Kate Middleton. The former Duchess of Cambridge. Now, the Princess of Wales. Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex. These two women are not equals. They never were. Once upon a time, they were on equal grounds due to their titles only. These embellishments were granted to them upon marriage and can be taken aware if necessary. Being a royal spouse is a privilege, not a right. You certainly do not see Mike Tindall complaining about his wife, Zara, being twentieth in the line of succession.
Former English rugby player Mike Tindall knew he wasn’t marrying the heir to the throne. Nor did he care. He loved Zara for who she was, not because she has royal blood, with her mother being Princess Anne, Princess Royal. He was never interested in the blue-bloodedness. This is a massive contrast to Meghan Markle, a former American cable actress obsessed with Princess Diana, according to her former best friend, Ninaki Priddy.
Meghan denies that she knows about the royals every chance she gets, but those who know her tell a very different story. The mother of one of her former classmates told a newspaper around the 2018 royal wedding that she loaned Meghan a VHS recording of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s 1981 wedding. It is also rumoured that she and a handful of friends watched the entirety of the Princess’ 1997 funeral and cried. There is no way they could’ve missed 12-year-old Prince Harry walking behind his mother’s casket with his brother, grandfather, father, and uncle.
It was one of the most tragic images of the late 90s to see the two young princes mourning their mother and coping with the aftermath. While Prince William came out the other side unscathed, Prince Harry did not. A few short years after Diana’s death, Harry caught up in a drug scandal. The Guardian released two stories in 2002 and 2003 about this.
The story published in October 2003, about 18 months after the January 2002 article, mentions an exposé written by the now-defunct News of the World, which was notorious for phone-tapping the royals, mainly Harry, William and Catherine.
Circling back to Meghan, she is media-obsessed; mad props to The Royal Grift for calling this out. Tom Bower, the investigative journalist who wrote Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between The Windsors, mentions in his book that Markle told her agent, Gina Nelthorpe-Cowne, that when she got the first date with Harry that she had thoroughly researched him. Moreover, she knew his sticking points, meaning the death of his mother and his drug and alcohol abuse as a teenager, would’ve been weapons in her arsenal.
While it is unclear whether she would use his drug and alcohol abuse against him, Meghan has used the Diana card several times. These include:
- Dressing like Diana.
- Meghan used Diana’s favourite perfume on her first date with Harry.
- The usage of Diana’s narrative or her experiences as a royal.
- Using Diana’s mannerisms.
- The constant use of Diana’s jewellery.
- Using Diana’s death as a crutch and a threat to get security.
What does this have to do with Catherine, the Princess of Wales? She has everything Meghan doesn’t. Kate has the title that Markle always wanted. Multiple people have said that Meghan sees herself as Diana reincarnated. Even the Spencer family couldn’t see their late sister in their nephew’s girlfriend. How Harry managed to keep at least Lady Sarah and Baroness Jane in their inner circle is anyone’s guess.
In Meghan’s mind being a Duchess made her an unstoppable force of change within the monarchy. It didn’t. Despite sharing an identical title to Catherine and Camilla at the time, they were not equals. None of them was.
As Charles’ wife, Camilla had a higher standing than Catherine and Meghan. She was the Duchess of Cornwall and, by extension, the Princess of Wales because Charles was the Prince of Wales when Markle came on the scene. However, she never used the title because of its historical connection to her predecessor.
After Camilla became Queen Consort, Catherine took the title of Princess of Wales. Meghan remained the Duchess of Sussex. Anyone who understands how any hierarchy works is that no one is ever equal. That’s just how it works. Look at how a beehive works. The Queen is the one who gives birth to the worker bees, and they work for her. There is no one above her. Every monarchy on the face of the Earth works the same way.
When Catherine becomes Queen Consort, Meghan, if she and Harry are still together, will remain as the Duchess of Sussex. There are no two ways about it. She won’t be bumped up to a new title. The Wales children will have to wait and see if their father gives them new titles. George will eventually become The Prince of Wales, and his future wife will be the Princess of Wales. Eventually, Princess Charlotte will be Princess Royal. However, there has been speculation that her grandfather will give her the title of Duchess of Edinburgh.
Moreover, we believe Charles will keep the promise to Prince Edward and Sophie. It is said that Her Late Majesty The Queen wanted her youngest son to have the title given to Prince Philip by King George VI when they married. It makes sense since Prince Andrew got the Dukedom of York, which King George VI had before he became King. The Queen was born into the same position Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were; as a princess of York. However, the rule allegedly stated that Edward could only have the title after The Queen and Prince Philip passed.
Returning to the Duchess and Princess battle, Catherine wins every time. She has the grace and the dignity that Meghan never had. She can claim she respects the top of the food chain to appease the press, but she doesn’t deep down.
In conclusion, Catherine had to earn her place. Meghan had everything handed to her to appease Harry to prevent any form of a fight and false allegations of racism and bigotry. A curtsey doesn’t show loyalty. Not bad-mouthing your entire family on international television is a show of devotion.
