A powerful speech made by Meghan Markle was quickly interrupted with a joke from Prince Harry, and it was more telling than meets the eye, according to one royal author
Prince Harry interrupted Meghan Markle with a whispered comment during a joint appearance with Prince William and Princess Kate, according to a royal author.
The two couples, once fondly known as the ‘Fab Four’, were on stage at the 2018 Royal Foundation Forum at the time. Notably, it was Meghan’s first official engagement with her future in-laws – but author Tom Bower claims the former TV star’s words upset the foundation’s executives and created an awkward atmosphere amongst the four.
In an extract from ‘Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War between the Windsors’, Bower claims that the Duke of Sussex’s interjection during Meghan’s speech was much more weighted than first thought.
Meghan was outlining the important work she hoped to get involved with in empowering women – until Harry intervened with a joke.
The duchess powerfully told the audience, “With so many campaigns like MeToo and TimesUp, there’s no better time to continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people supporting them.
“You’ll often hear people say, ‘Well you’re helping people find their voice’ and I fundamentally disagree with that, because women don’t need to find a voice. They have a voice, they need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen.”
Adressing Harry’s interjection, Bower writes: “While Meghan spoke, Harry spotted William’s rictus grin… ‘Wedding first’, Harry whispered loudly. While the four all laughed at Prince Harry’s comment, the author paints a picture that it was his way of reminding his fiancé at the time to not get ahead of herself. “‘We can multi-task,’ Meghan replied to the unexpected interruption.”
Bower argues that while the royals are patrons of the Foundation, they have limited influence on its direct activities. “That power was exercised by the Foundation’s executives, an unimpressive group criticised for ineptly moving the royals around like chess pieces,” the author wrote.
“While William, Kate and Harry had become accustomed to their motley behaviour, Meghan’s arrival as a natural recruit for the Foundation’s philanthropic work disturbed the rhythm of the executives’ habits. Her feminism also upset their ingrained conservatism.”
A version of this story was first published in July 2023.
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