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Meghan Markle today hinted at difficulties with her British in-laws saying the death of Harry’s grandmother had been “complicated,” but added that she was “proud to have had a nice warmth with the matriarch of the family.”
In a lengthy interview and fashion shoot with showbiz bible Variety, largely presented in a Q+A format, Meghan also said that she and Harry were likely to want different things for their kids than is traditional for royal children, saying, “They’re our kids, obviously, and they’re part of a legacy and a tradition and a family that will have other expectations…We’re creating multidimensional, interesting, kind, creative people. That’s who our kids are.”
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Intriguingly, Meghan also appeared to editorially distance herself from the forthcoming Netflix series about her and Harry, directed by Liz Garbus, saying: “It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story—a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired—even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it. But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.”
It is the first time that either Meghan or Harry have officially confirmed a show is taking place.
Meghan also suggested that she was too “trusting” in her interactions with a journalist writing a profile on her for The Cut in which she compared the impact of her wedding in South Africa to the freeing of Nelson Mandela.
Meghan said of the interview: “I’ve had some time to reflect on it. Part of me is just really trusting, really open—that’s how I move in the world. I have to remember that I don’t ever want to become so jaded that that piece of me goes away. So despite any of those things? Onward. I can survive it.”
Meghan said she had been nervous about interviewing Paris Hilton for her Archetypes podcast this week because she “didn’t grow up pretty” and that instead she “grew up as the smart one.”
However, it is her guarded admission of ongoing difficulties with the Windsors that is likely to garner most attention.
Meghan said of the queen’s death: “There’s been such an outpouring of love and support. I’m really grateful that I was able to be with my husband to support him, especially during that time. What’s so beautiful is to look at the legacy that his grandmother was able to leave on so many fronts. Certainly, in terms of female leadership, she is the most shining example of what that looks like. I feel deep gratitude to have been able to spend time with her and get to know her. It’s been a complicated time, but my husband, ever the optimist, said, ‘Now she’s reunited with her husband.’”
Asked what would be an “ideal project” for her and Harry’s production company Archewell, Meghan replied: “So much of how my husband and I see things is through our love story. I think that’s what people around the world connected to, especially with our wedding. People love love. I’m not excluded in that sentiment. And our definition of love is really expansive: Partner love, self-love, the love of community and family. We use that as the baseline of the kind of shows and documentaries we want out there.”
Asked how an actress cast as her should prepare, Meghan said, “I hope that in preparing for that role, she finds the softness and the playfulness and the laughter. The silliness. I just hope she finds the dimensions. Also, she can call me!”
The interview and shoot was originally intended to mark Meghan’s inclusion in the 2022 “Variety’s Power of Women” issue. However, publication was delayed after Queen Elizabeth II died in September.
