Expert Says Meghan Markle’s One Move Was the Ultimate Betrayal of the Queen: ‘She’d Have...’
Post Queen Elizabeth's death, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries showed the pair criticizing one of her deeply cherished legacies.
The late Queen Elizabeth II appointed Meghan Markle as the vice president of the Commonwealth Trust in March 2019. But following her highly publicized exit from the royal family, Markle stepped down from the Trust in 2020. Commenting on the same, royal expert Richard Eden believes that the late Queen, who died in September 2022, would've been ‘horrified’ when the couple criticized the institution in their Netflix docuseries, released just 2 months later in December.
Eden believed that the Queen had dedicated her whole life to the Commonwealth and worked hard to unite people. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said, “It’s almost lucky that Queen Elizabeth isn’t alive to see this because the Commonwealth was so central to her and bringing people together…whereas [in the documentary], it’s dismissed as this colonial body used for Britain to extract money and resources from the rest of the world. She would have been horrified.” Journalist Dan Wootton echoed Eden and penned on X (formerly Twitter), “The only mercy in the late Queen's death is she didn't have to watch Harry and Meghan using Netflix to trash her beloved Commonwealth to millions around the world as the Empire 2.0.”
As reported by the Daily Mail, the most damaging claim on Harry and Meghan was by academic Afua Hirsch, who called the Commonwealth an 'Empire 2.0'. Hirsch said in the docu-series, “The Commonwealth is still described as a club of friends who share common values. I find that language really problematic.” Author Kehinde Andrews also opined that 'nothing has changed' from the UK's colonial past, apart from the royal family's 'better PR'. This would not have sat well with the Queen, who made more than 200 visits to Commonwealth countries during her 70-year reign.
During her time as vice president, Markle famously claimed that her work would "highlight the trust’s partnerships with young people across the Commonwealth, and in particular its work supporting women and girls." The Duchess of Sussex was also reported to have worn a veil featuring embroidered flowers from the Commonwealth nations during her 2018 wedding to Harry. In light of the same, Daily Mail’s royal editor, Rebecca English, also slammed, “A lot of people I've spoken to found this particularly offensive when it comes to Harry and his much-loved grandmother and see it really as a direct attack on her and her legacy.”
Meghan Markle's STUNNING veil featured embroidered flowers of the United Kingdom's 53 Commonwealth nations as well as the state flower of California! https://t.co/3PxumgQUxE #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/TwrXI9l4O4
— Good Morning America (@GMA) May 21, 2018
Royal historian Hugo Vickers went so far as to claim that Markle’s betraying comments about her treatment in the royal fold exacerbated the Queen's already declining health. Speaking on The Sun's Royal Exclusive show, he argued, “I don't think it was the press; she succeeded in evading that very, very quickly. What I find unforgivable is the stress she put on the late Queen in the last couple of years of her life.” The Duchess and the late monarch had reportedly not mended their relationship before the latter passed away in Balmoral.
