Amid beaming smiles, cheesy dancing and stunning gowns, the recent royal tour to the Caribbean was peppered with controversy. While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were “greeted like rock stars” on their tour of Belize, Jamaica, and The Bahamas, the royal couple also dealt with criticism – even facing protests calling for reparations for slavery and colonialism.
And while Kate and William may now be back home in the UK – with William telling the press that “foreign tours are an opportunity to reflect” – a royal insider tells us that Harry and Meghan have been watching the events closely and are feeling ever so slightly smug.
“Of course, Harry and Meghan have followed this whole saga extremely closely. And while Meghan isn’t looking to pick a fight with Kate or delight in any wrongdoing, there’s definitely a sense of karma here from the Sussexes’ perspective,” our insider says of the couple, who left royal life back in February 2021.
“The feeling within Team Sussex is that the Cambridges are finally being scrutinised and held accountable for the royals’ actions, not just their own. And that it’s not always a bed of roses, just because they’ve turned up and made nice with locals, who have a right to be heard and to sound off about something that’s of great concern to them.”
Royal historian Dr Ed Owens said last week that he believes had Harry and Meghan still been working royals, they would have been a better choice for the tour of the Commonwealth Caribbean.
“The question I suppose that might have been asked is, if Harry and Meghan were still part of the group, would they be the ones on the tour to the Caribbean? Well, probably,” he said last week. “Simply because Harry had built a good rapport already [with Caribbean countries]. And Meghan is much better known in that part of the world.”
He added that the couple also spark a “great deal of interest” among younger generations.
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And we’re told that Meghan herself would agree. “She feels that she and Harry would have done a better job in the Caribbean and that the royal family need them,” our source says of the 40-year-old mum of two. “They make it much more modern, which is what the family need. She feels they’ve been proven right that if they were able to be part- time royals, they would be able to specialise in this type of stuff.”
Before the couple – who married in 2018 – officially “quit” the royal family, they had made the suggestion of working as “part-time” royals, writing in a statement in 2020, “We have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution. We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.”
The suggestion was rejected by the Queen and the royal family – and our insider tells us Meghan has often felt like the work she and Harry did in their time as royals wasn’t appreciated.
“Meghan has sat back for years and watched the Cambridges soak up the PR plaudits and public adulation for their work, which has been tough to take at times, to say the least,” we’re told.
“On many occasions, it’s seemed as though her and Harry’s work was taken for granted, while it seemed Kate could turn up to the opening of an envelope, smile sweetly and come out looking like Mother Teresa. It’s the same scenario for Harry with his brother in many ways, but Meghan’s the one who has definitely found it tougher to take.”