I think your analysis is again, spot on. Meghan has been jealous of Kate for years, and I believe she has been following her and fangirling over her since before she met Harry. I think she felt very hurt and disappointed that Kate wasn’t falling head over heels in love with her, and that made her bitter. But still, she wants to be like Kate and imitating her lifestyle. I do hope Kate sees it and laughs. Copying is the best form of flattery after all.
The full quote from Oscar Wilde is: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." Apropos regarding Meghan trying to "repli-Kate".
You're welcome. I hope you know I wasn't trying to correct you (a la "my name is actually Sussex") but the full quote applied to this situation just resonated with me.
I think you are right. But I have to say the comparisons as you point out (full disclosure I have not watched the show) I find a little creepy. Thank you for the analysis and I’ll look forward to your review of the show.
This had not even occurred to me. Admittedly, I could only make it through a single episode. Too awkward, too forced, too inauthentic. I feel like Meghan deeply wants to be preserved as having this life style. But after reading your theory it makes sense, the bees Kate has, the preserves and mixes King Charles sells (for charity) at Highgrove, the party planning from Carole & Pippa. She’s seen what the royal lifestyle is and is trying to emulate and profit.
Yeah, I see your point, but Carole doesn’t have a monopoly on kids party planning. Of all the activities listed, party planning didn’t land. Not everyone keeps bees or makes preserves. Every mom throws a party for her kids. So that one wasnt very persuasive.
It’s not just that she throws parties for her kids, of course every mom does that. It’s part of the pattern though. Pippa published a book on hosting/party planning, Carole made millions from her Party Pieces business. As Jane very eloquently wrote above, it’s seems Meghan has taken what she’s seen from her time as a working royal and packaged it for sale to Netflix and as her own brand.
Loved reading this! Personally, I am super interested in Kate’s lifestyle, but that lifestyle is very guarded, with an emphasis always given on her work (right or wrong, it is what it is). So if Meghan gives us a more clear glimpse, so be it. I’ll take it. just there’s so much value in learning about the lifestyle / practical values / routines of successful women.
I watched the last episode to see Alice Waters who I admire. I was struck yesterday how Waters was so gentle and encouraging with her host. Waters warmly but respectfully touches her arm and seems to be reassuring Markle in the short few minutes they spend. Waters is obviously deeply personally grounded confident and skilled just watching her roll lettuce is relaxing. She sticks out as so real in the more tense image making around her.
In a preview Roy Choi seems to have this same welcoming style. I haven't seen anything else really.
It looked like Markle really benefitted from this reassuring quality from the experienced visitors that her friends don't maybe have on camera. I felt a little bad for her. I hope they make enough from it all to kind of take some time out of the spotlight and be away from cameras.
Yeah I find her friends to be so awkward! A better format for the show would have been people coming in and teaching Meghan rather than positioning Meghan as the expert.
Great observation. One of the producers of the show is an alumni of Anthony Bourdain's incredible "Parts Unknown." That show worked so well, because Bourdain was a student; traveling the world, eating food and learning about the culture behind the dishes. That's what Meghan should have copied. Inviting on the experts, Waters, Choi, etc., and inviting viewers to learn a few things along with her.
It’s really annoyed me that the Queen revoked their HRH status and specified they couldn’t use the Sussex name for private gain and it’s *now* Meghan suddenly expects us all to call her ‘Meghan Sussex’ just as she launches her ‘brand’. It stinks of desperation. I noticed she’s still using her letterhead with the M and a crown on top. Why cling so tightly to an institution you say has treated you so terribly?
I haven’t watched any of it. The sound of her voice has me wanting to throw plates and mine are new! The fakery has always been rampant as has her jealousy of the beautiful Catherine- she could have had it all and threw it all away because, I think, she is basically a mean girl at heart
The Netflix mashup we didn’t know we needed — Single White Female x Montecito Party Pieces x Princess Pinterest! And we know that Meghan borrowed the “roast chicken” (from Kate as well as from her chef ex) for her engagement story.
The irony is that during the brief time she was in the UK, she didn’t garden as you point out, Jane, and didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with anything that wasn’t urban and sophisticated, perhaps because she knew the stories of Diana being miserable at Balmoral. She and Harry probably could have had the 900-acre Harewood Park estate in Hereford Charles bought back in the early 2000s, supposedly for William. There was talk that Charles originally wanted to spend 9 million pounds for a new main house on the property and make the estate self-sustaining and environmentally-friendly. H&M could have created everything to their own specs — they could have out-countried David Beckham and been the envy of all their wedding guests, friends, and the Hollywood set Meghan so desperately wanted to impress, because they would have had an amazing property that would have outclassed just about everyone else’s between the $$$ and their royal status, including a garden like Charles’s at Highgrove. When they decided to step back, they could have set up their version of Sussex Soho Farmhouse, a wellness retreat with yoga, a spa, and more, and they wouldn’t even have had to live their full-time if they wanted to spend time somewhere more urban or in LA for part of the year.
But they’ve never been able to make decisions without emotion and with good advice from others, and they’ve undermined themselves at every turn. So they quickly launched themselves out of the BRF in a fit of pique, when they could have bided their time for a few more years and then politely begged off, with Harewood Park as one family base and maybe another in LA, with annual invitations to Trooping, Balmoral — just a few things to maintain that royal connection. And probably Charles happy to underwrite a good chunk. But instead she’s right back to her Tig influencer days, complete with Coveteur’s Jake Rosenberg taking the pictures, and on her very last chance with this TV show…
This comment make the most sense of any, to me. If they had bided their time and played their cards right...learned their new position, contributed as working royals and interacted generously with the family (including Meghan's)all while having their babies...and most importantly had been openly supportive of William and Kate...I think the Late Queen and certainly King Charles would have been very generous with H&M. King Charles would certainly have probably gone out of his way to ensure that Harry felt equally indulged and appreciated. Meghan would have eventually gotten her "estate" if only she could have suppressed those feelings of jealousy and constant comparisons. If she had spent her time uplifting Harry instead of listing what he wasn't getting...they might very well be living the life she is so desperately trying to create.
This is the best business plan for the Sussexes I've ever heard. I feel like at this point what frustrates me the most about Meghan is that she has squandered so much opportunity at every juncture. If you don't want to be a princess, fine. If you want to get into media make an amazing podcast! If you want to create your own line of home goods, make an amazing line of home goods. If you want to become a Martha Stewart type, become amazing at it. Yet there seems to be such a lack of foresight, intelligence, and effort that she wastes every opportunity. In the case that Jane makes, that she is trying to copycat Kate through her domestic interests, it seems like such a 180 from where she apparently wanted to be more involved politically while in the royal family. I thought we were all meant to believe that the racist family wanted to keep her locked up in a country estate so that she couldn't be a powerful woman changing the world! Now that's where she finds her centre. Part of the authenticity problem we can all see from a mile away is that she's been bouncing from thing to thing just chasing whatever is trendiest that can make the most money with the least amount of work.
Personally, I don’t see a narcissist, too many have thrown that word around and narcissists are much rarer than people think. I think you’ve actually hit the nail on the head, and I had the same thought today when watching the show and watching the episode with her friend Delfina. If you go back and watch that episode Meghan is always seconds behind her Argentine friend in speaking Spanish. A few times she even gets a look on her face that shows she doesn’t understand as much Spanish as she claims to.
When I saw that I was struck with what I think is the truth. Like the Wizard of Oz I saw behind the curtain, and what I saw was a little girl who grew up between two worlds. If you look back at pictures of her you see a little girl with African American hair which her mom left alone, and the skin of a pale white child. I see a little girl who didn’t fit into any box. As she herself has claimed.
I see a little girl who didn’t belong anywhere and because of that didn’t develop a sense of self. It’s called identity diffusion. It can happen when you don’t feel a deep connection as a child to the people around you and you feel different.
I think that’s what happened with Meghan. For the rest of her life that little girl chased after herself. Trying, even in her own words, to find a place to belong. She thought in acting that she had found that. She could be different characters and get paid to do it, but her acting skills weren’t enough to be a celebrated A-list actress (there is no shame in that, the majority of actors are not famous).
Instead, after years of work she was finally cast as Rachel Zane. In Rachel Zane she found connection. First, the shared name. Then, a director who was willing to mold the character to fit her background. If you watch Suits and look back at her life at the time you can clearly see not an actress creating a part, but a person crafting an identity based on a written character. She became Rachel Zane. It was Rachel Zane moving about in Canada, getting to know society people and becoming a foodie.
That was the person that Harry met. This smart, attractive, ball of energy who as she moved around in Canadian society realized that volunteer work was a way to expand her reach and flesh out her character. That was the person who Harry met. He didn’t meet Rachel Markle, he met and fell in love with Rachel Zane and now she has to be that person for the rest of her life.
We also understand from many accounts of people in her life that she was a fan of the royals, be it Diana or Catherine. Even she wrote a piece about “Princess Kate” in her blog. She was also a self-professed Anglophile. Can you imagine loving the royal family, wanting to believe in the magic of it and then you meet and marry one of them? Only the royal family are not warm in the way that Meghan expected. They were cold to Diana, The Princess of Wales and she was a member of the British Peerage! Imagine coming in as an American (I don’t think it had anything at all to do with being half black) and wanting to be welcomed into that family warmly and with open arms and then…being kept on the edge. We all know that there are rules and expectations. That there is a hierarchy in the role family. I am sure in her haste Meghan, searching for belonging didn’t really understand that.
Once again here she is in a place where she doesn’t belong. She’s not British. She’s a Duchess like Catherine but will never be a princess in name (who wants to be called Princess Henry?), she’s once again never going to be all in. So she tries to be Rachel Zane. She tries to be a go-getter, take charge, gutsy get up at 5 smart American with lots of ideas and grit. That falls flat. Rachel Zane was never going to fit into the House of Windsor.
And here we are. Out in the cold…once again. Never belonging, always on the outside of everything. On the outside of her real family, not one thing or another and on the outside of the royal family, not one thing or another. But because Harry loves her he blows up their world for her. They come to America and she decides that if she can’t be Princess Meghan she can be the American version of Catherine, Princess of Wales.
And really, who can blame her? Aren’t we all here because we love Catherine? She seems to be able to do everything. She can draw, she can take pictures, she can bake and cook and hike and be a Princess and do it all. Who wouldn’t want that?
What I see is a little girl just wanting a place to belong. A little girl playing dress up (in clothes far too old for her) trying to be Meryl Streep in It’s Complicated (a very California movie) crossed with Catherine, The Princess of Wales.
It’s a sad tale and I for one feel bad for her. I wish her peace. I hope she can somehow find herself for her sake, her husband’s and son’s sake but most of all for her daughter.
Love this analysis, alongside Jane’s. I don’t know if she is a narcissist, and I agree that the term gets thrown around far too often. However, knowing at least one credibly diagnosed narcissist myself, I can assure you they are deeply insecure and often have a disordered sense of self. That’s a hallmark. And they are often cruel (because they don’t empathize well) under the guise of being “honest” or “saying it like it is”. We know she has said iterations of that, and we know she has been such to those who work under her, as well as to her own family and encouraging Harry to be cruel to his (through deprivation and distance). Additionally, they often keep at arms length those who they know can see through their carefully crafted image (William did, and likely Kate as well). And their image - who people think they are - is the primary focus of their efforts.
In short, I also feel sorry for her. Her childhood seems sad and, as you say, she likely never felt like she fit anywhere. Given what we know of Doria’s on and off again presence in her life, and how fawning she is over her mother now, I think there is also a mother wound. Throw in a prince who felt like a spare, who lost his mother and had a deep father wound himself, and this is what happens.
Yes, Meghan is a copycat. The cooking show style (snd M’s clothes) is verrry Nancy Meyers. All her recipes on the show are just Instagram hacks. It’s all about looking good…the flower ice cubes, rainbow fruit platter, decanting snacks into little cellophane bags, cooking pasta in it’s own sauce, allll the calligraphy labels on every little thing…You can see the terror in her eyes when she’s cooking with an icon like Roy Choi. He plays the game and compliments her (which seems like the only prerequisite for being on her show) but otherwise doesn’t seem to care much about how she can’t wrap her head around a famous Korean-American chef pickling strawberries.
Lisa, this is a fantastic analysis. I never put together that Meghan was cosplaying Rachel Zane in that lifestyle, but I think you’ve absolutely nailed it. Meghan has always distinctly lacked a sense of self and even much of a personality, once she has to genuinely like or dislike something.
I do feel a bit sorry for her because of the total abandonment she must have felt as a child, but her weaponisation of her inner emptiness is cruel no matter what she went through. And now that she’s tried on yet more aspects of Catherine’s life, the cynical part of me can’t help but wonder if it’s to call dibs on those things, should Catherine share publicly what she has done privately for years.
I agree with you …. To a point. But she doesn’t want to be Kate when it comes to the commitment that Catherine has made to be part of the royal family. That includes engagements, putting your life under a microscope, taking public criticism without lashing out, etc. etc. I think you get my point. Meghan wants Catherine’s life as long as it is “certain things.“
Everything with Meghan on this show is about food presentation and how it looks. It’s surface level. Even her dear friends who join her as guests don’t seem to be very close. Her makeup artist that she’s worked with for 15 years? Meghan never knew he was left handed.
I agree with you …. To a point. But she doesn’t want to be Catherine when it comes to the commitment that Catherine has made to be part of the royal family. That includes protocol, engagements, handling publicity, living your life under a microscope etc etc.
Except Meghan doesn't have the same lifestyle as Kate because the Wales's are out working hard for the family firm.
I watched the first episode. I was fascinated by the the bees and making candles from the beeswax. But the show felt like fluff. "Look at me making stuff in this beautiful house that isn't mine."
The fact that it's not her house pretty much sums it up. I greatly appreciate the narcissism/ identity diffusion discussion. She is obviously unhealthily fixated on Kate and Jane's analysis is comprehensive and excellent. (And Harry might be unhealthily fixated on William?). I agree that it would be sad if she weren't so cruel -- so many examples of that but the one that springs to mind is the bridesmaids dresses episode. No, Kate made ME cry. I now wonder how Kate frees herself from this malign fixation. I have thought that one of the reasons Harry & Meghan are basically banned from the UK is to protect Kate.
You can easily find on the internet compilations of pictures and videos of Meghan during her time with the BRF where she is looking at Kate (in public!) with raw, undisguised hatred. It's frightening. I don't think she's crazy enough to try to physically harm Kate, even though she's certainly tried to harm Kate's reputation and marriage. But she certainly should never be allowed to be anywhere near Kate or her children without lots of people and security around.
I want to add one event to this fabulous analysis. When Charlotte and George were very small, William & Catherine brought them on a tour and there was an event with a ton of balloons and toddler Charlotte had a blast. As Jane as said before, Kate lives rent free in Meghan's head.
Excellent!
I think your analysis is again, spot on. Meghan has been jealous of Kate for years, and I believe she has been following her and fangirling over her since before she met Harry. I think she felt very hurt and disappointed that Kate wasn’t falling head over heels in love with her, and that made her bitter. But still, she wants to be like Kate and imitating her lifestyle. I do hope Kate sees it and laughs. Copying is the best form of flattery after all.
The full quote from Oscar Wilde is: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." Apropos regarding Meghan trying to "repli-Kate".
Yes! You are correct and thank you for adding the full quote!
You're welcome. I hope you know I wasn't trying to correct you (a la "my name is actually Sussex") but the full quote applied to this situation just resonated with me.
I think you are right. But I have to say the comparisons as you point out (full disclosure I have not watched the show) I find a little creepy. Thank you for the analysis and I’ll look forward to your review of the show.
This had not even occurred to me. Admittedly, I could only make it through a single episode. Too awkward, too forced, too inauthentic. I feel like Meghan deeply wants to be preserved as having this life style. But after reading your theory it makes sense, the bees Kate has, the preserves and mixes King Charles sells (for charity) at Highgrove, the party planning from Carole & Pippa. She’s seen what the royal lifestyle is and is trying to emulate and profit.
Yeah, I see your point, but Carole doesn’t have a monopoly on kids party planning. Of all the activities listed, party planning didn’t land. Not everyone keeps bees or makes preserves. Every mom throws a party for her kids. So that one wasnt very persuasive.
It’s not just that she throws parties for her kids, of course every mom does that. It’s part of the pattern though. Pippa published a book on hosting/party planning, Carole made millions from her Party Pieces business. As Jane very eloquently wrote above, it’s seems Meghan has taken what she’s seen from her time as a working royal and packaged it for sale to Netflix and as her own brand.
Fantastic analysis! You completely nailed it!
Loved reading this! Personally, I am super interested in Kate’s lifestyle, but that lifestyle is very guarded, with an emphasis always given on her work (right or wrong, it is what it is). So if Meghan gives us a more clear glimpse, so be it. I’ll take it. just there’s so much value in learning about the lifestyle / practical values / routines of successful women.
I watched the last episode to see Alice Waters who I admire. I was struck yesterday how Waters was so gentle and encouraging with her host. Waters warmly but respectfully touches her arm and seems to be reassuring Markle in the short few minutes they spend. Waters is obviously deeply personally grounded confident and skilled just watching her roll lettuce is relaxing. She sticks out as so real in the more tense image making around her.
In a preview Roy Choi seems to have this same welcoming style. I haven't seen anything else really.
It looked like Markle really benefitted from this reassuring quality from the experienced visitors that her friends don't maybe have on camera. I felt a little bad for her. I hope they make enough from it all to kind of take some time out of the spotlight and be away from cameras.
Yeah I find her friends to be so awkward! A better format for the show would have been people coming in and teaching Meghan rather than positioning Meghan as the expert.
I know! Her focaccia looks sad.
Great observation. One of the producers of the show is an alumni of Anthony Bourdain's incredible "Parts Unknown." That show worked so well, because Bourdain was a student; traveling the world, eating food and learning about the culture behind the dishes. That's what Meghan should have copied. Inviting on the experts, Waters, Choi, etc., and inviting viewers to learn a few things along with her.
It’s really annoyed me that the Queen revoked their HRH status and specified they couldn’t use the Sussex name for private gain and it’s *now* Meghan suddenly expects us all to call her ‘Meghan Sussex’ just as she launches her ‘brand’. It stinks of desperation. I noticed she’s still using her letterhead with the M and a crown on top. Why cling so tightly to an institution you say has treated you so terribly?
I haven’t watched any of it. The sound of her voice has me wanting to throw plates and mine are new! The fakery has always been rampant as has her jealousy of the beautiful Catherine- she could have had it all and threw it all away because, I think, she is basically a mean girl at heart
The Netflix mashup we didn’t know we needed — Single White Female x Montecito Party Pieces x Princess Pinterest! And we know that Meghan borrowed the “roast chicken” (from Kate as well as from her chef ex) for her engagement story.
The irony is that during the brief time she was in the UK, she didn’t garden as you point out, Jane, and didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with anything that wasn’t urban and sophisticated, perhaps because she knew the stories of Diana being miserable at Balmoral. She and Harry probably could have had the 900-acre Harewood Park estate in Hereford Charles bought back in the early 2000s, supposedly for William. There was talk that Charles originally wanted to spend 9 million pounds for a new main house on the property and make the estate self-sustaining and environmentally-friendly. H&M could have created everything to their own specs — they could have out-countried David Beckham and been the envy of all their wedding guests, friends, and the Hollywood set Meghan so desperately wanted to impress, because they would have had an amazing property that would have outclassed just about everyone else’s between the $$$ and their royal status, including a garden like Charles’s at Highgrove. When they decided to step back, they could have set up their version of Sussex Soho Farmhouse, a wellness retreat with yoga, a spa, and more, and they wouldn’t even have had to live their full-time if they wanted to spend time somewhere more urban or in LA for part of the year.
But they’ve never been able to make decisions without emotion and with good advice from others, and they’ve undermined themselves at every turn. So they quickly launched themselves out of the BRF in a fit of pique, when they could have bided their time for a few more years and then politely begged off, with Harewood Park as one family base and maybe another in LA, with annual invitations to Trooping, Balmoral — just a few things to maintain that royal connection. And probably Charles happy to underwrite a good chunk. But instead she’s right back to her Tig influencer days, complete with Coveteur’s Jake Rosenberg taking the pictures, and on her very last chance with this TV show…
This comment make the most sense of any, to me. If they had bided their time and played their cards right...learned their new position, contributed as working royals and interacted generously with the family (including Meghan's)all while having their babies...and most importantly had been openly supportive of William and Kate...I think the Late Queen and certainly King Charles would have been very generous with H&M. King Charles would certainly have probably gone out of his way to ensure that Harry felt equally indulged and appreciated. Meghan would have eventually gotten her "estate" if only she could have suppressed those feelings of jealousy and constant comparisons. If she had spent her time uplifting Harry instead of listing what he wasn't getting...they might very well be living the life she is so desperately trying to create.
This is the best business plan for the Sussexes I've ever heard. I feel like at this point what frustrates me the most about Meghan is that she has squandered so much opportunity at every juncture. If you don't want to be a princess, fine. If you want to get into media make an amazing podcast! If you want to create your own line of home goods, make an amazing line of home goods. If you want to become a Martha Stewart type, become amazing at it. Yet there seems to be such a lack of foresight, intelligence, and effort that she wastes every opportunity. In the case that Jane makes, that she is trying to copycat Kate through her domestic interests, it seems like such a 180 from where she apparently wanted to be more involved politically while in the royal family. I thought we were all meant to believe that the racist family wanted to keep her locked up in a country estate so that she couldn't be a powerful woman changing the world! Now that's where she finds her centre. Part of the authenticity problem we can all see from a mile away is that she's been bouncing from thing to thing just chasing whatever is trendiest that can make the most money with the least amount of work.
Personally, I don’t see a narcissist, too many have thrown that word around and narcissists are much rarer than people think. I think you’ve actually hit the nail on the head, and I had the same thought today when watching the show and watching the episode with her friend Delfina. If you go back and watch that episode Meghan is always seconds behind her Argentine friend in speaking Spanish. A few times she even gets a look on her face that shows she doesn’t understand as much Spanish as she claims to.
When I saw that I was struck with what I think is the truth. Like the Wizard of Oz I saw behind the curtain, and what I saw was a little girl who grew up between two worlds. If you look back at pictures of her you see a little girl with African American hair which her mom left alone, and the skin of a pale white child. I see a little girl who didn’t fit into any box. As she herself has claimed.
I see a little girl who didn’t belong anywhere and because of that didn’t develop a sense of self. It’s called identity diffusion. It can happen when you don’t feel a deep connection as a child to the people around you and you feel different.
I think that’s what happened with Meghan. For the rest of her life that little girl chased after herself. Trying, even in her own words, to find a place to belong. She thought in acting that she had found that. She could be different characters and get paid to do it, but her acting skills weren’t enough to be a celebrated A-list actress (there is no shame in that, the majority of actors are not famous).
Instead, after years of work she was finally cast as Rachel Zane. In Rachel Zane she found connection. First, the shared name. Then, a director who was willing to mold the character to fit her background. If you watch Suits and look back at her life at the time you can clearly see not an actress creating a part, but a person crafting an identity based on a written character. She became Rachel Zane. It was Rachel Zane moving about in Canada, getting to know society people and becoming a foodie.
That was the person that Harry met. This smart, attractive, ball of energy who as she moved around in Canadian society realized that volunteer work was a way to expand her reach and flesh out her character. That was the person who Harry met. He didn’t meet Rachel Markle, he met and fell in love with Rachel Zane and now she has to be that person for the rest of her life.
We also understand from many accounts of people in her life that she was a fan of the royals, be it Diana or Catherine. Even she wrote a piece about “Princess Kate” in her blog. She was also a self-professed Anglophile. Can you imagine loving the royal family, wanting to believe in the magic of it and then you meet and marry one of them? Only the royal family are not warm in the way that Meghan expected. They were cold to Diana, The Princess of Wales and she was a member of the British Peerage! Imagine coming in as an American (I don’t think it had anything at all to do with being half black) and wanting to be welcomed into that family warmly and with open arms and then…being kept on the edge. We all know that there are rules and expectations. That there is a hierarchy in the role family. I am sure in her haste Meghan, searching for belonging didn’t really understand that.
Once again here she is in a place where she doesn’t belong. She’s not British. She’s a Duchess like Catherine but will never be a princess in name (who wants to be called Princess Henry?), she’s once again never going to be all in. So she tries to be Rachel Zane. She tries to be a go-getter, take charge, gutsy get up at 5 smart American with lots of ideas and grit. That falls flat. Rachel Zane was never going to fit into the House of Windsor.
And here we are. Out in the cold…once again. Never belonging, always on the outside of everything. On the outside of her real family, not one thing or another and on the outside of the royal family, not one thing or another. But because Harry loves her he blows up their world for her. They come to America and she decides that if she can’t be Princess Meghan she can be the American version of Catherine, Princess of Wales.
And really, who can blame her? Aren’t we all here because we love Catherine? She seems to be able to do everything. She can draw, she can take pictures, she can bake and cook and hike and be a Princess and do it all. Who wouldn’t want that?
What I see is a little girl just wanting a place to belong. A little girl playing dress up (in clothes far too old for her) trying to be Meryl Streep in It’s Complicated (a very California movie) crossed with Catherine, The Princess of Wales.
It’s a sad tale and I for one feel bad for her. I wish her peace. I hope she can somehow find herself for her sake, her husband’s and son’s sake but most of all for her daughter.
Ooo great analysis!!
Love this analysis, alongside Jane’s. I don’t know if she is a narcissist, and I agree that the term gets thrown around far too often. However, knowing at least one credibly diagnosed narcissist myself, I can assure you they are deeply insecure and often have a disordered sense of self. That’s a hallmark. And they are often cruel (because they don’t empathize well) under the guise of being “honest” or “saying it like it is”. We know she has said iterations of that, and we know she has been such to those who work under her, as well as to her own family and encouraging Harry to be cruel to his (through deprivation and distance). Additionally, they often keep at arms length those who they know can see through their carefully crafted image (William did, and likely Kate as well). And their image - who people think they are - is the primary focus of their efforts.
In short, I also feel sorry for her. Her childhood seems sad and, as you say, she likely never felt like she fit anywhere. Given what we know of Doria’s on and off again presence in her life, and how fawning she is over her mother now, I think there is also a mother wound. Throw in a prince who felt like a spare, who lost his mother and had a deep father wound himself, and this is what happens.
Yes, Meghan is a copycat. The cooking show style (snd M’s clothes) is verrry Nancy Meyers. All her recipes on the show are just Instagram hacks. It’s all about looking good…the flower ice cubes, rainbow fruit platter, decanting snacks into little cellophane bags, cooking pasta in it’s own sauce, allll the calligraphy labels on every little thing…You can see the terror in her eyes when she’s cooking with an icon like Roy Choi. He plays the game and compliments her (which seems like the only prerequisite for being on her show) but otherwise doesn’t seem to care much about how she can’t wrap her head around a famous Korean-American chef pickling strawberries.
Lisa, this is a fantastic analysis. I never put together that Meghan was cosplaying Rachel Zane in that lifestyle, but I think you’ve absolutely nailed it. Meghan has always distinctly lacked a sense of self and even much of a personality, once she has to genuinely like or dislike something.
I do feel a bit sorry for her because of the total abandonment she must have felt as a child, but her weaponisation of her inner emptiness is cruel no matter what she went through. And now that she’s tried on yet more aspects of Catherine’s life, the cynical part of me can’t help but wonder if it’s to call dibs on those things, should Catherine share publicly what she has done privately for years.
This is brilliant, Lisa. It makes so much sense. I hope she is in therapy...
I agree with you …. To a point. But she doesn’t want to be Kate when it comes to the commitment that Catherine has made to be part of the royal family. That includes engagements, putting your life under a microscope, taking public criticism without lashing out, etc. etc. I think you get my point. Meghan wants Catherine’s life as long as it is “certain things.“
Everything with Meghan on this show is about food presentation and how it looks. It’s surface level. Even her dear friends who join her as guests don’t seem to be very close. Her makeup artist that she’s worked with for 15 years? Meghan never knew he was left handed.
I agree with you …. To a point. But she doesn’t want to be Catherine when it comes to the commitment that Catherine has made to be part of the royal family. That includes protocol, engagements, handling publicity, living your life under a microscope etc etc.
Except Meghan doesn't have the same lifestyle as Kate because the Wales's are out working hard for the family firm.
I watched the first episode. I was fascinated by the the bees and making candles from the beeswax. But the show felt like fluff. "Look at me making stuff in this beautiful house that isn't mine."
The fact that it's not her house pretty much sums it up. I greatly appreciate the narcissism/ identity diffusion discussion. She is obviously unhealthily fixated on Kate and Jane's analysis is comprehensive and excellent. (And Harry might be unhealthily fixated on William?). I agree that it would be sad if she weren't so cruel -- so many examples of that but the one that springs to mind is the bridesmaids dresses episode. No, Kate made ME cry. I now wonder how Kate frees herself from this malign fixation. I have thought that one of the reasons Harry & Meghan are basically banned from the UK is to protect Kate.
You can easily find on the internet compilations of pictures and videos of Meghan during her time with the BRF where she is looking at Kate (in public!) with raw, undisguised hatred. It's frightening. I don't think she's crazy enough to try to physically harm Kate, even though she's certainly tried to harm Kate's reputation and marriage. But she certainly should never be allowed to be anywhere near Kate or her children without lots of people and security around.
I completely agree with you
I want to add one event to this fabulous analysis. When Charlotte and George were very small, William & Catherine brought them on a tour and there was an event with a ton of balloons and toddler Charlotte had a blast. As Jane as said before, Kate lives rent free in Meghan's head.