“We've seen women marry into this family and time and time again, they leave scars.

He cites Diana, Wallis Simpson, even Sarah Ferguson, as royal wives who have been destroyed in the process. Omid goes so far as to say that the royal family has a problem with newcomers, particularly women. But Meghan just wasn't ever going to fit that sort of cookie-cutter Duchess role.” “I think if Meghan had come in and was the subservient wife and did everything that she was supposed to, at all times and didn't question anything, it may have been different. The direct comparison between them in this way, was another battering ram used against Meghan by the press, Omid believes. “In Meghan’s refusal to do certain things- like show Archie the day he was born- and in sharing her feminist views- that made Kate look incredibly old fashioned,” he says, “And I think there have been many times in which Megan's progressiveness highlighted Kate's almost sort of past-era persona that she has as the perfect Duchess of Cambridge.” And the same again with Charles, who was really sort of enamoured by her dynamism,” describes Omid, “But I think that support wasn't universal across all of the royal households.” “The Queen had a great amount of respect and she found her very exciting to have in the fold.

Harry maintained an excellent relationship with the Queen, Prince Charles was viewed as Meghan’s “second father” and Princess Eugenie was especially close to them, even holidaying with them (though she was none-too-pleased when they announced their pregnancy at her wedding, naturally). Whilst we struggle to separate the two, this is not just a family after all, but a working “Firm.” From a personal perspective, there was still a lot of good will for the pair. “There were times in which Harry especially felt that there was a hate campaign against them, but not from within the family,” Omid says, “He’s very good at knowing that distinct line between his family and the institution.” When she does it, her American friends all stand up and holler, because they just felt it had been so long since they heard their friend’s voice.” “There’s a difference between the ‘family’ and the ‘institution.’” She had very strong opinions on American politics and she gave up her right to her US vote,” he says, “In the book we look at Meghan making a speech at her wedding. “If you strip away the material aspects, she did give up a lot because she was an outspoken woman. Whilst one of the quotes from Meghan in the book- that she “gave up everything” for the family - has proven a lightning rod for criticism, Omid thinks it perfectly sums up her predicament.

Omid scobie new book