Duchess of Sussex? More like Duchess of Difficult.
Meghan Markle was allegedly nicknamed the “Duchess of Difficult” “for a while,” British journalist Tom Quinn wrote for The London Times on Thursday.
“She could be difficult because she was finding life difficult — trying to feel her way and work out the intricacies of a positively medieval, labyrinthine system,” an anonymous palace staff member reportedly told him.
For example, the former actress reportedly couldn’t understand why King Charles III “was so formal” with his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
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“She once said, ‘But they’re mother and son — why are they so completely stiff with each other?’”
Despite the cruel nickname, the insider pointed out that she was also called “Mystic Meg” because she was viewed as “so new agey, so woke, about so many things.”
The source furthered that another issue she had while living as an active member of the royal family from 2018 to 2020 was with “the servants.”
“Through absolutely no fault of her own, Meghan wasn’t always great with her staff — she just wasn’t used to it as Harry was,” they defended, explaining that “one minute she would be really friendly, perhaps overfriendly, hugging staff and trying to make friends with them, and the next she would be irritated by the fact they wouldn’t respond instantly at all times of the day and night.”
Per Quinn, Markle was also viewed as “someone who wanted to get things done and change the status quo.”
For Quinn’s book, “Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants,” one of Markle’s former staff members recalled her early awkward meetings at Kensington Palace.
“It was extraordinary because she was so confident that you could see she wanted to run the meeting rather than learn about the royal family through the meeting,” the former staffer said.
“I think this was typical of what happened throughout her time at Kensington Palace and then Windsor. She was a great believer in grabbing the bull by the horns — except the royal family is not really a bull.”
Despite her nicknames and alleged attitude, Quinn reported that not all of the staff were anti-Markle.
Many of the ordinary staff liked the fact that she was “very straightforward and matter-of-fact” as a former member of the Kensington Palace communications team described her.
However, the old guard “really had it in for Meghan and, to be fair to her, she really stood up to them.”
The source added, “But, of course, if you make waves in the royal family, the senior royals will always back the courtiers, because in many cases the senior royals have been friends with the courtiers since childhood.”
A spokesperson for the duchess did not reply for comment.
After Markle and Harry quit their royal duties and moved to California in 2020, the “Suits” actress was accused of bullying staff members, something she has vehemently denied.
In his scathing piece, Quinn also reported that Prince William felt particularly “uncomfortable” with Markle because she was too affectionate.
Despite initially getting along, tensions reportedly began to rise due to her “warm, friendly, hug-everyone approach,” which caused William and even Charles to “flinch” at times.
