OPINION: Meghan Markle’s reported refusal to do one crucial thing after returning to Britain may just seal her fate.
Meghan is reportedly not willing to ‘grovel’ for forgiveness from Princess Kate (Image: Getty)
Meghan Markle sensationally upped sticks and moved back from the US with her family at short notice last month, in a move that surprised even King Charles in its haste. Neither she nor Prince Harry have publicly commented on the reasons for their return, save for unofficial briefings about spending more time with the Royal Family.
But according to reports from unnamed insiders, which may or may not be the Sussexes’ modus operandi, Meghan has drawn the line at “groveling” for forgiveness from her sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales. Sources told Radar the duchess has agreed to be civil with Kate but “doesn’t believe reconciliation should require her to take all of the blame” and is “not prepared to grovel to anybody to be accepted back into the royal fold”.
It’s a position that seems consistent with Harry’s estranged relationship with Prince William, following his public airing of private encounters between the two brothers in his memoir Spare, including an incident in which the future king allegedly pushed the duke into a dog bowl.
The duke and duchess moved back to Britain with their children in late August (Image: Getty)
Kate didn’t escape unscathed from the Sussexes’ woe-is-me press circuit either. Once thick as thieves with Harry, she was characterised as cold and unfriendly towards his new wife, both in Spare and by Meghan herself in the infamous Oprah interview.
Perhaps Meghan and Harry’s apparently unified stubbornness shouldn’t surprise us. Part of the reason their relocation came as such a shock was their unwavering determination to project a victim narrative – of alleged racism from the Firm earlier this decade, more recently of inadequate taxpayer-funded security.
Meghan may see little reason to apologise first. From her perspective, she was cast as the difficult in-law and an umprompted mea culpa could look like conceding a narrative she has spend years contesting.
But whatever the private grievances that preceded Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal life, they changed the game by taking behind-the-scenes drama onto front pages and TV screens.
It has been suggested more than once that this inflicted “serious damage” on the Firm’s reputation, especially among younger audiences.
And while the Sussexes may have felt vindicated by speaking out, it’s hard to fully separate their headline-making claims from their newfound financial independence and the scramble for income that followed stepping back as senior royals.
This doesn’t necessarily mean Meghan owes Kate a grovelling apology. But her reported refusal to even consider the prospect speaks to a broader miscalculation about how she is perceived on this side of the Atlantic.
It als undercuts optimistic theories that Harry and Meghan’s move back to Britain clears the way for the family to reunite around King Charles as he continues to receive cancer treatment.
Instead, it points to ongoing tension that will likely deepen the divides within the family, and do nothing to rehabilitate Meghan’s standing in the UK. At some point, the Montecito bubble may burst, and both she and Harry will have to confront the possibility that they have more to apologise for than they’d like to think.