Only 599 days after their fairytale wedding, on January 8 this year, Harry and Meghan the Duke and Duchess of Sussex dropped the bombshell announcement that they were quitting as frontline working members of the royal family.
After less than two tumultuous years, the Sussexes left the UK to chart their own course and to start a new, independent life. It was a historic – and drastic – step and there are a number of factors which are alleged to have contributed to their decision.
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A FROSTY FAMILY RECEPTION?
A number of reports have surfaced with claims that Meghan allegedly did not feel welcomed by the Windsors. According to a 2019 Times story, “Harry felt like William and Kate didn’t make enough effort when Meghan arrived at Kensington Palace, that they didn’t roll out the red carpet for her.”
The same report quoted a source saying, “Palace insiders are actively briefing against Meghan because people are finding her so difficult to work with.”
Similarly, another report in the Times this year alleged that Meghan “was convinced there was a conspiracy against her and so she basically put herself in isolation when they moved to Frogmore”.
“I think she felt like an outsider from the start. This wasn’t the life she was used to and she wanted out,” one of her friends has said.
SUSSEX VS CAMBRIDGE
Since 2018, rumours have swirled that the Sussexes and the Cambridges have been locked in a family feud.
It has been alleged that Meghan felt snubbed when Kate did not give her a lift when both women were planning shopping trips to the same destination on the same day because she was concerned about creating a paparazzi frenzy.
It has also been alleged that Kate was left in tears over an incident before the Sussexes’ wedding with competing claims suggesting the argument involved the flower girl dresses or whether they should wear tights.
Likewise, William and Harry have been photographed at family events including the Christmas Day church service and at Easter not speaking to one another, pointing to frostiness between the families.
In October last year, he seemingly acknowledged the tension between the brothers, saying: “We are certainly on different paths at the moment, but I will always be there for him, and as I know he will always be there for me.
“We don’t see each other as much as we used to as we are so busy.
“I love him dearly and you know, the majority of the stuff is probably – well, the majority of the stuff is created out of nothing. But as brothers, you have good days and you have bad days.”
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THE MEDIA
Harry and Meghan have had a complicated and at times combative relationship with the media since news first broke that they were dating in 2016.
In November that year, Harry took the unusual step of putting out a powerful statement saying that there had been a “wave of abuse and harassment” which had “the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments”.
In the years since then, the global fascination and attendant press coverage has only gotten more feverish. In October 2019, the couple announced that they were taking legal action against three British newspapers over alleged invasion of privacy and phone hacking.
“Though we have continued to put on a brave face – as so many of you can relate to – I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been,” Harry wrote in a statement released at the time.
Later that month, they both spoke to reporter Tom Bradby about the issue.
“My British friends said to me, ‘I’m sure he’s great, but you shouldn’t do it, because the British tabloids will destroy your life,’” Meghan said. “I’ve said for a long time to H – that’s what I call him – it’s not enough to just survive something, right? That’s not the point of life. You’ve got to thrive. You’ve got to feel happy.”
Harry told Bradby that the press pack is a painful reminder of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales and her suffering at the hands of aggressive photographers.
“Every single time I hear a click, every single time I see a flash, it takes me straight back, so in that respect, it is the worst reminder of her life as opposed to the best,” he said.
RACISM
As the first modern bi-racial member of the royal family, Meghan has faced racially charged rhetoric such as a story which said she had “exotic DNA” and another with the headline, “Harry’s girl is (almost) straight outta Compton: Gang-scarred home of her mother revealed.”
Time and again, Meghan faced heavy censure for behaviour that was applauded when sister-in-law Kate did something similar and there are dozens of instances of the double standard applied to the two women.
For example, when Kate was photographed touching her stomach while pregnant, it was cast as her “tenderly” cradling her baby bump; when Meghan was seen doing the same thing, she was accused of “virtue signalling” with one report debating whether she was motivated by “pride, vanity, acting”.
Similarly, according to the media, a story reported that Kate was eating avocados as a “morning sickness cure”.
A story linking Meghan and the fruit claimed that the duchess was “wolfing down a fruit linked to water shortages, illegal deforestation and all-round general environmental devastation”.
PUBLIC CRITICISM
In the two years since Meghan wed Harry, the latest Windsor recruit has faced a slew of critical reports over her alleged behaviour.
The Duchess is alleged to have upset staff by sending them emails at 5am, was “demanding,” and reportedly dubbed “Hurricane Meghan”, “Me-gain” and the “Duchess of Difficult” by Kensington Palace staffers. It was also reported that a number of the Sussexes’ staffers had quit.
Incidents such as Meghan’s celebrity-filled New York baby shower and the handling of their son Archie’s birth and christening only made the couple more polarising and sparked widespread debate about the Sussexes’ way of doing things.
The $4 million plus bill for the renovation of their home Frogmore Cottage saw both Harry and Meghan come in for public censure and they faced accusations of hypocrisy after advocating for action on climate change and then taking four private jet flights in a matter of weeks.
INCOME
When Harry and Meghan announced that they were stepping back, they said they would “become privately funded members of the royal family with permission to earn their own income and the ability to pursue their own private charitable interests”.
“One of the things she struggled with was not earning an income,” a friend told the Times. “She has always worked and I think she felt unfulfilled. Having financial freedom was a big part of them wanting to leave.”
Daniela Elser is a royal expert and writer with 15 years experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L2NlbGVicml0eS1saWZlL3JveWFscy93aHktZGlkLWhhcnJ5LWFuZC1tZWdoYW4tbGVhdmUvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS82OTIwMDM3ZTRmMjZiYmVhMTM2NTI2MjhhZGRjMDgzMNIBhgFodHRwczovL2FtcC5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50L2NlbGVicml0eS1saWZlL3JveWFscy93aHktZGlkLWhhcnJ5LWFuZC1tZWdoYW4tbGVhdmUvbmV3cy1zdG9yeS82OTIwMDM3ZTRmMjZiYmVhMTM2NTI2MjhhZGRjMDgzMA?oc=5
2020-08-15 20:27:03Z
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