Sophie Nulph is a sophomore journalism major and writes “Open-Minded” for The Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Move on over, Princess Diana — there’s a new royal rebel in town.
With the latest news on Duchess Meghan Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, people have found yet another reason to scrutinize the royal couple. The family has decided to take a step back from the royalty scene, wanting to split their time living between Europe and North America.
Markle and the Prince will stop taking public funds from the country as well as drop their titles of “his/her royal highness.” The loss of the title means Queen Elizabeth II will no longer be represented by the couple — however, she has stated they will always be viewed as family.
Meghan Markle is the modern-day Princess Diana, who was only admired and appreciated postpartum. We can’t make this same mistake we made with Diana with Markle, and Prince Harry agrees. In a statement, the Duke said he would not let his wife fall victim to the same thing he lost his mother to, which in itself has sparked talk about Diana’s death.
Markle comes from a biracial, divorced household in California, and because of this, the tabloids were quick to judge the 38-year-old actress. Headlines from these tabloids differ insanely between Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, and Markle, even when they did the same things. One headline about Middleton read, “Why you can always say it with flowers” about flowers at her wedding, while Markle’s headline for the same thing read, “Royal wedding: How Meghan Markle’s flowers may have put Princess Charlotte’s life at risk.”
The press negativity got so bad after Markle and the Prince’s engagement that the royal palace released a statement telling the tabloids their treatment toward the soon-to-be duchess was unacceptable.
Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana of Wales, was under fire by the press when she was alive, too. The young princess married Prince Charles of Wales when she was only 19, and though she is adored by people now, Diana was not very popular before she passed away. This is partly because of her separation and eventual divorce from Prince Charles but also because of how different she was from the rest of the royal family.
In the Netflix documentary, “Diana: In Her Own Words,” Diana talked about the continuous tabloid hate she received. Diana’s narrative in this documentary, produced by National Geographic, was monumental to getting an insight into the royal family. The narrative explained Diana was doing these interviews in secret. She was talking to a close friend that was relaying the information to journalist Andrew Morton, who was writing a book about the life of Lady Diana. The princess suffered from depression and bulimia while in the family and was very open about the overwhelming pressures of being in the royal family in the documentary.
Markle shows striking similarities to her late mother-in-law in struggles with the media. Markle, like Diana, was unafraid to be a human in the press. She has openly shown the struggles of becoming a new mother — much like Diana was open with her postpartum depression. Likewise, Markle and Diana were both subjected to constant press attention. When you have pictures taken of your every move, how could something not go wrong?
Meghan Markle is the modern version of Princess Diana, but society has not learned its lesson.
People hated Diana until she passed. Now, she is adored.
We have another chance to open our minds to change with Meghan Markle, and we can’t miss this opportunity. Markle has taken over Diana’s legacy of normalizing the royals, and the royal family is already benefiting by becoming more open-minded on normalizing the lives of the monarchy. Through her openness with the press and the latest news of the family taking a step back from everything, Markle is showing that even royalty isn’t perfect, and Harry, unlike Charles, is with his wife every step of the way.
Contact Sophie with comments at smnulph@bsu.edu.
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