Meghan

I liked Meghan from the beginning.  She was sweet, smart, pretty and I assumed (like many) she would be a good addition to the Royal Family.  Supposedly, she didn’t really know who Harry was until their first date.  That she was biracial and divorced seemed like a sign the Royal Family was moving into the 21^st century.

Their royal wedding was gorgeous. 

But after a while (as it will), reality set in.  Meghan (now Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Sussex) wore clothes that were a bit daring. Her dresses bared her shoulders, considered a no-no by the Royal Family.  The tabloid press (much bigger in Britain than in the U.S.) started snarking at her.  She was accused of being demanding and pushy, dubbed “Duchess Difficult” and “ME-gain”.  Her half-sister, Samantha, was reportedly writing a book, “The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister”.  Meghan’s personal assistant quit after six months.

The tabloids’ comment sections were/are full of vitriol towards Meghan and Harry (for marrying her):

·        Harry is hopelessly henpecked and Meghan is calling all the shots.

·        Meghan is a woman of color and Brits hate her.

·        She has no business being a Duchess.  All she wants is fame.

·        Meghan is a taker and will divorce Harry, get all the millions she can in the divorce settlement and go back into show business.

·        Harry is a dummy.  He should never have married Meghan.

Meghan’s dad, Thomas, pleading health reasons, had not been available to walk her down the aisle.  Someone leaked Meghan’s letter to her father.  She wrote to him:  “you broke my heart in a million pieces”. 

The Royal Family’s rule about negative press coverage is to ignore it.  But Harry and Meghan were having none of that:  they sued the newspaper that published the article.  Negative press coverage continued, and a study on her press coverage said she got twice as much negative coverage as positive.

Harry, furious about the negative articles, likened the press coverage to that of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.  As we all know, she died in a car crash because the driver was speeding to avoid the paparazzi.

Then, about two weeks ago, the couple announced they were stepping back from their royal duties.  And last week, the terms of their new life, as determined by the Queen and the Prince of Wales, were announced.  The couple will no longer be His/Her Royal Highness.  They will be known as Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

They will live part time in Canada and possibly, some time in Los Angeles, where Meghan’s mother lives.  They will continue to be funded by The Prince of Wales, but are free to undertake paid projects.  They will reimburse the government for the cost of renovating Frogmore Cottage (rumor says it has 10 bedrooms), their home on the Windsor Castle estate.  Estimated cost of renovations:  $3.1 million.  What kind of protection (bodyguards) they will have and who will pay is up in the air.

So what kind of income will come from their paid projects?  It’s a wide open subject, but as one example, if they become “influencers” on Instagram, they could net about a million dollars a post (authorities on this figure claim it’s just an estimate).

The Queen’s announcement said this new solution would be tried for a year.  So things may turn out differently than the arrangement right now.