Royal family
Here’s what Meghan said she had to do when she learned Prince Harry “wasn’t a billionaire” and what else “shocked her about the royals.
If Meghan Markle really didn’t research Prince Harry and his family before they started dating, then maybe she should have. That’s because what Meghan thought being married to a prince in Britain’s royal family would be like and the reality of what being married to a prince who would never be king actually meant, are two different things.
There’s always been chatter that one of the reasons the Sussexes ended up stepping down from their roles within Harry’s family is because Meghan’s assumption about royal life isn’t what royal life was like for her. And now, there’s a claim that the former Suits star had another idea that was totally off base as she believed she was marrying a “billionaire.”
Here’s more on that and what else came as a surprise to the duchess.
Meghan’s reaction after learning that Prince Harry ‘was not a billionaire’
The claim about Meghan thinking Prince Harry’s wealth was much greater than it was, is one of the topics written about in the new book Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants by royal expert Tom Quinn.
According to the author, Meghan’s American upbringing is why she made “assumptions” about the British royal family that were not in touch with reality.
In Quinn’s book, which was excerpted by The Times, he wrote that when Meghan found out Harry was only worth around £20 million ($25 million), she “quickly realized” that she needed to “reassess other assumptions she’d made about this strange new family.”
Quinn added: “Meghan Markle had a typically American view of the royal family before she joined it — for her, life was all about castles, glittering balls, and limitless wealth and ease. As one royal staff member put it, ‘She expected a billionaire and she got a millionaire.’”
Other things that ‘shocked’ Meghan about royal life
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Meghan thinking she would get one thing but received another after she wed Harry.
A former Palace staffer told Quinn that “[Meghan] was dazzled by the worldwide fame that being a princess would bring, but she was shocked by the Palace protocol and by the fact that she was not and never could be first in the pecking order. She thought she would be living in Windsor Castle, for example, and just couldn’t believe it when she and Harry were given Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace.”
Former longtime BBC correspondent Jennie Bond insisted that Meghan also really wanted something else that the royals weren’t going to give her.
“She wanted to have control and a coveted spot in the limelight,” Bond told OK! magazine. “However, in the royal family, the monarch commands the brightest spotlight and has the most control.”
