Kate Middleton’s recent message in support of the Ukraine troops made a royal expert recall when Meghan Markle did the same thing back in 2019, and got flak for it. Princess Kate’s recent message to the Ukraine has a royal expert noting how a similar act by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, received nothing but backlash.
Newsweek’s royal expert in residence, Jack Royston, noted that the former Kate Middleton wrote a message of love and support on boxes of supplies that were recently dispatched to Ukrainians on the frontline. “We are all thinking of you,” wrote Kate on all the boxes. Royston noted that the response to Princess Kate’s message was universally positive, with her constituents cooing over how “thoughtful” the Princess was with her message.
So why wasn’t the reception the same when Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, wrote similar messages to women back in 2019? “During a visit to charity, One25, in Bristol, southwest England, Markle wrote supportive messages on the side of bananas in packs that were due to be given to sex workers,” wrote Royston, who noted that Meghan Markle’s positive messages sparked backlash. “The scribbled-on bananas change nothing. Not because they will soon turn brown, destined for landfill. Not because, well, do women on the streets, in sub-zero temperatures, actually want to eat bananas in the first place?” Royston recalled the coverage about the Duchess at the time.
Royston also noted that equally vicious column space provided courtesy of Piers Morgan further drove the Duchess of Sussex to have suicidal ideations. And the royal expert couldn’t help but notice how positive the spin was around Kate Middleton’s similar messages, which were aimed towards an equally controversial topic, especially as the war in Ukraine increasingly falls out of favor with politicians. “It is also inescapable that the accusations against Meghan came at a time of feverish hostility towards her in the British press,” he noted.
“The duchess would later describe this as “almost unsurvivable” during an appearance on the Teenager Therapy podcast.” While the hostility towards Meghan Markle doesn’t seem to have tamped down, it does seem to be more positive on the other side of the pond, where the Duchess is noted for her devotion to charity work.
As for Kate Middleton, while press about her is positive in England, Royston notes that she doesn’t register on most Americans’ radars.
