Meghan Markle knew her life would never be the same again after joining the royal family, but it’s possible she didn’t realize how much it would change. The Duchess of Sussex was expected to follow royal protocol after marrying Prince Harry, just as Princess Kate did when marrying Prince William.
But, unlike Kate, Meghan was unable to charm the senior royals in the same way. A Kensington Palace staff member has shared Meghan’s struggle with royal rules in Tom Quinn’s new book, Gilded Youth: An Intimate History of Growing Up in the Royal Family.
The worker said: “I don’t think in the whole of history there was ever a greater divide between what someone expected when they became a member of the royal family and what they discovered it was really like. She was hugely disappointed.”
Not only that, but Meghan quickly realized she was being treated in a “slightly condescending way” by the royal establishment because she was not a blood royal, which Kate also had to suffer according to the Mirror.
The staff member claims Kate handled it much better because she “doesn’t have Meghan’s messianic tendencies” and used her charm to win them over. The staff member’s views have been seconded by one of Meghan’s former advisers, who claims: “Meghan hated being controlled by royal protocol.”
They added: “The fact, for example, that at Kensington Palace royals have to announce in advance when they are leaving the palace and where they are going. “This is partly for security but partly also to avoid a situation where a senior royal is upstaged by a more junior royal leaving just when the more important person leaves.”
He claims Meghan thought this rule was “silly” – but stresses the palace deems it “absolutely essential”. The former advisor said: “I think Charles agreed with Meghan on many points – he thought much of the protocol was silly, but it is hard to change.
“William has bought into it, which is why George and Louis, and Charlotte are so conventional and look like something out of the 1950s. “Meghan wants something different from this for her children – she wants American freedom to do and say what you like and go where you like.”
Meghan and Harry moved to America after announcing their departure from the royal family and have remained there ever since, with the exception of a brief farewell tour in the UK.