Meghan’s sob story just crocodile tears
The evidence is in - far from treating Meghan Markle like dirt, the royals did everything they could to make her feel welcome, but it was just never enough for the upstart American, writes Miranda Devine.
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The Christmas photo of Queen Elizabeth II at her desk in Windsor Castle last year was standard royal fare.
Yet, thanks to a new semi-authorised hagiography of her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, the photo has become a symbol of the couple’s destructive narcissism and sense of entitlement.
The Queen wore a blue dress and a benign expression as she prepared to give her traditional annual address in the festive Green Drawing Room in front of a glittering Christmas tree.
On her desk was a grouping of framed family photographs, as you might find on any grandmother’s desk.
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Only, of course, the Queen is not any old grandmother but the head of state of the British constitutional monarchy and 16 Commonwealth countries, including Australia.
The photographs, carefully chosen to adorn her televised address to the nation, reflected the direct line of succession to the Crown rather than mere sentimental family attachment.
In pride of place was a framed picture of her eldest son and heir apparent Prince Charles with wife Camilla, and a larger photo of the next in succession, her grandson Prince William, with wife Kate and their three children, the third, fourth and fifth in line to the throne, Prince George, 7, Princess Charlotte, 5, and Prince Louis, 2.
There also was a black and white photo of the previous monarch, the Queen’s father, King George VI, delivering his own address in 1944.
Last, but not least, was Prince Philip, 99, the Queen’s husband of 72 years.
But now we are told in the book Finding Freedom that Harry and Meghan considered it a great snub that the Queen did not include a photo of them and baby Archie.
The couple knew they “had long been sidelined by the institution and were not a fundamental part of its future” but their “dismay” at the absence of their photo precipitated their exit from the royal family.
The effrontery is staggering, since Harry is only sixth in line to the throne, and his family was singled out in the speech, anyway, when the Queen expressed her delight at her eighth great-grandchild and included footage of Archie.
You’d think the Queen’s other children, Anne, Andrew and Edward, could claim more right to be included in their mother’s photo display, and you don’t hear them complaining.
But this is the sort of clueless spite that bubbles through the book, written by Meghan intimate Omid Scobie and journalist Carolyn Durand who claim the account is based on conversations with “close friends” and staff of the ex-royal couple.
Meghan and Harry, who now live in a $25 million mansion in Los Angeles, have been at pains to say they did not co-operate with the book, but it is chock full of intimate details only they would know, such as the drinks they ordered on their first date in 2016 at a club in Soho — a beer for him, a martini for her, and nibbles left untouched.
If there were any doubt that Harry, 35, and Meghan Markle, 38, would take out their revenge on the royal family post-Megxit, it evaporated with this petty exercise in score settling.
Off-the record grievances are aimed at the Queen, Prince Charles and Harry’s brother William and, especially, Kate, who is portrayed as cold and unsupportive towards Meghan.
One anecdote in the book has the two women bumping into each other at Kensington Palace when Meghan was still dating Harry. Kate offended Meghan by not offering her a lift in her Range Rover to a nearby shopping area.
Delusions of grandeur and jealousy of Kate’s privileged status as wife of the future King is the subtext.
Meghan and Harry seemed unwilling to accept that William and Kate received preferential treatment, whether it was the best spots on the royal balcony or first pick of royal engagements.
“Increasingly, Harry had grown frustrated that he and Meghan often took a back seat to other family members,” read a book excerpt in the London Times.
“Sometimes they would be told that their projects had to wait when the Prince of Wales or Prince William had an initiative or tour being announced at the same time.”
The book claims Harry was offended when William asked him if he was sure about “this girl”.
“He was being a snob.”
Meghan lashes out at the Queen for the “unnecessary” decision to strip Harry of his military patronages post Megxit.
She also complains about press reports her staff were quitting because of her demands, including 5am emails.
“If a man got up before dawn to work, he was applauded for his work ethic. If a woman did it, she was deemed difficult or ‘a bitch’. The double standard was exacerbated when it came to successful women of colour.”
The most volcanic and unfair charge in the book is the suggestion that Meghan was the victim of racism, not just from the media and palace courtiers, but from the royal family itself.
Harry should deny the charge, but there has been no pushback from the couple on any of the allegations.
The evidence is the royal family embraced Meghan, from the lavish $65 million wedding at Windsor Castle, which cost more than William and Kate’s, to their pick of royal residences, the 10-bedroom Frogmore Cottage. Prince Charles walked Meghan down the aisle when her own dysfunctional father didn’t show up.
The Queen invited Meghan to spend Christmas with the family before her wedding, a privilege not offered to Kate until after she was married.
Kate and William’s “close friends” have told reporters they “rolled out the red carpet” to welcome the American actor, inviting her to their home, cooking her vegan food, including her at the polo and Wimbledon.
But nothing was enough for a Queen Bee who seemed to think she could push Kate off her perch and enhance her own husband’s status.
“I gave up my entire life for this family,” Meghan is quoted saying.
Hardly.
She was an attention-seeking B-grade actor who became world famous through marriage, and has manipulated her besotted husband to turn on his family.
Now, she has reportedly set her sights on running for US President. England’s loss is America’s burden.
DOES TRUMP HAVE AN OCTOBER SURPRISE?
With Donald Trump sinking in the polls, a lifeline came this week from a surprising source, when his dour coronavirus adviser Dr Anthony Fauci suggested a vaccine might be ready before the election.
An early vaccine could be the “October Surprise” the President needs to recover momentum.
The White House early on in the pandemic launched “Operation Warp Speed” to incentivise pharmaceutical companies to race for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Last week the President signed a $3 billion deal with Pfizer to produce 100 million doses.
On Monday the US National Institutes of Health and Moderna launched a vaccine trial with 30,000 volunteers; half will receive the experimental vaccine and half a placebo.
“You could project that you’ll get an answer sometime in the mid-to-late fall, that would be November, that could be October,” Fauci told Fox News on Monday.
But he cautioned that any vaccine would not be “widely available” to the American public until next year.
Either way, good news on the vaccine front will lift Americans’ spirits and be a shot in the arm to Trump’s campaign, which has suffered from the triple whammy of the pandemic, a crippled economy and violent riots across the country.
Trump’s Democratic rival Joe Biden blames him for the lot and is trying to portray the President as ‘Captain Chaos’, whose divisive rhetoric is to blame for the violence.
But the issue is more likely to play out in Trump’s favour as Americans see violent anarchists attacking police and federal agents in Democrat-run cities such as Portland and Seattle, while Biden and his media supporters pretend they are “peaceful protests”.
With 100 days until the election as of last Sunday, Trump was busy visiting battleground states, and has restarted his daily virus briefings while Biden remains mainly in his basement giving the wink to Antifa thugs and the socialists who have taken over his party.
His advisers figure he is winning in the polls so why not minimise risk by staying in the basement reading a teleprompter and let Trump lose on his own.
But pressure is mounting as the campaign gets real. Three debates are slated and questions about Biden’s cognitive health only increase, despite attempts by Democrats to project onto Trump’s mental health.
Even celebrity supporters have started to mock Biden’s low profile.
In a Virtual Hollywood fundraiser on Sunday night, actor Kristin Chenoweth sang a satirical tune: “Don’t Be Hidin’ Out! Bring Joe Biden Out. And very popular you’ll be. Just not quite as popular as Jill, or Michelle”.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the putative frontrunner.
Miranda Devine is in New York for 18 months to cover current affairs for The Daily Telegraph