t see Finding Freedom as telling the Sussexes side. I see it as rehash of the 2018/2019 tabloid articles outside the context of the ‘Meghan is evil’ one sided smear campaign.
A reminder that this is the same Morton that claimed Meghan studied everything about Diana/BRF because she was “determined to be the new Diana”. Now she didn’t know anything. Even if Meghan spent months studying these rules, it wouldn’t matter because they constantly changed the rules on her and kept undermining her. She was going to “lose” no matter what.
I agree with Kaiser. It does seem like the new talking points from the palace is that Meghan (and Harry) didn’t know the rules or refused to follow the rules. If they wanted her to follow the rules why didn’t they teach her? Diana had a similar experience to Meghan when she married Charles. She said that nobody helped her and they didn’t tell her about the rules.
“She’s sitting on the chairs and it’s a windy day.” And…..? What’s Morton’s point here? Meghan’s to be blamed for the weather?
They keep throwing the protocol book at her, but with kate they were still putting it out there that they were ‘taking it slow’ with her. Right up until Meghan met harry they were ‘easing Kate into the role’ because they didn’t want to make the same mistakes with her that they did with Diana. Also every year she was finally going to hit the ground running. That was 15 years after being in the royal fold, 10 years as a GF and 5 married. Kate was given duchess training for 15years, Meghan not even 15 minutes.
I don’t believe Kate ever had princess training. She wouldn’t unless william committed to her totally. He was keeping his options open. The Malta time of Bliss for the Queen is a myth. She was on call for her ailing father and could leave Malta at any time to pinch hit. She never spent two consecutive years as a housewife. She stayed in London during the times before and after the births of her two children, she did royal tours with Philip.
They did the same to Diana. Just threw her in the deep end with no support or training. And when Diana asked, she was denied. None of them gave a shit so Diana found her own way.
And knowing that Kate flashed her “coot coot and prune shoot” (thank you Kate McKinnon) MULTIPLE times before she learned how to put on underwear, Meghan getting told off for tiny things like wearing a necklace her boyfriend bought her or dark nail polish just SCREAMS double standard.
So miss me with that “she didn’t know the rules” bullshit excuse.
That’s exactly it. How many flashing incidents needed to happen before it was a problem and a serious discussion took place? Once was enough and it was vulgar across many cultures, not just the UK upper classes.
I completely agree. If Kate had been excoriated like Meghan had… I mean if her butt flashing had been the subject of numerous Piers M. invective on air and in print – if Jeremy Vine, Loose Women, Sarah Vine and others berated her inappropriate flashing on TV screens in the UK and Australia, I bet she wouldn’t have been flashing as often as she did. They barely made mention of it. But Meghan is such an outsider who doesn’t know the rules?
The courtiers don’t like Kate either. They only try to spin good pr for her for the sake of the monarchy, because she’s the future queen. If she’d been married to the spare she’d have been crucified for the flashing,
To play devils advocate, this is one reason why the firm was like “don’t rush it, Harry” part of it was that Meghan was SO unfamiliar with everything. Kate waited 9 years and then had 2+ years of training and onboarding slowly into the firm. Meghan barreled in head first, which is awesome, but if you think about it like a corporation – there are unwritten rules at EVERY company, and I suspect some of these actually are written down but Meghan wasn’t set up for success to learn about them. Even when she did I think she found many of them to be extremely archaic and out of touch (tights/stockings required, what door to use when with the queen.) they absolutely make exceptions and don’t hold everyone to the same standard, which is obviously unfair, but you also have to keep in mind that Meghan never really had any learning curve. They just threw her in and she naively thought she’d just figure it out not realizing that she was being intentionally set up for failure by the courtiers.
There was no two years of training. There were no princess lessons. There was no monarch-granted work-free grace period for people dating for 10 years to get used to living together after the wedding. That was W&K being lazy, with stans and RRs trying to make excuses for the laziness.
Sophie has said nobody teaches you how to do this job, you do it by watching and doing.
Will and Kate took many vacations and went clubbing. William wanted to see what his other options were before settling. It had nothing to do with training.
“Sophie has said nobody teaches you how to do this job, you do it by watching and doing.”
Hmmmnnnn, @Nota, I am old enough to remember when much was made of the Queen’s generous offer of Sophie’s help to Kate, to get adjusted into her new role after she married William. An offer that was allegedly refused.
So, has Sophie changed her tune or has Kate’s Entry into the Firm story changed? Or, both?
I recall that offer as well, but was the timing after one of the flashing incidents? Because maybe the need for lessons from Sophie was something they didn’t realize they needed until after Kate decided that proper undergarments weren’t needed when representing the family overseas.
Except, the watching and doing thing didn’t work out so well for Sophie either. She made plenty of missteps too, in her early days. I feel like the whole, “No one will tell you what to do, you will learn by watching and doing,” is something that doesn’t work out well for anyone.
The Palace is not in the habit of giving new members grace periods. Kate and William just refused to work after they got married.
If “don’t rush it Harry” was about taking the time to teach Meghan the “rules,” there wouldn’t have been a palace-sanctioned media hit put on her. Honestly, hand the woman a binder with the (pretend) rules and she would have been fine – she’s kinda smart that way. It was always about her not being “suitable” enough to live and work with a bunch of racists, grifters, adulterers, and rapists.
Kate would have married Will at 25, in fact, she expected an engagement then. She did not wait eight years as part of an official royal onboarding program as she did not make royal appearances while she waited for Will to pop the question. If anything, all that waiting time did was prove that not even intrusive media would stop Kate from hanging on for the ring. Once she married in, the Queen didn’t want her drawing huge crowds and being a mini-Diana so they were good with Kate and Wills slacking off. This was called easing her in, but what they were really doing was everything that was the complete opposite of Diana’s start.
Come on though. Kate “waited 9 years” BECAUSE SHE HAD TO! If William had proposed sooner, they would have married sooner. Her waiting still didn’t result in her discretion about wearing under wear and using hem weights.
Didn’t know which side of the car to get in/out of and in which hand to hold her purse? I highly doubt that a college educated grown ass woman was intimidated by some basic rules that even a toddler can pick up after a couple of tries 🙄 If he said “she had no work ethic”, now THAT would have been an actual problem because you can’t easily teach that sh** (looking over at Kate Keen 👀). They just needed to have some compassion for Meghan and at least give her a chance to learn on her own, since they refused to teach her.
I would think that getting out of the wrong side of the car is a far more minor breach of etiquette than flashing but what do I know?
This insane “family” is just vile. Philip, William and Charles can spout racist microaggressions and jokes. Andrew can hang out with pedos. Sophie can snicker to a reporter about the Queen. Kate can flash her legs and bum and walk in front of the Queen and even Harry when William is not around, and of course ignore her in laws. And of course William and Kate can display a racist painting in their house. And of course Princess Micheal can wear a racist brooch in front of a biracial “family” member. What is protocol for if they are still indecent, rude people.
Just a mediocre upstart like Kate would make her life mission to join such family. Ugh
Did the rules apply to Prince Andrew?
It is far more important to follow the rules about hat wearing and leg crossing than to refrain from raping trafficked girls, at least as far as Mummy and all her little hobgoblins are concerned.
Finally, an example of which “rules” she broke! Now I get it. Obviously the monarchy can’t be seen with handbags carried on the wrong side. Thanks, Andrew Morton!
Serious question: would any “well brought-up” English woman in her 30s have picked up on these rules?
No, but they fully expect that any “well brought up” English lady in her 30s would know the score, and keep silent while she’s being excoriated by the press and the palace aides for breaking a rule that no one explained was a rule in the first place. Which explains why literally no one from the aristocracy wanted to get within 10 feet of William or Harry.
Just have to echo everyone here who’s talking about how petty this is. If in 2020 it still matters how a royal opens a car door, then it’s probably time for the monarchy to disappear. There are real problems in the world. This is nonsense. It’s an excuse to attack a smart, focused, Black woman. It’s not about car doors or handbags.
The royal family is horrible. Even some of their supporters allude to how cold they are. I love Harry and Meghan but the rest of the royals are a lost cause. Harry himself felt like he didn’t fit in with this bunch so how could an outsider like Meghan? Time to move on.
There is no “protocol book”. Anne’s husband, Tim Lawrence has admitted this.
If Meghan had been British and not biracial doubt demeaning comments about her “not knowing how to behave” would ever be said. I see some social media sites slamming Americans now. Unreal.
Thanks for pointing out above the contradictions that Morton is griping about Meghan not knowing how to behave (seems like a micro aggression there- did they say this Kate barging ahead of more senior royals on occasion? ). meanwhile for years blood royal Andrew was hanging with paedophiles, arms dealers& relatives of Britain’s enemies, doing dodgy deals, passing on classified info, misusing charity funds, making illicit comments about government investigations. But Meghan was the problem not wearing a hat on one engagement or not always wearing tights.
I know right? Why wasn’t someone like Andrew briefed on the rules when he was born? Why did no one tell him that, in the civilized world, people don’t rape teenagers, and openly show support for traffickers? How are we going to complain about Meghan not knowing which hand to hold her fcking handbag in, but let Andrew’s criminal actions go by without comment. It’s truly unbelievable, the way this conversation is happening in the media right now.
As mentioned above, “not knowing the rules” and “opinionated” is code for “not one of us” and “uppity”.
These kinds of rules remind me of the racist laws surrounding immigration and voting, especially in the post WWII era – they were made to exclude, specifically, and like these “unwritten” rules of “tradition”, they apply unevenly, and the goalposts will always move.
Even if Meghan had learned every last stupid protocol about opening a car door, they would always find some way to exclude her, because that. Is. the. design. It’s a feature, not a bug.
On the bright side, now that they are having to spell out all these “unwritten” rules, people can see how dumb and meaningless they are.
These people will twist themselves into knots like Gumby to avoid talking about the fact that it was RACISM and had f-ck all to do with etiquette or protocol.
And that’s the answer isn’t it. We have pointed out ad nauseum the times where Kate has done a similar breach or even worse breach but was never attacked by the media like Meghan has been. The only answer is the obvious one. They are racist and were trying to hide it in made up protocol breaches.
From what we’ve seen of Meghan, I’m sure she learned as much as she could about necessary protocol before she moved to the UK. That’s why we’re hearing silly stuff like, she didn’t know on which side to hold her handbag, she was crossing her legs the wrong way, and so on. That must mean she got the important stuff right – the proper way to greet TQ, proper order for ceremonies, etc. – or that’s what we would’ve heard about, not nail polish, or one shoulder dresses (that her sister-in-law also wore). Not wearing a hat if TQ was wearing one is, maybe, the most “serious”, possibly real, breech, we’ve heard, though as someone mentioned above, it seems like that too may not really be a hard and fast rule (if you’re a blood princess).
All these little supposed infractions being trotted out makes this institution sound not just racist, but straight up trivial and ridiculous.
All she needed was a quarter of the help Kate gets, if only she had someone to help learn the ropes, I’m looking at you Kate. Kate saw Meghan getting praise but not making half the mistakes, she felt jealous. She refused to help. Evil woman.
I’m not defending Kate, but I don’t think Kate got any help either. She spent years doing things badly and having missteps all over the place, before ironing stuff out so to speak. It shouldn’t have taken her this long. And it shouldn’t have been up to her alone to figure it out either.
I think that Kate knew how things were for her, which is actually why she refused to help Meghan, in turn. She didn’t receive help, and she figured it’s only right that Meghan doesn’t either. This speaks to an incredible pettiness on her part, as well as a general lack in the workplace culture itself.
I agree I’m not too sure Kate received help but she sure receive the media blackout so that all her blunders wouldn’t be as publicised or highlighted. Kate’s ‘help’ came in the form of the media not driving a smear campaign against her and painting her as a victim and as a cute newbie every time she did something wrong
Anne and Charles have said on camera that there weren’t a set of guidelines of how to do “the job”. I believe it was a documentary about The Queen’s long tenure.
She said each royal basically just figures things out as they go. The way she characterized it, it seemed to align with on the job training. The UK press know this as well.
Meghan already had extensive experience not only dealing with people across different social strata, but also public speaking and volunteering. Meghan WAS prepared for the job. These people just didn’t like HOW she worked or WHAT she focused on (despite there being overlap to what other royals were doing). This is why the press undermined Meghan at every turn, especially after the engagement interview. She was “too poised”, “too confident”, “not demure ~enough” to the critics/nitpickers, as if a grown professional woman who worked hard in her career should humble herself for them. The UK tabloids/critics wanted her knocked down several pegs, and that’s been the point since.
Also, are we to believe there aren’t rules regarding flashing your ass because you chose to not put weights in your skirt hems???
What about cheating on your wife and begging to be your mistress’s tampon???
Yes, yes, yes to each of your points! All of the snide comments and nastiness are hallmarks of people who are insecure and feel threatened. MM could have only half of the experience, poise, and charisma she currently has and she’d still outshine this lot of overwhelmingly useless turds.
Andrew Morton’s thinly veiled “uppity black woman didn’t know the rules” comments make me think he’s gone over to the other side. If there’s a winner in the “doesn’t know protocol from poop” Olympics it’s certainly Keen – the numerous bum flashes, topless photos, outdoor sex, public mean-girling of Meghan – the list goes on and on. And yet it’s Meghan they’re STILL bashing. Give up, she runs circles around Keen every way you look at it.
I think Andrew Morton is on the side that will make him the most coin. I read the Diana book recently and it was an updated print from 2010, including the aftermath of her death. In it he said something about how after Diana died, when they made a public appearance, that William is now the sole bearer of Diana’s legacy, and was the true focus of the crowds affection. Like the crowds didn’t give AF about Diana’s 12 years old son who was also there. I wouldn’t be surprised if Willie got Morton on side years ago.
They set her up to fail from the beginning. Gave her just enough information to not completely embarrass the Firm, but not enough so that the Rota and the courtiers could nitpick and otherize her. But…Meghan’s personality and work ethic still outshone them. All the roadblocks they set up in order to diminish her only served to showcase their hypocrisy and bias.
What are the rules of etiquette about raping underage girls?
🙌🙌🙌🙌 THANK YOU
I saw another commentary with Andrew Morton which surprised me. I have thought so well of him because of Princess Diana, and her biography by him. I thought of him as her champion when she needed one and had no one. This other commentary was not overtly against the Sussex’s, but it was covertly for the Monarchy. I felt he was hedging his bets. And so disappointed. But my other disappointment was Paul Burrell, Diana’s former butler. I recently saw an interview with him on YouTube where he reminisces about Diana, and it could have been so good, but I found him nauseating. He clearly knew he had a vehicle, and he made it all about himself, whereas had he given an interview that lauded and celebrated the wonderful and interesting woman he worked for, it would have reflected back beneficially on him. But EVERY memory or anecdote had to involve himself and position himself and how he was indispensable, etc. It quickly become glaringly evident that he was self-serving.
And this new television interview was pro William and Kate. He knows which side his bread was buttered on. The TV hosts were all but defending Meghan and Harry against him. He said that William is very calm and patient, whereas Harry is a hothead. BITCH.
It just goes to show everyone has a price. Burrell has been cashing in on Diana for years. He’s clearly been bought off. I’m so sick of this narrative that William is sensible and harry has a temper. Harry is the one who has always been more reliable whilst Willie throws his tantrums.
Thank you for your comment. You are so right. I forgot that years ago Paul Burrell was involved in a lawsuit because he had squirreled away a lot of things of Diana’s, and he was being sued. He said he was saving it for her boys, and finally the queen intervened to avoid a scandal, and said she forgot she had sanctioned it or something. But he was prepared to go to the mat with the Royal Family and said so on the news. I wouldn’t speak for the RF, so you are right, he’s either been bought off or threatened. He can’t have his cake and eat it too. He will find that the world comes to hate him if he picks the wrong side.
Paul Burrell is a snake, I’m surprised that Diana didn’t see through him. But I guess every famous person has atleast one bff that hangs off their coattails. It reminds me of Kim Kardashian and Johnathan Cheban who’s life revolves around breathing in the same air as her. I think machine gun Angela kelly is the queens ‘Paul burrell’, as soon as she’s dead, she’ll start selling off anything she can get.
I will never understand this obsession with protocol and rules that the British elite have. Is it a culture? Is it a fetish?
Either way we Americans sent one of our best gals over there to be married and she was bullied and psuedo-exiled. Back in olden days this would have been considered diplomatically rude and deeply offensive. I guess the only niceties the British royals care about are ones about grape scissors and restroom vs bathroom
It’s just a fancy way of saying they’re all passive-aggressive AHs. It’s really too bad dueling went out of style, because even that was marginally better than this.
Meghan’s biggest problem honestly was that she was just too much of a go-getter and really driven. Even Michelle Obama gave advice to Meghan to slow down in the beginning. I think no matter what, the British royal family is stuck on tradition and not too keen on outsiders that much is clear. Meghan came in thinking she would have the ability to do charity work for the crown right away and be able to lead initiatives. I don’t think anyone ever told her that her job was to follow and I don’t think she is a follower. Her biggest mistake was expecting a lot out of the institution. Maybe things would have gone better if she just played 2nd to everyone like they wanted, and taken it slow at the beginning. At the end of the day, she was naive in thinking anyone would welcome her with open arms and Harry too. Even Kate did not get that reception and had a couple of years where everyone trashed on her. NO royal family, through centuries of inbreeding wants their queen or king outshone in the public’s eye by an in-law…that’s how monarchies are toppled.
Well, it’s a good thing they left and are starting their own foundation so they can work at a pace and style that suits them.
Wouldn’t it be great if The Firm let Harry and Meghan do their own thing? And The Firm can keep moving along at their preferred glacial pace? Have the Sussex’s and Cambridge’s carve out their own niches and stay in their own lanes.
Like someone just said, the monarchy will probably continue to chug along like a snail even if the world at large becomes bored with them.
I never saw her as pushing ahead and not playing second. I am not so sure she was expected to sit back and not work much like Kate. I think she would have gotten heavily criticized if she had taken things slow. There was a different standard for Kate, obviously. I am not sure she thought she’d be welcomed, because there was heavy criticism of her in the media and on blogs. I think that would be rather alarming. I think monarchies are toppled if they allow two popular royals to leave the country because of unacceptable conditions.
If Meghan had sat it out and taken things slowly there would be no end to the lashing she would have taken and no way to support her. She would have played into the all kinds of stereotypes had she come in and taken it slowly. Actually before she launched the cookbook there were already grumblings. MO (my forever first lady) meant well, but just like with the go high when they go low business, I think she was wrong. The reason Meghan enjoys what support she has is because others recognize her for the hard working go-getter that she is. Without her hard work, I can’t even imagine what her story would have been, it certainly would have been worse with the added, she contributed nothing to the take.
I’m so sorry, but I just cannot see that work ethic that you guys are talking about. Megan worked 72 days in 18 months!!! Is there any way that she could have taken it more slowly?!?
Yes she could have done what Kate did in the first 9 years. She did far fewer than 50 engagements in her first year and only one tour. She didn’t get pregnant until two years in and she has only cracked doing over 100 engagements 4 times. And this number only happens because they are counting meetings with Jason, her staff and other puffed up tasks. Let’s not compare numbers because your lazy girl loses every time.
I doubt Meghan expected to be welcomed with open arms. I think her and Harry did expect the Firm to be protective like with other royal wives especially if she came in and did her duties well.
At the royal foundation forum Meghan was deferential to the others. Wasn’t her fault she was more eloquent than the others. She quietly did engagements when she first married in to the extent the press complained she wasn’t saying enough of interest.
As we’ve seen press didn’t allow Meghan a minute to breathe so they weren’t going to allow her to take it slow like eg Kate or like Michelle had advised (after she had already done the cookbook and smears had started). The press had started to complain about ‘lack of value’ from Meghan that summer so that’s why they were surprised when the cookbook dropped. Then after that narrative changed from Meghan not providing value to working too hard. When they criticise a royal for ‘working too hard’ you know the complaints are BS.
One minute the press complained that Meghan was a fame whore who was stealing spotlight from Kate or other royal family members when THEY chose to focus on her. The next she was being too private when press access was restricted.
It was set up that she couldn’t win.
Well duh. Who would?
Omid did an interview for GMA and said that Kate didn’t offer Meghan the support she needed. It would have been nice for Kate to help Meghan with some of these “rules” but she never did.
“The rules” is snobbery defined and what prevents organizations – any organization – from embracing diversity and inclusion. I see this all the time in corporate America. Within companies where most employees have been there for years, they might not even realize there are rules because they are so often unspoken. To affect true change, someone has to be self aware enough to recognize the rules and then someone needs to translate those rules to the new people.
But – I’m not going to cut the RF this much slack, as they are well aware of the rules and choose not to convey those rules to their “outsiders.”
It *might* possibly maybe on some planet somewhere be fair to be expected to “say nothing”, but the problem is that Bill and Katie Keen run to the tabloids 24/7 to refute, reply, and dish dirt.
So, what you had was Meghan being criticised for wanting to set the record straight, and Bill and Katie Keen trotting out doing what Meghan was punished for.
Why is everyone talking about the rules? Because in the Firm everything IS ABOUT THE RULES. Can we stop sugarcoating and finally recognise that Harry did nothing to prepare Meghan for lifie within the Royal Family? I understand he was in love and stupid but apparently he didn’t explain to Meghan that THERE ARE RULES and that they need to be followed. He didn’t explain to her what her place was going to be and he didn’t prepare her for her role as a wife of the spare. No wonder she didn’t know how to behave. It’s a completely different world out there.
Think about it. Kate spent 10 years chasing Wills and then a few years after the wedding she was still uncomfortable in her role (sure her role is more obvious and more significant and she’s lazy, but still). It was only recently when she seemed to come to terms with THE RULES. How do you expect an American to jump straight into a Royal pool and not drown???
There were no outrageous faux pas committed by Meghan. You know how I know? Because anyone alive, dead or yet-to-be-born can see how much Harry loves Meghan. Harry watched Kate’s stumbles. Harry knew what they did to his mother. There is no way he would let his wife go out without knowing what’s important. The man has known the correct protocols for over 30 years; don’t assume that he didn’t prep her. These petty people are just making up shit after the fact to club Meghan. Rules, my ass. Don’t fall for this gaslighting.
Uhm…what rules are Kate comfortably following now that Meghan went against?
“Shut up and smile like a good little puppet?”
That seems to be what the Firm expects.
But “the rules” quoted in this article are 1) holding your handbag in a certain hand, 2) getting in the correct car door, and 3) an unfinished thought about sitting down when it’s windy. How is Harry, a man who does not carry a handbag, supposed to know/teach Meghan the handbag holding rules? How would anyone even think to mention stuff like car doors and handbag holding? He taught her the main, most important, actually written out protocol rules about orders of precedence, where to walk and when, who to curtsy to and how and when. She learned the main British cultural rules like always wear a hat in church and how to introduce yourself and others by title and how to address aristocrats of varying levels. Was he supposed to even know about the nail polish color rules? Or that if a woman is told the Queen is wearing a hat, she must wear a hat? How would Harry even know these things? Especially since these “rules” seem to be broken by all the different royal women whenever they feel like it.
We keep hearing Meghan was such a rule breaker and didn’t know her place and then when pressed about how/what, we get 1) handbag holding, 2) car doors, and 3) something about wind? Is this what they were talking about with all their “Meghan wants to shake up the Monarchy!” “Meghan wants to rewrite all the BRF rules!” “Meghan Wants to Modernize the Monarchy!”
Because she didn’t do that many engagements. She didn’t work in public more than Harry, Will, or Kate. She didn’t do any projects that were radically new or different. She didn’t engage the press with interviews, pap-shots, photo shoots, or magazine cover pictures more than any of the rest of them. She did less of all that. She didn’t release official statements more than anyone else. She released far, far less. She didn’t leak to the press more than anyone else or tattle on or speak poorly of any of her new family. She didn’t wear clothing that was any different or more expensive than any other female royal. She didn’t wear jewelry or tiaras that were any more expensive, special, or ostentatious than anyone else. She wore far less. She didn’t move into a home that was any bigger, more lavish, or more expensive that anyone else. Her home was the smallest and cost less. She didn’t ever walk in front of anyone, neglect to curtsy, give anyone a sour face, or push to the front of balconies or photos. So what was she doing that made it seem like she wanted to be the star or thought she was on par with the Queen? When did she ever act like her role was more important than anyone else’s? When did she ever act like she didn’t understand that she was the spare’s wife?
When you find out the answers to all this, please let me know.
Their job was to help her navigate these unfamiliar waters AND THEY DIDN’T.
Enough with these courtiers and the Royal Family. Ugh.
I hope Harry and Meghan and their family have a lovely life no matter where they go.
Instead of rules around what side of the car to get into and other such nonsense, the royal family could take a page out of Meghan’s rule book and be decent, kind and gracious people.
Thank you, beautifully said. Meghan Markle could give that entire family a lesson in class and decency, they have none.
Kindness and politeness to a newcomer should have been included in the Rules.
The RF is showing its age and uselessness.
I dont care, Meghan could have fallen on her face and I would still support her, because she is a black girl, just like you might support every female because they are woman, I support Meghan.
It’s been finally established that Meghan had to submit to abusive behaviour by the BTM, at least two members of the BRF and some staff. This reflects badly on them so they have resorted to finger pointing .
The acknowledgement of abuse cannot be explained by blaming her for the abuse, using two members of owned press.
One can safely assume that this type of unacceptable behavior will continue especially when confronted with competent and professional individuals who are not British and different.
Meghan was prepared and motivated and most importantly the regular Brits and the international community appreciated and admired her efforts so she was punished for being successful and beautiful.
They seem to like their royally to be less ambitious and unmotivated in order not to put a foot wrong.
I think there’s a meaningful middle ground here, wherein the fact that she didn’t know “the rules” is less an indictment of her, and more an indictment of the people who are on staff, whose job it is to enlighten her on these things (without belittling her and punishing her for not understanding or knowing “the rules”).
I say this because Kate has also messed up in many instances before, namely with her fashion oversights. I know that she’s a grown woman, who should study and understand how to dress for her role, but let’s be honest, it is a daunting position to be in for her, and she should have received some guidance. How many times did she have her skirt fly up? How many bum shots did we get? Even if she did do this stuff on purpose, it is the job of her staffers and aides to put a pin in this shit yesterday. We can talk about how it is that a 30 year old woman would need her hand held on something like this, but the fact is, if that was what was required, that is what they should have done, end of.
It’s one thing to say that the staffers mirror the Queen’s own hands-off approach to interpersonal relationships. But come the f-ck on. If that’s not an approach that works, and worse, if it’s an approach that routinely results in embarrassing mishaps, then you get on that shit and figure it out and lay the expectations out clearly. Wear hem weights. You exit out of this door, not that one. You cannot have a situation where there are all of these supposedly important, iron-clad rules that MUST be followed, fail completely to lay them out appropriately so that they CAN be followed, and then punish people for subsequently not following them. This is what’s called setting someone up for failure, and it wouldn’t surprise me if most of these “oversights” when it came to Meghan were exactly that, which is precisely why she felt unsupported by this institution.
And yet, you see this pattern come up many times, actually. The Queen does not provide guidance on any level, ever. Neither do her courtiers. Time and again, you find instances where people who join the family are simply left to flounder without any direction or help. There’s only so much you can learn by doing or observing. Sometimes you just need to learn by being told shit. And if you can’t do that, well, this is a poorly run circus show if there ever was one.
What a load of crap. Harry would have told her. Saw many photos of him whispering reminders. I’m sure he prepped her too when he wasnt there. Willy did the same for waity but she was too dumb to listen.
Andrew Morton doesn’t KNOW anything about what Meghan did or didn’t do. Everything he would know about the situation is from his own reading of the press. So this comment that Meghan “didn’t know how to behave” is just one GIANT RACIST DOG WHISTLE.
I’m appalled that anyone here is even giving it any kind of credence. Did we not see all the times that Meghan was blasted for doing something other royals were praised for? Did we not share and comment on that Buzzfeed article that broke this down and exposed the racism and xenophobia of othering the black biracial Duchess for doing what other royals had done to much fanfare and praise?
These “rules”, if they existed, were concocted to further other Meghan and keep her out. She couldn’t learn these rules – they were moving goal posts. Just like the “tests” black Americans were forced to take before the Voting Rights Act outlawed them just to exercise their vote, where the tests had questions that were impossible to get right (they often had no right answer) AND where the graders of the tests were the racist people who wanted to prevent black Americans from voting.
If the “rules” existed, then the racist and xenophobic Courtiers were the ones “grading” her performance and trust – there was NO WAY she could behave (other than simply ceasing to exist in their presence) that would allow them to give her any mark other than a Failing Grade.
Even still – the rules Morton is talking about sound ridiculous and small. Meghan deserved over 250 thousand negative articles written about her and courtiers constantly sniping at her and hating on her because she didn’t know which hand to keep her clutch in or not to close a car door? Nevermind the pics we know exist of Sophie, Katie AND Camilla all closing their doors.
The “rules” line is nonsense coming from Andrew Morton. It’s clearly the Palace’s latest attempt to frame Meghan as some kind of “uppity negress” who “didn’t know her place” – as if that doesn’t make them look even worse.
That the editor of Vogue UK has joined in to this narrative is deeply disturbing too. After everything Meghan did to raise his profile, he returned her glow up with betrayal. He can kiss my arse along with Morton.