Meghan Markle’s 8-Word Reaction to Appearing on the Front Page Over Other Royals
TL;DR:
- A U.K. publication put Meghan Markle on the cover after the 2018 Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.
- Prince Harry called it the “first time that the penny dropped” for Meghan Markle in the second part of their Netflix docuseries.
- In Harry & Meghan Volume II, Meghan Markle remembered saying it wasn’t her “fault” she’d been selected for the cover as opposed to other royals.
Meghan Markle shared how she reacted to seeing herself on the cover of a U.K. publication in Harry & Meghan Volume II. It was 2018, and she, Prince Harry, and the rest of the royal family stepped out for an annual event. The next day, however, it was only her on the cover of one particular publication.
A UK publication put Meghan Markle on the cover after a 2018 royal family Remembrance Day event
In the latest episodes of Netflix’s docuseries on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the pair revisited a memorable moment from 2018. Not their royal wedding or their first Christmas card as a married couple. Rather, an annual event for the royal family, the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.
Harry and Meghan described waking up at Buckingham Palace after the London event and seeing Meghan on The Daily Telegraph’s front page.
“First time that the penny dropped for her, M [Meghan] and I spent the night in a room in Buckingham Palace after an event where every single member of the family, senior members of the family, had been including the queen,” Harry said.
“The next morning they’d set up breakfast for Harry and I,” Meghan continued. “And on the front page of the Telegraph … Meghan,” Harry added.
Meghan Markle said the cover wasn’t her ‘fault’ in ‘Harry & Meghan’
Harry and Meghan continued, sharing the exchange they’d had after seeing the cover. “I went, “Oh my god,” Meghan recalled. “She was like, ‘but it’s not my fault,’” Harry added. “And I said, ‘I know and my mum [Princess Diana] felt the same way.'”
“When some people in the institution around the family started to see that this new couple could destabilize the power dynamics, whether actively talked about or not, the aim was to put them in a box or make them irrelevant,” James Holt, a former palace aide and Archewell executive director, said noting tabloid stories “criticizing Meghan for every little thing” appeared soon after.
The cover became part of a chain of events Prince Harry said put himself and Meghan Markle at odds with the royal family
Harry recalled how the events of Remembrance Day combined with their 2018 Australia visit marked a turning point. He and Meghan were at odds with the rest of the royal family.
“The issue is when someone who’s marrying in, who should be a supporting act, is then stealing the limelight, or is doing the job better than the person who is born to do this,” he said.
“That upsets people. It shifts the balance,” he continued. “Because you’ve been led to believe that the only way that your charities can succeed, and the only way that your reputation can be grown or improved, is if you’re on the front page of those newspapers. But the media are the ones who choose who to put on the front page.”
Harry & Meghan, Volumes I and II, are streaming on Netflix.
