Within the Establishment, people regretted that Harry, who had grown out of his schoolboy tendency to antagonise and had become a popular public figure, was not pointing out to Meghan how some of her modes of conduct jarred. In fact, rather than tucking her under his wing and steering her in the right direction, he either ignored her breaches or then backed her up, even when she was being injudicious or unreasonable. This was counterproductive, for Harry could not expect a whole institution much less an entire nation to alter its modes of conduct to facilitate a woman who, either through ignorance or because she honestly thought her way was the better way, wanted to do as she pleased, and, if she ruffled feathers, the failing was not hers but the owner of the feathers.
By taking the stance he did, Harry was losing respect left, right and centre. This was a pity, He had gone from being a trying teenager to a respected young man who had the common touch and was popular with everyone he came into contact with, from those with whom he worked closely to strangers. His conduct when he had been with Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas had been so markedly different from what it was with Meghan, that observers surmised Meghan must be responsible for the changes within him. With Chelsy and Cressida, there had been no awkwardness with anyone except the press, except when he was in his cups, feeling lonely, and subject to striking out angrily at the nearest onlooker. Otherwise, he had fitted in with both girls’ circles, and they had fitted in with his. They had all had vibrant social lives, with everyone rubbing along well. Harry has always said he wanted nothing more than to be just a person, just Harry and, with them, he had shared equal footing with their peer group. They had been just another couple, maybe more glamorous, maybe more high profile, but nevertheless equals.
By the early days of Meghan and Harry’s marriage, this had changed. Harry and Meghan were no longer just another couple amongst friends. There was an aura of specialness that now emanated from them jointly. They were more evolved, more mindful, more conscious, more woke. They were no longer ordinary human beings but extraordinary people whose awareness of their destiny to change and save the world separated them from mere mortals like Harry’s friends.
As they settled into marriage, Meghan’s ‘us against the world attitude’ began to predominate. They had been putting distance between Harry and some of his oldest and closest friends, whom she clearly thought were too frivolous or too traditional for an aware and enlightened couple like Harry and herself, and he had adopted her attitude as well. Not only was there payback time for those who had done as William and Tom Inskip did when they had advised Harry to take things more slowly and who now found themselves being marginalised, but those who remained in favour began to notice that Harry was no longer as open nor as much fun as he had been. Under Meghan’s influence, he was far more serious. Where before he was up for a good laugh, now he had to save the world with her. Woke rhetoric, hyper-political attitudinising, yoga and meditation had replaced the fun sessions the couple had enjoyed prior to meeting each other. The Meghan who used to knock back the booze with Lizzie Cundy, who was a girly girl with Serena Williams, might still maintain the structure of her A-List friendships, and behave in such a way that they could truthfully say that she hadn’t changed at all, but with Harry’s friends, she couldn’t even be bothered to be friendly, nor did she make any attempt to fit in the way she had done while she was on the up and up in Canada, New York and London prior to meeting Harry. Now that she was a Princess of the United Kingdom, she had a gravity to match, and, to the regret of his old friends, so did Harry, who had become as heavy going as Meghan.
Even when Harry remained in touch with the few old friends from the past who had somehow miraculously escaped the cull, Meghan made it clear to them that she had nothing in common with any of Harry’s friends, or their wives and girlfriends, with very few exceptions. Nowhere was this clearer than at the wedding of Harry’s Ludgrove schoolmate Charlie van Straubenzee to Daisy Jenks. Held in a field adjoining the family home, where dogs and other animals came and went and bales of hay were everywhere, the atmosphere was typically English upper class. Everyone was relaxed. Most people knew one another well, and had done so for many years. These were the crème de la crème of English society, people who were warm, friendly, without side. Those on the periphery who did not know Meghan were delighted to meet her. Contrary to what foreigners often think, the British are very friendly and forthcoming, at least in the upper classes. It was therefore entirely within expectation when a girl went up to Meghan, introduced herself, and said how beautiful she thought she was. She said she knew it was Meghan’s birthday and wished her a happy birthday. Meghan looked at her as if she had committed a great faux pas by speaking to her and, without saying a word, walked off. ‘It was so cold,’ someone who witnessed the exchange told me. ‘Really rude.’
One can only hope that Meghan was under
