Meghan Markle Got Candid About Life Under A Media Microscope, And It Broke The Internet’s Heart
"Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I'm ok," Markle told the interviewer.
Meghan Markle has had one of those lives that children’s authors write soppy, heart-warming tales about.
Born to a social worker mother and TV crew father, Markle morphed into a TV star, and then eventually, wife to Prince Harry. Wilder still, she became a royal after going on a blind date with the Prince — hopefully not so blind that she didn’t know she was about to chat to a member of the British aristocracy, mind you.
To that end, Markle’s life story has been pitched as a kind of inspirational tale. A simple twist of fate turned her into a Princess, making her a core part of the kind of myth that pop culture loves to sell us. After all, living in a capitalist society, what are we meant to admire more than the story of someone who suddenly became wealthy, and powerful, and famous, and adored.
But this week, in an unusually candid interview, the one-time actress pulled back the curtain and revealed the truth behind the myth — namely, that being thrust under a media microscope is very, very hard.
Asked to comment on the fact that Prince Harry appears to be shielding Markle from the press, her immediate response was to look a little like she might cry.
“Look, any woman, especially when they’re pregnant … you’re really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging,” Markle said.
“Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m ok.”
It’s worth remembering at this point that Markle is extremely privileged and wealthy. The British royal family is an anachronistic institution that drains the taxpayers, and Markle is benefiting off that institution with money and power.
But just because these systems are cruel and unfair, doesn’t mean that the people who perpetuate them always are. Markle is a human being, at the end of the day, and one who is being thrust into the spotlight in the most dehumanizing possible way.
Watch the whole heartbreaking clip below:
Duchess Meghan also opens up in the documentary about dealing with negative press during her pregnancy:pic.twitter.com/lVCSfw05SZ
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) October 18, 2019