She’s been dubbed ‘Duchess Difficult’, ‘Me-Gain’ and ‘the degree wife’ by Palace aides and senior members of the royal family, but it seems Meghan Markle has gone and coined herself another nickname: Princess Privacy.
The Duchess of Sussex delighted royal fans when she made a surprise appearance at Wimbledon’s Court 1 with best friends Lindsay Roth and Genevieve Hillis to watch her close pal Serena Williams in action last week.
The Wimbledon appearance is only the third time the Duchess has been seen in public since taking maternity leave, but the happy occasion quickly turned sour when royal protection officers repeatedly asked spectators to stop taking photos around Meghan – despite their cameras being focused on tennis ace Serena, not the Duchess.
WATCH the royal security team stop tennis fans from taking pictures near the Duchess at Wimbledon:
Meghan’s bodyguards said she was attending Wimbledon in a “private capacity” and warned tennis fans against taking pictures of the Duchess to allow her to “engage with people rather than camera phones”, royal sources told Daily Mail.
But many have questioned the validity of this tack after the match on Court 1 was watched by 12,000 in situ with millions tuning in on TV.
British journalist Sally Jones was observing the game from the stands of Court 1 when she was approached by a member of the royal security team.
“I felt this tap on my shoulder and was asked not take pictures of the Duchess – but I had no idea she was there until then. I was absolutely gobsmacked,” the former BBC and ITV sports reporter told Daily Mail.
Looking across the stand, Ms Jones spotted the 37-year-old Duchess flanked by her two friends, with a protection officer and her personal assistant seated in the row behind, and noted: “[Meghan] was clearly looking around, looking to see who was looking at her.”
Ms Jones asked Meghan’s bodyguard if he planned to do anything about the “200 plus photographers and television cameras” taking professional photographs of Prince Harry‘s wife, and dubbed the move “another example of silly control freakery”.
“There is now a clear sense that Harry, Meghan and their team see themselves more as A-list celebrities rather than royals carrying out their duties,” Ms Jones said, noting the stark contrast between the Duchess of Sussex’s diva display and Kate Middleton‘s attendance at Wimbledon two days earlier.
On Tuesday, the Duchess of Cambridge shunned the Royal Box to sit in the middle of the Grand Stand in Court 14 to watch British ace Harriet Dart take on American Christina McHale.
Proving she’s one with the people, Prince William‘s wife sat in the ‘normal’ seats and looked delighted to be chatting with tennis legends Anne Keothavong and Katie Boulter.
While England’s future Queen consort and the mother to the future King, Prince George, was content with a single, standard price seat, the newly minted Duchess of Sussex had four rows – as many as 40 seats – cordoned off around her, closely guarded by her security team.
Pictures of Meghan and her friends show the women completely isolated from the main body of spectators by dozens of empty seats.
Royal commentators also noted the difference in the Duchesses choice of attire, with mother-of-three Kate adhering to the dress code in an elegant white midi-dress while Meghan – who welcomed baby Archie Harrison on May 6 – breaking Wimbledon protocol by wearing blue jeans, despite denim being expressly prohibited.
Meghan’s conduct has caused outrage on social media and drawn ire from British celebrities, including her former friend turned harshest critic Piers Morgan.
The Good Morning Britain host initially took to Twitter to rant about the Duchess, tweeting: “It’s absurd for Ms Markle to demand privacy as she sits in the Royal Box on a publicly-funded jolly with her mates.”
Later, he vented his frustration to Good Morning Britain viewers.
“A private capacity, at Wimbledon? This is so ridiculous. It’s rankly hypocritical and they’re not private people – they’re the Duke and Duchess of Sussex! If you ant to be private, go back to America and live privately.”
Channel 4 presenter Kirstie Allsopp agreed, tweeting: “If you earn money by entertaining, in sport or media, or by being a member of the royal family, photos are part of the deal.
“Not at informal times with kids, but otherwise it’s ‘yes of course’, because you’re b****y lucky to have the privileges that come with the jobs and the wages.”
Wimbledon-gate comes amid a tenuous time for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are mired in controversy over their decision to keep their son Archie’s christening a private affair with the identities of their son’s godparents a closely guarded secret.
Archie was christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a private ceremony at Windsor Castle on Saturday, with a select group of just 25 family and close friends in attendance.
The christening came at the worst possible time for the royal couple, days after Buckingham Palace accounts revealed the Sussexes had spent $4.3 million AUD of taxpayers money on renovations to their new home at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
Since her fairytale royal wedding to Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel in May 2018, Meghan Markle has found herself the focus of royal rift rumours and family feuds involving her own father.
The Duchess has been accused of ‘changing her husband for the worse’ by Palace sources, and numerous reports claim she reduced her sister-in-law Kate Middleton to tears during an argument over Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress.
Tensions also mounted in the lead up to the Meghan’s nuptials to Prince Charles and Princess Diana‘s youngest son, after the Queen reportedly vetoed her first choice of bridal tiara.
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