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Since marrying Prince Harry last year, Meghan Markle’s every move has been heavily scrutinised by the media.
The media attention only worsened since the Duchess of Sussex gave birth to Archie in May, leaving Markle to endure negative criticism while dealing with the vulnerabilities that come with being a first time mum.
Watch: Baby Archie meets Desmond Tutu during Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s South African tour. Post continues after video.
In a raw and honest interview for an ITV documentary, Meghan addressed the intense media focus on her life and admitted for the first time that she’s struggling to cope behind the scenes.
“Look, any woman – especially when they are pregnant – you’re really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging, and then when you have a newborn – you know?” she told reporter Tom Bradby as she held back tears.
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The Quicky
Top Comments
Never thought she was much of an actress.....until now.
Some of comments here are shameful. So because she chose to marry Harry, has money and/or wants to do things in a way that suits her family, she somehow deserves the treatment she gets? There’s others that have it worse so her suffering means nothing and she should shut up? She must be acting? She has no right to speak out? She has help so she has no right to say she’s not coping? If Meghan was male, we wouldn’t even be discussing this and that says it all.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, hateful words lead you directly to the insecurities of the speaker. If you have written hateful words here, let this be your opportunity to examine what you’ve said and let it help you deal with whatever insecurity it has exposed. We are all worthy human beings no matter where we come from, our skin colour, age, job, sexual status, friends, family, mental health or wealth. Our words and actions are a choice. Don’t let them hurt others. It won’t make you feel better about yourself, it will only lead to more insecurity. Learn to love yourself and others will appear a lot less threatening.
Why are the comments shameful? Harry and Meghan suposedly made a documentary about their African tour which was very successful and in turning around their battered reputations. So what do they do? Attacked the same press who gave very positive coverage of their tour, and instead of focusing on their charities during the doco, turned it into a vehicle where they were somehow victims of the public's ingratitude. Cynicism about the royal family (and Meghan) is not insecurity and people have every right to express an opinion about them. It is called a democracy.
Yeah, she chose to marry Harry, which also means choosing to accept a role and a duty for life - it's a very well-understood and documented millstone of marrying into royalty. It's widely believed that Harry's previous partners decided they couldn't marry into that life, so they opted to leave the relationship. However, Meghan put her hand up for the job, and ever since, has been trying to make the job and the role adapt to her, rather than the other way around. When she is criticised for doing so (and who wouldn't criticise a new employee who did the same in any other position?), she cries about how people don't care about how she feels.
It's complete psychobabble to suggest that if someone says something negative, then it's a reflection of their own insecurities. Take, for instance, when we criticise - often in strong words - our politicians when we perceive them to be misrepresenting our country or doing a poor job in running it. Do we all assume that is because we are all deeply insecure or unhappy? Or do we assume that the politicians are actually missing the mark and therefore worthy of negative feedback?
Same applies here. Harry and Meghan are servants of the public, funded by the public, and representatives of a centuries-old, revered institution. They are not above reproach or criticism. When people say negative things about the way they are doing their job - the job they are charged by duty to perform - it is not accurate to suggest it is automatically "trolling" or "racist" or "sexist" or "hateful", nor to assume those thoughts are motivated by the speaker's insecurities or personal unhappiness.