Meghan Markle was ‘uneasy and uncomfortable playing second fiddle’ to Kate and ‘felt she had more right to speak’
MEGHAN Markle was reportedly “uneasy and uncomfortable playing second fiddle” to Kate and “felt she had more right to speak”.
New claims about the Duchess of Sussex and her struggles with her brother- and sister-in-law William and Kate have been made.
Tensions between Meghan and Kate are said to have come to the fore at a mental health awareness event in 2018 hosted by what was then dubbed the “Fab Four”, the two royal couples.
Former Suits actress Meghan is said by an insider to have felt she had “more right to speak” than Kate, seeing herself as self-made with a previous career in her own right as a philantropist.
She was also allegedly resentful of Kate and her parents Michael and Carole Middleton, believing they received superior treatment.
Meghan reportedly feels she and husband Prince Harry were sidelined in favour of William and Kate, who are now the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The duchess saw herself as “a self-made woman whereas Kate hadn’t really had her own career”, a royal insider was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.
The source said: “She seemed to feel like she had more of a right to speak than her sister-in-law, who had married into the family as an unknown whereas Meghan regarded herself as a philanthropist who could teach the royals a thing or two about charity.
“I think she found it difficult that the Royal Foundation was already a well oiled machine by the time she got there.”
The Royal Foundation Foundation Forum event in February 2018 saw William, Kate, Harry and Meghan discuss mental health.
Their foundation had officially backed the previous year’s London Marathon, promoting mental health awareness.
But others were reportedly taken aback by Meghan using the February 2018 event to add women’s empowerment to the theme discussed.
The two women’s reactions to each other that day have been described as “awkward” and “frosty”.
The new Telegraph report also suggests the pair struggled to get on, and that Meghan suspected Kate’s parents got better treatment.
She reportedly thought – wrongly – they used the Windsor Suite VIP lounge when travelling through Heathrow airport.
There were also said to be tensions over accommodation – with William and Kate living at Kensington Palace’s Apartment 1A while Harry and Meghan were in the more modest Nottingham Cottage.
William and Kate had previously occupied the same cottage for two years after their marriage in 2011.
The latest claims come amid controversy over a new book by Omid Scobie – who has been described as “Meghan’s Cheerleader”.
Both Kate and King Charles were embroiled in a “royal racist” furore following the publication of Scobie’s new tome Endgame.
He has suggested two royal household members asked about the potential colour of Meghan’s unborn son Archie’s skin when she was pregnant.
The Sussexes first mentioned this being raised by an unnamed family member when interviewed by Oprah Winfrey three years ago.
Endgame provides detail about letters exchanged at the time between Charles and Meghan.
But a Dutch translation of Scobie‘s book was pulped after its text named two royals in relation to the claims.
Harry has denied he and Meghan accused anyone in the royal family of “racism”, when publicising his own memoir Spare earlier this year – yet he has suggested there was “unconscious bias”.
The Sun has revealed Endgame labels William “heartless”, claiming he denied Harry the opportunity of flying to the late Queen Elizabeth II‘s deathbed in September last year.
Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan have been left off the guestlist for his childhood friend the Duke of Westminster‘s wedding – yet William and Kate will attend the ceremony.
And a Conservative MP has launched a bid for a new law stripping the Sussexes of their royal titles.