BREAKING NEWS: Meghan Markle at 45 – she needs to stop her bizarre attempt to prove she’s a royal
Meghan Markle continues to anchor herself to an institution that she has spent years publicly attacking, ridiculing and condemning as rigid, racist and unfeeling.
Meghan Markle is celebrating her 45th birthday today (Image: CYRIL ZINGARO/EPA/Shutterstock)
Whenever you think Meghan Markle has learned her lesson and is above the petty mud-slinging at the Royal Family, she’s quick to prove you wrong. As the Duchess of Sussex (as she is still technically known despite working as a royal for just over two years before deciding she had had enough) turns 45 today, it’s a pity we can’t write about how she’s made a new life for herself with her family away from the royal fold, having let go of her resentment of an institution she chose to marry into.
No one believes that she didn’t know anything about Prince Harry or who his family were before they started dating, and no one is sympathising as she continues to play the violin about how horrible she was treated when she was a senior royal.
Despite packing their bags and leaving for the US over five years ago, Meghan continues to hurl attacks at the Royal Family – even if they’ve now become more subtle.
Last month, I thought she was wise not to join her husband for the Invictus Games One-Year-To-Go celebrations; even if it meant she wasn’t supporting him after he’d just suffered a huge defeat in the High Court. Her decision meant the focus remained on Harry and the injured veterans, rather than on the drama that always comes with a joint visit.
She then flew in and out of the UK completely under the radar, leaving many sceptics to question whether Meghan and the children were here at all. The whirlwind trip suggested she was willing to let go and not be part of the story.
All that changed, however, when she decided to share some snaps from the family’s ‘Summer Holiday’ to her 4.7 million Instagram followers. Featured within the carousel of images was a picture of Harry and their two children carrying flowers as they walked through the grounds of Althorp House.
Sharing the snap was clearly calculated to show the world that the Sussex family had visited the grave of Diana, Princess of Wales, during their trip. Meghan knew exactly what she was doing by making this private picture public. She hoped to remind the world that her family remains inextricably connected to the Royal Family.
Meghan Markle shared a family photograph taken at Althorp House. (Image: Meghan/Instagram)
Meghan could pin her identity on anything. Her semi-successful acting career after Netflix legal drama Suits shot to fame, her attempt at being an entrepreneur through her lifestyle business, As Ever, or her half-hearted quest to make the world a safer place for her children.
Instead, she continues to anchor herself to an institution that she has spent years publicly attacking, ridiculing and condemning as rigid, racist and unfeeling.
Her Instagram handle is Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Her kids have royal titles despite their youngest child, aged five, having met the King just twice, being born in the US and growing up on the other side of the world from her royal relatives.
And during her guest appearance on MasterChef Australia, the contestants created a dish “fit for a duchess” – putting her royal title front and centre despite Meghan’s insistence she should just be called “Meghan”.
Then she spent most of the episode talking about her children and her husband, who just happened to FaceTime her during filming.
Meghan Markle’s identity is wrapped up with her husband’s. (Image: Getty Images)
It’s clear that Meghan’s famous royal husband is something she clings to and pushes to further her own career. But when will she realise that the public has grown tired of hearing about how she married a prince, and just try and forge a path that’s not all about her husband?
Before that infamous first date at Soho House, Meghan had an identity of her own and a clear path for her future. Now, her messaging and trajectory are confused, muddled and chaotic.
Meghan will no doubt share her birthday antics on Instagram later today, showing off her happy, carefree Montecito life after being freed from the shackles of the Royal Family.
But as she blows the candles out and makes a wish for the future, perhaps she should finally learn to let go of her grievances and focus on what’s right in front of her: her family and making a success out of her business after so many failures.
