This early error on Meghan’s part would come back to haunt her once she made the transition from modest Hollywood stardom to the superstardom with which being a member of the British Royal Family invested her, because it was living proof that she was prone to exaggeration. This would doubtless make no dent in the way she was viewed in North America, where Hollywood and its ways have greater acceptance than they do in Britain, but on this side of the Atlantic it did alert people to the fact that the new Duchess of Sussex had both a propensity for exaggeration and a flair for dramatics in a way that the British find suspect.
According to Ninaki Priddy, Meghan’s best friend from childhood, attention, approbation and applause have always been driving forces for her. ‘Meg always wanted to be a star,’ she said. Despite this, she was normal and likeable, even though she did exhibit some of the grit that would later on lead to her outstanding success. The two women knew each other from the age of two, when they started at the Hollywood Little Red House together. At the age of eleven, they transferred to Immaculate Heart. ‘It was always Nikki and Meg. We were so close-knit we came as a two. We were both honorary daughters in each other’s homes. We were like family,’ she said. Hers is the most trustworthy account of Meghan’s early years. It is balanced, truthful, shorn of all side, with no malice or self-aggrandisement to undermine it. She was there, and nothing she says fails to ring true.
According to Nikki, ‘Her mum, Doria, was very cool. She was this free spirit who’d dance around the house and have girlie evenings with us. She used to tell Meg to loosen up. She’d say, “You’ve got to have fun. Keep working at it.”’ Even at that early age, Meghan was displaying signs of the intensity which would take her so far but which would also interfere with her enjoyment of life unless she kept it in check.
Despite her fun-loving side, Doria had firm boundaries and trained Meghan to be well ordered domestically. ‘Tom allowed her more space. He allowed us to get away with things. He provided a less strict household.’ But Meghan was the star to both her parents. ‘In a way, she was nurtured on a stage. She knew no other life. Tom was a great coach in that respect. He’d take photos of her on stage right from a young age.’ The result was that ‘Meg always wanted to be famous. She just loved to be the centre of attention. We used to imagine her receiving an Oscar. She used to practise announcing herself.’
Even at that tender age, Meghan displayed character traits that were exceptional. ‘I admired the skilful way she handled her parents. She’d have to relay messages. It was literally stuff like, ‘Tell your mother’ or ‘Tell your father.’ Controlling her emotions is something she learnt back then. For as long as I knew Meghan, her parents weren’t together. It could be hard for her. Sometimes she felt she had to pick sides. She was always trying to make sure each of them was happy.’ The result was that she has always been ‘very poised, a natural mediator. She was tough, too. If you rubbed her up the wrong way, she’d make it known with the silent treatment.’ Whenever there was a problem, Nikki found, ‘I’d always be the first to apologise. I just wanted to be besties again. She was stubborn. She digs her heels in the ground.’
So close were the girls that Meghan often slept over at the Priddys’ house in North Hollywood. Meghan often swam in their pool. When the girls were fifteen, Dalton and Maria Priddy invited Meghan to join the family, which included Nikki’s younger sister Michelle, on a tour of Europe. Nikki was so smitten by Paris that she ended up spending the following summer at the Sorbonne, but Meghan was more turned on by London. They stayed at a hotel near Kensington Palace and of course went to Buckingham Palace, where the duo was photographed sitting on the railings opposite Queen Victoria’s statue with the palace in the background.
Nikki confirmed that ‘the Royal Family was something she found fascinating. She had one of Princess Diana’s books on her bookshelf.’ She watched Diana’s funeral, was moved to tears as were her friends, and, so obsessed did she become that she and another friend, Suzy Ardakani, got ahold of old videos of Diana’s 1981 wedding to Prince Charles and decided to emulate her humanitarian example by collecting clothes and toys to be distributed amongst less privileged children. The lesson she was learning was that the most stylish and glamorous women show how special they are not only in their personal presentation, but through humanitarianism. She had found her role model and ‘used to love The Princess Diaries - films about a commoner who becomes part of a Royal Family. She was very taken with that idea. She wants to be Princess Diana 2.0,’’ Nikki Priddy said.
Of course, Meghan had no idea what the future held for her, nor that she would one day have an office in Buckingham Palace, or that she would chafe against palace restrictions in much the same way the mother-in-law she would never meet had resisted hers. At the time, though, Meghan’s ambitions were more perfunctory. Her most immediate one was to go to Northwestern University. And to escape from her father, who now needed more reciprocity than she was willing to provide.
In 1990, Tom had won $750,000 in the California State Lottery. Although much of it was dissipated in an ill-advised investment in
