Meghan Markle Went From 'Most Popular Member of the Royal Family' to Being 'Booed' in the U.K.
Meghan Markle initially resembled a new era for the royal family, but in 2020, things quickly unraveled — and so did her reputation in the U.K.
According to royal reporter Saad Salman, the Suits star was "heavily involved” in the press drama, but she wasn't able to “see it from an objective point of view at all."
The commentator told an outlet that Meghan was “the most popular member” of the monarchy, noting, “We all loved her, and we took so much joy in how she was working, and how she was dealing with things, and it was kind of a breath of fresh air."
"And now that we know, behind the scenes, they weren't really feeling the same thing, it’s kind of very different, but you can kind of see the narrative constantly re-written by both sides," Salman continued.
Following their move to the U.S., the Sussexes visited the U.K. for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, and the former actress was given the cold shoulder.
“I was there for the Queen’s Jubilee and they were booed outside the cathedral, so that, if you think, only three years before that, millions of people turned out for their wedding, it was such a kind of rapid change and downfall," the royal expert stated.
“When you’re doing this on a daily basis, it makes a big difference, the casual watchers, they just saw the negative headlines, they never really saw the adoration and all the positive stuff that also came out at the same time," he added.
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In Harry & Meghan, Prince Harry painted the British press as prejudiced and alluded to being pushed out of his native nation.
"My biggest regret is not making more of a stance earlier on in the relationship with my wife in calling out the racism when I did," he said.
"History was repeating itself. My mother was chased to her death while she was in a relationship with someone that wasn't white and now look what's happened," Harry shared in reference to Princess Diana's fatal car crash. "You want to talk about history repeating itself? They're not going to stop until [Meghan] dies."
In an episode of "Archetypes," Meghan discussed how her biracial identity impacted her time in England.
"And I think for us, it's very different because we're light-skinned," Meghan told Mariah Carey. "You're not treated as a Black woman. You're not treated as a White woman. You sort of fit in between."
“If there’s any time in my life that it’s been more focused on my race, it’s only once I started dating my husband,” Meghan said. “Then I started to understand what it was like to be treated like a Black woman because up until then, I had been treated like a mixed woman and things really shifted.”
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Salman spoke to Daily Express.