Because she has a nurturing, considerate side to her personality, she makes an ideal mate for a man who loved his mother. She makes an even more ideal mate for one who loved and lost his mother. Her dominance comes across to him as caring. He thinks he’s being mothered when in fact those who know and question Meghan’s motives believe he’s being controlled. One indication that there might be some substance to that suspicion is the vow Meghan wrote into the marriage service. She swore to ‘protect’ Harry. How she came to position herself as the protector of a prince is what fascinates. She was able to convince him that she had successfully survived so much pain and suffering, that she had the strength to protect him, a boy who lost his mother and has suffered thereafter. Because her suffering had transformed her from an ordinary woman into an extraordinary human being, he, ordinary man that he is, needs her protection.
People can say what they want about her, but Meghan is truly an amazing woman. Only someone with her remarkable gifts, uniquely imaginative personality, and undoubted cleverness could have forged the bond she did with Harry.
CHAPTER 8
Although Harry truly believed that Meghan and Meghan alone knew the route to the Holy Grail, and she still had her admirers, as she and Harry settled into marriage, an uncomfortable and growing percentage of the populace as well as the press in his native country were coming around to the distressing viewpoint that she was a pretentious piffler with the depth of a teaspoon, the sincerity of a phoney, and the trustworthiness of a fraudster let loose in a roomful of cash. This was disastrous for anyone who had hoped that she would turn the role of Duchess of Sussex into a glorious one. To those of us who understood that she represented something no amount of money could buy, the tainting of her image was laden with long term repercussions. These had the potential to affect race relations negatively, for her supporters might not realise that her detractors’ objections were based largely or entirely upon her performance and what it said about her character, and might instead erroneously conclude that colour prejudice was motivating her unpopularity. This would do no one any good, no one, that is, with the possible exception of anti-monarchists and Meghan herself, who would be given a free pass if she could behave in an inappropriate manner without suffering any adverse consequences and indeed, be taken to be a victim when she was anything but one.
As the situation deteriorated, those who believed that Meghan was a non-contributory victim to her worsening reputation began questioning whether the negative attention might be due to covert colour prejudice, while those who saw her as a contributory factor to her reputation’s demise became increasingly perturbed that they were being accused of racism when in fact her race had nothing to do with her unpopularity. A courtier said, ‘No one [at the palace] believes that either the Duke or the Duchess of Sussex deludes themselves into thinking that racism plays any part in this. But we’re all aware that they’re not above playing the race card if it works to their advantage. They did it before [at the time their affair became public knowledge] but we’re all hoping they won’t ever do it again. It would be too damaging to the national interest. Prince Harry will see that [and will hopefully prevent it from being played]. But it will nevertheless be damaging to the national interest if they remain silent and allow their supporters to continue blaming racism for something any fool knows has nothing to do with it.’
Because Meghan and Harry’s conduct was creating divisions instead of being the unifying force the monarchy is meant to be, and because the issues being thrown up were larger than simply their personal popularity, the press were on heightened alert. Controversy is always more newsworthy than dullness. A mixed narrative is always more interesting to the media than a straightforward one. Whether Meghan fully realised that her actions were geared towards gaining her ever-increasing amounts of press attention, or she was unintentionally blundering into being a newspaper’s dream figure - with equal parts of glamour, controversy, conflict, conciliation and opposition all heightened with a massive question mark over what lay beneath her buffed surface - the fact is, the move she made shortly after returning from the Antipodean trip which had ended in such drama over her family background, catapulted her further into the forefront of media attention.
On the 11th December 2018, barely a month after a lithe and svelte Meghan had returned to England from their tour, she dramatically burst onto the stage as the unexpected guest of honour at the British Fashion Awards at the Royal Albert Hall. She was there to present an award to Clare Waight Keller, the artistic director of Givenchy who had designed her wedding dress. Depending on your opinion, Meghan either showed what a wonderfully warm and natural human being she was, or the actress turned on the charm which had
