Meghan has long claimed that she knew very little about the royal family, however these receipts make that not so. Photo / AP
Meghan has long claimed that she knew very little about the royal family, however these receipts make that not so. Photo / AP
Over the years, Meghan Markle has made more than a few claims of knowing “nothing” about the royal family before meeting Prince Harry.
However, after a blog post from her now-deleted website The Tig went viral, a lot of people are questioning how many times she has claimed she was unaware of the role the royals play, according to Daily Mail.
Two years prior to meeting Prince Harry, Meghan opened up on her website about the royal family. The Duchess of Sussex revealed her thoughts on royal princesses and, in particular, Prince William and Kate’s wedding - debunking her claims that she was oblivious when it came to the royal family and their traditions.
The 2014 post divulged that the former Suits actress fantasised about being a “royal rebel” as opposed to “a Cinderella” while reflecting on the “pomp and circumstance” and “endless conversations” around the 2011 wedding.
However, this directly contrasts to her persistently recurring claims that she knew very little about the royals prior to meeting Harry.
Markle’s blog entry about William and Kate’s wedding implies that she knew enough about the royal family to have various strong feelings about the monarchy, even before marrying Prince Harry.
Meghan shared this motivational quote from Jose Micard Teixeira on her blog, The Tig. Photo / Instagram
“Little girls dream of being princesses,” Meghan wrote in the post, before insisting: “I, for one, was all about She-Ra, Princess of Power.
“For those of you unfamiliar with the 80s cartoon reference, She-Ra is the twin sister of He-Man and a sword-wielding royal rebel known for her strength.
“We’re definitely not talking about Cinderella here.”
Additionally, Meghan said that many adult women keep dreaming about their “childhood fantasy” of being a princess before making a scorching comment on society’s fascination with the conversation around William and Kate in 2011.
“Grown women seem to retain this childhood fantasy,” she wrote. “Just look at the pomp and circumstance surrounding the royal wedding and endless conversation about Princess Kate.”
The blog exposes Markle’s claim that she never gave much thought to what it would be like to marry royalty.
Here are all the times Meghan insisted she knew nothing about the royals.
In Spare, Harry claims that the now-Duchess of Sussex went into interactions with his family unprepared. Photo / Getty Images
‘She definitely hadn’t googled us’: Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare claims the actress had done no research into the monarchy
Meghan has frequently repeated that she knew very little about the royals prior to dating her now-husband, with Harry even writing about her lack of royal knowledge in his memoir.
In Spare, Harry claims that the now-Duchess of Sussex went into interactions with his family unprepared.
The book, which has caused much controversy and was even dubbed “pure chaos”, details that Meghan knew “almost nothing about his relatives”.
The Duke of Sussex went on to say that Meghan “definitely hadn’t googled” anything about the monarchy or done any research prior.
When the Duchess met Harry's grandmother Queen Elizabeth for the first time, she mistakenly took Prince Andrew for the Queen’s assistant while he was holding her purse.
Harry also claims that his wife thought Prince Andrew was the late Queen Elizabeth’s assistant when Markle saw him holding her handbag
He recollected the time when the duchess met his grandmother for the first time and she mistakenly took Prince Andrew for the Queen’s assistant while he was holding her purse.
He shared: “After a moment Meg asked me something about the Queen’s assistant. I asked who she was talking about.
“‘That man holding the purse. That man who walked her to the door. That wasn’t her assistant? Who was it?’”
Harry then informed her that it was actually his uncle, telling Meghan: “That was her second son. Andrew.”
He wrote: “She definitely hadn’t googled us.”
In the Netflix series, the former Suits actress mocked her attempts to adhere to royal protocol, sharing her first encounter with the Queen. Photo / Netflix
Meghan described her first meeting with the Queen as ‘Medieval Times’ and says she had no idea she had to curtsey
In the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix docu-series, Harry & Meghan, her knowledge of the royal family was once again put to the test.
In one of the scenes, the former Suits actress seemed to mock her attempts to adhere to royal protocol, sharing her first encounter with the Queen.
She described the moment as “surreal” and compared the meeting to a dinner at “Medieval Times”, an olden-day themed dinner event with sword-fighting and jousting performances.
Markle then performed a curtsey in front of Prince Harry, who seemed awkward and quiet throughout the reenactment.
“She had no idea what it all consisted of,” Harry said in the scene. “So it was a bit of a shock to the system for her.”
Markle went on to say: “I didn’t know I was going to meet her until moments before. We were in the car and we were going to the Royal Lodge for lunch, and he [Harry] was like, ‘Oh, my grandmother is here, she’s gonna be there after church.’
“I remember we were in the car, driving and he’s [Harry] like, “You know how to curtsey, right?” And I just thought it was a joke.”
The duke then relayed to the audience: “How do you explain that to people? How do you explain that you bow to your grandmother? And that you would need to curtsey, especially to an American. That’s weird.”
The Duchess divulged that she had to look up Britain’s national anthem on Google, lamenting that she had not received a Princess Diaries-like crash course on royal protocol.
‘I had to Google God Save The Queen’: Markle made a fuss about not having a crash course in Royal protocol
In the Netflix series, the duchess divulged that she had to look up Britain’s national anthem on Google, lamenting that she had not received a Princess Diaries-like crash course on royal protocol.
She then went on to say she was so unaware about the monarchy that she had to self-teach herself the patriotic anthem God Save The Queen.
Meghan revealed that she practiced the anthem relentlessly after learning the lyrics on Google.
She also divulged that “the wave is not a thing”, claiming that there was no special way of hand-waving, but joked that she didn’t want to flail her hands “like an American”.
In the Oprah interview, the Duchess of Sussex said she didn’t grow up “knowing much about the royal family.” Photo / Supplied
Meghan revealed in the Oprah interview that she ‘never looked up’ Harry online before meeting him in 2016
When chatting to Oprah in March 2021, Markle again claimed that she was not prepared for her life as a royal.
In the explosive interview, the Duchess of Sussex said she didn’t grow up “knowing much about the royal family”.
Markle revealed that she entered into the family “naively”.
“I didn’t do any research about what [joining the royal family] would mean,’ she told the talk host, going on to say: “I never looked up my husband online.”
Despite her insistence of being unaware , Meghan confessed that she knew Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie prior to meeting her now-husband.
The Sussexes’ first date was also allegedly set up by designer Misha Nonoo, whose ex-husband Alexander Gilkes was good friends with both Harry and William.
And while Markle insisted she didn’t grow up knowing much about the Royals, prior to Meghan and Harry’s wedding in 2018, her childhood best friend slammed those claims.
Ninaki Priddy, who was the maid of honour at Meghan’s first wedding to Trevor Engelson, revealed to the Daily Mail: “[Meghan] was always fascinated by the royal family. She wants to be Princess Diana 2.0.”
A picture of 15-year-old Meghan and Ninaki sitting in front of Buckingham Palace in 1996 went viral before the royal’s wedding.
Daily Mail released a photo of Meghan Markle and friend Ninaki Priddy outside Buckingham Palace when they were aged 15 years old.
Ninaki said: “She had one of Princess Diana’s books [Diana: Her True Story] on her bookshelf, and even when she was with Trevor she told me she wanted to go and stay in London for at least a month.
“I can’t remember exactly when this was, but she was married to Trevor and starring in Suits. She mentioned about wanting to go to London a couple of times.
“I wasn’t shocked or even surprised to hear about Prince Harry. I know she used to love The Princess Diaries - films about a commoner who becomes part of a Royal Family. She was very taken with that idea.’
