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Meghan Markle thought Prince Harry was a ‘billionaire’ when she married into the royal family
A splashy new book that quotes palace staffers on their insights into the British royal family reveals that Kate Middleton actually found Meghan Markle “delightful” when the American TV actor first began dating Prince Harry.
Both Kate and Prince William thought Harry’s intended wife “was a breath of fresh air,” with her friendly, affectionate nature and her confident, modernizing, can-do American attitudes on using a royal platform to do good in the world.
Tensions quickly emerged after Meghan realized the reality of royal life
As one royal staff member told Tom Quinn, in his book, “Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants,” Meghan had to reassess her assumptions “about this strange new family” when she learned that her new husband was only worth about $24 million.
“She expected a billionaire and she got a millionaire,” Quinn reported.
Conflicts with Kate and William’s more reserved nature
Meghan soon found herself in conflict with Kate and William’s more reserved nature, condescending senior aides, and the entrenched palace hierarchy and its “pointless rules,” which meant she and Harry wouldn’t be “as central to things” as Kate and William, Quinn reported.
“She really did have a Messiah complex,” one of her former Kensington Palace staffers told Quinn.
“I don’t mean that in a critical way because all her big ideas were about doing good,” the staffer continued.
“She once said, ‘What Diana started, I want to finish,’ and we took that to mean she wanted to become a sort of globetrotting champion of the poor and the marginalized.
“She has managed to do this to some extent, but she really wanted to do it as a princess and with the full backing of the royal family, but on a part-time basis,” Quinn wrote.
Challenges before and after marriage
But to be fair to Meghan, Quinn’s excerpt also offers a sympathetic view of the former TV actor’s challenges before and after she married Harry in May 2018.
“They really had it in for Meghan and, to be fair to her, she really stood up to them,” one Kensington Palace source told Quinn.
The excerpt also complicates the idea of her being the “Duchess of Difficult,” one of the nicknames she was given.
Palace staff reactions to Meghan’s behavior
The “difficult” moniker also has come up in multiple reports on allegations that she bullied staff, both when she was a working member of the royal family and after she and Harry relocated to the United States in 2020 and started a private charitable foundation and signed multimillion-dollar deals with Spotify and Netflix to produce podcasts, movies, and documentaries.
Among other things, Quinn quotes Harry’s former staffers who described King Charles III’s younger son as amiable but a bit “muddled” in life and clueless in how to prepare his wife for life inside the royal bubble.
For another, Meghan had to deal with new royal relatives who could “be a sensitive bunch” and prone to acts of “ill temper,” including William, who had “his needier side” that his middle-class-born wife had to coddle.
Meghan “thought they behaved like babies,” especially when one saw another get a new perk.
Staff split over Meghan’s behavior
Staff were split into “for Meghan” and “against Meghan” camps, in an atmosphere “swirling with rumor, gossip, and backbiting,” Quinn reported.
Ordinary staff liked that the Los Angeles-born duchess was feisty and wanted to change things for the better, one former member of the Kensington Palace communications team told Quinn.
But Meghan had her issues with servants, Quinn reported.
“She both loved having everything done for her by the domestic staff and also hated it,” he said.
“Through absolutely no fault of her own,” the staffer explained.
“She would say, ‘I want this to be done now’ or ‘I want this to be done a certain way,’” the staffer continued.
“And then she would get angry if it wasn’t done that way, or if it took longer than she expected,” the staffer reported.
Triangulating and dealing with criticism
One of Meghan’s mother-in-law, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, has been vocal about her dislike of Meghan in the past.
“I have to be careful about what I say, because if I don’t, I will be criticized for not being kind,” Meghan told Tom Quinn.
“But I also don’t want to be nice to people just to be nice, I want to be kind to people who are kind to me,” she said.
“Triangulating is a hard thing for me, I don’t do well with it, it makes me feel anxious and isolated,” Meghan confessed.
“I feel like I’m walking on eggshells all the time, never knowing what will trigger someone’s anger or hurt,” Meghan said.
Reconciling past and present
“I think I have been unfair to myself and to others in the past,” Meghan said.
“I have been so focused on trying to change the people around me and making them like me that I forgot to try to be a better version of myself,” Meghan said.
“I have been so focused on trying to fit in and be part of this family that I forgot to be true to myself and my own values and beliefs,” Meghan said.
Expert Analysis
“Meghan Markle has been through a lot since she married Prince Harry and became a member of the royal family,” said royal expert, Andrew Morton.
“She has had to navigate a complex world of tradition and protocol, while also trying to maintain her own identity and sense of self,” Morton continued.
“It’s not easy being a member of the royal family, especially for someone who came from a more modern and progressive background like Meghan,” Morton said.
“But Meghan has shown remarkable resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity, and she continues to inspire many people around the world with her courage and determination,” Morton concluded.
Conclusion
In a remarkable revelation, Meghan Markle’s perception of Prince Harry’s wealth has come to light, shedding new insight into the intricacies of the royal family’s finances. According to reports, Markle believed her husband was a billionaire when she married into the royal family, a misunderstanding that highlights the complexities of the monarchy’s financial dynamics. This misperception raises questions about the transparency and accessibility of the royal family’s wealth, sparking a broader conversation about the institution’s financial management and the implications for those who marry into it.
The significance of this revelation extends beyond the personal dynamics of the couple, as it touches on the broader themes of financial literacy, privilege, and the realities of marrying into the royal family. The fact that Markle, an American actress and now Duchess of Sussex, was mistaken about her husband’s wealth underscores the need for greater transparency and understanding of the monarchy’s financial workings. Furthermore, this incident may have future implications for how the royal family approaches financial education and disclosure, particularly for those who may be unfamiliar with the intricacies of royal wealth.