Meghan Markle. Photo / Netflix
Opinion:
If there is one thing you can say about royal life, it is that it is often ridiculous.
The late Queen was woken nearly every day by the Piper of the Sovereign who would follow her from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle to Balmoral. King Charles reportedly “shrieked” when he first saw Gladwrap – and it wasn’t that long ago.
When Prince Andrew used to travel overseas he would reportedly make his valet bring an oversized ironing board with them. (It’s been a while since ol’ Andy could leave UK soil without fear of being slapped with some sort of legal paperwork.)
So how’s this for a spot of early-in-the-week irony?
One half of history’s most famous self-evictees from the House of Windsor, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex would seem to be carrying on this tradition of royal ridiculousness.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Meghan is set to be one of the honourees at the 2023 Women of Vision Awards, put on by the Ms Foundation, which was launched by her friend, neighbour and living icon Gloria Steinem.
There will be a glitzy event in New York on May 16, meaning that out there, somewhere right now, a frazzled stylist is corralling racks of designer black tie looks for the eternally-chic Duchess to choose from.
Where things start to enter the inadvertently comical is when we get to the Duchess’ bio that hails her as a “feminist, champion of human rights and gender equity, and global role model”.
Now the first three achievements are spot on in my book. No, where things tip over into the decidedly droll is when we get to those last three words – “global role model”.
Really? For whom? Women keen to parlay a deep rift with their in-laws into lucrative content? People who have always wanted to wear $11,000 worth of clothing from ultra luxe Italian label Loro Piana to a Harlem school? Those who have long harboured the dream of writing a critical dud of a kids’ book?
To be clear here, when Meghan arrived in London in late 2017 to join the royal ranks, I was thrilled. Finally the world was going to get an HRH whose values and priorities aligned with every card-carrying feminist out there!
A woman who would use her global platform to affect real change for women. Huzzah! Pop the champagne and prepare to watch a duchess take on the patriarchy!
And that kinda, sorta happened in the 20-odd months that Meghan logged as a working member of the royal family, with her official trips to South Africa and Morocco which placed huge emphasis on gender equality.
Then came Megxit and what has followed isn’t exactly the stuff of feminist legend.
I know. Many people view her and Harry’s outspoken exit as a true moral achievement; as her having stood up to an ancient institution and spoken out about a situation she felt was wrong. Convictions take courage, after all. But going on Oprah to talk about how rubbish your husband’s family were to you isn’t exactly Emmeline Pankhurst territory.
In the last three years, Meghan cold-called a handful of seemingly unimpressed Senators about paid parental leave, donated a US$25 (NZ$39) Starbucks gift card to a leading non-profit working on the cause, and penned a letter about the issue to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
From 2019 onwards, Meghan has been the patron of UK charity SmartWorks. However, given she now lives in the US, it is unclear what this now means.
The Archewell Foundation’s recent “Impact Report” said it had partnered with the National Women’s Law Centre, and had worked, had “provided support” to Georgetown University Law Center’s Initiative on Gender Justice and was “working hand-in-hand” with organisations advocating for paid parental leave including Moms First.
In 2021 she helped rebuild a Texas women’s shelter after devastating storms, and last year took part in a conversation with Steinem and journalist Jessica Yellin for Vogue when Roe vs Wade was overturned.
In that chat, on the subject of having the Equal Rights Amendment ratified, Meghan said: “Well, Gloria, maybe it seems as though you and I will be taking a trip to D.C. together soon.” Spoiler alert – that has yet to happen.
Now, this is all more than you or I have done. Should Meghan want, she could be spending her days lolling by the pool re-reading the collected works of Jackie Collins and having her housekeeper bring her a fresh green juice on the hour, every hour.
It is to her immense credit that she wants to stand for something beyond the power of cashmere contempo casuals.
However, nor does this quite translate to global role model-dom.
The sticking point in all of this is the gap between the Meghan hyperbole and the actuality.
Consider the company that Meghan is keeping among some of the other Women of Vision honourees this year.
The list includes LaTosha Brown who co-founded Black Voters Matter, Wanda Irving who co-founded Dr Shalon’s Maternal Action Project which is focused on improving black maternal health, and Kimberly Inez McGuire who is the executive director of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
Meanwhile, there is Steinem herself, a woman who has truly earned legend status. She went undercover and worked inside one of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Clubs, going on to write one of the most famous journalistic exposés of all time.
She co-founded the revolutionary Ms Magazine, National Women’s Political Caucus, Women’s Action Alliance, and was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the US.
Her name is synonymous with the global women’s liberation movement and the mainstreaming of gender equality.
Today, women the world over owe her an enduring debt of gratitude.
These are incredibly impressive – and tangible – achievements. Can the same be said for the Duchess of Sussex?
Her Women of Vision bio also sets out this interesting morsel: “Meghan is noted as one of the most powerful and influential women in the world, topping such lists as TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People, The Financial Times’25 Most Influential Women, Variety Power of Women and British Vogue’s Vogue 25.”
Yes, she has appeared on all those lists which ostensibly attest to her ‘power’ and ‘influence’. But take away what a cynic might think are gongs handed out by publications keen to curry publicity and you have to ask yourself, is the duchess one of “the most powerful and influential women in the world”?
Most famous, most talked about, most obsessed over on social media, most likely to cause a run on some cool West Coast jewellery brand? Absolutely.
In 2016, Meghan Markle was, as biographer Tina Brown pointed out, sixth on the call sheet for a moderately successful cable dramedy and creator of a middle-of-the-road blog.
Today, the Duchess of Sussex is one of the planet’s biggest celebrities whose every utterance gets covered slavishly by the press (hello! Moi!) and who has managed to give a 1000-plus-year-old institution a serious, bone-shaking rattle.
Her journey from Toronto yoga-enthusiast who allegedly had “occasionally set up a paparazzi photo” to someone who has already earned herself lengthy inclusion in the history books is extraordinary.
But that is not the same thing as wielding genuine power and influence in the spheres that really matter like Washington, Silicon Valley, Wall Street or Hollywood.
The duchess has not gone to Davos or the annual Sun Valley gathering, dubbed summer camp for billionaires or been asked to address the United Nations. (To be fair, she might every year receive passionate requests from all of these outfits and simply says ‘no’.)
Nor has the 41-year-old carved out a place for herself at the head of any large-scale women’s movements or is she seen as widely hailed as a leader on any particular front.
In 2015, Meghan became a UN Women’s Advocate for Women’s Political Participation and Leadership. Despite leaving official royal working duties more than three years ago, thus making her a free agent to tie herself to whatever agency or charity she fancies, her connection to the UN has not been renewed, for whatever reason.
Yes, Meghan has done far more to try and help the world – women especially – than your garden-variety, Montecito mum doing the school run in a top-of-the-line Range Rover and worried she might miss her power yoga class.
However, nor does UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have her on speed dial or are Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton having her round for pinot and a powerklatch. (Though last year Hilary and her daughter Chelsea did make time for coffee with Kim Kardashian.)
Meghan deserves kudos for her work – truly – but it is quite the stretch to suggest that she is someone shaping tomorrow or truly leading the charge.
Here is another not-quite irony. Her grandmother-in-law was one of the longest-serving female heads of state in history and who navigated the choppy, turbulent social and cultural waters of the 20th century.
Yes, it was a job she inherited, making her the original nepo baby, but what the Queen did with the throne is a masterclass in learning how to wield soft power and build respect.
From day one, Her Majesty was frequently the only woman in the room, a 20-something surrounded by a gaggle of stuffy, older men with strong opinions. By all accounts, she learned to more than hold her own.
My absolute favourite example: When she took the wheel to drive Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, reportedly at breakneck speeds, around her Balmoral estate when it was illegal for women to drive in the Crown Prince’s homeland.
Now that is an example of a “global role model” if ever I’ve heard one.
Daniela Elser is a writer and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
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