The Royal Family Tried to Overshadow Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on Their 3rd Wedding Anniversary
Yesterday, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry celebrated their third wedding anniversary. The British royal family—including Harry's own brother, father, and grandmother—marked it by saying nothing to them publicly—and trying to overshadow the Duke and Duchess of Sussex by dominating the news cycle with their own announcements.
The royals created four big headline stories yesterday: Harry's cousin Princess Beatrice announced her first pregnancy; his sister-in-law Kate Middleton did a highly-publicized event at the Victoria and Albert museum; Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall continued their two-day tour of Northern Ireland; and the Palace announced Kate and Prince William will be doing a tour of Scotland to royal reporters. That's a lot of royal news for a family that tends to space out events and announcements so every member can have their moment and press coverage.
Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a baby in autumn of this year.
The Queen has been informed and both families are delighted with the news.
?? The couple on their wedding day in July 2020. pic.twitter.com/oCHZLBa8oT— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 19, 2021
The Prince and The Duchess have begun Day 2 of #RoyalVisitNI!
At Bangor Market in County Down, Their Royal Highnesses browse locally sourced produce including a range of organic goods, such as fresh local fruit and vegetables, fish, home-baked cakes, seasonal plants and shrubs. pic.twitter.com/BD22NIUISw— The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) May 19, 2021
Kensington Palace has just announced a week of engagements for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Scotland from Friday as part of William’s appointment as Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland. He will be joined by Kate from Monday.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) May 19, 2021
Harry and Meghan did share news on their anniversary that had to compete for public attention against all that: They announced on Archewell that they and World Central Kitchen are building a community relief center in India to help the country cope with its devastating coronavirus outbreak.
The royal family's social media was very active yesterday too, making their decision to ignore Meghan and Harry's anniversary all the more clear.
Usually on big days—birthdays and wedding anniversaries—the royal family will do tribute posts on their Instagrams. There's three big accounts: the Royal Family Instagram, which represents the Queen and the royal family members generally; Clarence House, which represents Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Instagram, Kate and William's account.
Clarence House and the Cambridges' Instagrams have never posted about Meghan and Harry's anniversary on their account, although they have always recognized Meghan, Harry, and Archie's birthdays with grid posts.
But the Royal Family account did do an anniversary post for Meghan and Harry...in 2019, before the couple stepped back from their senior royal family roles in January 2020.
The Royal Family Instagram was active on May 19, the Sussexes' anniversary, for this year and last year though. In 2020, the Royal Family posted about the Queen's garden party tradition, on hold due to COVID:
This year, the Royal Family posted about Beatrice's pregnancy announcement and Charles' tour, two of the four major news stories shared by the royals that day:
Compare this to their treatment of Kate and William's 10-year wedding anniversary last month. The Royal Family Instagram dedicated a post to celebrating it. It was a milestone, yes, and the Royal Family IG does not post about the Cambridges' anniversary every year. But still, it's hard not to see how differently the Palace treats the Cambridges versus the Sussexes now.
All this comes after Harry and Meghan's big Oprah interview this year shed light on how the royal family's treatment of them led them to choose to step down from their senior royal family roles and literally leave the country, moving to California where the couple has more privacy. While Harry and Meghan spoke warmly about the Queen and their relationship, their remarks about Charles, William, and the royal family staff were not as rosy.
Among their biggest bombshell claims was that a member of the royal family (not the Queen or the late Prince Philip) had concerns that their then-unborn son Archie's skin would be too dark, Meghan revealing that the institution refused to let her seek treatment when she struggled with suicidal ideation, and Harry's statement that the family has an “invisible contract” with the British tabloids and are scared of them. Harry also said that Charles stopped taking his phone calls at one point and cut him off financially. Notably, Harry told Oprah point blank that he believes his father and brother are “trapped” in the institution.
Harry traveled to the UK last month for Philip's funeral, where he reunited with his father and brother for the first time since the Oprah interview aired, and the coronavirus pandemic forced most of the world into quarantine for the last year.
A source told Harper's Bazaar's Omid Scobie that their strained relationships weren't repaired on that trip: “This trip was to honor the life of his grandfather and support his grandmother and relatives. It was very much a family-focused period of time. Saturday broke the ice for future conversations but outstanding issues have not been addressed at any great length. The family simply put their issues to one side to focus on what mattered.”
Harry also made headlines last week for speaking candidly to Dax Shepard about how he didn't want to be a royal in his 20s on Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast—another blow, seemingly, to an institution that tries to present itself as awe-inspiring and aspirational. Harry was candid throughout the podcast about the mental health struggles being in the institution caused him. Harry said notably:
In my early 20s, I was a case of just, “I don’t want this job. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be doing this. Look what it did to my mum. How am I ever going to settle down and have a wife and a family when I know that it is going to happen again? Because I know—I’ve seen behind the curtain. I’ve seen the business model. I know how this operation runs and how it works. I don’t want to be part of this.” And then once I started doing therapy, suddenly it was like the bubble was burst. I plucked my head out of the sand and gave it a good shake off. And I was like, “Okay, you’re in this position of privilege. Stop complaining. Stop thinking you want something different. Make this different because you can’t get out. So how are you going to do this differently? How are you going to make your mum proud? How are you going to use this platform to really affect change and be able to give people that confidence to be able to change their own lives?” It was interesting because well, when I am looking back now—of course, at the time, the lack of awareness, now looking back at it, helping other people helped me.
The royal family has not responded to those remarks. Two days after Meghan and Harry's Oprah interview aired, the Palace released a very terse statement on behalf of the Queen about all they said—and didn't really address any of the most disconcerting claims publicly.
The statement read: “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Meghan and Harry. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan, and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
You Might Also Like
