A commoner marrying into royalty must traverse a world of tradition and high expectations, while also facing unique hurdles and intense public scrutiny.
This is something Queen Camilla, Kate Middleton, and Meghan Markle are quite familiar with. Unlike Camilla and Kate, Meghan looked to have collapsed under media pressure, which was one of the reasons she and Harry chose to resign from their royal duties and leave Britain.
Could things have turned out differently if Meghan had taken Camilla’s advise before marrying the young Prince? The fact is that we can never know. What we do know is that, despite Meghan’s assertion that “not many people have asked if I’m OK,” she received assistance from Camilla, who invited her to lunches and provided her crucial advise on how to deal with the pressures of becoming a royal.
A friend of the Duchess told the Daily Mail at the time, “Meg was really grateful to Camilla, who was very supportive and invited her out for private lunches, particularly around the time of her marriage.”
“She listened to her and understood how difficult it is to join the Royal Family after living an otherwise ‘regular’ life.
“Much like Meghan, Camilla had experienced a lot of negative press and hostility from courtiers due to her relationship with Charles when he was still married to Diana.
“She was very sensitive to Meghan and provided her with support, advising her to ride out the storm and that it would all pass – but ultimately Meghan didn’t listen.”
Meghan was not exempt from the British media. She was constantly scrutinized, and her husband stood up for her, requesting that his father oppose the British tabloid newspapers.
“Meg, meanwhile, reached out to Camilla, who tried to counsel her by saying this was just what the press always did to newcomers, that it would all pass in due time, that Camilla had been the bad guy once,” Harry wrote in the newspaper.
“The inference is what? Now it was Meg’s turn. “As if it were apples to apples.”
Despite Meghan’s positive connection with Camilla at the time, Harry wrote that his father’s wife urged that he be made governor of a remote region, which was received with a negative response.
“Camilla also suggested to Meg that I become Governor General of Bermuda, which would solve all our problems by removing us from the red-hot center of the maelstrom,” Harry said in his autobiography.
“Right, right, I thought, and one added bonus of that plan would be to get us out of the picture.”
Since Megxit, the Sussexes haven’t met with Camilla a lot. In fact, Meghan only met her at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral.
If there will be any future encounters between the two is doubtful, especially now that Harry and Meghan have enraged the royals yet again with their excursions to Nigeria and Colombia, which resembled formal royal visits.
Meghan chose lovely ensembles on her Colombia trip, but one element stuck out as particularly noteworthy since it suggested that she draws substantial inspiration from Queen Camilla.
“She was wearing white and may have taken inspiration from Queen Camilla, who frequently wears white during engagements,” body language expert Darren Stanton said.
Was the choice of white an homage to Camilla? Who knows, but it’s evident the two ladies adore this hue.
Meghan wore white to the Afro Women and Power Panel in Colombia and felt “at ease,” according to Stanton.
“We heard Meghan speak on the panel and she came off as calm and cool while remaining fully honest. Meghan has arguably given us the most honest and transparent presentation we’ve seen in quite some time. She maintains consistent body language and facial gestures throughout. We’ve seen Meghan’s extremely confident side, as she showed no symptoms of uncertainty or tension,” the body language expert added.