Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has given a new interview to Harper’s Bazaar in which journalist Kaitlyn Greenidge reveals that Meghan has staff announce her—by title—as she wafts around borrowed Upper East Side real estate.
Greenidge slipped the sly dig into what was otherwise largely sympathetic copy, writing:
“We’re in a grand brownstone on the Upper East Side that belongs to one of Meghan’s friends. When I enter, the house manager announces, ‘Meghan, Duchess of Sussex,’ even though we appear to be the only other two people in the house.”
Historically, of course, this isn’t how announcements worked. A herald announced you when you entered a crowded room — not when someone else walked into your friend’s house.
Assuming the house manager didn’t spontaneously wake up and think, I shall announce ‘Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’ at every opportunity today, it seems the scene was choreographed by Meghan for the benefit of the journalist.
The strange action came amidst increasing speculation that a future King William intends to strip Meghan and Harry of their titles in the fullness of time.
The performance struck the Royalist as particularly absurd, because it is all unfolding in America — where British peers always used to know far better than to flounce around with titles.
For more than a century, British aristocrats have understood that whatever magic a title carries in Britain, it evaporates on contact with the continental United States.
As Winston Churchill wrote on his own American tour in 1929, “Titles count for nothing with Americans.” He observed elsewhere that Americans “care little for the trappings of aristocracy,” which is why he insisted on introducing himself everywhere as “Mr. Churchill.”
British diplomats were even given formal guidance: Foreign Office instructions throughout the mid-20th century explicitly advised envoys not to use aristocratic styles in America, because it confused officials and made the British look out of touch.
P. G. Wodehouse understood the cultural truth with forensic clarity. His fictional aristocrats knew that British titles have no place in America: Lord Emsworth styled himself “Mr. Threepwood,” in front of Americans.
Which is why Meghan having a house manager announce “Meghan, Duchess of Sussex” in a borrowed New York brownstone, to an audience of exactly one journalist, is a gigantic cringe, a show that would have made even Wodehouse’s most patient butler stop in disbelief.
The interview has also attracted attention for Meghan’s description of her relationship with her husband:
She puts her hand on her heart when she talks about her husband. “He loves me so boldly, fully, and he also has a different perspective because he sees media that I wouldn’t,” she says. “No one in the world loves me more than him, so I know he’s always going to make sure that he has my back.” With Harry, Meghan explains, “you have someone who just has this childlike wonder and playfulness. I was so drawn to that, and he brought that out in me. That’s translated into every part of our life. Even in business, I want us to play and have fun and explore and be creative.”
The post Meghan Markle Gets Staff to Make Odd Entrance Announcement appeared first on The Daily Beast.
