How Meghan Markle lost a potential ally in Tina Brown: Princess Diana's former confidante claims Duchess of Sussex has 'worst judgement', is 'addicted to drama' and 'didn't understand' her role in the Royal Family

In the 27 years since Princess Diana’s passing, much has been written about the royal’s state of mind in her final months.

But few people were granted as close access to the late Princess of Wales as Tina Brown. 

In July 1997, just two months before the tragic accident in Paris, the royal mother-of-two met the former Vanity Fair editor for lunch in New York with Anna Wintour.

Detailing their meeting in a personal essay for The New Yorker, Tina marvelled at the Princess’ ‘shrewd’ approach to public relations – an area she believes Meghan Markle is lacking in.

Earlier this month, the journalist appeared on The Ankler podcast – where she argued the Duchess of Sussex ‘has the worst judgement of anyone in the entire world’ and dubbed Megxit a ‘disaster’.

Pictured: Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, who had lunch with Princess Diana just two months before her death in 1997

Few people were granted as close access to the late Princess of Wales (pictured in New York in 1997) as Tina Brown

However, this isn’t the first time Tina has taken aim at the Duchess of Sussex in public.

In 2022, The Diana Chronicles author accused the former Suits actress of ‘not understanding’ how hard her mother-in-law had to work to become a ‘humanitarian superstar’. 

In her book The Palace Papers, an insider told Tina that Meghan ‘hated every second’ of her Australia tour in 2018 and claimed the visit was ‘pointless’.

Months later, the influential editor also said the Duke and Duchess ‘completely underestimated’ what life without the ‘palace platform’ would be like – arguing that Meghan lacks a defined ‘brand’ and instead latches on the ‘Twitter cause of the moment’.

Here FEMAIL takes a look back at how Meghan Markle lost a potential ally in one of Princess Diana’s most influential friends. 

Meghan wasn’t prepared to ‘work like a dog’ like Diana? 

Two years ago, Tina Brown released her book The Palace Papers – where she delved into the fall-out of Megxit.

While promoting the book, the author claimed that Meghan ‘didn’t understand her role’ in the Firm during an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine.

The Diana Chronicles author accused the former Suits actress (pictured) of ‘not understanding’ how hard her mother-in-law had to work to become a ‘humanitarian superstar’

Tina Brown argued in 2022 that argued that the Duchess did not recognise the ‘great deal of very humdrum assignments’ Diana (pictured) undertook on behalf of the Firm before she became the icon she remains today

According to Tina, Meghan looked to the example of Princess Diana and thought that she could follow the same path.

However, she argued that the Duchess did not recognise the ‘great deal of very humdrum assignments’ Diana undertook on behalf of the Firm before she became the icon she remains today. 

‘I think that was her fundamental sense of misunderstanding of what was going to happen when she joined the Royal Family – she saw the palaces and Diana as this global humanitarian super star, but forgot that for 16 or 17 years Diana worked like a dog within the Royal Family doing a great deal of very humdrum assignments. 

‘It was her charisma she brought to the job that made her so extraordinarily special.’ 

The author said the couple made ‘bad choices’ and could have left the royal family on far better terms if they weren’t as ‘hotheaded’ when they made the decision to step back from their roles as working royals. 

Meghan Markle ‘hated every second’ of her Australia tour 

When the Sussexes (pictured) arrived in Australia in October 2018, thousands of Australians gathered to see them in the flesh (pictured, the pair on the Opera House steps in Sydney during the trip) – something Meghan struggled to grasp ‘the point’ of

Elsewhere in her book, Tina alleged that Meghan ‘hated every second’ of her Australia tour and labelled the visit ‘pointless’.

Despite the warm reception and a lively itinerary, Brown claims a Palace staffer told her that Meghan actually loathed the trip. 

‘So, Meghan must have been thrilled with it all … right? No. She apparently hated every second of it,’ she wrote.

‘She didn’t understand why things were set up in that way. Instead of being excited when thousands of people showed up at the Opera House, it was very much like, ‘What’s the purpose? I don’t understand this’,’ a Palace employee told Brown. 

The staffer said Meghan didn’t appear to grasp the ‘representational role’ of the British monarchy when they toured, adding she was more interested in ’causes she wanted to spotlight’. 

Despite the warm reception and a lively itinerary, Brown claims Meghan actually loathed the trip (Pictured: Meghan greeting the public outside of the Opera House) 

The staffer said Meghan didn’t appear to grasp the ‘representational role’ of the British monarchy when they toured, adding she was more interested in ’causes she wanted to spotlight’ (Pictured: Meghan and Harry greeting the public outside of the Opera House)

Brown’s claims are supported in an article printed in The Times in 2021, which asserted that Meghan found it ‘silly’ when people crowded to see the Sussexes when they arrived in Sydney.

‘What are they all doing here? It’s silly,’ she reportedly said to her team. A source said that she simply ‘didn’t get it’.

The Sussexes completed 75 engagements in 16 days across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga during the whirlwind tour – all while Meghan was in the early stages of her first pregnancy. 

They were often pictured having intimate conversations, embracing fans or receiving numerous gifts from admirers during their time Down Under.

Brown claims in her book that one of the main things Meghan took away from the tour was her and Harry’s unrecognised importance in the royal hierarchy. 

‘It was head-turning for Meghan to experience the full-throttle motorcade-purring, outrider-vrooming, crowd-roaring adulation of a popular young royal on a tour planned to the last teacup by the Palace machine.

‘Meghan seemed to interpret the success as a call for Brand Sussex to be elevated in the Palace hierarchy.’

However, Meghan reportedly felt ‘snubbed’ of appreciation by the Royal Family after the couple returned to the UK. 

When they did arrive home, word soon spread that all was not well within the palace, including rumours of a rift between brothers and a falling out between Meghan and Kate Middleton.

Then in 2020, Meghan and Harry announced they were stepping down as senior working members of the royal family, and were later stripped of any remaining titles and patronages they had.

Meghan Markle is ‘addicted to drama’ 

Speaking to the Telegraph, the expert said the pair can’t stop creating dramatic scenes wherever they go – claiming they appeared to be ‘addicted to drama’ 

Appearing on the New York Times podcast Sway, Tina Brown also claimed that Megxit was a ‘disaster for both sides’ and said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are ‘addicted to drama’.

Tina said the couple made ‘bad choices’ and could have left the Royal Family on far better terms if they weren’t as ‘hotheaded’.

She said: ‘I actually think there is a Harry-shaped hole in the royal family now. And Harry was beloved, actually, by the British people. And people adored Meghan when she came into the mix.

‘So it was actually very, very sad for everybody that it went so wrong because they actually need Harry and Meghan now.

The former Vanity Fair editor claimed that Harry and Meghan are ‘addicted to drama’ – and says one day the Duke will ‘wake up’ and realise he’s living in Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop.

Speaking to the Telegraph, the expert said the pair can’t stop creating dramatic scenes wherever they go – claiming they appeared to be ‘addicted to drama’. And she warned the duke appears to have been ‘completely and utterly taken over by Meghan and his whole personality has changed’.

‘I do question how it will end. ‘[Maybe] he’ll wake up and realise he’s living in Goop and he has to get the hell out, go down the pub and see his friends,’ she added.

Tina accuses Meghan of jumping on trendy charity causes

In an interview with The Washington Post, Tina claimed the Duke of Sussex is ‘in a much better spot’ than Meghan (pictured)  thanks to the Invictus Games

Speaking to the Washington Post, Tina Brown argued that the Duke and Duchess ‘completely underestimated’ what their life would be like without the ‘palace platform’.

In the interview, the editor claimed the Duke of Sussex is ‘in a much better spot’ than Meghan thanks to the Invictus Games.

The royal set up the sports events for injured servicemen and women in 2014. 

Tina said: ‘That’s what his brand should be. Just forget everything but the Invictus Games. It’s authentic, he really was extremely impressive as a soldier.’

In contrast, Tina said Meghan has lacked focus since leaving the Firm and ‘doesn’t really have a brand’.

She continued: ‘You feel like she is grasping somewhat at whatever is the kind of Twitter [cause] of the moment.

‘It’s vaccinations. It’s Ukraine. It’s women’s rights. It’s, “hey – it’s my 40th birthday, let’s do a mentoring scheme.”

‘Nothing is really going anywhere for Meghan.’ 

Meghan Markle is ‘flawless at getting it all wrong’ 

In 1997, Tina marvelled at the Princess’ ‘shrewd’ approach to public relations – something she believes Meghan Markle (pictured) is lacking

Earlier this month, Tina told Janice Min on The Ankler podcast that she believes Meghan Markle has the ‘worst’ judgement.

While promoting her new Substack newsletter Fresh Hell, Tina said: ‘The trouble with Meghan is that she has the worst judgment of anyone in the entire world.

‘She’s flawless about getting it all wrong,’ Brown ranted. ‘All of her ideas are total crap, unfortunately.’

Princess Diana’s biographer and the author of The Palace Papers: Inside The House Of Windsor – The Truth And The Turmoil, described Harry as ‘the lamb to the slaughter in this situation.’

‘And he just sort of blindly followed her like a child, really,’ she said.

Brown posted her first Substack last week, describing the platform as a way to ‘unload my observations, rants, news obsessions, and human exchanges with the wildly eclectic cast of characters who populate my seething inbox.’ Her first post featured a scathing rant about Donald Trump and his run for president, describing her ‘mounting panic’ as the election date draws closer.

Brown is also no stranger to dishing dirt on the royal family. Her most recent book, The Palace Papers: Inside the House of Windsor, the Truth and the Turmoil, was published in 2022.

In 2007, she released biographical work The Diana Chronicles.

In 2022, the author said the couple made ‘bad choices’ and could have left the royal family on far better terms if they weren’t as ‘hotheaded’ when they made the decision to step back from their roles as working royals.

The author also labeled Prince Harry a ‘very impetuous man’ and revealed how Palace advisors ‘always thought he would leave’.

She said she was told it was because ‘he was so fragile, so combustible, he was so unhappy, frankly, in the constraints of the royal family’.

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