Why Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is doing a Diana by shedding her friends
THE Duchess of Sussex is accused of being heartless for shedding friends and family out of fear they will talk to the press.
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As she adjusts to the reality of life in the Royal Family, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is rapidly shedding friends — like Diana before her.
But while Meghan is accused of being heartless, cutting off old friends and family, it’s nothing compared to the Princess of Wales. Prince Harry’s late mother was known for ruthlessly severing relationships — upsetting many of her friends in the process.
Diana even stopped talking to Sarah, Duchess of York — with the pair not making up before she died in 1997. “We hadn’t spoken for a year, although I never knew the reason, except that once Diana got something in her head it stuck there for a while,” the Duchess wrote in her book Finding Sarah.
“I think in the end with Diana she trusted the wrong people,” Elton John said in 2008. “She didn’t trust the people she should have trusted, her true friends.
“I always thought the people that really felt for her and really were true to her she just was a bit airy fairy towards in the end.”
Now Meghan has been accused of discarding old friends for fear of press leaks. According to reports, her social circle has shrunk dramatically, as she works out who she can trust.
Instead, she’s relying on a few confidantes — she recently flew to Toronto, to spend a few days with her best friend Jessica Mulroney and her mother Doria Ragland spent an extended stay at Meghan and Harry’s Cotswolds cottage.
Millie Mackintosh was one of the first to go. The former star of Made In Chelsea was photographed at Soho Farmhouse with Meghan in 2016 and was said to have been at her hen do, but didn’t get an invitation to the wedding reportedly because of her tendency to talk too freely.
Meghan has also been criticised for cutting contact with her father Thomas Markle, after his repeated interviews, which is further enraging her half-sister Samantha, who has begun calling Meghan ‘The Duchass’.
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This week she posted on Twitter, “The DuchASS should be humane to our father who has given her everything … Fake waves and smiles can stop.”
But while Samantha and other commentators urge Meghan to end the silent treatment, it is unlikely the Duchess will repair her relationships until she can trust her family will not share any more details of their conversations. Privacy is imperative to Harry, who is quick to sever ties to anyone who betrays his trust.
It is reminiscent of his mother’s attitude, who was famously brutal when it came to ending friendships.
Diana relied on a very small group of friends, her former astrologer Penny Thornton said. “Diana was enormously trusting to begin with but gradually she learned to trust no one, and to go for the jugular if she perceived she was in danger.
“Sometimes some true friends were lost in this way.”