Meghan Markle latest news – Duchess 'shocked at Royal status not being as high as Kate preventing her living in palaces'
MEGHAN Markle completely misread her royal status and felt "shunted off" by not living in Kensington Palace, it has been claimed.
The Duchess of Sussex was "drawn in" by the fantasy of royal life after marrying Prince Harry – but was completely unready for the significantly less glam reality, author Tom Quinn told the Pod Save the Queen podcast.
She reportedly felt "disappointed" at having to live in a "little" Frogmore Cottage rather than the considerably grander Kensington Palace where Prince William and Kate Middleton are raising their children.
But it was actually Nottingham Cottage, Harry and Meghan's first UK home, which sits inside the grounds of Kensington Palace, that first hammered home the reality of Meghan as a second-tier royal, Quinn claimed.
"I think that actually, she wasn’t too keen on that," he said.
"It seemed like they were being shunted off to a little prefab in the grounds," Quinn added.
Read our live blog below for the very latest updates on Meghan Markle and Prince Harry…
- John Hall
PRINCE HARRY ‘WOULD BE A HIT AT MOMMY AND ME MEDITATION SESSIONS’
The Duke of Sussex would be a “big hit” at popular LA baby classes favoured by Brits, reckons an expat.
OK! ex-editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens writes in the Daily Mail: “Baby classes are more exciting in LA, [including] at The Cow’s End Cafe, near the beach, always filled with yogi mamas like Meghan who headed upstairs for ‘mommy and me’ meditation sessions.
“Harry would be a big hit with the worn-down Brit mums who gather there looking for a lift during those first few months with a new baby.
“So long as Harry and Meghan have a group of Brits to laugh and cry with, it’ll be the perfect place for Archie to become a big brother.”
- Alice Fuller
ARCHIE 'TO REUNITE WITH QUEEN' THIS WEEK
Meghan and Harry's son Archie is expected to reunite with the Queen this week as he celebrates his second birthday.
Archie turns two on Thursday just weeks before he becomes a big brother.
Although he won't be able to see his grandmother face-to-face, he will likely have a video call with Her Majesty to celebrate the day.
The Duke of Sussex has said in the past how much the Queen enjoys speaking with her family over Zoom.
- John Hall
MEGHAN TO GO ON MATERNITY LEAVE ‘IN DAYS’ CLAIMS REPORT
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s little girl is due in June – and the Duchess is expected to go on maternity leave in days, it has been reported.
The royal couple’s second child will arrive soon – during their bombshell chat with Oprah Winfrey, they revealed they’re having a girl.
In keeping with royal tradition, they didn’t share their due date.
However, it’s now believed the tot will arrive in June, the Telegraph reports.
- Alice Fuller
KATE AND WILLIAM'S KIDS 'DON'T NEED CHILDHOOD BOND WITH ARCHIE'
Prince William and Kate Middleton's children "don't need a childhood bond" with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's son Archie, according to a royal author.
Ingrid Seward said George, Charlotte and Louis will create a bond with their cousin later in life.
She told Express.co.uk: “I am sure Diana would have wanted her sons’ offspring to be friends as she would have known how difficult it is to form friendships outside the family as people cannot be trusted not to let some indiscretion slip out.
“How cool to have a Californian cousin who is going to be such a dude as Archie.
“So they may not have the childhood bond, which they really don’t need as they have lots of little friends, but they will really appreciate Archie later on in their lives.”
- John Hall
QUEEN SENDS HER ‘WARMEST GOOD WISHES’ ON NORTHERN IRELAND CENTENARY
The Queen has sent her “warmest good wishes” to the people of Northern Ireland on the date which many consider to be its centenary.
She referred to “treasured” memories she shared in NI with her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, and paid tribute to its people.
It’s the 100th year since the Government of Ireland Act came into effect and the formation of the UK as we know it today.
In her tribute, the Queen said: “This anniversary reminds us of our complex history, and provides an opportunity to reflect on our togetherness and our diversity.
“It is clear that reconciliation, equality and mutual understanding cannot be taken for granted, and will require sustained fortitude and commitment. During my many visits to Northern Ireland, I have seen these qualities in abundance, and look forward to seeing them again on future occasions.”
- John Hall
DUKE OF SUSSEX ROCKS AT COVID JAB GIG
Prince Harry got a standing ovation after appearing solo as he joined celebs to film a Covid concert last night – in his first appearance since Prince Philip’s funeral.
The Duke of Sussex was among a bevy of big names taking part in the taping of the Vax Live show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, due to air on May 8.
He said: “Hi everybody. We are at a defining moment in the global fight against Covid-19.
“Tonight is a celebration of each of you here, the vaccinated frontline workers in the audience and the millions of frontline heroes around the world. You spent the last year battling courageously and selflessly to protect us all.
“You served and sacrificed, put yourselves in harm’s way and with bravery knowing the costs. We owe you an incredible depth of gratitude, thank you. We’re also coming together because this pandemic cannot end unless we act collectively with an unprecedented commitment to our shared humanity.”
- Alice Fuller
CHRISSY TEIGEN 'WANTS TO HANG OUT WITH MEGHAN'
Chrissy Teigen has said she would love to spend some quality time with Meghan Markle as their friendship continues to blossom.
The model and actress, married to singer John Legend, said in a chat with Entertainment Tonight: "I feel like our world has just gotten so small, through this whole pandemic and everything.
"We have to go to Montecito and chill in the chicken house. Archie's Cluckin' Hut."
She was referring to the chicken coop that Meghan and Harry's son Archie loves that appeared in their chat with Oprah Winfrey.
- John Hall
MORE INFO ON UNVEILING OF PRINCESS DIANA STATUE
It’s previously been claimed that Prince Harry would return to the UK to unveil the Princess Diana statue after chats with his brother at Prince Philip’s funeral “broke the ice.”
The brothers have had frosty relations since Harry sensationally moved to the US and stepped back from royal life in 2020.
But, according to Royal biographer Omid Scobie, the Duke of Sussex is still expected to be at the statue unveiling for Princess Diana at Kensington Palace.
Writing in Bazaar.com, he said: “He will join William at Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden for a ceremony that was rescheduled from summer 2020.”
The statue of Diana is set to be revealed on July 1 – on what would have been her 60th birthday.
- John Hall
MEGHAN MARKLE ISN’T KEEN ON PARTIES – CLAIMS
Meghan Markle isn’t keen on parties, according to Charlotte Griffiths’ column in the Mail On Sunday.
Meghan ‘bonded’ with high society stalwart Tamara Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax during her brief stint in the UK.
Griffiths says: “Meghan and Tamara, wife of Harry’s friend Henry ‘Wago’ Warhurst, bonded at the wedding of Harry’s Eton pal Charlie van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks not long before Megxit.”
A source told the writer: “Tamara was not drinking and was chilling ouside the marquee, avoiding the crazy scenes inside.
“Meghan has never been the life and soul of parties, often sitting the dancing part out, so she was drawn to Tamara. She is one of the few British female friends of Harry that Meghan warmed to.”
- John Hall
FORTNUM AND MASON DENIES MAKING A ‘SPECIAL TEA FOR ARCHIE’
Fortnum and Mason hasn’t created a special blend of tea to mark the birth of Archie, according to Richard Eden in his Daily Mail column.
The iconic London store brought out a ‘Christening Blend Tea‘, which costs £5.25, as a “commemorative gift” to “mark the christening of HRH Price George of Cambridge”.
But, Eden notes, “no such honour has been conferred on his cousin Archie”.
Prince Charles’s stepson, Tom Parker Bowles, who has written a new book for the store, called Time for Tea, tactfully said: “You’d have to ask Fortnum’s why there isn’t another special blend.”
Eden suggests it may be to do with frosty relations between the royals.
- Alice Fuller
'LITTLE WAS RESOLVED' BETWEEN HARRY, WILLIAM & CHARLES
Prince Harry didn't "make any progress" on the race row with Prince William and Charles after his grandfather's funeral.
Palace insiders revealed "little was resolved" about the accusations, which came out in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's explosive Oprah interview.
Harry and wife Meghan made claims a member of the Royal Family had questioned the colour of Archie's skin before he was born.
At the time Buckingham Palace said the Sussexes' comments would be "taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately".
But despite Harry's recent visit to the UK for Prince Philip's funeral, palace insiders say Harry did not "make any progress" regarding the allegations when he was back.
- John Hall
MEGHAN MARKLE ISN’T KEEN ON PARTIES – CLAIMS
Meghan Markle isn’t keen on parties, according to Charlotte Griffiths’ column in the Mail On Sunday.
Meghan ‘bonded’ with high society stalwart Tamara Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax during her brief stint in the UK.
Griffiths says: “Meghan and Tamara, wife of Harry’s friend Henry ‘Wago’ Warhurst, bonded at the wedding of Harry’s Eton pal Charlie van Straubenzee and Daisy Jenks not long before Megxit.”
A source told the writer: “Tamara was not drinking and was chilling ouside the marquee, avoiding the crazy scenes inside.
“Meghan has never been the life and soul of parties, often sitting the dancing part out, so she was drawn to Tamara. She is one of the few British female friends of Harry that Meghan warmed to.”
- John Hall
PRINCE HARRY ‘SHOULD BECOME KING INSTEAD OF CHARLES’ – POLL
The Duke of Sussex should become King instead of his dad, the Prince of Wales, a survey has been told.
The recent Deltapoll research found that more than half of 18 to 24-year-olds want Prince Harry to be crowned King when his grandma dies as he is the “preferred future monarch”, reports the Express.
Despite the royal quitting the UK with Meghan Markle to start a new life in the US, 51 per cent of respondents in that age bracket want him to reign as monarch.
Forty-seven per cent of the 1,590 adults polled said they preferred Prince William to be King rather than Prince Charles.
On Australian morning TV show Sunrise, royal commentator Anna Musson said: “Of course you’re going to vote for the person similar to you.”
- John Hall
PRINCE HARRY ‘GOT NEW EXEC JOB DESPITE LACK OF OBVIOUS QUALIFICATIONS’
Prince Harry’s appointment as a senior exec in a $1.7billion US firm is a “big win, given his lack of obvious qualifications”, say royal writers.
Richard Kay and Geoffrey Levy said in the Daily Mail that the Sussexes are enjoying an “impressively swift rise to the streaming stratosphere with their reported megabucks Netflix and Spotify deals.
“And that’s in addition to their elevation to the American entertainment elite, courtesy of Oprah and friends.”
- Alice Fuller
MEG & HARRY SET FOR 'EXORBITANT PAY'
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are set to receive a series of huge payments thanks to their links to the Royal Family, it is claimed.
Celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley expects the couple are to be "paid exorbitantly" due to their "sought after" status and "celebrity value" in the US.
She told the Washington Post: "Harry and Meghan will be sought after socially in America and paid generously (some might say exorbitantly) for their celebrity value.
"Not even the biggest US movie star or sports giant can claim Harry and Meghan's link to the British monarchy."
- John Hall
QUEEN SENDS HER ‘WARMEST GOOD WISHES’ ON NORTHERN IRELAND CENTENARY
The Queen has sent her “warmest good wishes” to the people of Northern Ireland on the date which many consider to be its centenary.
She referred to “treasured” memories she shared in NI with her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, and paid tribute to its people.
It’s the 100th year since the Government of Ireland Act came into effect and the formation of the UK as we know it today.
In her tribute, the Queen said: “This anniversary reminds us of our complex history, and provides an opportunity to reflect on our togetherness and our diversity.
“It is clear that reconciliation, equality and mutual understanding cannot be taken for granted, and will require sustained fortitude and commitment. During my many visits to Northern Ireland, I have seen these qualities in abundance, and look forward to seeing them again on future occasions.”
- John Hall
DUKE OF SUSSEX ROCKS AT COVID JAB GIG
Prince Harry got a standing ovation after appearing solo as he joined celebs to film a Covid concert last night – in his first appearance since Prince Philip’s funeral.
The Duke of Sussex was among a bevy of big names taking part in the taping of the Vax Live show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, due to air on May 8.
He said: “Hi everybody. We are at a defining moment in the global fight against Covid-19.
“Tonight is a celebration of each of you here, the vaccinated frontline workers in the audience and the millions of frontline heroes around the world. You spent the last year battling courageously and selflessly to protect us all.
“You served and sacrificed, put yourselves in harm’s way and with bravery knowing the costs. We owe you an incredible depth of gratitude, thank you. We’re also coming together because this pandemic cannot end unless we act collectively with an unprecedented commitment to our shared humanity.”
- John Hall
MORE INFO ON UNVEILING OF PRINCESS DIANA STATUE
It’s previously been claimed that Prince Harry would return to the UK to unveil the Princess Diana statue after chats with his brother at Prince Philip’s funeral “broke the ice.”
The brothers have had frosty relations since Harry sensationally moved to the US and stepped back from royal life in 2020.
But, according to Royal biographer Omid Scobie, the Duke of Sussex is still expected to be at the statue unveiling for Princess Diana at Kensington Palace.
Writing in Bazaar.com, he said: “He will join William at Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden for a ceremony that was rescheduled from summer 2020.”
The statue of Diana is set to be revealed on July 1 – on what would have been her 60th birthday.
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