Image: Getty
The royal sisterhood is at breaking point! The feud between Meghan and Kate is irreparable! If we believed every headline that the tabloids have published about the Duchess of Sussex and the Duchess of Cambridge this week, it would appear that Kensington Palace has become a metaphorical boxing ring, and that Meghan is storming off to the safety of Frogmore House.
Let’s take a step back and consider the facts, of which there are few. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly moving out of their two-bedroom Nottingham Cottage to the available 10-bedroom Frogmore House in preparation for the arrival of their first child in the spring. Logical, right? Oh no. Reading between the lines, many have purported that the move to the Windsor property is in order to put 20 miles between the expecting parents and the Cambridges. Relations are so fraught that the couples can’t possibly cohabit peacefully in the grounds of Kensington Palace.
The rumor mill has generated a smorgasbord of reasons for the reported rift between the so-called “Fab Four”. A few, in no particular order, are as follows: Kate was apparently left in tears after a bridesmaid’s dress fitting for Princess Charlotte; Meghan might have upset the Queen by asking to wear an emerald tiara instead of the one proposed by the monarch to walk down the aisle in; Meghan and Harry should arguably have waited until after Princess Beatrice’s wedding to announce their baby news; and a short-tempered Harry allegedly lost his nerve with the family, uttering the phrase: “what Meghan wants, Meghan gets” in the run-up to their May nuptials. Miss the headlines for one afternoon and expect to fall behind on the supposed royal saga.
Camilla, Duchess Of Cornwall, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Peter Phillips, Autumn Phillips, Isla Phillips and Savannah Phillips stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Photo: Getty
All that hearsay undercuts a summer of national celebrations, in which Prince Louis was born, Meghan and Harry wed, Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank and Prince Charles turned 70. So, why have the column inches written about the royal family turned speculative? One obvious argument is that the newspapers need to sell issues and there’s proof that readers’ appetite for scandal – particularly within the royal household – appears to be insatiable. We’ve witnessed it before, when Diana, Princess of Wales and Sarah, Duchess of York, joined the family in the 80s. “Because we were like siblings… we rowed,” Fergie told Harper’s Bazaar of having not reconciled a long-running disagreement upon Diana’s death in 1997.
Meghan and Kate, however, have been thrust together in the nation’s eye and written about as though they are sisters – when, in fact, they are sisters-in-law, and have known each other for a relatively short amount of time. Since Meghan was formally initiated into the family in May (after meeting Harry in July 2016), she has had to integrate herself in the inner workings of the Royal Foundation and its various initiatives, as well as getting to know her new relatives. After a forum in February, Harry said: “Working as family does have its challenges, of course it does. But we’re stuck together for the rest of our lives.”
Image: Getty
Why no one has unpacked the rumor that it could be a brotherly dispute driving the declared family challenges is another side to the debate. Instead, the two women are being pitted against each other in a way we have seen time and time again. Look at The Spice Girls. Rumors of a feud between Victoria Beckham and the four remaining band members still swirl, despite the fact she has once again amicably turned down the invitation of a reunion to focus on her business.
If 2018 started off with reports of women using their platforms to speak out against gender injustices and to support one another, it would be wrong to end it on an argument that is simply hot air – or, indeed, just nobody’s business but the family’s. Womanhood over watercooler conversation. Let the sisters-in-law be.
Now Read: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are Preparing to Move House Before Becoming Parents
This article first appeared on Vogue.co.uk
