The picture that proves Meghan Markle still doesn’t get it

Without realising it, Meghan Markle has posed for a photo that highlights exactly why she is never going to last in the royal family.

Let’s talk about the perks of being royal: Prince George will add you to his WhatsApp group; you get to regularly enjoy a gin and Dubonnet with the Queen; and your family has their own private train.

What you can’t do (besides vote, voice political opinions or roll your eyes every time Princess Michael of Kent publishes a new novel) is act like an entitled so-and-so in public.

Baronets can’t be brats. Duchesses can’t be divas. And princes must never act like prats.

However, the Windsor clan’s most high-profile new recruit, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, seems to have spectacularly failed to follow this royal edict.

Here’s the situation: Late last week, Meghan took a break from maternity leave to watch good friend Serena Williams play at Wimbledon. (Williams, as we all remember, forked out at least $200,000 for the Duchess’ controversial New York baby shower earlier this year.)

Joining the new mum for her day out sans dirty nappies were university chums Genevieve Hillis and Lindsay Roth. Which is all well and good, because, if there is one thing the royal family enjoys, besides shooting small birds, it is sitting courtside and enjoying a smashing afternoon of tennis.

However, yesterday it was revealed that during this particular outing, Megan’s security team awkwardly demanded that other attendees not take pictures of the former Deal or No Deal star as she was there in a “private capacity”. (Even though no one was trying to take photos of her anyway.)

Now, this would have been an entirely legitimate request had it come while Meghan was, say, nipping out to get a bikini wax or stocking up on Jackie Collins chick lit at her local library. Instead, it was laughably made while Meghan had chosen to have a “private” afternoon alongside 12,000 other people and live TV cameras.

Making her day out even more contentious is all those mysterious empty seats.

Meghan and her mates were surrounded by an exclusion zone of empty seats. Picture: James Veysey / Shutterstock

While plenty of images of the Duchess, clad in a white linen blazer and jeans (I know, I too am clutching my pearls), and her friends have done the rounds, only a few tell the full story.

That is, Meghan and her friends were a tiny island of co-ordinating neutrals in a sea of vacant seats, with about 40 spots in the exclusive members’ area around the trio mysteriously vacant. The Daily Mail reports VIPs were consequently left outside the arena and denied the chance to watch Williams play.

Quite why the chairs around the Duchess and her mates were left empty has not been revealed. However, compare this with the Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to the hallowed tournament earlier in July.

She was seen sitting in the back row of the ordinary section of court 14 alongside British tennis players Anne Keothavong and Katie Boulter, clearly comfortable to be surrounded by fellow tennis tragics.

Kate is happy to sit among the people during her Wimbledon visits. Picture: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

Ditto, when princes William and Harry have attended World Cup or international rugby matches. They are usually surrounded by friends, staff members or dignitaries. There is no empty space left in the spurious name of security. (Sure, all of the people who surround members of the royal family would have been carefully vetted by their protection officers.)

The prevailing impression is that Meghan’s Wimbledon day out was one marked by the sort of diva-like antics that would make Kim Kardashian proud.

This is far from the first time, even in the past month, that the former actress and blogger has faced similar accusations, all of which seems to suggest that Meghan still doesn’t quite grasp what being royal really means.

Harry and William have always sat among the crowd at sporting events. Picture: AP

Royal life is intrinsically linked with the notion of service, and service doesn’t just mean putting on a Givenchy frock and enjoying an afternoon of public adulation.

In the context of the royal family, service means sacrificing parts of your privacy to appease a voracious global audience who is deeply invested in your life.

It means being stared at when you leave the house, being photographed relentlessly when in public and spending hours shaking the hands of snotty schoolchildren and phlegmy elderly royalists during walkabouts in the rain.

And while in private you might be a bathroom sink-destroying tyrant who yells at staff like Mussolini in a three-piece suit behind closed doors, in public you are always the very picture of politeness, consideration and charm personified.

Over the last few months, time and again, Meghan (and Harry) have shunned the prevailing public interest in (and affection towards) her family.

From obfuscating about when and where she went into labour (only to have actually given birth hours earlier) to bluntly refusing to release Archie’s birth certificate to imposing a fatwa on media at his christening, Meghan’s approach seems far more prima donna than princess.

For whatever reason, the Duchess still seems to have not accepted that sharing some modicum of your personal life with the public is now one of her essential job requirements.

Meghan and Harry have been extremely protective of the privacy of their son Archie, who was christened last weekend. Picture: Chris Allerton/SussexRoyal via Getty Images

Since Meghan joined the Windsor family last year, she and Harry have sought to carve out a path that balances their commitments with their desire to modernise their approach to royal life. However, currently, their blunt rejection of the royal family’s standard operating procedure doesn’t seem independent or forward thinking — it reads as selfish, egotistical and deeply obtuse.

Three years ago, in 2016, Meghan was at Wimbledon as a guest of Ralph Lauren. Her appearance then barely caused a ripple. She was a successful actress but on a middling show on a middling US cable channel and thus far from A-list.

That Meghan (2016 Meghan) would surely have killed for the level of attention and media interest royal Meghan is currently contending with.

If nothing else, that Meghan understood that being at Wimbledon was part of fulfilling her role and doing her job. If only 2019 Meghan would remember that.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and freelance writer. Continue the conversation @DanielaElser