Upon first entering the royal sphere, Meghan and the rest of Harry’s family seemed to be getting along swimmingly. That included not only her relationship with Queen Elizabeth II and Kate Middleton but also Camilla, who was another family member she grew very close to.
Meghan Markle & Queen Camilla
Of course, Meghan and Camilla had one major thing in common: both had married into the Royal Family. Reports suggested that because of this, they had an unspoken agreement to show respect to one another.
Camilla did her best to help Meghan adjust to royal life. Shortly before her wedding to Harry, Camilla invited Meghan to a private lunch and shared how she was treated by the press in the wake of Princess Diana’s death and how she coped with the pressure.
According to the Daily Mail, Camilla advised Meghan to focus on the positive sides of her role within the Royal Family and “ride out the storm if negative press would occur.”
Charles was said to have offered similar advice to Harry.
However, Meghan appeared to feel differently. In an ITV documentary, she claimed people didn’t care about her well-being, saying: “Not many people have asked if I’m OK.”
“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 told the Daily Mail. “She listened to her and understood that it’s really difficult joining the Royal Family from an otherwise ‘normal’ life.”
“Meghan didn’t listen”
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.”
Meanwhile, a palace aid told the Mail that Camilla understood what it was like for one to come from a “normal life” before suddenly finding themselves in the world’s loftiest, most famous Royal Family on Earth.
“As a consequence, she tries very hard to make people welcome and help them find their feet, and has done so for many years,” the palace source said.
“Her consciously offering to mentor and guide is something that she really does try and do. That applies to many people, not just the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex.”
Meanwhile, in 2017, with a media storm surrounding Meghan Markle in full throttle, Harry spoke with his father, pressuring him to fight the British tabloid papers.
“Meg, meanwhile, reached out to Camilla, who tried to counsel her by saying this was just what the press always did to newcomers, that it would all pass in due time, that Camilla had been the bad guy once,” Harry wrote in Spare.
“The implication being what? Now it was Meg’s turn? As if it were apples to apples.”
Queen Camilla suggested that Prince Harry & Meghan Markle should leave the UK
Meghan appeared to have a good relationship with Camilla at the time, but whether or not the feeling was mutual is another matter. According to Harry, his stepmother suggested that he should be announced as the governor of a faraway place, which didn’t evoke a positive reaction.
“Camilla also suggested to Meg that I become Governor General of Bermuda, which would solve all our problems by removing us from the red-hot center of the maelstrom,” Harry wrote in his memoir.
“Right, right, I thought, and one added bonus of that plan would be to get us out of the picture.”
It’s still unknown why Camilla would suggest such a thing. As of today, we know that the Sussexes and the royals had quite different opinions about what royal life should be like and what was acceptable.
One thing that is clear, though, is that Harry seeking governorship in another part of the Commonwealth wouldn’t have been the first time a prince came close to being “moved” to another part of the world.
According to Newsweek, in the 1970s, Queen Elizabeth II was rumored to have discussed her son, then Prince Charles, becoming the governor-general of Australia. However, as he wasn’t married then, she scrapped the idea.
Meghan ‘stole’ Queen Camilla’s spotlight
As mentioned, Queen Camilla had a unique position when it came to understanding and empathizing with Meghan Markle, not only due to their both having been outsiders who married into the Royal Family, but also because of the negative press they had to live with.
She helped advise Meghan as Charles helped Harry. But in the end, Meghan did something that left Camilla very upset.
In 2020, Camilla was scheduled to attend the 10th Anniversary of the Women of the World festival. There, she was to deliver a speech, and it was reported that Meghan promised not to steal too much attention.
The Mirror reported that Camilla and her team had planned the event for over a year. But once there, Meghan duly stole the spotlight, which upset 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.”
Meghan was accused of stealing Camilla’s spotlight by releasing pictures of herself at the event on the same day. As per the Daily Mail, Buckingham Palace had urged royal correspondents to focus on Camilla and not Meghan, but that didn’t happen.
Queen Camilla’s ‘perfect revenge’ on Meghan Markle
Then, earlier this year, Camilla got a sort of ‘revenge’ on Meghan.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle signed a massive deal with Spotify years ago. However, the deal ended in a fiasco, as Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast was shut down, their entire Spotify deal canceled.
In the meantime, Queen Camilla is making quite the name for herself in the podcast world. In 2021, she launched a new initiative called The Duchess of Cornwall’s Reading Room, a book club about reading recommendations and more.
These days the correct name should be The Queen’s Reading Room, and on June 8, the Queen’s Reading Room Festival had a one-day event at Hampton Court Palace.
“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.”
According to Denise Palmer Davies, brand expert and director of Borne Media, 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.”
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle on ‘royal visit’ in Colombia
So, would Camilla ever publicly say something about Meghan or Harry? According to Ingrid Seward, the Queen is “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.”
Prince Harry has only met Queen Camilla a handful of times following his and Meghan’s exit from royal life. Meanwhile, Meghan has only been in her presence once, at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
No one knows whether Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will ever make amends with the Royal Family. The Sussexes have continued to frustrate them with their actions, including two trips to Nigeria and Colombia, which some have branded “royal” visits.
The royals were said to have been “furious” about Harry and Meghan’s trip to Nigeria, and one can imagine that the couple’s Colombia tour wasn’t received especially well either.
Meghan Markle, as always, donned stunning outfits during the Colombia trip. However, one particular detail appeared very interesting.
According to body language expert Darren Stanton, Meghan appeared to have taken plenty of inspiration from Queen Camilla.
There was a clear parallel between the queen and duchess’s style choices.
Meghan Markle “could be taking inspiration from Queen Camilla,” expert says
“She was wearing white and could be taking inspiration from Queen Camilla, who often opts for white during engagements,” Stanton said.
“The color white attracts positive energy and calmness, but also makes a statement. Meghan has proved she feels self-assured, competent and able to assert herself.”
We will leave it unsaid whether it was a “tribute” to Queen Camilla. However, it’s fair to say that both Meghan and the queen obviously like their white outfits.
While one body language previously claimed that Prince Harry looked to be in discomfort for some moments during the Colombia trip, Darren Stanton argued that Meghan was “at ease” when appearing at the Afro Women and Power Panel in the South American country. At the event, she, of course, also wore white.
“When we saw Meghan speaking on the panel, she came across as calm and collected while being completely authentic. It’s probably been the most honest and open display we’ve seen from Meghan for a long time. All the way through, she’s congruent with her body language and facial expressions. We’ve been exposed to a very confident side to Meghan, as she displayed no signs of hesitation or feeling tension,” the body language expert continued.
Stanton concluded: “Meghan feels at home on this stage. She’s speaking so openly. When we analyze her tone of voice, it’s steady, consistent, and low. It doesn’t change too much, telling us she’s comfortable and at ease.”
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