Every fan (or foe) of the royal family wants to know what is really going on behind the palace doors. Thankfully, a must-read new article in The New Yorker (opens in new tab) about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle does just that, delving deeply into the separation of the two now infamous senior royal titles. The most interesting part of the article was its discussion of Markle's relationship with the Buckingham Palace staff. According to the article, before the wedding, Meghan was considered "irreverent" by the staff.

According to Camilla Tominy (opens in new tab), editor of the Daily Telegraph and who had covered the royal family for more than a decade before Markle arrived at the palace, she was not very welcome. Tominey explained that a culture clash had something to do with it: Markle and the royal court were moving at very different speeds. 'She came from the celebrity world, and the celebrity world is very fast-paced and demanding. The royal world is completely different, much slower paced and very hierarchical. In the royal world, it's, "What should we do next?" Now, what did we do last time?" And so on."

Tominy continued: "It's like Downton Abbey (open in new tab)," she said, "where there is a hierarchy of staff who have been at Buckingham Palace for years and years to serve the Queen and the country. Hence, Harry and Meghan's demands, especially with the Duchess, "Wait a minute, who do you think you are?" There was a bit of an undercurrent of "I don't know," she said.

Nevertheless, Meghan and Harry seem to have a wonderful relationship with the staff at Frogmore Cottage, and they parted ways at a tearful farewell lunch. (opens in new tab) I hope there are no hard feelings, especially now that they and Archie are spending their days as a family in sunny L.A. (opens in new tab).

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