By Meghan’s own account, she is supremely aspirational. Quite how so still remains to be seen, though the past two years have shown that she is a woman of boundless ambition and vision. ‘No one actually realised just how ambitious she is, nor how financially-driven,’ a royal cousin told me. However, once she and Harry announced that they were retiring from royal life to make their fortune financially, it became clear that being a senior royal, having one of the most eminent positions on earth, was not sufficient for her. It was too limiting, and rather than adjust herself to it, she had decided to have it adjust to her. In doing so she demonstrated to what extent she is a true game changer. This is something which her admirers applaud, and ironically, one of the people who have been most supportive of her has been the Queen. Elizabeth II and Philip were, in their day, game changers too, but they did it in such a way that they did not rock the royal boat. The Queen still hopes that Meghan and Harry’s float into the future will allow them to function in such a way that they make their way without damaging their royal heritage while creating a new way of being from which future generations of spares might benefit.
Although Meghan and Harry emphasised when departing from the Royal Family that their goal was financial independence, not everyone thinks that her ambition is limited to lining her pockets to the full extent of her capacity. ‘I’ve heard that she intends, down the line, to run for President of the United States,’ one of Harry’s old friends told me. ‘I believe she’s using [her royal status] to improve her chances. Let’s see if she achieves her objective.’
Long before the public knew that Meghan was encouraging Harry to step back from his royal role, she was laying the ground for them to do so. She did it in a variety of ways, one of which was to convey the message to everyone with whom she came into contact that she had no awe for the monarchy. As his friend said, ‘One thing’s for sure. She’s never had any respect for the institution she married into. From the word go, it was obvious that she felt she knew better than we did, and could enlighten all us poor slobs in how we should be living our lives.’
While Meghan’s supporters will consider it admirable that she could be so rock-solid in her beliefs and attitudes that she remained unmoved and unimpressed by her inclusion into the world’s most eminent family, those who crossed paths with her were astonished by what they took to be disrespect for themselves. Her conduct in the run-up to her marriage was an illustration. From the outset, she bucked royal tradition with the full backing of Harry, who went around saying, ‘What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.’ There were incidents such as Meghan reducing Catherine Cambridge to tears over Charlotte’s dress; Meghan virtually calling a member of staff a liar when the woman was patently telling the truth (which resulted in Meghan being advised that royals do not speak to staff like that); and the kerfuffle over the supposed mustiness of St. George’s Chapel, which had resulted in Meghan being blocked from spraying scent all over the ancient chapel so that it would smell like the ladies’ room at Soho House.
I have attended many events at St. George’s Chapel over the years, including Prince William’s Induction as a Knight of the Garter. I can tell you, it has the reassuring bouquet of the ancient, well-tended and clean chapel that it is. The pews glow with the patina of centuries of beeswax, which also gives off a subtle but delightful fragrance. This was clearly anathema to someone as ‘classy’ as Meghan, who by this time was viewed by her followers as not only the Petronius Arbiter of ‘classiness’ but as its quintessential embodiment. Despite having had some exposure to what passes for antiques in America by way of her grandfather’s antique shop, Meghan was still not au fait with an older way of life, so would not have known that what passes for antique in America, i.e. something older than 75 years, is almost new in Europe. She would not have been familiar with the aroma of furniture well-polished over centuries. Rather than recognising the appealing fragrance of a well-tended building like St. George’s Chapel, she found the scent alien and therefore off-putting.
People do not enjoy a newcomer telling them, in word or deed, that their way is not as good as the newcomer’s. This causes especial offence when the recipient of the criticism believes that his way is the better one and moreover has proof of that fact in the thousands of compliments he has received over the decades from compatriots of the critic which run absolutely contrary to the critic’s criticism. Since Meghan was accusing the chapel of malodorousness when it is
