Confusing celebrity and royalty.
Celebrity is about the celebration of an individual. A celebrity (see: Kim Kardashian, Elizabeth Hurley, any of the Real Housewives) has fans that see their own reflection made larger-than-life. Fans admire the positive aspects of their lives - the fashion, the riches - and gossip about the negative aspects, such as a revolving door of personal relationships.
(This is not female-only phenomenon; for men, sports celebrities tend to create the same love-hate dynamic, and the revolving door of relationships is usually with teams, teammates, and cities. LeBron James and his various franchises is a good example.)
Royality isn’t celebrity
Royalty isn’t celebrity; royalty isn’t about an individual. It’s about the audience, whether broad (all the citizens and residents of the country, plus foreign admirers) or specific (whatever charity is being visited that day.) The goal is to highlight the values and bonds that hold the audience together.
The Duchess of Sussex struggled as an actress for nearly a decade before working her way to the middle of the profession in a supporting role on a little-seen cable series. She leveraged her position well, running a lifestyle blog in order to position herself as an “influencer” and lending her name to a clothing collection sold by a Canadian retailer. That said, in the celebrity world she was still small potatoes.
Meeting and marrying Prince Harry was an extremely lucky break for an actress approaching 40 who would soon no longer be able to play the “hot girl” roles she specialized in. It’s not hard to understand why Meghan would rush to leverage her relationship to finally be a star.
This was clear at her wedding, when she invited A-list stars like George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey whom she didn’t know well, people who wouldn’t have given her the time of day just a few months before.
Royalty is about putting the focus on others
Unfortunately, being a Royal is not about being a star. It’s about being a cog in a hundreds-of-year-old institution, one that no longer has religious authority, but still has moral authority.
The “boring jobs” of royalty - going to a special kitchen set up for struggling single mothers, opening a provincial dog show, visiting the aftermath of a terrible accident or natural disaster - confirm to the ordinary people of the country that they are an important part of the nation’s rich canvas.
Having a Duchess or an Earl or a Prince turn up to meet hard-working charity staff or rescue teams or troubled students reflects and recognizes their value, and emphasizes that they and their struggles are respected.
It’s not about the royalty. It’s about their subjects.
The Duchess of Sussex’s big mistake
The Duchess of Sussex, Princess Henry of Wales, still wants to be a celebrity. She wants to be admired. She wants to be the center of attention. Unfortunately, she is in the wrong job.
Comments
Her wrong approach to her new role is what I think make people do not like her. As she comes out fake and fame hungry.
Whilst I agree with you on this topic, I don't think it is as straightforward as you think. i think you're 95% correct, but the 5% missing is the idea that people are changing and are becoming more celeb obsessed here in the UK. We have Love Island and all that crap, and the older generation are naturally dying off to be replaced with a more vapid younger generation. There is the slight possibility that Markle will eventually appeal to the the younger (and dumber) generation as she embodies what they like to see, even if it is not technically the royal thing to do.
And as you mention elsewhere, the PR team are positioning themselves very well in order to ensure any criticism is invalidated as it can be tied to non existent racism. Whatever happens, the game is most certainly on....:)