When Meghan Markle married into the British royal family, she was embraced by both the members of the Firm and the wide public. What’s most, many saw her presence as a modernizing force. She and Prince Harry received a status of an influential couple who were involved in numerous charitable endeavors.
However, according to Meghan herself, her time in Britain was challenging. She faced intense media scrutiny and criticism, particularly from certain sections of the British press and there were also reports of tensions within the royal family, although the specifics of these were not always made public, or at least not until she and Harry decided to step down from their royal duties.
Their decision was met with mixed reactions, and it was reported at the time that it was then-prince Charles who was the angriest on his son and daughter-in-law for their decision to leave Britain behind.
During the time she lived in Britain, Meghan was said to have bonded with all the members of the British royalty but wasn’t particularly close to any of them.
She and Camilla, for one, had a lot in common. They both married into royalty and Camilla made sure she helped Meghan adjust to the royal life and her new role.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Camilla invited Meghan to a private lunch and told her how she coped with the media at the time she married Charles. Camilla told her that she should focus on the positive sides of her role within the royal family and “ride out the storm if negative press would occur.”
Despite the friendship offered by the members of the Firm, Meghan hadn’t always felt welcomed because of some reason. “Not many people have asked if I’m OK,” she said in an ITV documentary.
“Meg was really grateful to Camilla who was very supportive and invited her out for private lunches, particularly around the time of her marriage,” a friend of Meghan Markle’s told the Daily Mail. “She listened to her and understood that it’s really difficult joining the Royal Family from an otherwise ‘normal’ life.”
The friend added, “Much like Meghan, Camilla had experienced a lot of negative press and hostility from courtiers due to her relationship with Charles when he was still married to Diana.
“She was very sensitive to Meghan and provided her with support, advising her to ride out the storm and that it would all pass – but ultimately Meghan didn’t listen.”
Despite this support from Camilla’s side, Meghan once did something that upset her.
Namely, in 2020, Camilla was set to participate in the 10th Anniversary of the Women of the World festival, an event she and her team were planning for over a year. Camilla was scheduled to deliver a speech and made sure everyone understood how important this was to her. Meghan had assured Camilla not to overshadow her at the event.
However, Meghan ended up drawing more attention, causing frustration for Camilla.
“Camilla’s work is very important to her and her decision to highlight the scourge of domestic violence at the 10th anniversary of Women of the World was a carefully thought-out plan,” a royal insider said. “Of course it was known Harry and Meghan would be doing engagements this week, some privately, but everyone was in agreement that Camilla’s speech should take precedence. Unfortunately some people had other ideas.”
Allegedly, Meghan stole the spotlight by publishing a photo of herself at the event the same day. As per the Daily Mail, the Palace had urged royal correspondents to focus on Camilla and not Meghan, but that didn’t happen.
Following Megxit, Camilla was as mad at the Sussexes as her husband.
In the numerous interviews they have given throughout the years, their Netflix documentary, and Harry’s memoir Spare, the couple didn’t spare Camilla from talking about her and revealing details of the life at the Palace. Among the rest, Harry revealed in his memoir that he and his brother had pleaded with their father not to marry Camilla.
“Despite Willy and me urging him not to, Pa was going ahead. We pumped his hand, wished him well. No hard feelings,” Harry wrote in Spare. “We recognized that he was finally going to be with the woman he loved, the woman he’d always loved.”
He even wrote that he had asked himself if Camilla would be “just as cruel to him as all the wicked stepmothers in storybooks,” adding that William “long harbored suspicions about the Other Woman.”
After they settled in California, Harry and Meghan landed deals with huge productions, including Spotify. However, the deal ended in a fiasco, as Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast was shut down, and their entire Spotify deal was canceled, and now that Queen Camilla has her own podcast, which is quite successful, many believe it will make Meghan livid.
In 2021, Camilla launched a new initiative called The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room, a book club about reading recommendations and more.
“I think I’d like it to be something that everybody could delve into and find something that suited them and enjoy it,” Camilla said. “I just think it’s because I love reading myself I think a lot of other people also get a huge amount of pleasure from it.”
Now, the correct name should be The Queen’s Reading Room, and on June 8th, there will be a single-day celebration at Hampton Court Palace for The Queen’s Reading Room Festival.
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As per The Sun, the event will be “bigger and better” than the inaugural event last year and will “gather authors, experts, actors and literature lovers for a day celebrating the written word.”
“Camilla’s podcast has been a great success. She has proven many times over she can bring in any of the big names from the world of the arts she wants,” editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine Ingrid Seward told The Sun.
“Given Meghan’s apparent disinterest in Queen Camilla, I doubt if she has a nice word to say about her or her podcast.”
Denise Palmer Davies, brand expert and director of Borne Media, believes that Camilla’s success is the “perfect revenge” on Meghan.
“After all the hurtful things Harry has said about Camilla, she has finally got her own back on them,” she told The Sun. “I bet Meghan in particular will be livid over the whole thing, and probably a bit embarrassed that hers fell at the first hurdle.”
Queen Camilla, of course, has never talked about the Sussexes in public and according to royal expert Ingrid Seward she never will because she’s “far too polite” to speak out.
“I don’t think Camilla has the time or inclination to feel anything much about Meghan,” she told The Sun. “She is confident and comfortable in herself and would see no necessity to give Meghan or what she is doing or saying a second thought.”
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