The ‘real reason’ for Meghan Markle‘s shortened time in the Royal Family has been revealed by a royal expert. Simon Vigar, a long-serving royal correspondent, has examined tensions in his new book, The Four Wives of Windsor.
Vigar had claimed that Meghan’s trouble stemmed from a “culture clash” with palace aides. He told Fox News: “There was a culture clash there. I think it’s a crying shame. It was avoidable, and egos got in the way on both sides.
“I think she thought that there would be more control over public events than there was. The narrative now is that the British media were always against Harry and Meghan. That is not how I remember it, and many of my colleagues remember it.”
“Harry and Meghan were great. I saw her on her first engagement in Nottingham. She was brilliant with the crowds. She was an absolute natural, which is why it’s so sad that they’re not part of [the working royals] now.
Vigar was a correspondent during the Sussexes’ tours, and said it showed the first cracks in Meghan’s role. He said that the Duchess was used to a public life where “everything was micromanaged in a far more controlled environment”.
“Those levels of Hollywood control-freakery, as courtiers say, are incompatible with the public service role of the monarchy,” he wrote.
Vigar also quoted an anonymous senior staffer as saying, “My overall sense is Meghan realised it was hard work and not that glamorous. It’s not about you.”
A senior aide said that Meghan’s schedule was “intense” and, while she understood the “show bit” of the Royal Family, she didn’t understand “the cultural side”.
“Harry understood it,” Vigar argued. “Meghan, by her own admission, didn’t know much about the British royal family or who some of them were. It was just a different level of expectation.
“Whereas Catherine, Camilla, Diana, who was an aristocrat and the most aristocratic of all four of them, just understood the British family more. I think the problem was it was a culture clash. It’s an American lady marrying into the most upper-class British family possible.”
A number of palace aides left their positions while working for Harry and Meghan, with some making allegations about Meghan’s treatment of them. Meghan has denied the bullying allegations.
Kensington Palace said that it does not comment on books. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said: “This is not something we would comment on.”