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The Petulant Princess of Montecito – this is how the American press are now referring to Prince Harry's wife and unless you’re a die-hard Meghan Markle fan (and that club seems to be losing members by the day), it's hard not to agree.
If she thought her latest interview in The Cut, where she once again laments her time as a royal, would land her more sympathy, the opposite has happened.
Far from being the empowered victim who is speaking “her truth” – a position she may have once held shortly after she and Harry fled the horrors of palace life for a new start in America and shared their harrowing tale with the world in their now-infamous 2020 interview with Oprah Winfrey – the 41-year-old mom-of-two is now being seen as arrogant and whiny.
People are starting to tire of the way she continually bad-mouths the royal family from her very privileged position in the land of the brave and the free.
Indeed here is a woman who now has everything her ambitious heart every desired – a real life prince for a husband, coffers of money thanks to million-dollar business deals, a palatial home in a snazzy ’hood, rich and famous friends – and yet she continues to bang on about how hard life was for her as a royal. Enough already, sista!
In her latest blabfest with The Cut – which forms part of New York magazine – she attempts to garner sympathy for herself by saying she’s trying to “forgive” the royal family.
“I’ve really made an active effort,” she says piously.
But then, she seems to dish up a thinly veiled threat by hinting she’s not done speaking out about them yet, when she adds, “especially knowing that I can say anything”.
It’s difficult to believe some of the things she says such as how she and Harry “struggled” to afford their $21-million home in Montecito, as they “didn’t have jobs” at the time. Puh-lease. They've got more small change in their pockets than the GDPs of some countries!
But then she goes on to say that Harry just had to have it after he saw two intertwined palm trees in the garden.
“He said, ‘My love, it’s us’. And now every day when Archie goes by us, he says, ‘Hi, Momma, hi, Papa’.”
Does he really? Cringe.
According to the interviewer, the huge property, which boasts 16 bedrooms and nine bathrooms, also has a home office in which two chairs are positioned like thrones. What was that about the self-dubbed prince and princess of Montecito?
In another anecdote which seems to largely hint at delusions of grandeur, Meghan recalls how a South African member of the Disney cast of The Lion King remake told her how “people rejoiced in the streets in South Africa the same as we did when Mandela was freed from prison” after she married Harry.
Her story has since been torn apart by veteran actor Dr John Kani, the only local member of the cast, who says he’s never met her. “This seems like something of a faux pas by her.”
Or maybe just a big old lie!
Further on in the interview, Meghan insists that she and Harry could have had the independent working lives they wanted as royals, “but for whatever reason, it’s not something that we were allowed to do, even though several other members of the family do that exact thing”. She fails to mention the names of these people.
If sympathy was what she was after, she didn’t get it. Instead her interview was largely met with scorn with most people agreeing enough already. Meghan, it’s time to put a sock in it, get on with your life now, poppet.
It didn’t help the magazine’s cover photo appeared to show her half-smirking with a confident gaze.
It prompted the New York Post to run a piece with a cheeky headline and sketch that read “Toddler and Tiara” with columnist Maureen Callahan lamenting, “What will make Meghan happy? Hell if she knows.”
“The only solace she finds from this existential torment it seems, is sitting for fancy photoshoots and talking to friendly journalists.”
Meghan and Harry have been criticised for not producing any substantial content for their Spotify and Netflix deals – both of which are worth $125m (R2,1 billion). They reportedly could only afford to buy their Montecito home after they signed these two deals – and these days their lavish lifestyle extends to round-the-clock security, private jets and of course Meghan’s penchant for a designer outfit or three.
All of this has raised the question: are they struggling to find anything noteworthy to say beyond their split with the royal family? Is that the only way they can still remain relevant?
If so, the problem is that people have finally had enough of their never-ending tirades and the tide has started to turn against them now. There’s only so much royal-bashing people are prepared to take, especially when it’s so one-sided (the House of Windsor continues to maintain a dignified silence). Many find it distasteful that Harry’s grandmother, the queen, who he claims to still be so close to, is being subjected to this amid her ongoing health woes and in the wake of the death of her beloved husband, Prince Philip.
What happened to all their talk of wanting privacy and a quiet life – back when they announced they were leaving The Firm? Surely if those things still hold dear, why don’t they stay schtum? Now there’s a thought, Meghan and Harry.
