One of the most awkward and revealing episodes since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit royal duties in 2020 to ‘find freedom’ – and a fortune – came on a red carpet in Los Angeles almost a year ago.
Unaccompanied by Prince Harry, Meghan couldn’t have looked less regal as she walked down the carpet at the Power Of Women event and waited to be interviewed by a reporter for Variety magazine, like A.N.Other celebrity.
King Charles’s daughter-in-law posed for photographers like the wannabe starlet she once was. And, in the most undignified moment of all, was then rushed along impatiently by another guest.
Meghan attended the Power Of Women event last year and had to wait to be interviewed
She posed for photographers like the wannabe starlet she once was – but was then rushed along impatiently by another guest
Last weekend, Meghan was alone again, on another red carpet in her home city, competing for attention with some of those guests at the LA Children’s Hospital Gala.
This time, however, she had to suffer further mortification, with fellow guests feeling free to voice their criticism of her.
‘There wasn’t a great deal of warmth from people when she arrived,’ Lizzie Cundy, a British socialite and television presenter, later told me. ‘She wasn’t there long – she seemed to be there for the photographs.’
Miss Cundy, whom the duchess had once befriended before she met Harry and then ‘ghosted’, afterwards added of her erstwhile pal: ‘Meghan needs LA more than LA needs her. LA people feel they’ve been played by her. Harry and Meghan were loved because they’re part of the Royal Family, but they’ve bad-mouthed the royals, who are loved in LA. It’s a shame, because charity work is where her and Harry do great things.’
When Meghan was still a working royal she would never have been subjected to such a reception or criticism.
The Duchess of Sussex was alone again, on another red carpet in her home city, when she attended the LA Children’s Hospital Gala last weekend
Having been appointed patron of the National Theatre by the late Queen Elizabeth, in a move designed to make the former actress feel welcome in Britain, Meghan would be guest of honour at stage events. She would enter a theatre after others had taken their seats and distinguished individuals would line up to meet her afterwards.
And while the duchess was receiving this allegedly chilly reception in LA, her husband was treated as warmly as ever at an awards ceremony for WellChild, one of the few charity patronages he was able to cling onto after leaving Britain. He remained patron of WellChild because it wasn’t a royal patronage handed out by the Monarch.
Harry looked delighted to meet the brave children awarded prizes at the event in London. While he so often looks sullen on engagements with his wife, the duke seemed to be back to his old, light-hearted self as he joked with youngsters who have battled serious illnesses at the Royal Lancaster Hotel engagement.
An old friend of Harry’s I spoke to this week said Meghan’s solo outing in LA emphasises how much they have lost by abandoning royal life.
‘Imagine the difference if they were still working royals,’ the friend said. ‘They would be the centre of attention wherever they went. They would be patrons of organisations and charities, not just guests turning up.
‘I think Harry’s work over recent weeks with WellChild and Sentebale [the charity he helped set up in 2006 for African orphans, including those living with HIV/AIDS] will have brought home to him how much he has lost by moving to the States.’
One of the most telling moments in the Sussexes’ explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 was one of the least discussed. Harry told the American chat show queen that they had signed their multi-million-dollar deals with media giants Netflix and Spotify only because they needed to pay for their security after money from Britain was cut off.
Harry has been in Lesotho and South Africa, where he visited the Sentebale charity he helped set up in 2006. The joy on his face has been clear
This was Harry letting slip that he never wanted to become a media mogul; indeed he couldn’t have been less interested. Meghan, by contrast, seems to have been keen on returning to showbusiness.
It helps to explain why Harry appeared in the pilot episode of their podcasts for Spotify but was conspicuous by his absence from the series that followed.
Over the past couple of weeks, the joy on Harry’s face has been clear as he returned to engagements for causes rather closer to his heart.
Meghan’s awkward solo appearance was, meanwhile, a stark reminder to her of what she threw away when they fled Britain.
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