Inside Meghan Markle's Relationship With Princess Beatrice
There is no shortage of insight or wild speculation about Meghan Markle's relationships with the royal family. By now, her torrid history with estranged sister-in-law Kate Middleton is well documented. Since Prince Harry's memoir "Spare" came out we could all tell you, basically word for word, how Meghan and Kate got into a fight over Princess Charlotte's bridesmaid dress just days before Meghan's wedding, per the Independent. Kate claimed that Charlotte burst into tears when trying on the ill-fitting dress. When she reached out to Meghan, Meg suggested bringing Charlotte to her seamstress to tailor it. Instead, Kate reportedly insisted that every single one of the dresses needed to be remade. Things escalated until Meghan reportedly began crying and Kate had to apologize with a handwritten note.
That's just Meghan and Kate, though. The zeitgeist is also full of stories about how Prince William told Harry not to marry Meghan and later got in a physical altercation with his brother over the relationship, per ET. Then, there's the long-standing speculation that King Charles made disparaging remarks about the skin tone of Meghan and Harry's unborn child, per Page Six.
All this raises the status of her relationship with another royal: Princess Beatrice — famously close with Harry and down to earth (by royal standards). It's got us wondering, after Megxit, and an astonishingly honest memoir, where does Meghan stand with Beatrice these days?
Princess Beatrice inspired Meghan Markle to keep her title
We all remember the discourse over whether or not Meghan and Harry would keep their royal titles upon leaving the royal family. To the surprise of many, Meghan wanted to, even though she had publicly stated in the past that she couldn't care less about the pedigree. "I've been a waitress, an actor, a princess, a duchess — I've always still just been Meghan, right?" Meghan said during her 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey (via The U.S. Sun). Though she tried to downplay it, Meghan reportedly pushed hard to keep the "duchess" title even after leaving for the states. According to insiders, it was her close relationship with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie that inspired her to do so.
"Harry and Meghan are very, very keen to cling onto those royal titles," royal expert Neil Sean said on his YouTube channel (via Express). He explained that after Meghan became close with Beatrice and Eugenie she saw the value in a royal title. "Particularly when you want to move in the correct circles," he said. "That is the reason why they want to clutch hold of titles."
Sean explained that after getting to know Beatrice and Eugenie, Meghan gained a new understanding of the social currency a title carried in the UK. The princesses' father, Prince Andrew, had to famously push for them to receive titles from Queen Elizabeth in the 1980s. According to Sean, Meghan took that lesson to heart and wants the same for her children.
Princess Beatrice took a jab at Meghan Markle
Princess Beatrice may have inspired Meghan Markle to push for titles for her children with Prince Harry, but there is reportedly still plenty of tension between the ladies. Insiders claim that Beatrice's decision to announce her pregnancy on Prince Harry and Meghan's wedding anniversary was a calculated attack against the couple. To most, it would seem unrelated — Beatrice can't help that she may start showing soon after her cousin's anniversary, after all. but to those in the know, Beatrice was settling an old score with the Sussexes.
"It was a total dig at Harry and Meghan," a source told Page Six, recounting how Meghan announced her pregnancy at Princess Eugenie's wedding. Robert Jobson, author of "Prince Philip's Century," said, "In life, timing is everything. And it seems that after Harry and Meghan stole the headlines and world attention by announcing that Meghan was pregnant with Harry ... [Beatrice] didn't forget." There's no word on how the Sussexes took the announcement — but hopefully, it didn't cause too much of a rift.
Ready for an even tougher pill to swallow? While Meghan (and the rest of the world) waits to find out if King Charles will give her children an official title (we doubt it, if he's read his son's book), Princess Eugenie's child was given a title at birth, per Metro UK. Not because of her uncle, though. Beatrice's daughter is a countess because her father, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi is an Italian count. Tough break, Meghan!