MEGHAN Markle thought married life with Prince Harry would be that of a Disney Princess – rather than dutiful royal, claimed an expert.
Royal author Mark Borkowski told The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show the Duchess of Sussex didn’t get the “tiaras and ballrooms” she’d bargained for.
A famous snap of the duchess sitting on a railing outside Buckingham Palace as 15-year-old showed how her life transformed from a dreamy tourist to real-life royalty.
Meg went on to tie the knot with Harry on May 19, 2018, in front of 600 star studded guests at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
It’s estimated that the occasion cost £32million – covering everything from the cost of security and catering to Meghan’s stunning dress.
Watching on was an A-list crowd including the Clooneys, the Beckhams and Elton John – who performed at the lunchtime’s reception.
But royal expert Borkoski claimed the Duchess of Sussex, 43, got more than she bargained for.
He told The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson: “If you look back there was so much positivity, they were called the fab four with Kate and William, but it stems from no matter what you think the duties are, there is a pecking order in the royal family.
“They’re not in line for that top job, Meghan saw it as more Disney Princess than dutiful royal.
“It isn’t tiaras and ballrooms and celebrities and big state openings.
“It’s opening a civic centre on a cold wet Saturday afternoon in Kettering.
“It’s a job and I think that was the first thing that came apart.”
Harry and Meghan shocked the world when they announced they were stepping back as working senior royals in 2020.
The couple left Britain, their move dubbed Megxit, and jetted to California where they now live in a Montecito mansion with their two children, Archie, five, and Lilibet, three.
The couple said they would be “financially independent” as they “carve out a progressive new role”, but would still support the Queen.
At the time, reports claimed the late Queen Elizabeth II was “deeply upset” while King Charles and Prince William were “incandescent with rage”.
It is understood they wanted to act as ‘semi-working’ royals, but this did not turn out as planned.
Megxit timeline
- November 2016 – Harry formally reveals he is in a relationship with Suits actress Meghan Markle.
- September 2017 – Meghan tells Vanity Fair the couple are in love and happy together.
- September 2017 – The couple make their first public appearance together holding hands at the Invictus Games in Toronto.
- November 2017 – Prince Charles issues a statement revealing Harry and Meghan are engaged.
- May 2018 – Harry and Meghan tie the knot, becoming Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
- October 2018 – The couple announce they are expecting their first child while on their first overseas tour in Australia.
- March 2019 – Harry and Meghan set up their own household, splitting their joint operation with Prince William and Kate.
- May 2019 – Meghan gives birth to a baby boy named Archie.
- October 2019 – Harry reveals his rift with his brother William in a bombshell documentary.
- January 2020 – The couple stun the Queen by announcing plans to quit senior roles and settle in North America. After ten days of talks at Sandringham, it’s agreed the couple will no longer be working royals and will give up their “Royal Highness” titles.
- March 2020 – Harry and Meghan carry out their last official engagement and move to California.
- September 2020 – Netflix announces a huge deal with the couple.
- February 2021 – Buckingham Palace announces the couple’s split as working members of the monarchy is permanent and they will lose their royal patronages.
- March 2021 – The palace says it is “very concerned” about allegations of bullying made by former staff of Harry and Meghan, launching a probe.
- March 2021 – Meghan tells Oprah Winfrey Archie wasn’t made a prince after “concerns and conversations” about “how dark” his skin would be when he was born. She claims Kate “hurt her feelings” and made her cry before her wedding. Harry says Charles has stopped taking his calls and he has been “cut off” financially.
- January 2023 – Harry publishes his tell-all memoir Spare, launching scathing attacks on William, Kate and Camilla. He says he and William once got into a physical fight over Meghan.
- April 2023 – Harry has a “heart-to-heart” talk with his dad before agreeing to come to the Coronation in London.
- September 2023 – Harry rejects an offer to spend the anniversary of the Queen’s death at Balmoral with his father.
- February 2024 – Prince Harry flies to the UK to be with his father as royal experts claim their four-year rift could be put aside. They meet for half an hour before Harry flies home. He does not meet William
Harry even spoke about Meghan’s shock when joining the royal family, on a podcast in the US after their departure.
He told the Armchair Expert podcast: “My wife had the most amazing explanation.
“‘You don’t need to be a princess, you can create the life that will be better than any princess.’ It’s something like that.
“And that’s coming from her own lived experience.
“We got together and she was like ‘wow, this is very different to what my friends at the beginning said it would be.'”
A bitter family rift was then ignited when the Sussexes made strong allegations against the Firm to Oprah, in their 2021 sit down interview.
Meghan even compared herself to the Disney Princess Ariel during the explosive chat.
She said: “Now who as an adult really watches The Little Mermaid?
“But it came on and I was like well I’m just here all the time so I may as well watch this.
“And I went ‘Oh my God, she falls in love with a prince and because of that she has to lose her voice’.
“But by the end she gets her voice back.”
Winfrey replies: “And this is what happened here, you feel like you’ve got your voice back.”
The Sussexes also alleged that certain members of the Royal Family had speculated about Prince Archie’s skin colour.
It was later claimed the royals were Princess Kate and King Charles, after Harry and Meghan’s former pal Omid Scobie published his hatchet-job book Endgame.
During the infamous Oprah interview, the duchess also made stinging comments about the royals and how they handled her mental health struggles.
The intense feud was bolstered by accusations fired by the Sussexes in their 2022 Netflix docuseries.
Then Harry seemingly fractured all remaining ties with bombshells in his memoir Spare the following year.
Tensions may be reignited as a paperback version of the explosive book is set to hit shelves in October.
In the memoir, the duke claimed William had physically attacked him and knocked him to the floor in 2019 and made insulting comments about Meghan.
The Sussexes had also targeted Princess Kate, when Meghan claimed the royal made her cry.
The duke has also given subsequent interviews that only propelled bad blood.
He told ITV broadcaster Tom Bradby, while promoting his book: “I would like to get my father back, I would like to have my brother back,” but “they’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile”.
Meanwhile, in a sit down CBS chat, the duke said he saw Queen Camilla as a “villain” who “left bodies in the street” in a bid to better her own reputation.
These harsh comments reportedly “crossed a red line” with King Charles.
Another ITV interview last month also saw Harry attack his family once again after he claimed their lack of support amid his UK security battle is a “central” part of their feud.
Harry and William are understood not to have spoken since the Queen’s funeral two years ago, when they “barely exchanged a word”, Harry wrote in Spare.
They were last seen together at their uncle Lord Robert Fellowes’ funeral last month – where they “kept their distance”.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes was approached for comment.
Harry and Meghan are totally unpredictable – they’ll lob anything at the royals
By Matt Wilkinson and Summer Raemason
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle are completely unpredictable and not afraid to throw anything at the Royal Family, blasted a royal expert.
Victoria Murphy alleged the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, could pose the “biggest crisis facing the royal family in the next 10 years”.
The royal expert spoke to The Sun’s Royal Editor Matt Wilkinson on the Royal Exclusive show.
She spoke about shock waves that rippled across the globe after Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping down as senior working royals in 2020.
It came just two years after the celebration of their wedding at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in 2018.
Subsequent bombshells exposed in their 2021 Oprah interview, the couple’s tell-all Netflix documentary in 2022 and Harry’s sensational memoir Spare the following year, all lobbed serious claims at the Firm.
Looking ahead, the Sussexes have been dubbed “unpredictable” by several royal experts.
Ms Murphy told The Sun: “I would never have seen that happening when they were first engaged.
“When Harry would say things, for example when they issued the statement at the end of their South Africa tour, that was a huge deal because they were speaking in really strong terms about how they felt.
“At the time that was big because we hadn’t heard that insight.
“But when you look into everything now, for instance in the books, I would never ever have predicted that.”
When asked what could be the biggest thing to rock the Royal Family in the future, the royal expert added: “So I think it will be something completely unpredictable.”
