Meghan Markle, who appeared in the latest winter edition of Harper’s Bazaar magazine in the US, caused some trouble after it was revealed that Prince Harry’s wife was advertised in the room with her royal titles.
In the cover story, the author reveals that when the As Ever founder had arrived for the interview at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, a golf course pulled up and “someone in the scrum announced” her as the ‘Duchess of Sussex’.
The second instance where this happens is when they meet in New York when the house manager announces ‘Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’, “even though we seem to be the only two other people in the house”.
The story drew a lot of criticism from Prince Harry’s wife as she continues to use her royal titles after making tall claims about being miserable at the palace and bashing the royals in public.
As the debate raged among royal experts and royal watchers online, Harper’s Bazaar cited an etiquette expert to see if Meghan was bound by protocol for the move, or if it was something amiss.
The expert Myka Meier began by denying that there was anything wrong with Meghan using her title in this way, even though she and Prince Harry left the royal family in 2020.
“She takes the more formal route, which is a matter of personal preference,” Meier said. “This is her choice, which is the point—that it’s her choice. And so, for whatever reason, that’s how she feels most comfortable being introduced.”
The expert explained that if one as a title as such, it can be compared to a doctor who chooses to use his title or not.
“Whether you’re prime minister, president or duchess or princess, it’s up to you how you want to be presented and how you want to present yourself,” she added.
While Meghan may not have been wrong in her introduction, it does raise eyebrows about her preference for adhering to royal protocol when all she wanted was to escape it.
