For those marrying into the Royal Family, adapting to life as a working member of the Firm can be difficult.
Indeed, royals from Prince Philip to Princess Diana faced their own trials and tribulations while they tried to navigate the complicated life of a working royal.
More recently, writing in her Substack Royal Extras, journalist and royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith said that the Queen’s cousin Lady Elizabeth Anson had told her about how Princess Margaret struggled with playing ‘second fiddle’ her whole life.
However, there was one member of the family who tried to not only carve out their own independent career as a working royal but also tried to ‘outshine’ every other member of the family – including the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Writing in his royal biography Yes Ma’am – which explores the lives of the men and women who serve the royals – author Tom Quinn claims that Meghan Markle caused a panic during her brief time as a working member of the family when the Duchess of Sussex signaled she wanted to operate separately from the Queen.
Quinn said: ‘Buckingham Palace became really worried when they became aware that Meghan had plans for her life as a working royal that were not going to be part of a general strategy agreed with the staff – she just wanted to do her own thing.
‘Which is fair enough if you’re not a member of a tightly controlled institution, but it was never going to be acceptable that Meghan should outshine Princess Anne, Prince Charles [as he then was] and Elizabeth the Queen.’
Speaking to Quinn, a former Courtier for Elizabeth said: ‘Elizabeth always had to be the centre and focus of everything the Royal Family did and I don’t think Meghan understood why that had to make her do things she didn’t want to do.
Author Tom Quinn claims that Meghan Markle caused a panic during her brief time as a working member of the family when she signaled she wanted to operate separately from the Queen. Here, she is pictured with Prince Harry
Meghan meets a well-wisher in Cape Town. Meghan’s tendency to go off-script and rebel against the constraints of royal life were glaringly obvious during this royal tour
The Queen with Harry and Meghan in July 2018. Meghan allegedly tried to ‘outshine’ the Queen during her time as a working royal
‘She didn’t understand that when you join the Royal Family, you don’t do as you please, you do as you’re told. In a sense, you become a servant of the family.’
Meghan’s tendency to go off-script and rebel against the constraints of royal life were glaringly obvious during the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s tour of Southern Africa in 2019.
While stopping to speak to ITV journalist Tom Bradby, Meghan gave a remarkably candid interview about how she was struggling to cope with the media scrutiny on top of being a new mother and a newlywed.
During the interview she thanked Bradby for asking if she was OK, claiming that ‘not many people have asked if I’m OK’.
And then when asked if it had been a struggle, she agreed with the reporter’s analysis.
While Meghan received praise in some circles for her openness, it was not the sort of answer many working royals would have been expected to give during a royal tour.
And the interview, along with the trip, became something of a PR disaster for the Royal Family.
Quinn added that Meghan ‘undoubtedly felt constrained’ by the Royal Family and that she and Harry needed ‘do their own thing without consulting the big royal machine’.
Harry and Meghan at their last event as working royals. Royal author Valentine Low claims that Meghan’s desire to ‘earn money for herself’ led the couple to abandon their duties entirely
In 2019, during an interview with ITV journalist Tom Bradby (left), Meghan was remarkably candid about how she was struggling to cope with the media scrutiny on top of being a new mother and a newlywed
Meghan speaking to ITV journalist Tom Bradby. While she received praise in some circles for her openness, it was not the sort of answer many working royals would have been expected to give during a royal tour
According to royal author Valentine Low, it was Meghan’s yearning to monetise her royal title which led to ‘Megxit’.
Writing in his tell-all book Courtiers, Low claims that Meghan’s desire to ‘earn money for herself’ led the couple to abandon their duties entirely.
Low revealed that during discussions about how to reach a happy middle ground – which could please the whole family – multiple scenarios were explored.
These ranged from Harry and Meghan ‘having a month a year to do their own thing’ to ‘spending most of their time privately but doing a select number of royal activities’.
The one caveat for the Sussexes continuing royal duties – however small or minor – was that they must stick to the ‘normal rules about royal behaviour’.
Crucially, that would mean Harry and Meghan could not ‘act or take decisions in order to gain financially’.
Low writes: ‘Some suspected that in the end she wanted to make money. And the only way she was going to do that was by leaving her royal life behind and going back to America.’
Indeed, since stepping down as a working royal Meghan appears to have focused much of her energy on her solo business projects.
The duchess on her With Love, Meghan series. Since stepping down as a working royal Meghan appears to have focused much of her energy on her solo business projects
Meghan with actress Mindy Kaling in her Netflix series. This was Meghan’s first major solo TV project, for which she teamed up with famous guests to cook and create homeware products
In March 2024, she launched American Riviera Orchard before changing the company’s name to As Ever.
Announcing the new venture, Meghan said: ‘This new chapter is an extension of what has always been my love language, beautifully weaving together everything I cherish – food, gardening, entertaining, thoughtful living and finding joy in the everyday.’
The food products sold by the brand include an assortment of teas, edible flower sprinkles and a £20 jar of honey.
Earlier this month, Meghan launched her latest line of porducts – Californian rosé wine. Customers were able to purchase three bottles for £66, six bottles for £118, and 12 bottles for £223 and it was sold out within the hour.
Meghan has also invested in a number of companies including the vegan coffee brand Clevr Blends and haircare line Highbrow Hippie.
She has also invested in asset manager Ethic, which focuses on sustainable investments.
Harry and Meghan signed a lucrative £18million deal with Spotify in 2020. However, despite appearing to be a joint venture, the only show they produced was hosted by Meghan.
In the series, titled Archetypes, Meghan interviewed various celebrities from Serena Williams to Paris Hilton.
In March 2024, she launched American Riviera Orchard before changing the company’s name to As Ever. The food products sold by the brand include an assortment of teas, edible flower sprinkles and a £20 jar of honey
Meghan takes a swig of rosé while filming With Love, Meghan. With the duchess’s love of a good tipple well known it was perhaps inevitable that her next business foray would be into the wine market
Tomorrow Meghan’s Napa Valley rosé wine will go on sale on her As Ever website. It has been described as having ‘soft notes of stone fruit, gentle minerality and a lasting finish’
The deal was ‘mutually ended’ in June 2023 with sources claiming the music streaming giant did not see a enough content to warrant the full payout.
Earlier this year, the duchess launched her Confessions of a Female Founder with Meghan podcast which saw the royal chat with female business owners from an array of successful companies.
In a slight career change, Meghan also penned a children’s book in 2021 titled The Bench.
The book follows the relationship of a father and son through the eyes of the mother.
Although an official figure was never announced, Harry and Meghan’s deal with Netflix was allegedly worth around £80million and has seen the couple produce multiple shows.
In 2022, the first Netflix series about the Sussexes was released aptly named Harry and Meghan.
While it holds the record for the biggest debut for a Netflix documentary, it received mixed reviews.
The pair were also executive producers on the Polo sports documentary series which followed athletes at the US Open Polo Championship.
In 2023, Meghan did not join Harry as an executive producer on the Heart of Invictus series, although the duke and duchess did appear together during the show.
Meghan’s first major solo television project was her lifestyle programme called With Love, Meghan which saw the duchess team up with a number of famous guests to cook and create homeware products.
Harry was almost entirely absent from the series aside from a very brief cameo in the last episode.
A source from the show has since reported that neither Harry nor their children will appear in the next season of the show.
