The duchess has thrown brickbat after brickbat, but will Kate’s health update finally allow Meghan to make amends, asks royal biographer Emily Andrews
The Princess of Wales was typically understated when she said that her cancer diagnosis had caused ‘an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family’.
It was a shock not just to her, William and their children – but also to her wider family, the Royal Family, and the world.
For a 42-year-old mother to have to explain to George, 10, Charlotte, eight, and Louis, only five, and to ‘reassure them that I am going to be OK’ was heartbreaking.
It was also a shock to Harry and Meghan, who released a statement saying: ‘We wish health and healing for Kate and the family, and hope they are able to do so privately and in peace.’
Of course, their words were picked over by some, who noted that the Sussexes couldn’t even bring themselves to mention William, nor get Kate’s name right (she prefers to be called Catherine).
But it was a welcome olive branch in what has been a complete cold war between the two couples.
Indeed, Meghan was viewed by some as tearing down her sister-in-law in some not-so-subtle briefing after Kate’s anguished apology following her Photoshopped Mother’s Day photo.
After the furore broke out, the duchess’ team let it be known that secretly editing a family photo ‘isn’t a mistake Meghan would ever make... she has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail’.
That, at least, was what ‘sources close to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’ apparently told a US newspaper (and a reporter to whom their spokesperson has continually briefed).
Reputational damage
Subsequently, however, an official spokesperson for the Sussexes has denied the reports and said the remarks ‘did not come from us’. Indeed, it’s possible that they came from an unauthorised source close to the couple, expressing their own opinion.
In fact, with typical warmth, selflessness and empathy, Meghan tried to divert attention away from Kate by launching her latest money-making initiative, promoting herself as the perfect ‘mumtrepreneur’.
The US media may have been trashing Kate’s Mother’s Day fail as causing long-lasting reputational damage to the royals, but Meghan chose that week to cast herself as the ultimate homespun domestic goddess. Absolutely NO point-scoring here on who was the better royal female role model��
