Meghan Markle and Harry: Experts discuss relationship with Queen

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The Duchess of Sussex has complained bitterly about the intense media scrutiny she was subjected to as a member of the Royal Family. Meghan also found the constraints imposed on her by Royal protocols frustrating. She said she didn’t want to become a voiceless figurehead; but when she raised her voice, she was often criticised for it.

In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Royal historian and author Alison Weir claimed that most of the Meghan’s complaints were unfounded.

She said: “But when you read about her complaints about how she was treated, I’m sorry, I’m a Royalty watcher, I am a Royal historian of all periods.

“I have not seen any of what she has complained about in the media.”

Ms Weir claimed that the Duchess of Sussex has exaggerated her problems and should have understood that a life of privilege comes at a cost.

She explained: “She has married into a life of huge privilege – you have to give up something for that. How much higher could she have aspired?

“There’s a price to be paid – that’s the loss of your privacy and certain constraints are placed upon you that there’s nothing you can do about it.

“But that’s the way it is.”

The Royal historian, whose new book “Katherine Parr” is out in May, drew parallels between Meghan and Wallis Simpson, the American divorcée who married Edward VIII.

She argued that both were ill-prepared for life in the Royal Family and refused to make the necessary compromises to fit in.

“Neither of them had any understanding of what it would entail to be married into the Royal Family or what the institution means,” Ms Weir said.

“Meghan clearly didn’t want to give up her political voice but she has to do if she is a member of the Royal Family.”

Ms Weir felt that Meghan’s need for attention was possibly the real reason for her unhappiness.

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The author suggested: “Maybe she didn’t like being upstaged; not being the first person – one who had been the instant centre of attention having been an actress.”

The Duchess of Sussex publicly revealed her unhappiness as a Royal in a candid interview with ITN journalist Tom Bradby in October 2019, while on an official tour to South Africa.

She told the broadcaster about the impact that the intense public scrutiny had on her “physical and mental health”.

In January 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they would be standing down as working Royals and have since moved to California to start a fresh chapter in their lives.

They have signed multimillion dollar deals with streaming giants Netflix and Spotify, as they seek to make good on their wish to lead financially independent lives from the Royal Family.

Daily Mirror columnist Darren Lewis claims that critics of the Duke and Duchess are blinded by old fashioned ideas of duty and are out of touch with modern notions of royalty, held by younger generations.

Arguing that Harry and Meghan are overwhelmingly supported by young people, he wrote: “As the metaphorical battle lines take shape you have the older heads on one side, ensconced in the archaic idea of duty which is simply another word for control.

“They are the critics who see being a Royal as turning up when the Buckingham Palace roster demands it with your wife keeping schtum.

“On the other side are your kids, your grandkids. Generation Z who see the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as being completely on their wavelength.”

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