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The Legacy of Meghan Markle

Words by Georgina Whitehead

Meghan Markle is without a doubt one of the most talked about people in the world, and whatever your opinion of her may be, she is unavoidable and constantly trending on social media. Her interview with The Cut was released on the 29th August 2022, just over a week before the Queen died, since then other articles have been released alongside MeghanÔÇÖs own podcast. This raises the question what the implications of the interview will be and how will this affect their position in a new age of the monarchy. The Cut article highlights their life post-Royal Family, from polo clubs, their new house, and potentially re-joining Instagram. There are also moments in the interview that hint at the family dynamics from Meghan and Archie playing with a wooden stethoscope together or Harry boosting MeghanÔÇÖs confidence regarding the photoshoot for the article. ItÔÇÖs very playful and friendly, but this doesnÔÇÖt hide the several controversial revelations that were discussed in the interview.

One of the most controversial and perhaps one of the most crucial now, is that Meghan claimed that Harry said that he ÔÇ£lost my dad in this processÔÇØ. This must be incredibly difficult for both sides, but to hear about it through an interview mustÔÇÖve been gutting for the then Prince Charles. There is a lot of information surrounding the Sussexes and the Royal Family that will likely never be verified as true or false, but people generally believed that they had been tentatively trying to rebuild their relationship.

Meghan also claims she has been making an ÔÇ£active effortÔÇØ to forgive members of the Royal Family and that she is ÔÇ£still healingÔÇØ from her experiences as part of The Firm. Meghan highlights that she can talk about her ÔÇ£whole experienceÔÇØ but makes the choice not to. In terms of rebuilding a potentially fractured relationship, constantly having that lingering threat that Meghan and Harry could do another tell-all interview or say whatever they like about the Royal Family must add to the strain. This comes after the 85-minute long special with Oprah, which was watched by over 17 million people. In this interview Meghan and Harry dropped bombshells regarding things like, Charles not taking HarryÔÇÖs phone calls and palace conversations about ArchieÔÇÖs skin tone.

However, now that Charles has been made King, Meghan and Harry are likely to want to repair any damage their claims mightÔÇÖve caused within the Royal Family, especially as King Charles III is the sole decider in whether Archie and Lili will get royal titles. There have been claims since the death of Queen Elizabeth II that Harry has asked to re-write sections of his upcoming book to make it less harsh on the Royal Family and this potentially could apply to their Netflix series as well if it is true.

But for some people they consider it to be too late, and that the damage has already been done. Regardless if they change things now, they canÔÇÖt take back what they have publicly said before. MeghanÔÇÖs interview with The Cut received a lot of criticism with some people calling for Meghan to move on from the Royal Family and stop using them in her interviews.

However, recent events havenÔÇÖt stopped Meghan from continuing to do give interviews though, as she has recently done an interview for Variety. In this she addresses the aftermath of the death of Queen Elizabeth II calling it a ÔÇ£complicated timeÔÇØ but does praise the Queen and their close relationship. That article was meant to be released in September but had to be pushed back and updated due to the QueenÔÇÖs death. For now, the long-term effects of MeghanÔÇÖs interview with The Cut have yet to be seen but it will be interesting to follow the story and see what both the Sussexes and the Royal Family do in the future.