When Meghan Markle joined the royal family, she thought it would be “sparkly and fun,” like being a Disney princess, according to royal experts.
“Meghan obviously met her prince, and I imagine she did feel that being a princess would be something sparkly and fun, but Meghan is very much somebody who likes to center stage,” British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard tells Fox News Digital, adding, “She just wants to do things that she wants to do. And life as a working royal isn’t all sparkly.”
Former royal butler Grant Harrold, who worked for King Charles from 2004 until 2011 and recently released his book “The Royal Butler,” told the New York Post this week that Markle once wanted to host her friends for lunch on a day when she was supposed to carry out a royal duty while she was still a senior royal.
“She would rather have lunch with her friends, thinking that was fine and it wasn’t,” Harrold told the Post, adding that the schedule for royals is set six months in advance.
When Meghan Markle joined the royal family, she thought being a princess would be “sparkly and fun” like being a Disney princess, according to royal experts. (Toby Melville/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“I think the problem with Meghan is that she went into the organization and she assumed that after watching all the Disney princesses, that she thought it was going to be like that,” he said. “When you join the royal family, you are given rules and protocols to follow.”
Chard tells Fox News Digital that although Prince Harry certainly must have talked with Markle about the “trials and tribulations of being a princess” before they were married, she was still looking for a “fantasy.”
“So it’s a tricky one, and Prince Harry will have spoken to her, and she would have done research as well,” Chard says. “It’s just she realizes it wasn’t something that she wanted. And then they jumped ship and ran off into the bright lights.”
After marrying in 2018, Harry and Markle stepped down as senior royals in 2020, leaving England for California.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry with Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2018 shortly after their marriage. (John Stillwell – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Royals expert Hilary Fordwich tells Fox News Digital that Markle was mesmerized by the “glamour, glitz, publicity and glory” of royal life, without realizing “the monarchy is more about dedication to duty and serving. She wanted all of the glory and fame, but none of the daily drudgery of dedication to duty royalty involved.”
On Wednesday, Harry reunited with Charles for the first time in over a year.
“King Charles loves his darling boy, Prince Harry,” Chard tells Fox News Digital.
But she noted that Prince William “doesn’t trust” Harry.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at Trooping the Colour in 2019. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
“There are consequences for his behavior, and there’s an awful lot of drama always surrounding him,” she says.
“There’s a lot of upset. There’s a lot of throwing [the royal family] under the bridge or under the train, but there doesn’t seem to be an awful lot of apologies coming from Prince Harry, and it makes it very hard,” Chard continues. “Sadly, I do think time is a healer in anything, and in time, I’m sure things will change. Maybe Harry’s feeling sorry. I think he could try harder.”
