Meghan Markle’s latest interview landed Monday and is, frankly, nothing short of staggering. She talked to The Cut as part of the publicity tour for her new podcast, Archetypes.
If this was meant to be a puff piece, I’d hate to see what a hatchet job looks like.
As you might expect, there was strong and immediate reaction to some of the Royal details she shared — more on that in a minute.
But in my opinion, it’s not what Meghan said that’s really jaw-dropping, but how she’s painted in this piece. The reporter herself may not fully realise how the Meghan in this article comes across, that even the most devoted Sussex fan might feel a bit uneasy reading it.
Meghan greets the reporter, Allison P. Davis at her sprawling Montecito home, and as you read, you understand quickly how stage-managed every detail is. Davis writes:
“She stands and smiles with the perfect level of warmth, the gleam of her teeth rivaled only by the shininess of her blowout. Backlit by the late-morning light in a scene that looks like a Nancy Meyers cinematic interior, Town & Country, Goop, and Architectural Digest had an orgy and created the perfect moment in California living.”
This woman was clearly never going to make do with a draughty English castle!
Meghan tells Davis:
“We did everything we could to get this house.” She leans her head back and lets the sun beam down into her pores. “Because you walk in and go …” She takes a deep inhale through her nose and breathes out her mouth. “Joy. And exhale. And calm. It’s healing. You feel free.”
Yes, a nearly 15-million-dollar mansion on the California coast will do that for most people…
Meghan opens with what she thinks is a juicy morsel for the reporter, and I suppose it is, when you consider what counts as breaking news in Harry and Meghan terms. She (not they mind you) is returning to social media, a detail shared with full dramatic effect:
Meghan turns to me and leans forward to ask in a conspiratorial hush, “Do you want to know a secret?” Meghan looks around, making sure nobody (who would be?) is listening in. Then the top-secret drop: “I’m getting back … on Instagram,” she says, her eyes alight and devilish.
Meghan recalls how frustrating it was to give up social media when she became a member of the Royal Family. (Davis doesn’t bother to point out that few firms would allow individual employees to do their own company messaging.)
It’s obvious that her blog and her social media accounts, were, as The Queen might say, much loved members of Meghan’s life…
According to Davis: “She’d loved sharing her life with people, she says”
And that small sentence says it all. The more you hear directly from Meghan, the more something becomes abundantly clear. It seems she wants to be the equivalent of a global Reality TV star, documenting and sharing a carefully scripted life, with a very controlled narrative.
The Meghan Show basically, where Meghan is the heroine: fabulous, inspiring, and flawless.
Davis even says Meghan:
“Sometimes converses like she has a tiny Bachelor producer in her brain directing what she says (at one point in our conversation, instead of answering a question, she will suggest how I might transcribe the noises she’s making)”
And, when Davis tries to get more information about Harry and Meghan’s upcoming projects, she hits the mother of all stone walls, as if news can’t be shared in any form until it’s been properly airbrushed.
“Attempts to learn what those other projects might be, or what their plans are, are met with an institutional paranoia by a team that responds to press inquiries as if it’s protecting nuclear codes.”
Just in case Davis is frustrated by that, Meghan tries to kill her with kindness, choosing to compliment the reporter in decidedly awkward ways. I’m struggling to picture how a reporter would feel hearing this comment:
“Your eye contact is good,” Meghan says suddenly. “You’re, like, looking into my soul.”
Oh dear.
It seems Meghan thought joining The Royal Family would be the ultimate reality show, the perfect stage for her new starring role. And, in a way, it was.
But Meghan’s fatal mistake, was failing to understand that the Royals work for OTHERS on the world stage, and work fervently to keep anything personal, as private as possible. They disappear into vast country estates for a reason.
They also have a definite pecking order. Yes, members of the supporting cast might sometimes steal a scene, but the “star” is always the person at the top. You know, the one wearing the Crown. Everyone else is expected to follow.
That corporate order didn’t work for Meghan. (Strange really, given how controlled the pecking order on a film set is) Meghan admits as much, joking that she’s so ambitious, “even my blood type is A-positive.”
When the reporter suggests one theory for her Royal problems is that Meghan wouldn’t relinquish control over her own image, Meghan only:
“looks down and inspects her hands; The Bachelor producer in her head deliberates how much should be said. “I don’t know,” she says, casting a knowing gaze out into the middle distance.”
Clearly not someone who wants to accept any responsibility for their part in the disaster! “Flawless heroine” is how this character is written!
The control issue brings us to Meghan’s relationship with the British press, where she makes an incredibly inflammatory accusation about Royal reporters:
“Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child?” she asks, still ruffled. “You tell me how that makes sense and then I’ll play that game.”
That is a loaded accusation and would have been huge news. Davis doesn’t ask the obvious, “When did that happen?!”
What’s particularly sad, it suggests the multi-cultural British people would tolerate that, and not immediately demand an apology on her behalf. As Royal correspondent Richard Palmer pointed out recently on another matter, “Even when you go back to the days of Empire there was a tolerance in the UK that wasn’t seen in the US. Many Brits, for example, were shocked by segregation in the US forces stationed here during the Second World War.”
Worse, these false anecdotes are instantly believed by some, creating deep division between friends, and warring factions online. It’s hard for people to remember this was the typical front page and reaction when Meghan arrived in the U.K.
According to Davis, Meghan also claims that:
“If Archie were in school in the U.K., she’d never be able to do school pickup and drop-off without it being a royal photo call with a press pen of 40 people snapping pictures.” Meghan says, “Sorry, I have a problem with that.”
Sorry, what’s that? Davis didn’t think to ask (or subsequently research) if 40 photographers really are given permission as part of a “royal photo call” to stake out the future King going to school every day?
The truth is quite different. In the UK, the Independent Press Standards Organisation actually has strict rules on photographing children.
HRH Prince George (you know, future King!) famously started nursery school with nary a photographer in sight, only a candid photograph taken and released by his mother, The Duchess of Cambridge.
When he began proper school in 2017, only ONE pool photographer was on hand to record the event.
Despite her constant complaints about her brief home and job, Meghan says she still thinks people see her as a princess. And, according to Davis, that’s even evident in the way their home office is structured:
“Their shared home office features two plush club chairs placed side by side behind a single desk, facing into the room like thrones.”
And if Princess isn’t enough, Meghan claims that someone once compared her to Nelson Mandela, telling her, “When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison!”
At this point, thankfully, Harry makes a brief appearance. Davis notes that he whips out a swipe at the Royals on his own:
“Most people that I know and many of my family, they aren’t able to work and live together,” Harry says in passing. He enunciates family with a vocal eye roll.
(Davis indicates that Harry also told Meghan, “I lost my father over this” although exactly whose father was meant, is now being disputed… or possibly cleaned up.)
The Meghan in this article is a walking contradiction. From complaining about hypothetical press scenarios, to then inviting a reporter on the school run with her. (Imagine Prince William agreeing to that?) Saying “she loved to share her life with people” but then bristles when it’s suggested a Netflix reality show is in the works.
Davis writes:
I ask again if what they are currently filming is a documentary about their love story. “What’s so funny is I’m not trying to be cagey,” she says. “I don’t read any press. So I don’t know what’s confirmed.
Meghan claiming she doesn’t read the press, rings about as true as her claims that she never googled Prince Harry before their first date…
There is no doubt, as Davis writes, that Meghan is now “flinging open the proverbial doors to her life” and she indicates this may be just the beginning:
“I’ve never had to sign anything that restricts me from talking,” she reveals, as she ushers me toward the door. “I can talk about my whole experience and make a choice not to.”
Adding, “especially knowing that I can say anything.”
Davis says Meghan ended their conversation, “quickly and decisively, as if it were my idea.” (Thank God someone ended it!)
And, as Davis leaves, you get the strong sense even she might be thinking, what just happened here?
Much has been written about how The Royal Family can respond, or defend themselves and their reputation, against the things Harry and Meghan might say.
I would tell them, after reading this piece, that the family and their communications staff can all take a breath.
Perhaps not go on holiday, but a long lunch is definitely in order.
Because the more Meghan talks, the more she’s doing your work for you…
Meghan’s comment about school safety made me choke on the coffee I was drinking in the teacher’s lounge as we discussed the week we’ve had with our kids after the latest shooting in Nashville.