Meghan Markle ‘Doesn’t Listen’ While Prince Harry Is ‘Flawless’ at Being Royal, Says Princess Diana’s Friend
Meghan Markle was roasted by a royal expert and former friend of Princess Diana who criticized the former Suits star, claiming she “doesn’t listen” to the advice of those who may know better. In turn, she believes Prince Harry is a “flawless” royal, and the family’s “most talented member.”
Meghan Markle criticized by royal author and friend of Princess Diana
Tina Brown was a longtime friend of Princess Diana’s. Brown edited Vanity Fair and The New Yorker and authored the books The Diana Chronicles and The Palace Papers.
In an appearance on The Ankler podcast, Brown spoke out against Meghan Markle, the late princess’ daughter-in-law. Meghan wed Diana’s second son, Prince Harry, in May 2018.
“Her issue is that she doesn’t listen. She has all these people, asks them their opinion, and then doesn’t follow it. She does what she wants to do. And all of her ideas are total crap, unfortunately.”
While not directly referencing Meghan’s latest offering, a line named American Riviera Orchard, Brown did allude to many of the duchess’ most recent unsuccessful entertainment and business ideas. Since leaving the royal family, Meghan and Harry have produced one season of a podcast, one successful effort for Netflix in a four-year contract worth an estimated $100M, a children’s book, Harry’s autobiography, and Meghan’s homecare and lifestyle line. ARO had a soft launch early in 2024 but the line has since stalled.
Meghan Markle underprepared for royal life
In her book The Palace Papers, Tina Brown discussed the intricacies of being royal. She dove into years of scandals, love affairs, power plays, and betrayals within the monarchy. She spoke of Meghan Markle, claiming that the Duchess of Sussex was unprepared for life within the House of Windsor.
The Daily Mail shared excerpts from Brown’s interview with ITV about the book. She said Meghan didn’t understand the work that went into being royal.
Brown told ITV, “I think that was her fundamental sense of misunderstanding of what was going to happen when she joined the Royal Family. [Meghan] saw the palaces and Diana as this global humanitarian superstar, but forgot that for 16 or 17 years Diana worked like a dog within the royal family doing a great deal of very humdrum assignments.”
She also doesn’t believe that Meghan was the division that caused issues between Prince Harry and his older brother, Prince William. However, “[Meghan] reinforced it; the situation reinforced that problem. William was being groomed to be king, his destiny was clear his path was clear and at that point, the memo sort of hit him that he was number two and he would be treated as number two.”
In an interview with The Washington Post, Brown added of the couple’s eventual split from the royal family, “They both completely underestimated what it was going to be like without the palace platform. The palace has amazing convening power.”
Harry is ‘very good’ at being a prince and is the ‘most talented’ royal family member
Prince Harry is “very good” at being a prince says Tina Brown. Royal life was all he knew before meeting and falling in love with American actor Meghan Markle.
Brown said on The Ankler podcast, “The thing about Harry is he’s very good at being Prince Harry. And that’s the tragedy of all of this, is that he is the most talented member of the royal family, without doubt, in terms of being a prince, which is all he does know how to do, he’s really sort of flawless at it.”
Before Meghan, it took Harry time to find his footing in the royal family after Princess Diana’s death, which occurred when he was just 12. Brown said, “The army was great for him, and he was extremely good and competent in there. That really helped turn him into a real person.”
Professionally, Harry was doing well before meeting Meghan in 2016. He developed The Invictus Games two years prior, helping to create positive change in veteran communities around the world. It appeared that after years of being the “spare” to Prince William, Harry was making a real difference.
But Brown alluded to the fact that Harry was still very impressionable, and looking for a strong woman to partner with. “He was terribly impressed by Meghan,” she said. “He thought that she knew all, she persuaded him that she was the savvy Hollywood wheeler-dealer who could come in and make them stars and all the rest of it.”
Harry’s and Meghan’s unhappiness within the royal family led the couple to exit their roles in March 2020. They settled in California with their son, Prince Archie, and later, welcomed a daughter, Princess Lilibet.
