Meghan Markle: Expert on Buckingham Palace ‘criticism’
The “Megxit” saga was reignited this month when Meghan described Buckingham Palace as having “dictated” the details of her and Prince Harry’s first son’s birth certificate. The former Hollywood actress said the Palace had forced her to remove her given first name “Rachel Meghan” a month after Archie was born, in June 2019. According to reports, Meghan was offended by the institution’s assumption that she wanted to be “nameless” on her own child’s birth certificate.
It has opened up an already festering wound between Meghan, Harry and the royal establishment in the UK.
More than a year has passed since the pair left for North America, first settling down in Canada before later moving to Los Angeles.
They departed after announcing via an Instagram post their intentions to carve out a “progressive role” outside of the Firm.
Many saw this as the ultimate snub to the monarchy, with reports suggesting it effectively criticised the Queen and the family for being “archaic”.
Meghan Markle: The Duchess was said to have given the Queen an ‘unbelievable ultimatum’ (Image: GETTY)
Megxit: The pair pictured at the Canadian Embassy shortly before their departure (Image: GETTY)
It was a sentiment Arthur Edwards, a royal photographer, agreed with.
Speaking during the documentary ‘Harry & Meghan: The Next Step’, he said Meghan, in particular, had broadcast her ultimatum to the Queen in the public arena.
Mr Edwards said: “A senior member of the Royal Family deciding to quit and go and live abroad is pretty serious.
“A few years ago, Meghan Markle was working on a show called Deal or No Deal.
“Today, she’s doing a deal or no deal with the Queen of England through a speakerphone.”
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Arthur Edwards: The royal photographer said Meghan broadcast the ultimatum via a ‘megaphone’ (Image: Amazon Prime)
Despite leaving the frontline of the Royal Family, the couple initially appeared to try to hold on to their titles.
Shortly after announcing their plans to build personal brands, a new website appeared.
SussxeRoyal.com was “months in the making” according to one royal source, and pushed Meghan and Harry’s newfound freedom as arbiters of the royal brand outside the Royal Family.
Many pushed back against the move, including royal reporter Robert Hardman.
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Royal wedding: The pair will have been married for three years in May (Image: GETTY)
Robert Hardman: The royal reporter said the pair wanted ‘to have their cake and eat it’ (Image: Amazon Prime)
Appearing on the documentary, he claimed it proved the couple “wanted to have their cake and eat it”.
He said: “Look, they’re clearly very unhappy with the royal existence that they have at the moment and the way that their public life impinges on them.
“It’s something they clearly want to change and many people will have sympathy with that – it’s understandable.
Royal romance: The pair met on a blind date in 2016 arranged by a mutual friend (Image: Express Newspapers)
“The crux of the matter is you can’t be half-royal – you can be part of the royal machine, you can accept the privileges that go with it but also take the restrictions.
“And you live in a sort of bubble, or you can stand back – the next generation of Dukes of Kent, Dukes of Gloucester, they’re private citizens, no one would recognise them in the street.
“You can go down that route if you want.
“What you can’t do is to be a sort of Trans-Atlantic royal who drops in, does a bit of royal stuff, but then goes off to do this sort of financial independence stuff in LA or Toronto or wherever it is.”
The Firm: The pair have visited the UK since their departure just a handful of times (Image: GETTY)
He added: “As the Prime Minister would say, his famous dictum about pro-cake and pro-eating – I mean that point has been made.”
Palace staff have since been reported as being in “tears of frustration” over their behaviour.
This was especially true of previous controversy surrounding Archie.
According to The Mirror, Meghan and Harry urged all details of the birth to be kept secret right until the last minute, significantly breaking with royal protocol.
