Meghan Markle's New Look Is Unmistakable After Her Decision To Skip Coronation
Meghan Markle is no stranger to making one headline after the next for various reasons, whether it be due to her physical appearance or drama between herself and the royal family. The mother of two received mixed reviews this month after announcing her decision to skip King Charles' (aka her father-in-law's) coronation while her husband, Prince Harry, plans to attend. "Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on May 6th," Buckingham Palace announced in a statement via Fox News. "The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet."
Some outlets like The Telegraph suggested that Markle opted to skip the coronation after all of the drama that went down with King Charles and his alleged prejudice against her son Archie before his birth over the color of his skin. However, Meghan's reps have since shot down those claims. "The Duchess of Sussex is going about her life in the present, not thinking about correspondence from two years ago related to conversations from four years ago. Any suggestion otherwise is false and frankly ridiculous," Markle's reps said in a statement to the New York Post.
Aside from all of the he-said, she-said in the coronation drama, Meghan is also facing more negative headlines over what appears to be a new look. Some people are slamming the former "Suits" star after an appearance while comparing her to another royal family member.
Meghan Markle's new look draws comparisons to Kate Middleton
New look, who dis? After announcing that she was skipping King Charles' coronation, Meghan Markle appeared on Misan Harriman's Ted Talk to chat. The duchess did not physically appear on stage for the Ted talk but instead chatted via a live stream with the audience. Meghan looked a little different from her usual self, sporting super-straight hair and what appeared to be contact lenses to make her eyes look more hazel in color. Fans had a field day on social media, and many people compared Meghan's "new look" to the likes of her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton.
"Megsy is trying hard to look like the Princess of Wales, except she's so bronzed," one person tweeted. "Talk about creepy," another social media user commented with a side-by-side image of Meghan and Kate. "PLASTIC SURGERY ALERT? Sad Meghan Markle wants to be Kate Middleton so bad. Pathetic creature," one more wrote. Another person saw things differently, writing, "Pitting Kate Middleton against Meghan Markle and vice versa I mean what a crazy thing to do. They are both attractive, and I so wished that people would stop comparing them. By the way, I am not a royalist. I just wanted to say that though."
Meghan and Kate have faced their fair share of drama over the years, though Nick Bullen of True Royalty TV told Fox News that "there wasn't really any relationship between the two of them" when Meghan lived across the pond.
Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton reportedly hated being compared
It's not easy being thrust into the spotlight as a new member of the royal family and once Meghan Markle joined the fray, many couldn't help comparing her to Kate Middleton. In Tom Bower's biography, "Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors" (via Newsweek) he claimed that Markle "hated" being compared to Middleton, who often "appeared to be perfect."
Apparently, Middleton felt the same way. In Prince Harry's memoir "Spare," he described feeling hopeful that he and Markle would be a "foursome" with his brother Prince William and Middleton (via Page Six). However, the comparisons to Markle rubbed Middleton the wrong way and she felt "forced to compete" with her sister-in-law. Prince Harry recalled a time when Markle asked to borrow Middleton's lip gloss. "Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube. Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced," he wrote. He speculated that Middleton was "going to be compared to, and forced to compete with, Meg." Unfortunately, the two sisters-in-law never seemed to find their footing and their relationship remains frosty to this day.
Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton don't have much in common
While it could have been natural for Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton to join forces, according to True Royalty TV's Nick Bullen, the two women never became close. "There wasn't really any relationship between the two of them," he told Fox News. "I was talking to someone very early on in the Sussex marriage who had been at a dinner with Kate and had been asking about Meghan and Kate just said, 'She's just really different [from] the rest of us.' And not in a negative way. They just didn't have lots in common," Bullen revealed.
Markle and Middleton's rift may be a lot deeper than not having much in common. In a sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, the Duchess of Sussex compared how she was treated by the press and the royal family to Middleton's experience. "I think the volume of what was coming in and the interest was greater because of social media, because of the fact that I was not just British," she stated, per CBS. Markle shared that the royal family would tell her, "Well, this is what happened to all of us" and "We've all had to deal with things that are rude." However, she pointed out that there was no comparison. "Rude and racist are not the same," the mother of two declared.