It seemed to those of us who were rooting for Meghan to be a huge success that she and Harry were throwing up obstacles, instead of keeping them to a minimum. One hurdle which they had introduced to keep everyone at arm’s length, and which began to acquire a life of its own, was their ever-increasing demand for privacy. As this was often directed at the most surprising and unexpected of sources, it caused consternation within their social and family circle. It was also articulated against a backdrop of conflict and controversy in such an inconsistent manner that those close to them were left wondering against whom they were protecting themselves, and to what purpose. A case in point was the way they behaved at Princess Eugenie of York’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank, brand ambassador of George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila. ‘Who knows whether there was an element of payback because Meghan hadn’t been allowed to pinch Grand Duchess Xenia’s tiara from Eugenie for her own wedding, or whether they were now so wrapped up in themselves that they couldn’t think beyond their own immediate concerns,’ a royal cousin told me. ‘But they found the perfect way to steal Eugenie’s thunder’, and to drive home the point that they were a unit beyond the reach of everyone else. ‘They spent the whole time going from person to person sharing the news that [Meghan] was pregnant. This from the couple who had only a few short months before caused grave offence, when, asked how their honeymoon had gone and where they had been, had responded, “We’re not telling anyone. We’re keeping that for ourselves.”’
It was as if Meghan and Harry had decided that they had to protect themselves against all sorts of people who wished them well and were cheering them on to success. By creating walls, they were deliberately excluding people, who were deeply offended to be shut out.
This created antagonism, and the royal cousin observed, ‘You should’ve seen her expression (when they refused to say where they’d spent their honeymoon). She was just so smug, like a twelve year old in the school yard scoring points over everyone else by keeping secrets from them. Just preposterous.’ Since Meghan and Harry had been married for only a few months, and the first year of marriage is customarily viewed as a period of adjustment, everyone erroneously marked down the increasing signs of alienation to something it was not. Had they known that Meghan was either unwilling or unable to make the compromises necessary to fit into her new role as a royal, they would have been horrified. But no one knew.
What was rapidly becoming apparent, however, was how trying the situation had become for all concerned. Despite the increasing hostility that seemed to be emanating from Meghan and Harry’s quarter, the palace remained eager to take full advantage of their attributes, hers in particular. Both she and Harry were outstandingly popular. Even before their marriage, plans had been afoot for them to open the Invictus Games on the 20th October 2018 in Sydney, following which there would be a sixteen day tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. There were high hopes for it as it was being organised, to include Meghan and Harry doing so well that they would be pleased by their place in the scheme of things.
On the 15th October, three days after Eugenie’s wedding and just before they were due to fly out of Britain, Kensington Palace announced, ‘Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the Spring of 2019.’
There was genuine delight that the Royal Family would soon possess progeny of colour.
Before their ‘plane had even taken off, Meghan and Harry had the world at their feet. They landed in Australia to mass adulation. They drew huge crowds wherever they went. Unlike Harry’s previous visit, when there had been friction with the press, this time there was nothing but approval. It has been said that every time there is a royal visit, the cause of republicanism is set back years in Australia. Their popularity bore this out. The only red flag throughout the whole of the tour occurred in Fiji, where Meghan gave a speech to youngsters, ostensibly inspiring them to educate themselves. She used the occasion to take a swipe at her father. It rankled with her that Tom Sr and sister Samantha from time to time gave interviews stating that he had been a good father and had paid for her education. She disliked the implication that she was an ungrateful daughter who should be mending fences with him rather than a put-upon VIP whose public profile was being sullied by her garrulous relations. She had also contradicted Tom Sr and Samantha’s version of events privately, including with Harry. One of the things he especially admired about her was how she had pulled herself up by the bootstraps from a life of little into a world of a lot. He not only took pride in how she had surmounted the many obstacles she had told him about, but how pained she was that her father and sister would proffer an alternative version of her history which effectively denied her claimed accomplishments. Fed up with her image being defaced the way it was being by them, she took advantage of the opportunity the speech in Fiji gave her, to shoot down her father’s claims of having put her through Northwestern University. She categorically stated that she had done so herself, by taking part-time jobs and resorting to student loans. Honour and her image were restored.
Depending on your point of view, this was either a terrible mistake on Meghan’s part, or it was a tactically clever move which went some way towards shoring up the sympathy she deserved and thrived upon from her supporters. Nonetheless, royals do not use official tours to further their own personal vendettas.
