Kate Middleton is in the midst of one of the most baffling PR crises the royal family has seen in a while — so of course, some people want to badger Meghan Markle about it.
Ever since the darling Princess of Wales seemingly vanished from the public eye following planned abdominal surgery in January, the media and general public have only had one question: "Where is Kate?"
After weeks of online conspiracy theories swirled, the speculation came to a head when social media accounts for The Prince and Princess of Wales posted a family portrait of Middleton and her kids for Mother's Day in the United Kingdom. However, in a rare move, major news agencies like The Associated Press and Reuters immediately recalled the photo, which had been distributed by the palace, from circulation because it appeared to be digitally manipulated.
Soon thereafter, the Palace responded with a statement from Middleton who apologized saying, "Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused."
Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) March 11, 2024
But even with a scandal focusing solely on Middleton — Markle, the Duchess of Sussex is still dragged into the mess. The relentless British tabloids, who have continuously dogged Markle for years, are now inserting her into the Middleton debacle and placing responsibility on her to address and support Middleton.
Multiple publications have urged Markle to comment on the ongoing Middleton dilemma and credibility issue inside the Palace. In an interview with the Mirror, public relations expert Ryan McCormick said, "If I was advising Meghan, I would tell her to speak loud and passionate in defence of Kate. Meghan may not like being on the brunt of negative press but, she's definitely more familiar with it than Kate.
He continued, "The Duchess could help the Princess of Wales tremendously by guiding her through this crisis publicly and behind the scenes."
Another royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital that the Sussexes should "keep a dignified silence."
"Or, at the very most, release a statement which would say all people can make mistakes in their lives, but they wish a speedy recovery for. . .The Princess of Wales," he said. "Meghan and Harry may use the situation to support their claims while they feel sympathy. It recognizes as well that not all is what it seems in the House of Windsor."
Following the Photoshop incident, Page Six wrote that "sources close to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry saying: 'This isn't a mistake that Meghan would ever make...she has a keen eye and freakish attention to detail.'" (However, a spokesperson from the couple's Archewell Foundation clarified to Newsweek, "With respect to Page Six, that [statement] did not come from us.")
Through the cloudy PR spin, there is a specific narrative already building around Markle: The Sussexes should support their family members because they know what it's like for their lives to become fodder for particularly nasty tabloids. However, this is the sole reason why the Sussexes shouldn't comment on the matter. They aren't obligated to say anything after the maelstrom of abuse they've suffered at the hands of the PR machine behind and surrounding the crown, especially Meghan Markle.
Three years ago, the couple revealed to the world that they lived in a heavily controlled ecosystem that left no room for agency. Markle alleged that she was denied mental health services during her pregnancy when she dealt with suicide ideation. She also claimed that, as a half-Black woman, she dealt with racist abuse from both tabloids and inside the royal family, including a situation in which someone questioned the skin color of her unborn child, Archie. From the outside looking in, the situation mirrored that of Princess Diana, who reportedly suffered from depression and an eating disorder amid the constant hounding from media.
Asking Markle to speak on Middleton's behalf is also placing the responsibility to protect and defend someone whom she claimed made her cry before her wedding and is rumored to have been the one that made comments about her son’s skin color. Not only that but the Prince and Princess of Wales never publically made a statement to defend their sister-in-law from the hatred she received during her time as a royal. Some even speculate that the couple also fed stories about the Sussexes to the press, too. This is an obvious double-standard that would only be applied to Markle because of her race and womanhood.
Most importantly, after everything Markle has been through in the last handful of years as a royal and now a royal-adjacent figure, shouldn't everyone cut her some slack? This is a PR and image-obsessed family whose global credibility is crumbling in real-time. Some of that perfect, pristine veneer's erosion has everything to do with Markle's courage in speaking her truth to power.
At the end of the day, as Malcolm X once said, “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman." While the royals are British, the sentiment remains the same and rings eerily true in this circumstance. Black women are always meant to do the saving when other people are being disrespected or attacked. However, that’s not on us to fix or alleviate — that's not our responsibility or burden to carry when we too have also been gravely harmed. It also sets an impossibly high standard of moral authority on us, when all we want is to be simply respected — not be your Wonder Woman.
