Meghan Markle’s royal 'princess' illusion exposed

Meghan Markle stepped into the royal spotlight in 2018, marrying Prince Harry in what the world saw as a real life fairytale. 

A Hollywood actress becoming a duchess, living out a story seemingly lifted from a storybook. But former palace staff say the reality behind the palace walls was a very different story one far from enchanting.

Grant Harrold, a former butler to King Charles who worked closely with both Prince William and Prince Harry, revealed that Markle soon realized royal life was nothing like the fantasy she had imagined. 

Speaking recently while promoting his book The Royal Butler, Harrold said, “I think the problem with The Duchess is that she went into the organization and she assumed that after watching all the Disney princesses that she thought it was going to be like that.”

He added that joining the royal family comes with a strict set of rules and longstanding protocols. 

“When you join the royal family, you are given rules and protocols to follow,” he said, highlighting the stark contrast between Markle’s Hollywood upbringing and the disciplined world of royal life.

“It could be that Harry had his own awakening and suddenly decided he didn’t like the organization, but the problem is that Markle was with him when it happened. The biggest change in Harry’s life is Markle.”

The couple’s whirlwind romance led to marriage in less than two years, but their tenure as working royals lasted only 18 months before they stepped back from official duties. 

According to Harrold, this period highlighted her growing disillusionment with palace life alongside Harry’s mounting frustration with the institution he was born into.

Adding a lighter note, he shared a cheeky anecdote about Prince Philip. Allegedly, the late Duke of Edinburgh could not resist a remark to the Queen after the Sussex wedding, “Thank f**k that’s over.” Harrold explained, “It was very funny. 

I think he was speaking for the majority of people, but he was the man who actually said it.”