Penny Junor: Duchess Meghan ‘was upsetting people’ very early on in the UK

The Duchess Of Sussex Visits The Hubb Community Kitchen

I don’t really understand why there’s all this energy towards and about the ITV documentary Harry and William: What Went Wrong. Other than Omid Scobie’s gossip – which was honestly lukewarm tea – the documentary just seems to be about the same old nasty royal reporters repeating the same old bullsh-t about the Duchess of Sussex in particular. It continues to be so revealing that whenever Meghan is pregnant or postpartum, the British media and the Windsors ramp up their attacks on her specifically. I’m so glad she’s out of that hornet’s nest. All she’s doing is sitting in Montecito with her children, and every damn day the dumbasses on Dusty Saltine Island make some “new” claim for why Meghan did this or that. So that’s what the ITV doc was – douchebags like Penny Junor and Robert Lacey saying that Meghan is like the royal Yoko Ono and she broke up the brothers from the start.

Royal commentators have claimed that Meghan Markle’s arrival into The Firm ‘upset’ people from early on. Speaking in the explosive ITV documentary Harry and William: What Went Wrong, which aired last night, several royal watchers revealed sources had criticised the Duchess of Sussex, 39, from an early stage.

Royal author and journalist Penny Junor claimed the mother-of-two ruffled feathers from the get-go after she was introduced to the royal family as Prince Harry’s partner. Robert Lacey, who penned Battle of Brothers, was told by a source close to Prince William, 39, that the American actress had an ‘agenda’ from the outset.

‘Someone close to William told me William felt from an early stage that Meghan had an agenda,’ Lacey said in the ITV programme.

Meanwhile, Junor, who’s followed the tribulations of the royal family for years, said: ‘I was hearing very bad stories from early on that Meghan was upsetting people. She was not as charming as she seemed.’

She went on to criticise the way the Sussexes had publicised their rift with the royal family during an explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7. ‘Harry and Meghan’s approach is not just Californian, it’s showbiz-y, celebrity. Our Royal Family are not celebrities. They are working members of a public institution. I was appalled by the Oprah interview. These are not statements that should be made for public consumption. This is the sort of thing that should happen in the privacy of a psychiatrist’s couch,’ she said.

In late June, Lacey claimed in a new edition of Battle of Brothers, that royal sources close to the Duke of Cambridge has said Meghan could be a ‘500 per cent nightmare.’

The author also claimed an angered Prince William had once huffed: ‘But look at the way that bloody woman treated my staff — merciless!’

[From The Daily Mail]

This is all stale f–king tea? I guess Junor’s comment about “hearing very bad stories early on” is sort of newish, but the number of times we’ve heard that Meghan “ruffled feathers” as soon as she arrived is now absurd. We get it, royal commentators. We get it. Meghan came to the land of dusty saltines and she married the good prince and absolutely everyone lost their ever-loving minds. Again, if Harry and Meghan are so abhorrent, if their behavior is so appalling… why are you still obsessed with them? Why not say “good riddance” and stop talking about them?

There’s also a dumb story making the rounds this week about how Harry and Meghan are having trademark issues for their Archewell brand. It’s literally a matter of clarifying some paperwork, and I would imagine their lawyers are on it.

The Duchess Of Sussex Visits The Hubb Community Kitchen

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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188 Responses to “Penny Junor: Duchess Meghan ‘was upsetting people’ very early on in the UK”

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  1. DellT says:

    Brits dont possess the same intense work ethic as Americans. I have British relatives who work for a global company. They find Americans intimidating, overbearing and gauche. As a woman of color stepping into the Monarchy, Meghan was probably disliked from the beginning. “How dare this black woman send me an email asking me to do ANYTHING?!!!” is what Im sure was said. They may have perceived ANY request from her as “bullying.” But, bullies always have a history. Why does no one from Meghan’s work past have anything untoward to say about her? The story of her bullying is suspect from top to bottom. Im sure this is probably why she wants a point by point breakdown of the bullying allegations. But this Pandora’s Box of a story is out in the open. Too late now: ppl are running with the “Meghan is a bully” story. The Palace and the DM know, most ppl arent critical thinkers, and will run with any narrative that suits their bias and racism.

    • Jamie says:

      That’s a great point, about Meghan’s work past! Seems like no one had a problem with her until she showed up at the Firm. In fact, it was how sweet and thoughtful she was that stands out to former colleagues.

    • Concern Fae says:

      Yes, this is very true. I know it from having worked in several US orgs with a heavily international workforce. Always interesting to see how they see us. I often thought Meghan was naive or maybe should have held back a bit, but realized it wouldn’t have helped. When there is a perceived pecking order, people will viciously attack anyone who doesn’t comply. In England they call it “tall poppies,” as in tall poppies get cut down to size. So many people do this everywhere. I can only imagine the shitshow that it becomes when royal prerogatives are involved.

      • aftershocks says:

        I agree that Meghan has been somewhat naive, as are we all at certain times in our lives. Even Meghan herself has admitted to being naive about exactly what she was walking into. But anyway, how could anyone realize the full extent of what has happened. Like Meghan told Oprah, “Nothing on the inside is as it seems from the outside.”

        Harry tried to tell Meghan some things, but he was also crossing his fingers that that their love would see them through. Plus, he likely didn’t realize how hellish things would get, and that his family would fail to be supportive (and that some members would end up contributing to the media attacks).

        Harry did not want to lose Meghan, so his love and admiration for her made him hopeful. Meghan’s love for Harry made her enthusiastic and hopeful too that they would be able to weather those early signs of trouble from the media and within the institution. But the way Harry spoke during their engagement interview about his relationship with Meghan ‘coming first,’ should have clued everyone into the fact that he was going to protect his future wife, their offspring, and their marriage with every fiber of his being.

      • Carmen-JamRock says:

        @aftershocks and @ConcernFae
        I disagree with both of you abt any perceived naivete on M’s part.

        Surely youre not suggesting, @Concerned Fae, that M disregarded “the pecking order.” That pecking order would pertain to those above her and Harry in the BRF hierarchy……everyone else would be staff, who WORK. FOR. the royals.

        Are you suggesting that M behaved as if she was above W&K and C&C? because those are the only ones “above” H&M in hierarchy……if we’re talking hierarchy.

        Otherwise, if what youre suggesting is that M ought to have recognized that the servants have their own hierarchy going on and M ought to have kowtowed to them!!! LMFAO

    • EMF999 says:

      I’m not sure that’s a true statement about the British work ethic. I’ve worked on both sides of the Atlantic and have worked equally as hard in the US and UK. The American work ethic is a bit of a myth as we work longer hours with fewer vacation days but get the same amount of work done as the Brits with shorter working hours and more vacation time. Work expands to fill the time allotted to it. (Parkinson’s Law) Americans have a can-do and direct approach that grates a little with the British who tend to beat around the bush more, shy from giving direct orders and understate the amount of effort they put into their work.

      However, if you change that to the Palace work ethic, then I’m fully in agreement with you! Good lord, it feels like they just swan around looking for something to complain about and RR to leak to.

      • Tanya says:

        I worked in a field with a lot of Brits. The ones who want to work hard wind up moving to NYC, etc.

      • Isabella says:

        Doubt that Brits are getting the same amount of work done in a shorter amount of time. In the U.S., we are paid for what we get done, not for how many hours we put in. It’s a competitive atmosphere, for better or worse. We tend to be efficient. Look at Meghan.

      • Juniper says:

        I thought about what you said @Tanya, and you have a good point. Every Brit I’ve worked with that really pushed had relocated to the US.

      • pottymouth pup says:

        I’ve worked in a global setting for over 20 years and I’m going to have to disagree with the notion that Brits don’t have “the same work ethic” as Americans. The fact that Americans by & large don’t have a good work-life balance doesn’t mean we have a better work ethic and I will also disagree that we are somehow “more efficient” because we get paid for what we get done as opposed to the hours we put in. I have quite a few British colleagues who work efficiently and have as strong a work ethic as I do and they have no desire to move to the US. Good lord, as an American, I continue to be mortified at the American superiority complex.

    • AnneSurely says:

      My firm opened a London office for a few years when we landed some big clients based there and had to close it bc of the local staff’s dysfunction. The English staff kept using cultural communications differences to sabotage the foreign staff, but even if that hadn’t been the case, the refusal to put in the effort needed to get the work done on time would have sunk them. I think it’s fairly well understood that big law firm jobs are not 9-5 endeavors, internationally. And these folks balked at every request to put in more hours or respond to inquiries after what they thought the end of their work day should be. It caused alot of extra work to fall to the international staff and the home office in Southeast Asia until the partners decided that it was too expensive to run the London office when they weren’t getting anything done.

      • Christine says:

        This is fascinating, to me. THIS is a conversation we should all be having, in my opinion.

    • nina says:

      +1. After we moved to the US, my family were always surprised when I worked weekends or worked on a project late at night.
      Americans are just very hardworking and expect everyone else to have the same work ethic.

      • Lorelei says:

        It seems to me, from reading these comments, that “work ethic” and “work-life balance” are being used interchangeably, when, IMO, they’re completely different.

        Americans have a terrible work-life balance, but that doesn’t automatically mean everyone has a good work ethic. Brits definitely have a much better work-life balance, imo, but that doesn’t mean they have a poor work ethic.

        KP, however, seems to be full of employees with zero work ethic — and no ethics at all, imo. They all seem like vile people who decided they disliked Meghan before she ever even walked in the door. In all of the stories we’ve heard about them, there’s not a shred of professionalism to be found.

      • Jenn says:

        @Lorelei This is a terrific comment.

    • Sid says:

      And it ain’t just Americans who can have a hard time there either. I work for a multinational entity and the London office is the one that people from other offices worldwide always complain about whenever they have to go there to work on any projects.

      That said, I have a feeling that KP was and is especially a trash place with employees who want to do no work. There is a reason that all of Harry’s initiatives like Sentebale, Invictus, etc. seem to have been done outside of KP. And Charles’s Duchy enterprises seem to run quite well. KP seems to be the problem here.

      • AnneSurely says:

        It’s true. My firm is an Asian firm. About 1/4 of the employees are American, but everyone else is from South Asia and we all hated going into the London office bc it was going to be a particular brand of snobbish and inefficient. We kept one English lawyer from the London office and he begged to get transferred to Manhattan.

      • Christine says:

        Honest to Pete, the comment section of this article has raised so many questions, for me. I’m just going to ask the first one that came to mind, but I have a whole bunch.

        Why South Asia, particularly? I am not being remotely sarcastic or trying to lead you down a garden path where I am going to yell at you that you are a huge racist, I am honestly interested to know about South Asia, I know next to nothing.

      • AnneSurely says:

        @Christine, most of the firm’s employees are Han Chinese and the London staff were horribly racist towards them. Accent-mocking, undermining, two-faced behavior, and much worse were reported.

    • Laura says:

      FACTS. I studied abroad in the UK and wow, the academics are significantly less demanding than in the U.S. We wrote a single essay per class a semester. That’s it. And that was the norm across the country. I found Brits simply weren’t pushed the way Americans are in all aspects of life. Socializing and free-time are much more prioritized across the pond. I will criticize America for many things, but you cannot deny we are raised to work hard. It’s a societal standard (and many argue it’s extreme). Large international law firms or big financial firms are not representative of the entire UK – obviously those work environments are different and require LONG hours and hard work – I get that. But in general, across the board, Americans work like dogs. I can only imagine the (lack of) worth ethic these privileges courtiers have LOL their whining about emails said it all….

    • Kelly says:

      I used to do a lot of business with Brits though I lived in the U.S. After I became very friendly with one of them, she told me that they view Americans as very demanding. She said it was only the American customers who wanted their products yesterday.

      I did tell her that’s because it’s the standard of customer service in the U.S., for better or worse.

      That said, everyone is forgetting that the palace staff are paid very low wages in comparison to similar positions outside the palace. Because of this fact, they are treated with great respect because their service involves financial sacrifice.

      As far as Meghan goes, I think you have to adapt to the culture you’re joining. Everyone has to.

      • Lila says:

        Meghan has to be treat staff “with great respect” because the royal family refuses to give them a better salary but the staff can call reporters everyday to leak, say Meghan is keeping Harry hostage, claim she’s a narcissist and damaged goods?

      • nina says:

        Treated with great respect by who? That’s a new one. I guess you have to believe that crap about some people are your betters and you should know your place to suck that up.
        Then how do you explain the fact that Andrew beat up a staff member, screaming fits by PWT, unreasonable demands by Charlie Boy. Nah, I’ll pass. As my nan always says: “Talk is cheap and money buys whiskey”

      • MA says:

        @Kelly How does one exactly adapt to racism, disloyalty, and sabotage?

      • Bibi says:

        @Kelly
        Meghan could never have adapted in a space that’s always been predominantly White and if you believe that she could have, then you probably are also White and your privilege is showing

      • Christine says:

        You had me until that bit about Meghan. I’m sorry, when the family you married into is screaming from on high that you have bullied all of their staff, the writing is on the wall. You cannot really be serious, right?

    • Mina_Esq says:

      I agree about the work ethic, and this extends to other European countries. My cousin is a lawyer in Vienna and once insisted on knowing how much I made because she felt that I was overspending (*eyeroll*). When she found out, she was outraged. Meanwhile, she had just told me that she spent 3 months working on a single file, trying to figure out how to incorporate a charity for her employer. Meanwhile, I’m sitting there with my 100 active files. It’s not just a matter of us working more. Because of family, I try to keep it 8-5:30, but I go hard and delegate like crazy while on the clock. If my staff refused to do their work, i wouldn’t be able to do that. We all understand that work means work. I feel for Meghan. She came to work, and she got pushback from people whose job was to assist her.

      • Miss Emie says:

        WHAT????!!!! 3 months to create a charity??? Even my intern has like a week to fill the paper work for such a little file and he has tons of more subtantial files to take care at the same time !!! I would considered a qualified lawyer taking 3 months to do so like clearly incompetent (no offense to your cousin). There was a lot of European (mainly french) in my master in international Law and there was a clear difference between their level of knowledge and capacity of workload and ours, canadians students. They all were from ancient aristocrate families. That was really awakening to witness such a social class clivage since there is no aristocracy in North america. Maybe that is why we feel compelled to work harder. Work = sucess instead of having a count as father = sucess.

      • Eleonora says:

        @MINA_ESQ, you have one example from Austria and you immediately extend generalities to Europe in general? You do realize Europe is a continent with very different countries and cultures?
        What if I made general statements about everyone from the Americas based on this one person I know in Argentina?

        I’ve encountered Americans during my university days who were often complaining about having to do things, even though we accomedated them by speaking their language in our country. That included after class as well, when we socialized.

        We also had to wait to explain maths to them, because somehow they never got the basics in high school.

        Still, I would not go around making general statements about Americans based on that, as I realize not everything and everyone is the same, even in a single country, let alone a continent.

    • MMadison says:

      The Royals DON’T WORK. They show up, smile, ask a few questions and go! On average they probably spend less than 30 minutes at an engagement. Proof that Meghan wasn’t the only American that struggled with the LAZY RF our First Lady Dr. Biden, was completed blindsided by how little time Kate spent at her engagement. Her response to KP’s fluff of the event was all that was needed to say she wasn’t impressed (would have loved to spend more time). Even the hardest working Royal Princess Anne, spends about 15 mins at an engagement and she is off to the next. Racking up the numbers but little to no quality. It’s a numbers game and no one really cares if the “work” is impactful or not. The RF is Anti-American in every single detail that’s why we fought a war to get rid of them. 100% certain Meghan is much happier back home and I have a feeling Harry has finally found some peace and comfort in his life as well.

    • Haapa says:

      Judging by most the comments here, you would think there is something morally wrong with you if you don’t live your life to work and aren’t a good little capitalist cog.

      • Sandy says:

        Also amusing to hear the wrong, completely generalized impressions Americans have of European work. Imma just let them talk.

      • Emily says:

        It’s like the Americans are proud of the fact that workers don’t have rights over there.

      • Emily says:

        I say this as somebody who is 100% on Meghan’s side.

        I don’t doubt that the KP staffers are lazy incompetent treacherous monsters. But that’s a KP issue, not a British issue.

  2. Maria says:

    They’re literally just rehashing the same stuff now? Do people actually click on this stuff? Lol.

    • Xoxo says:

      Penny Junor is one of those lying “reporters” who gave a review of the Oprah interview before it aired or they’d ever seen it. One of her criticisms was that “Meghan was lying and acting the entire time” even though Penny had not see the interview. So no matter what she says, I’ll take with a bucket of salt.

      • Maria says:

        Oh yes. She’s obsessed with Charles too and I really think she thinks she’s William’s surrogate mom, lol.

      • Layla says:

        That was Ingrid Seward. But Penny Junor falls in the same category to be honest. Someone who gives their opinion when literally no one asks for it.

      • aftershocks says:

        The Salty Isle carnival crew and palace grey men + KP Willileaks need to give it a big fat fakakta, sayonara rest already with their stale, bitter, racist clownfcukery! They need the moneybags
        charismatic & productive Sussexes for the clicks, as we all know. But by this point, these salty clowns are merely feeding off the vile remnants of their own repetitively rehashed hogwash.

        To paraphrase the words of Maya Angelou: “You may write me down in tabloids with your bitter, twisted lies, but still like dust, I’ll rise, and rise and rise!”

        Meghan is protected by the replenishment of her own strength, which was rescued and nurtured via her husband’s unbroken devotion, and by her own peaceful spirituality gained through the wisdom imparted by her mother and her Ragland grandmother. She is basking in the California sun, radiant, resilient and blessed by the smiles and heartbeats of her babies, by the warm presence of her dogs, and by the deep, lasting love, loyalty and support of those who actually know who she is and truly care about her. #LoveWins!

      • Demi says:

        Penny Junor is the same woman who wrote a book about Diana blamed Diana for the divorce & claimed that Diana had Borderline personality disorder.. This woman is a fraud she isn’t a Psychiatrist of course but a gossiping columinst one of Charles’s mouthpieces even rumored that she was his sidepiece.

      • Tessa says:

        Penny Junor openly talked of her “crush” on Charles, having a “soft spot” for him and praises Camilla to the skies calling her “endearing.” She has derided Diana for years in her books. Meghan and Harry are lucky they are not praised by Junor.

    • Nailed it, KAISER. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 “ We get it, royal commentators. We get it. Meghan came to the land of dusty saltines and she married the good prince and absolutely everyone lost their ever-loving minds. Again, if Harry and Meghan are so abhorrent, if their behavior is so appalling… why are you still obsessed with them? Why not say “good riddance” and stop talking about them?”.

      I so agree with you, this is all getting so stale and boring….like a broken record.

  3. Becks1 says:

    Well, at least its starting to be obvious that William was against her from the start. “an agenda” good lord. She probably sat down at her first meeting as a working royal and was like “so here is my binder with research and I’ve been doing and I’ve been contacting these people and I’m interested in these projects and these patronages and what are your favorite ways to fundraise for your charities?”

    And william and kate were like….whoa, slow down there. This meeting is about drinking tea. That’s what all our meetings are about. We don’t talk about “work.”

    • Lizzie says:

      I guess he recognizes a woman (and her mother) with an agenda.

    • Kalana says:

      Will’s and Kate’s “work” is the equivalent of a gentleman’s C at college. It would be vulgar to actually work and put in effort.

      But they’ll try to have it both ways, insisting they were incredibly welcoming and that they were wary of Meghan from the start and felt she had an agenda.

    • Kalana says:

      Also, Kate is still trying to get an answer to her question of “Can you test the smell by smelling it.” So of course they need to have a meeting about tea.

    • Mac says:

      I hate when men say ambitious women have an agenda. The desire to succeed isn’t an agenda, it’s a mindset.

    • Commonwealthy sounded witty at first says:

      Spot. On.

    • windyriver says:

      I linked a video yesterday where two of the actors/creatives from Ted Lasso (Brett Goldstein/UK, Brendan Hunt/US) had a brief discussion of the differences between Brits and Americans. Goldstein sounded almost offended that when he’s in the US, complete strangers would say, “have a nice day”. Hunt was surprised (and Goldstein agreed) at how difficult it was for Brits to outright say “no” when anything negative was involved.

      I can picture how things might have snowballed for Meghan: some people being initially put off, even suspicious of, her American friendliness; and of course, she was biracial; and she had a more comprehensive work plan than KP was used to. All of this evolving into, she (and Harry) not “knowing their place” after Oceana, that Will and Kate were supposed to be the stars – with communication issues along the way because of differing UK/US styles.

      I agree it’s interesting and informative that William, etc. are making it known they had issues with Meghan from the start. In usual hamfisted KP style, they undoubtedly think it “proves” Meghan was difficult from the beginning, but in fact it shows the opposite, that she was barely given a chance from the get go.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        Yes, Meghan had already been tagged as difficult from the get go. And let’s not forget TOB comment about Harry taking his time before he proposed to “that girl” in the very beginning. TOB and Keen Guevara were clearly aware of their behaviour from the beginning and TOB has already stated that they never liked her from the beginning!!

        The problem with Meghan and Harry is that they showed the Monarchy and the public how hardworking and devoted to their causes that they were, hence the reasoning for TQ to take such a liking to Meghan. Which is why she attended the train tour with her so early in her marriage.

        The only people that had a problem with Meghan are TOB and Keen Guevara who have consistently proven to be duds in their work ethic and every other patronage that they have been attached to. Add to the fact that Princess Anne, who has a great number of years ahead of Keen, still outshine her in her number of engagements each and every year.

        Had the monarchy thought about how beneficial Harry and Meghan would be for the Monarchy, and placed their ridiculous petty and jealousy aside for one moment, they could have reached an enormous impact for bringing the Monarchy into the 21st generation. But no, too little to see the big picture and they have failed miserably!

    • CeeChange says:

      I was drinking coffee while reading “whoa, slow down there, This meeting is about drinking tea…” Seriously, this line almost made me choke on my coffee!

      I appreciate you!

    • Joy says:

      Exactly. Meg had an “agenda” the same way every normal worker has a task list. It’s called work and it’s a very basic normal thing for those of us who actually have to do it in order to survive.

    • Ania says:

      Becks, it really seems liked that. I have hard time believing Meghan tried to enforce 11h workdays for the staff and wanted them to carry out insane amount of work. I also believe she was very careful not to step on people’s toes but she wanted to do actual work, start and finish projects not announce for a year that she is planning them.

      I am sure they were hostile to her and she maybe tried friendly approach, then professional approach and then it went to hell.

      Also from my experience: when a woman acts professionally, not cute, always smiling and forgiving but expecting people to do their job and communicate like adults she is percieved as ice-cold. That’s how I was once described after a meeting, where I was politely negotiating and setting expectations.

      Kate is their perfect duchess but a woman like Meg is better off in USA using her skills and dedication for good causes and not bowing down to idiots who don’t have half of her brain.

      • Tessa says:

        Kate is a lightweight and always has been. She had tons of excuses made for her non work ethic.

    • SenseOfTheAbsurd says:

      ‘Agenda’ is just manipulative political propaganda-speak. Like ‘family values’. The expectation is that the idiot tabloid readers will hear that word, and fill in the details from their own imaginations by projecting whatever’s pissing them off.

      No actual agenda has ever been defined.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Senseoftheabsurd this is such a good point; I hadn’t thought about it from that angle but it makes so much sense. They can project all of the “good” qualities to Kate and anything they perceive as “bad” to Meghan’s “agenda” as long as everything is kept very vague.

    • Sara says:

      I really want them to let us know what William thought her agenda was? Like I want him to spell it out w/o beating around the bush so we can see how stupid it sounds.

  4. Snuffles says:

    I wonder how much longer will they be satisfied with rehashing old news before they decide to finally go after new targets. I feel like Cain sidelining Kate recently is him teeing the Middletons up to be the next media target. Well deserved, mind you, but it’s still just the Windsors throwing others under the bus to
    cover their own behinds.

  5. Sunday says:

    Can someone explain to me like I’m 5 why Lacey can attribute something to “sources close to william” without any pushback while Omid is being burnt at the stake for defamation, slander, etc for the same sourcing claim?

    I mean, I know the answer, that Omid said something that makes William look bad and Lacey is just repeating his sycophantic bullsh*t. It’s like the RRs are daring Omid to hit back because then they have an excuse to run all the receipts in full – if Omid defends himself and points to the countless articles attributed to sources close to William, the tabloids have the excuse to “report” on every single one of those claims, all while they continue to feign innocence like they’re protecting william by “exposing” and “investigating” these salacious claims. It’s the same as all this coverage about the ITV documentary – by pretending to be shocked at Omid’s claim, they gave his claim way more coverage and attention than they would’ve if it had just aired in the documentary in the first place.

    • Lizzie says:

      And if it’s defamatory then what do you call the smear campaign against the Sussex’s?

    • TeamAwesome says:

      It isn’t a coincidence that Omid is also biracial.

    • HeyJude says:

      Omid is a person of color and racists gonna be racist.

      He’s going to be smacked down at every possible juncture because “we are very much not a racist family (giggle giggle)”.

    • fluffy_bunny says:

      Look at the color of Omid and you have your answer.

  6. Pao says:

    Meghan ruffled feathers because she was new, charismatic, had work ethic, and beautiful. The others felt threatened. The end. It wasn’t anything she did. She ruffled feather simply for who she was.

    • DellT says:

      a black/mixed race woman

    • ABritGuest says:

      I don’t think this is a US v U.K. work ethic issue. Brits work some of the longest hours in Europe & Isn’t there hype year after year about how hard working Charles & Anne are? given they tour internationally & keep abreast of breaking news from home when they are abroad (eg when kates topless pics came out when they toured Asia) or emergencies etc in countries where the queen is still the head I’m sure palace staff are used to an occasional early am email (which seems to be main issue of bullying claims) .

      when Meghan first got engaged the reports were how she was too friendly/ informal with staff given hugs etc. If she was so awful why did Samantha Cohen extend her stay with her, why did some KP staff move over to work with her& Harry at BP & now at Archewell as staff or as consultants? How come there were no complaints from BP staff and it was only during time at KP? Doesn’t add up.

      KP bosses were apparently wary of Meghan from the start & no doubt that attitude filtered to the staff who openly briefed press that they didn’t want to work for an American actress etc. They didn’t respect her & therefore probably didn’t like taking orders from her. I think that’s why Harry was accompanying her to things like the tiara fitting when he wasn’t supposed to be there- staff were making life difficult for her unless he exerted authority.

      As they probably didn’t listen to her instructions she might have been assertive at times. If a black/mixed race woman who people already don’t like is assertive the ‘angry black woman/diva/difficult’ tropes follow soon after. Also sounds like she was set up to fail, given unqualified staff like Melissa who were probably there just to spy on her.

      Another issue is sounds like staff at KP were used to a way more laid back schedule- it was said Meghan & Harry wanted to meet weekly when they were used to meeting monthly with their bosses. Ingrid Seward also claimed in 2018/19 that Meghan had upset courtiers with secret charity visits when she got to london (I’m guessing this was Hubb kitchen visits etc). I think courtiers wanted to be in charge of picking her charities like they probably did with Kate & they probably didn’t like her direct approach.

      I bet the ‘Meghan didn’t understand hierarchy’ comments also came out of her doing the cookbook to meet an immediate need when neither Cambridges had launched solo projects at that point. I also can imagine Jason didn’t like her cutting out his rota mates to promote the cookbook, using SM instead. My guess is a pissed off KP& rota started planning the smear campaign (incl that bullying report) shortly after the Together cookbook was launched.

      Finally if Meghan was so awful why is there no detail of what she actually did. If Harry is damaged good what was all the fuss about them stepping back, why the need for a year review, claims of the queen being heartbroken, anger at Harry not being there to support his brother etc ? Surely a ‘liability’ has gone & the firm should have just been glad to see back of them.

  7. teehee says:

    You mean:

    “People were getting upset ABOUT her”

    She just EXISTED.

    • Jais says:

      Again, a lot of adjectives about her, describing how they think she is. Literally no evidence or actions of anything she did. Blah blah misogyny and racism packaged in a cute little ITV doc. Slow clap. Well done.
      I think William was pissed at ITV for airing the Oprah doc and this is some manufactured crap to appease the FFK. Including omid was supposed to make it look less like propaganda but then omid said something that was an actionable thing that could be proven as opposed to a lot of baseless descriptions, like Meghan isn’t as charming as she seems. Clearly, charm is in the eye of the beholder bc ITV, frost, junor, and William are all pretty charmless for airing or being a part of this stale tea.

      • blue36 says:

        @Jais, I think you’re right, weren’t there stories a few months back that ITV was too pro-Sussex (eye roll), even though they still had Piers Morgan on GMB. He seems to want full control of every broadcaster and newspaper he can and they make sure they only parrot what KP wants.

  8. mariahlee says:

    In a few months, she will have been out of her senior royal role for the same amount of time she was in it. They really need to get over it and her. Even if we believe every single claim they’ve made about her, *nothing* warrants the relentless vitriol in her most vulnerable states, and when she’s really trying to lay low. Luckily, I think their only remaining audience for this bs is Meghan stans (bc stans are always looking to be outraged) and Meghan haters/right-wingers. I don’t think anyone else’s opinion of her is being swayed by these narratives.

    • equality says:

      No kidding. There are serial killers who get far less negative press.

      • Lorelei says:

        @Equality I sat and just sort of stared at your comment, processing it. I was following both Meghan and the Golden State Killer during the same time period, and Meghan definitely got much more awful press. Unfckingbelievable

    • Robin says:

      Good point, mariahlee. Thanks for making it so clearly.

  9. ModeratelyWealthy says:

    How was the documentary met? Anyone knows if it was watched or ignored? How many times will the British Press go there? Obviously, they still draw some sort of repercution, lest they would not be producing/writing such trash, but they are not gaining more followers at this point…it is not like Milenials are going ” oh boy, William is truly a folk´s hero, standing up for the small men!”

    Come one, Royal aides are aristocratic adjacent folks! they are not underpaid grocery store workers! I can see why William wants to be seen as a man protecting his staff/family/country from a black woman, but the only ones drinking from his kool aides are the people he already has.

  10. lucy2 says:

    Yeah, Meghan is the one who had an agenda. Not Kate, right? LOLOLOL.
    They are never, ever going to get over that M&H did that Oprah interview, rather than whisper attack the family like others do.
    I agree, if they’re so awful and horrible, why not just ignore them? They all drove Meghan out of England, you’d think they’d be happy.

    • NolaNav82 says:

      Thank you for this. Has everyone forgotten the Waity Katie moniker that the British media saddled Kate with when she and BaldyLox were dating?

  11. Sunday says:

    This agenda claim just reeks of projection. Whose obvious, public history shows that she had an agenda for years? Kate’s, duh. Kate had posters of William on her wall as a child, Kate intentionally manipulated her way into William’s exact school and class – if that’s not an agenda, I don’t know what is.

    So, once again, Meghan is accused of the thing that we *know* Kate is guilty of. Same as who made who cry. It really makes me wonder about all those claims that Meghan wasn’t really pregnant, the kids aren’t hers, etc and if those follow this same pattern of projection.

    • Capepopsie says:

      @Sunday you certainly have a point there!
      My thoughts too!

    • Nic919 says:

      That’s the first thing I thought of. Only one duchess changed her university to be near William and then didn’t get an actual job so she could continue to be available to him for a decade. Meanwhile Meghan had a career in the US and Canada and she got married and divorced prior to meeting Harry. What kind of agenda could she have? Outside of trying to do good work. And what kind of a plan is it to be a Royal to then agree to leave it altogether within two years? Clearly not a great plan to be a princess. Meanwhile the other one clings to a bad marriage because of baubles and titles. William needs to look at his wife and stop projecting to meghan.

      • Tessa says:

        Belle Robinson who hired Kate (she was a friend of the Middletons) openly admitted she gave Kate “flexible hours” since she was dating William. Her co workers said they rarely saw Kate. Kate quit after the 2007 breakup and never went back.

  12. Louise177 says:

    And still no details. You would think that if Meghan was so horrible people would give specific examples.

      • TigerMcQueen says:

        You can give general examples of a toxic boss without breaking an NDA. There’s not even anything general.

        Beyond that, there are tons of (obviously approved) leaks to the RR that would seemingly break NDAs, so I fail to understand why they still don’t provide examples of Meghan’s so-called horrible doings.

      • Becks1 says:

        If there was a NDA we wouldn’t have heard about the 5 am emails, or William calling her “that bloody woman,” or anything else we’ve heard. Maybe there is a NDA of sorts, but its clearly not enforced for some people.

      • Joan says:

        I can’t believe this is the reason, after all someone broke their NDA, to complain about 5 am emails. Which is the one example constantly repeated.

      • Nic919 says:

        The signing parties in this situation would be the employee and the palace and since Jason Knauf seems willing to spread stories, there is no one who would enforce such an agreement if one existed. And it’s obvious there are none.

      • Lila says:

        What NDA? These people were outright calling reporters after a work day to cry about how “demanding” Meghan was. They were leaking left and right.

    • Truthiness says:

      20 bucks says Will and the men on gray thought her 1st project, the Grenfell cookbook, was truly horrible. How dare she pull together a book in short order that benefits Grenfell victims! Remember how she flew her mom in for moral support at the opening? Yeah, I bet she was up against it for every project, to dim her shine and productivity. TQ loved her work ethic, so there’s another horrible problem for Will.

      • Joan says:

        And I’m sure they thought it would be a failure.

      • Agreatreckoning says:

        Meghan received a lot of positive press with the cookbook and first solo project.
        https://www.forbes.com/sites/michelinemaynard/2018/09/17/meghan-markle-makes-a-splash-with-her-first-big-charity-effort-a-cookbook/?sh=54fb0ca633bc

        When the financial report was released 6/2019 it showed her project raised 500,000 pounds! Yes, pretty sure some were feeling jealous/petty of The Duchess of Success.

      • Truthiness says:

        The cookbook has thousands of reviews on Amazon with an average of around 4.5 out 5 stars. What do you bet she was told not to do it, she was doing it wrong, or that she should postpone it? She is comfortable in the public eye and yet she had Doria fly from California for support.

      • Lorelei says:

        I think that was the moment they realized how truly fcked they were. They realized that they were being outshone and their options were to up their game or to drive Meghan away. It’s clear that they quickly chose the latter, and put more work into the smear campaign than they ever did in their actual roles.

  13. Lauren says:

    I don’t think it’ll be that long until KP starts backtracking those bullying claims. Some articles have already been put on warning by Meghan’s team and BP has completely left the conversation. It’s just KP left and when the lawyers reach the few core pieces we will know because heads are going to start dropping and it’s going to be glorious.

    • notasugarhere says:

      They’ve already started dropping. Christian Jones, the one with the boyfriend who was paid by Wootten to leak about the Sussexes, has been sidelined. Jason Knauf is being removed from the country because of his husband’s ‘surprise new job’ outside the UK.

      • Lauren says:

        Those two are old news. I want to see if they manage to catch the really big fishes from BP that allowed this mess to even proceed. Let’s face it. Nothing happens without approval from BP’s top dog who is Chuck’s lap dog. You’d get KP, CH and BP all implicated in a calculated smear campaign against the Sussexes. That’s a lot of heads rolling.

  14. Angelica Schuyler says:

    Yes, Meghan ‘upset’ people and ‘ruffled feathers’ by being a Black, American, woman who was confident and dared to actually give instructions to White people to get some work done…..She was not content to just ‘sit still and look pretty’ (as the saying goes…) This had them all in a tissy! Hence their subsequent PTSD….. it was just too much for them to have to do actual work….

    I’m not royal by any means, by I’ve experienced this as a Black woman working on Wall Street and having White people very upset that I was the senior person and they had to report to me and take instruction from me……I’m sure my experience was a mere fraction of what Meghan has gone through.

    This is what the palace aides, the staff, the Men In Grey, etc, have all been so upset about. How dare this Black, American, woman come in here and be intelligent and charismatic and industrious enough to outshine us and highlight how lazy and ineffectual we’ve been all this time!

    How American! How gauche!

  15. Eurydice says:

    “Explosive documentary,” as in explosive diarrhea.

  16. Nev says:

    Stay mad.

  17. Lizzie says:

    Let’s just for arguments sake say Meghan ruffled feathers, is the correct thing for palace employees to run to the press with tales and gleefully calling her names like Me Gain or damaged goods? And then to have the firm support that behavior? Those employees should have been let go or reprimanded, and they would have if the duchess had been Waity.

  18. Smices says:

    There are never specific examples. She upset the palace early in by doing what? No details. That’s how you know that they know that what they’re saying is bullshit.

    • equality says:

      Exactly. It’s the same vague wording: “nightmare”, “upset people”, William “felt” she had an agenda with nothing concrete. In a TRUE professional office if a new supervisor comes on board, everybody understands that there is a “learning curve” to adjust to that person’s expectations because everybody doesn’t do things the exact same way. People being “upset” that she did things differently from their usual way does not equal bullying. In the real business world when people get a new boss they adjust. This type of article makes the palace staff look incredibly unprofessional.

  19. A says:

    I think the most telling comments are where Lacey and Junor and whoever else try to dictate what is acceptable for public consumption and what isn’t. It’s okay to talk about mental health in a nebulous, happens-to-other-people kind of way. It’s not okay to say a member of the BRF has sought help. It’s okay to talk about how an outsider like the DoS upset the ‘working members of a public institution’. It’s not okay to talk about the litany of abuse, neglect, and carelessness done by that institution and its members. William is allowed to be angry seemingly all the time while Meghan’s as yet undefined antics are grounds for exile.

    It’s conservative thinking that protects an idealized vision of the monarchy over the needs of the times or even the well-being of the people involved. I don’t think William or Charles or the Queen even have to set out most of these talking points anymore. I think almost all the experts and commentors and reporters are already on the same page.

  20. Ariel says:

    More and more the royal family- i just see them as tory puppets, the torries help them protect their ungodly amount of money, and they help keep the peasants in line.

    And they are inbred, small minded, petty dullards who have never had to worry about money, or real jobs, (Prince Charles is an outlier- who has built successful farming- of course its easier to be successful when you start out as a billionaire). They just snipe at each other and wallow in the mud as racist, petty morons.
    But since i added the tory (i didnt check the spelling) thing- now i see them as muppets.
    Petty, racist, dull muppets.

  21. EnormousCoat says:

    If people are going to be upset because you have a plan to get things done, well, then they can damn we’ll be upset.

  22. dido says:

    It continues to baffle me how the UK will lap up criticisms against Meghan from “unnamed sources” when there have been so many NAMED sources who have talked about how great working with Meghan is. Some that I’ve seen recently: Suits costars like Patrick J. Adams, D.B. Woodside, Eric Roberts, and crewmember Derek Ursacki; Catherine St-Laurent, the Sussexes’s former chief of staff; Rebecca Sananes, their new podcast producer from Pivot… and there’s so much more from her reputable friends.

    Yet the fact the UK prefer vague, half-baked accusations from unnamed sources over clear facts and testimonies from named and reputable sources says everything about what they want to believe about Meghan. They don’t care about facts, they just want to hate her.

  23. Jamie says:

    As time goes on and Harry and Meghan are living their own lives and minding their business, are the UK press going to keep rehashing the same old stories? Everything they complain about is “when she showed up…”, “in the beginning…”, “once she arrived…”. It’s been several years since Meg entered the picture! Why is everyone is still so bent out of shape from her showing up? Do the press honestly think that’s a good storyline? It just makes them look silly!

    • L84Tea says:

      Seriously, ten years from now are they still going to be yammering about 5am emails? They need to let it go already.

    • Jane's Wasted Talent says:

      Subconsciously they’re starting to realize the magnitude of their colossal f-ck up, but they can’t accept that they’re responsible for their own predicament- so they develop these lame justifications/mantras which they’ll repeat ad nauseum, possibly for decades.

  24. The Artist Formerly Known as Valiantly Varnished says:

    This is part that truly gets me: if they hate them so much WHY do they keep talking about them? They’re gone. Which is what everyone wanted (well they wanted Meghan gone – that backfired a bit when Harry left with her). The fact that they can’t keep their names out of their mouths shows how reliant for content they all are on H&M. H&M gives them relevancy. The British press and all the Twitter haters should THANK H&M – and especially Meghan for giving them an ounce of relevancy.

  25. kelleybelle says:

    FO, Penny. Her race was upsetting people. Come out and say it!

  26. Bess says:

    It’s obvious now that Meghan was never going to fit into a role in the RF. She had too many things working against her for the establishment and I don’t believe the role of “wife-of-the-second-son” was ever really explained.

    Meghan thought that she was marrying into a meritocracy and that her efforts would be rewarded. The royal family is the opposite of a meritocracy.

    There also seems to be a rule that for the heir to the throne to be seen as “the star”, the others need to be seen as flawed or lacking in some way. This approach damages everyone, including the heir.

    • MsIam says:

      If its truly not a meritocracy and only based on hereditary position, then why isn’t there more pushback against all of the skip Charles for William stories? Its not Meghan and Harry’s fault that the ones who were supposed to be the “shining stars” and the face of the monarchy turned out to be duds when compared to the Sussexes. And the fact that one of the rivals is a person of color? Oh no, can’t have that.

  27. Lili says:

    Okay I will Concede Meghan had an agenda, She gave up her Life, friends, family, Work & Blog , To be with her Husband to create the life they dreamed about under the stars In Botswana and Help Him and his family to achieve what ever it is on the Larger platform than what she had been used to. so imagine her disappointment, when no we dont get hands on to build wells , and no we dont promote health and wellbeing for young girls in developing countries. So what exactly do you do. We go and cut ribbons that is the prime directive we dont interfere we dont get our hands dirty.

    • BlueToile says:

      Yep. I still believe that Meghan thought she was marrying into an institution with world-class staff and PR people. It is the frickin’ British Monarchy after all! She expected they would be more than pleased with her dedication to philanthropy and good causes. What she found was a stale, petty, useless group of people, both in the Firm and family, who have very little interest in actually accomplishing anything. Something tells me she was more shocked about them than they were about her.

      • Carmen-JamRock says:

        Harry said as much on the DaxShepherd podcast…….that M was shocked when she saw the behind-the-scenes operation.

      • Nyro says:

        Yep. I think she thought she was entering into a situation like a White House administration, expecting brilliant hardworking people performing at the highest levels. Instead, she found a group of clowns who aren’t fit to run a city park concessions stand during little league season.

  28. SwirlmamaD says:

    Why are these people STILL talking about Meghan, who has not been seen in weeks if not months??!? It’s so tiresome. Get a grip and a life. You’ve got a far more worthy subject in Kate, the Duchess of Shade and Shenanigans….I guess they’ve gotta keep trying to cover up the Cambridges’ increasing messiness somehow.

    • dido says:

      They keep writing about her because she’s the only interesting person in the whole BRF. She’s their best bet for getting readers’ attention. Even though they all hate her, they can’t look away. Page views and attention for them means profits.

  29. Scandi says:

    But not ALL British people are lazy, salty etc… And the UK isn’t a salty island. I’ve been there multiple times. i also went to uni with several British students, and they were so bright, hard working, nice and inclusive. I also have a British coworker, and she’ so hard working, nice and bright.

    Please don’t generalize.

    • Starkille says:

      Of course you’re not, just as not all Americans are fat, loud, stupid workaholics, but that certainly doesn’t stop you all “generalizing” us constantly. Pretty rich how you all love to say how thin-skinned *we* are considering you all act the same way if anyone dares to talk back to you.

      • lanne says:

        The Brits talking about Meghan are the epitome of those folks who dish out a lot of garbage that they can’t take. They are terrible ambassadors for Brand Britain. As far as the world can see, Brand Britain can be characterized as an island of thin skinned racist bullies who care more about position and rank than merit, who are petty and entitled, and who think showing up equals working. Of course this is not true of British people, but this is the image they are selling at the moment, and they sell it with gusto. According to royal brand Britain, it’s better to sell your country out to Russian special interests, sexually abuse teenage girls, openly scorn the idea of mental health, and direct malice toward an infant because you don’t like her name than to be a biracial Duchess who wants to do philanthropy in meaningful ways. It’s better, according to royal brand Britain, to pretend to do philanthropy than to actually set and meet goals that provide measurable service to people.

        It’s disgraceful.

    • Lorelei says:

      @Scandi I think Kaiser assumed (correctly!) that it goes without saying — at least to the readers of this site — that she’s in no way claiming that EVERY BRITISH PERSON is like this. But it would be ridiculous for her to put a “Not All Brits!” disclaimer on every single royal post. We get it.

      For the past four years, I knew that everyone on this site didn’t assume I was a MAGAt just because I’m American.

  30. Over it says:

    Being a woman of color with a work ethic who had the audacity to be loved and love their white prince in return is why white brits have a problem with her. The fact that despite all those white women in Britain and he still went half way around the world to find the love of his life is what is killing these racist B——-es. Penny , Robert . William, Kate all of them bitter mad with jealousy of the little black American who refused to know her place and come in through the back door and now bow down to her white betters. Stay mad you b——es. Meghan and her husband, yes her husband Harry are happy and thriving.

    • Lorelei says:

      @OverIt I wonder what Meghan’s British press coverage would have looked like if she’d been as lazy as Kate. Because their core problem with her is the color of her skin, so they would have had to look for something else to trash her for.

  31. MsIam says:

    These stories are all aimed at breaking Meghan. They want her to give up and file for divorce and then Harry will move back to the UK. At least that is their strategy. Its twisted and sick, and goes beyond just “gossip”.

    • L4frimaire says:

      It’s also a waste of time. Harry and Meghan both have other things going on in their lives besides the royal family. They of course have their family but also professional obligations, both joint and separate, which are starting to ramp up. It seems like the further away Harry and Meghan are BRF and that world, the more desperate they are seeming. The reason they are so upset about the Oprah interview is not just because they told about their experiences, but because it blatantly exposed their smear tactics. Notice that on his brief visit, Harry managed to do an event with one of his patronages. What has William done? Drag himself around looking glum and so unenthusiastic,I’m surprised he hasn’t just fallen over from utter disinterest. His royal work is now an afterthought to his vendetta against Meghan and Harry. They had no idea Meghan would publish a bestseller, no idea The Me You Can’t See would be so impactful. People’s Ike working with them. You hear from illustrator Christian Robinson, Catherine St. Laurent how they love working with them, the caliber of people they’re hiring. Of course they were terrified of Meghan because she was an established person who made them look lazy and stale, and losing any of that weak spotlight they had. This is the reason for this flailing and attacks. It’s because they are moving on and establishing a very unique identity outside the Royal family. People are starting to side eye this and the fact that they can’t move on, and are just digging deeper. William is starting to come across as obsessed and unstable, and he definitely planted those stories about Harry’s mental health. It was so obvious then, so don’t know why they’re acting like this is new.

    • Eurydice says:

      Maybe they’d “break” Meghan if she bothered to read them, but I doubt she is.

  32. Andrea says:

    As an American living in Canada, if Canadians are anything like the Brits (which I suspect they are) the work ethic is totally different. I worked at a previous position for 3 years and my coworker always was trying to leave a half hour to an hour before her end of the day ended wheras I always stayed a half hour to an hour later to finish up my work so I had less to do the next day. We were both salaried, but I perceived her as lazy at the time. Now I see she just didn’t live and breath her job like a lot of Anericans do. My boss liked my attitude and would come out and tell me to leave at times. This work-life balance was a foreign concept to me at the time because it is a dog eat dog world in US and if you take too much time off for vacation, Someone may come and outshine you while you are gone. I am now back in academia where there is a different power dynamics and jealousies affloat, but overall, I can see where Meghan accidentally ruffled feathers. It seriously was simply cultural differeneces with work ethic, nothing more.

    • L4frimaire says:

      I think we need to keep in mind that for a lot of Americans, this isn’t a choice but a result of how the work system is set up over here. This is a nation, for many ugly reasons, does not value workers, especially low income, have not raised the minimum wage in over 20 years, ties ones health insurance to your job and working a set number of hours to qualify for that insurance. Very few workers protections, no nationally mandated paid vacations or sick leave, and not well enforced. These are things other industrialized countries have and take for granted, while Americans are still denied these. As for the work culture, there is no way Meghan could go in there and work like Will and Kate and their lazy pace. She’d be excoriated for that and that’s not her nature. It’s obvious the staff assigned to her, who she had no role in choosing, decided they had the short straw working for the “demanding cable actress” and they acted accordingly. There was definitely a culture clash in that, what they considered too political, she probably saw as highlighting and supporting these organizations and causes,hoping to make a real impact. If anything, Meghan probably thought she didn’t do enough. It seems like the work with the National Theatre never got beyond the incubation stage, which is too bad.

    • Jaded says:

      @Andrea – Well as a Canadian who was in the workforce for 45 years, I can assure you that Canadians are not like Brits work-wise AT ALL. You may have worked at a company or in an industry where employees were allowed to skive off early but that’s not the norm. You have cited one person in your example — one person does not represent a whole country’s work ethic. Just about everyone I’ve worked with over the years has put in a LOT of overtime. It comes with added responsibility and a desire to get ahead. If anything Canadians are more like Americans in their work. So to say that Meghan “accidentally ruffled feathers” and it was “simply cultural differeneces [sic] with work ethic, nothing more” is to negate her intelligence, drive and focus to do good, and totally overlooks the driving force against her – RACISM.

    • Prairiegirl says:

      Canadian here. Your coworker sounds like a nightmare but it’s true we work to live not live to work (which is how Americans are perceived, rightly or wrongly).

      I’ve long believed that Meghan’s “problems” were 50% cultural and 50% the awful racist tabloid press. If only she’d hung back for a year, watched waited, and learned the system! Instead she enthusiastically hit the ground running, as her history of personal and professional success with this approach guaranteed she would, but she inadvertently put a target on her back. It’s a real pity for all involved.

      • True says:

        Yes there was cultural differences but if she sat back for a year she would have been slammed for being lazy and why should tax payer pay if she wasn’t working.

        They either wanted her to take the abuse or leave. There was no effort to work through the cultural difference because they didn’t want her there.

        She wasn’t going to win. The target was always going to be on her back. She did not put it there. The hatred/press/jealousy went into overdrive because of her work ethic and popularity but it was always going to be there. Because the goal was for her to be gone from Harry’s life quickly.

        They called her the degree wife, insinuated she was too old have children quickly…they wanted them to divorce and have no children from the marriage.

        Only her silence and destruction of the person she was would have allowed her to succeed in the system.

        I am happy she did not succeed in the royal system.

      • Jaded says:

        @True – exactly. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. She’s clearly not the kind of person to capitulate to the antiquated rules and regulations of marrying into the BRF, she has too much to offer, but her offer of working hard and bringing all her talents to a moribund monarchy were not only rebuffed, they were derided. I too am happy she did not succeed in the royal system.

      • ABritGuest says:

        Holding back & waiting a year wouldn’t have made a difference if people had a fundamental problem with who she was. If reports are true some of Harry’s relatives were wary of her from the start. Harry said they were wanted her to keep acting as there wasn’t money for her. Some were clearly against the marriage.

        And before the cookbook launched royal reporters had started complaining that Meghan wasn’t doing much, wasn’t adding value. She wouldn’t have had the luxury to take it easy. Looking at how press stoked up outrage about Frogmore renovations. if she had taken it easy AND hadn’t had projects/tours under her belt they would have been calling her a welfare queen or something. That’s one of the reasons they were shocked when the cookbook dropped. It ruined the ‘lazy’ narrative they were clearly gearing up for.

        Also considering Meghan is quite well travelled, has lived abroad, worked with international orgs & talked about having British friends I find it hard to believe that she would have charged in with no sense of picking up cultural cues. The press said KP staff looked down on Meghan and she knew it. They didn’t want to work for her. Not much you can do about that especially if her fellow co workers don’t seem to have supported her.

      • Jeremy says:

        ^ offering to let her keep working for a while wasn’t a uniquely Megan thing or probably about money (because Harry would have still kept getting his share of the Charles money). Sophie got the same offer and she did work as a PR woman even post marriage for a while. Harry and Andrew (and to a much lesser extent William) all worked in the military before they started working for the BRF. It is a bit of a different situation bc she is a bit older but I think MM could have done some fun voice acting work in like documentaries (like the Elephant documentary or something) and given her a more quiet time to make friends in the UK and have more time with her babies. Considering how hard the transition was on her mental health I wish she had had the opportunity

      • ABritGuest says:

        Jeremy wrong. Sophie & Edward weren’t going to be working royals at the time they married. They were HRHs & had their own companies. They only quit their private work & started royal duties because Ed’s production company wasn’t successful & Sophie’s wasn’t successful either & she got stung by Sheikhgate. They left their companies in considerable debt & started being subsided by the state.

        If they wanted to ease Meghan into royal life (similar to how Kate & Will were ‘part time’ initially) why did they turn down their proposal last Jan & say you are either in or out? And being able to afford an additional working royal is hardly a problem for the Windsors? The sovereign grant is set so that it never decreases.

        Re some some of your comments below- I doubt Jack Brooksbank is that wealthy. He was a bartender & is now a casamingo ambassador etc. But his & Eugenie’s home arrangements in the next few years may show his worth.

        Finally only trolls believe Meghan threw tea at anybody. The press haven’t hesitated to put out any gossip about her & we know the firm wasn’t about protecting her. if there was slightest chance this was true the incident would have been reported back when the smear campaign happened. Same as if Meghan was demanding responses to 5am emails etc. They only reported 5am email but nothing about her expectations etc. It’s all been about how they felt about her which has shown evidence of their bias if anything.

    • Demi says:

      I’ve seen Brits more serious at work than Australians here.. I think it depends on the person but from what I gathered the American employment scene is very competitive you have to always to be willing do more otherwise you will be easily replaced..

      I think the problem isn’t cultural differences it’s people at the palace who never accepted that she joined the Royal family!
      If Meghan worked for a private organization in the UK, not the institution she would have a better experience.. There’s a reason why Mayhew still kept her as their patron..

  33. HeyJude says:

    As your resident Beatles fan I feel I should chime in that the Yoko comparison is apt because Yoko did not break up the Beatles, they were fractured and going in different directions long before she appeared. It’s amazing they kept it together for as long as they did. Their projects desires and musical styles were diverging in 4 separate ways for years.

    And yet she got the blame, we all know why. Same reason Meghan did. A independent woman of color who innocently was introduced into the Brit’s precious, not what it seems dysfunctional institution.

    It’s a very appropriate comparison. Both women are maligned and innocent.

  34. Jayna says:

    Meghan is gorgeous in that top side-profile shot.

  35. Lizzie says:

    Meghan “Hi I’m so happy to meet all of you and excited about future projects I’ve brought an agenda that I’ll pass out.”
    Palace staff thought bubble “Sorry black American, no way in hell you are going to give orders to us. We will let you know what we will allow you to do.”

  36. Curious says:

    being a mix woman i upset both my family and my husband family. i understand. but hey ,throw whatever at me, and i will still flourish.

  37. Mel says:

    Not one person says on their deathbed: I wish I had worked more. Americans work too much and have this attitude that they must be exhausting themselves and multi tasking at all times. There is a happy balance between working too much and dealing with people who are offended when asked to do anything. That being said, where are all the stories about Megan’s bad attitude? If she’s such an awful bully and person , her former victims would be lining up to put her on blast by now. If you don’t want the people who you’re supposed to be working for to NEVER say anything to you while you go about doing whatever, open your own business. If everyone is so glad that they’re gone, and they aren’t using government money, why not just leave them alone instead of giving them the attention you believe they’re asking for? Frankly, if King Chuckles is really planning to down size the monarchy, the York cousins might want to move to the US and learn a few things from Harry and Meg and not put themselves in the position of having to beg through media for recognition and money from the future King. Finally, instead of raising your kids to think that God made them extra special because they’re royalty, why not encourage them to get educated, get real jobs so they’re independent and they can show up on balconies because they want to, not because they have to.

    • Jeremy says:

      The York girls do have jobs (plus more importantly rich husbands). Realistically the women in the BRF do better when spares because they can marry rich husbands and then continue to do a little bit of charity work without having to fight about money or do commercial things.

  38. aquarius64 says:

    This is getting old. This rehash is a distraction to the Cambridge messes.

    • Carty says:

      It is. At this point they are just trying to hurt them from making bank. They want them poor and never to be heard fromagain. It’s clear, anything they do will, and has, outshined the keens.

    • Beach Dreams says:

      Yes, it’s becoming quite desperate, especially since they have no new material on the Sussexes to distract from the powder keg at KP.

  39. Merricat says:

    Same old garbage. Blame it on Meghan for being American, hard-working, biracial. There’s no way to spin this that doesn’t show up the royal family for the trash people they are, living off the citizenry they despise.

  40. Robin says:

    Meghan is the gift that keeps on giving for these sad people who call themselves writers and journalists.

  41. Jenna says:

    “She was not as charming as she seemed.”

    Hmm.

    You know another person they used to say that about, even still say that about today? Princess Diana.

    Harry has made his escape from the Institution that hounded, harassed, attacked, abused, tossed out and ultimately killed his mother. Wherever Meghan, Archie and Lili are is home to him, and they’re absolutely spitting nails that “The Spare” could dare to be happy living a life out of William’s shadow.

    I understand it now, the “lightness” about Harry at the statue ceremony. The smiles. His mother would be utterly thrilled for him, and he knows it.

  42. Jenna says:

    And I just gotta ask any commenters from across the pond: Do ALL British people possess such a pronounced and pervasive inferiority complex in the face of the American can-do, roll-up-the-shirtsleeves, early-bird-catches-the-worm work philosophy, or is it just your desperately insecure royals?

  43. Robin Samuels says:

    William thought Meghan had an agenda (money) because he didn’t understand her journey. Insecure men always think the woman is after something he has as though he’s agenda-free. He couldn’t imagine anyone of Meghan’s caliber being interested in Harry. William’s opinion of Harry is not very complimentary, as quiet as it’s kept. She is a self-made millionaire, with endorsements, earning $50,000 per shoot on Suits, a successful blog, etc. Harry was living in a one-bedroom cottage without air conditioning. Anyone that grew up in America knows that titles don’t put food on the table. The word palace sounds luxurious, but actually, Kensington Palace from an outside view looks like a gated complex in an upscale American community. It’s nothing compared to Montecito! William is not comfortable around women, especially those who are self-confident and smart. He’s not very smart either, despite that degree in geography. BTW, there is a YouTube video where Penny Juror is praising Meghan for her attributes and says the fear is that she would outshine W&K because they were not interesting. RECEIPTS. Anyway, all the other reporters were allowed to make negative statements based on inside sources/palace aides/friends, but Omid had to produce documentation.. BALDERDASH!

    • Izzy says:

      LMAO turns out Meghan was way better at earning her own damn money than anyone else in that ratchet family.

    • ABritGuest says:

      Good point. Many of the reporters that hate Meghan (and even Harry) now used to thirst over Harry. Many of them said he would be a better king than William & seemed to be utterly charmed by him. However, seems the same press & some in the palace didn’t think much of Harry if they thought only reason Meghan wanted him was because she had an ‘agenda’. The super professional palace staff leaked to the press that Harry was punching above his weight & the marriage would only last 5 years.

      Going by her recent exes Harry seems to be Meghan’s type, he has impressive international charity & humanitarian work record so their interests were probably aligned, and whilst Harry has said & done incredibly ignorant and offensive things in the past- I think he’s smarter than the press has made out& was more mature by time they met. So why wouldn’t she be genuinely interested in him beyond his position etc

  44. Amy Bee says:

    It’s time for Penny Junor and Robert Lacey to be explicit in how Meghan upset people and what was her agenda. Hearsay doesn’t cut it anymore.

  45. Izzy says:

    WE KNOW. You hate the Black woman with a strong work ethic who makes your salty inbred peeps look bad. Now DO shut up about it, Penny.

  46. Likeyoucare says:

    These are the claims from the royal staff that meghan cant denied for the bullying allegation
    1. Meghan send email at 5 a.m

    2. Meghan use arial font, every one should know you should use times new roman. That is bullying!

    3. Every email will be reply after two weeks, meghan shouldnt ask us to reply it earlier than that.

    4. We have an hour tea break for each meal; brunch, lunch and tea time. Dont ask us to work on that time.
    5. We dont work on weekend! (Which is stupid because they do charity works on weekend)
    So if you want to do an initiative, you can do it twice for each year because it is exausting for us.

    6. How many do we have to list down the bullying claim? Wait what meghan has 20 pages. We are f*ck.

  47. L4frimaire says:

    As the UK continues with this bullshit against Meghan , I read journalist Nicole Hannah Jones statement on why she refused the tenure offer at UNC and thought, all of this. Here is what stood out to me, “ I always tell college students and journalists who are worried that they will face discrimination, …that they can only worry about that which is in their own control: their own excellence. I tell them all they can do is work as hard as possible to make themselves undeniable. And yet, we have all seen that you can do everything to make yourself undeniable, and those in power can change the rules and attempt to deny you anyway.” To further quote “ For too long, powerful people have expected the people they have mistreated and marginalized to sacrifice themselves to make things whole “. I highly recommend reading Hannah-Jones entire statement. There is a lot of clarity in it that applies to a lot of situations. The mess out of KP is their own to take care of. Meghan has left the building.

    • deering24 says:

      L4frimaire–And Jones is now going to teach at Howard instead of UNC. Smart lady, for the latter would have made her life miserable. I don’t quite agree with her here though–the only thing you can control is knowing your worth–and when to walk away. “Excellence” is subjective, and folks like this use that to their advantage.

  48. Tessa says:

    Junor slammed Meghan’s mother in law for years. She fawns over Charles and Camilla and derides Diana. ANd blames her for it all. It’s a good reflection on Meghan that a woman like Junor does not like her. If William decides he does not want Kate anymore, Junor will start slamming Kate also. Junor is strictly establishment.

  49. Jeremy says:

    For some of these allegations we haven’t been provided enough info. Like the 5am emails, if Megan just is an early riser and was sending out emails thats not only normal but productive and helpful bc there is stuff for people to work on when they get to work. But if she is sending out 5am emails and then yelling at 8am when things are done thats not normal. My guess is its the first but you never know. Other allegations though if they are true then there are no excuses, the throwing tea, yelling at people for not doing things when they weren’t even on the email chain and Harry screaming at people. So I want to hear both the BRF’s claims and the rebuttal. But if this happened they both look bad, the Sussex’s for being a bad bosses and KP for covering it up for so long

    • True says:

      Bottom line is If KP had the goods it would have been in every paper in Britain.

      It isn’t.

      They walked back the investigation about it just being how HR handled this.

      Agree what was said earlier-KP got themselves into this mess. Meghan has left the building.

    • L4frimaire says:

      This isn’t about emails at 5am. This is about a culture that said it was ok to disrespect a boss, not handle any conflict in a professional manner, and pad a paycheck with press leaks and behind the scenes snark. Disparaging someone as a b*tch, degree wife, and damaged goods is not an issue with the work. It shows a dysfunctional workplace culture, not subject to the employment laws of the land, and a staff given free reign to outright refuse to work for their principle because they thought that person’s was beneath them and not worthy of respect or consideration. We saw in print the Tatler article in May 2019 disparaging Meghan. The tone of that nasty article reflected bullying, but not from Meghan.

      • Jeremy says:

        I think the reason I give some of this gossip more credibility is just because I have had abusive bosses in the past and would have wanted people to believe me. I believe that every member of the BRF is to an extent a bad boss – these are the most classist privileged people in the world. I haven’t seen any allegations that the staff just refused to do work (just that Megan asked one of the Cambridges staff to do something and they said no bc they didn’t work for her) but I have pushed back when given an unreasonable amount of work to do and that argument feels like the kind of gaslighting things my bad boss would have said about me.

      • windyriver says:

        @L4frimaire – Great, concise statement that hits all the relevant points.

  50. badmuthagoose says:

    Odd how they never tell us what this agenda was.

    I’m so DONE with people attacking her. I truly am. She didn’t do shit to any of them except exist.

    Good on Harry for marrying for love.

  51. Mary says:

    Well, well, well. This totally undermines the Royal Reporters and other vocal Meghan critics who claimed that Meghan had support from the British public and positive coverage in the UK media at the outset. These personalities claim that everyone was thrilled at Meghan’s arrival. But, it was her bad “behavior” that made people turn against her. This current coverage confirms what what many of Meghan’s supporters have said all along. The RF/British media and like-minded Brits were against Meghan from the start without any rational reasons.

    • Jenna says:

      I know, right? The likes of the QUEEN HERSELF supposedly took a personal interest in Meghan and it was proclaimed throughout the land that the Sussexes were the FUTURE!! OF!! THE!! MONARCHY!!

      Of course, we NOW know that Meghan was being abused, gaslit, having her busted family held over her head, deliberately lied about and bullied in the press by “insiders” to the point of being suicidal. And that poor Harry was terrified he’d be left alone to raise a son that his family refused to protect with a title because he’s a bit too brown for their tastes.

      It’s always been painfully obvious that the BRF’s PR capabilities are atrociously bad. Their “palace sources” step all over one another with their contradictions, backpedals, MORE backpedals of existing backpedals … Their utterly clueless dumb***itude would almost be funny until you remember real people’s lives are at stake.

      The BRF may not have had an actual hand in Diana’s death but they killed her just the same. It wasn’t overblown hyperbole for Harry to angrily insist he wasn’t going to sit back and watch them do the same thing to his wife that they got away with doing to his mother.

    • Curious says:

      Jealousy never need a reason.i never knew people can get jealous for small things. till i was an adult. you can’t be too happy ,people feel offended by your fun way of being. I remember visiting my friend next door. we always do that for an hour on a sunday. early in the morning like around 9am. while we was sitting there her in laws dropped by . never met them before. so her father in law had cut his hair and according to my friend he also bought a new shirt. and she was telling him how nice he looks.and she looked at me and said ,doesn’t he look nice,(i was only there for about 5 mins after they arrived,and i left ) and i said yes he does. that’s all i said and his wife at 65 yrs old gave me the devil eyes. she hated me from that moment.she told my friend not to have me as a friend.i was after her 68 yr old husband.i was 24 at the time and married with 1 child.my friend told me what her mother in law said ,and i said well just come over to my house instead ,so we avoid this. i never met my friend in laws again. but the woman carried on and on gossiping about me ,and that i wanted her husband.

  52. Noor says:

    Cambridges vs Sussexes,

    Two couples with different views of what to be a royal means They have different approaches to charity and philanthropy work. William and Kate are more comfortable being a hands off royal in the Princess Anne style. While Prince Harry and Meghan are all for hands-on activism more like Prince Charles.

    Therein lies the crux of their differences and conflicts But because William and Kate feel threatened and intimidated by Meghan and Harry’s version of royal work. the Cambridges bacame intolerant and harbor deep animosity towards Meghan in particular.

    What William sees as Meghan’s self promotion are actual achievements like the Grenfel cookbook and Smart Works clothing lines both successful and profitable projects initiated by Meghan which bring actual benefits and raised money for the charities as well as bring positive image to the royal family.

    Where is the subversive agenda that William accused Meghan of ? We only see a hands-on hardworking royal. Meghan was probably the only royal sent on 2 oversea tours while pregnant and who worked on a project during her maternity leave.

    Already we see William and Kate following Harry and Meghan positive examples which is good for the British monarchy.

  53. Curious says:

    when a person is biracial or mix,or just being any other skin tone that is not white.they have to work 1000 times harder to be acknowledged. it feels like one is tested for the rest of their lives. one mistake and it seems the person will be doomed to hell in that part of their life.

  54. Woo woo says:

    Fascinating. I’m an Antipodean who lived in London for 10 years and worked for a large multinational corporate group, with a US parent company and US bosses at the top. In my experience, it really depended on the person as to how effective they were (not the same as hours worked). There were plenty of US colleagues who seemed to work longer hours but didn’t seem to get much done. I agree that on the whole, colleagues in the UK valued work-life balance more and some ‘dead wood’ like everywhere but certainly there are extremely effective and hardworking British people too of course.

  55. Woo woo says:

    I should add we did have a big American boss who was responsible for the Asian region that was extremely hard working, smart AND effective – she did rub a few British colleagues up the wrong way with her ability to respond to emails almost instantaneously, LOL.

  56. Marivic says:

    “ Royal commentators have claimed that Meghan Markle’s arrival into The Firm ‘upset’ people from early on.” No question they have already pre-judged her at the very beginning. No amount of convincing can turn this around. Their dislike became hate when they saw Meghan’s strong ability to adjust to the learning curve, her capability to powerfully deliver, heard her articulately speak publicly without notes, became pregnant shortly after she married, elicited rock star treatment, rising global popularity, and, most of all, when they saw how much Harry loved her. All these they cannot accept because she’s a woman of color.