Finding Freedom

by Omid Scobie

  Finally, on November 27, 2017, a frozen Monday morning following the US Thanksgiving weekend, the news everyone had been waiting for was announced. The father of the groom, the heir to the throne, Prince Charles directed his office at Clarence House to reveal the happy news: “His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales is delighted to announce the engagement of Prince Harry to Ms. Meghan Markle.”

  Sixteen months after meeting her prince, and just over three months after their secret engagement, Meghan was announced as the next royal bride.

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  The Fab Four

  The Queen and Prince Philip were quick to follow the news of the engagement from Clarence House with their own message that they were “delighted for the couple,” wishing them “every happiness.”

  Charles, who like the other family members had known since the summer, added that he was “thrilled,” and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, jovially declared, “America’s loss is our gain.”

  Meghan’s parents also came together, with help from Jason, to add their own congratulations in a joint comment: “We are incredibly happy for Meghan and Harry. Our daughter has always been a kind and loving person. To see her union with Harry, who shares the same qualities, is a source of great joy for us as parents.”

  William and Kate were characteristically appropriate in their response. “We are very excited for Harry and Meghan,” William said in a statement. Kate later told reporters at an engagement, “It has been wonderful getting to know Meghan and to see how happy she and Harry are together,” even though, in reality, the two women still didn’t really know each other that well.

  At the outset of her romance with Harry, Meghan had fully expected Kate to reach out and give her the lay of the land on everything an outsider to the Firm needed to know. But that was not how things turned out. Meghan was disappointed that she and Kate hadn’t bonded over the unique position they shared, but she wasn’t losing sleep over it. According to a source, Kate felt they didn’t have much in common “other than the fact that they lived at Kensington Palace.”

  Anyway, now that she and Harry were engaged, Meghan had a lot to occupy her mind.

  There was a moment after Harry proposed when Meghan realized that moving forward, she would never be able to go anywhere or do anything without letting a protection officer know. Just that thought alone momentarily took her breath away. It didn’t feel real. But she quickly embraced this new truth and accepted it as part of her new life.

  Within seconds of learning the news, media outlets from around the globe stationed in London raced to the tightly organized photo op at the Sunken Garden in Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana would often chat to the gardeners after morning jogs around Kensington Gardens. Harry had long ago accepted the inevitability that any woman he picked to be his wife would be compared to his mother. His sister-in-law, Kate, was also measured against her. The late princess’s legacy set a high bar with the British public, and Harry was okay with that. He felt that in marrying Meghan, he had picked a partner with the same level of warmth and humanity his mother had possessed.

  When the couple walked down the stone steps in front of the garden’s lily pond, taking position in front of the cameras on a small chalk cross marked on the ground by a Kensington Palace assistant, Meghan paired her white belted coat with an emerald green dress by the Italian designer Parosh, which had been packed and shipped over with help from Jessica before the announcement, alongside an entire “engagement wardrobe.”

  With a permissive nod from Kensington Palace aides, a few questions from the press were allowed.

  “When did you know she was the one?” one reporter called out.

  “The very first time we met,” Harry replied, without hesitation.

  “Was it a romantic proposal?”

  “Very,” Meghan said with a smile, holding up her hand to show off her diamond engagement ring.

  Harry thanked everyone for coming before they returned to within the private confines of the Palace, holding hands as they walked inside, to prepare for their first television interview.

  Filmed in the modest living room of Nottingham Cottage, their time spent with the BBC news presenter Mishal Husain gave a remarkably sincere and affectionate insight into their sweet romance. With the nerves of the photo-op subsiding, both Harry and Meghan were feeling loose, even joking with crew members as they prepared the shoot.

  The couple recounted the details of their whirlwind courtship, from the first date to the months of their transatlantic relationship jetting between London and Toronto. “Coming over here four days or a week, and then going back and then straight into filming the next day. Four a.m. wakeup calls, on a Monday, straight into set,” Harry said. “Just trying to stay as close as possible. But, you know, on two different time zones. And five hours apart does have its challenges. But we made it work, and now we’re here. So, we’re thrilled.”

  Whether everyone in Britain and around the world was equally thrilled or ready for a confident, unapologetically feminist, mixed-race duchess to occupy a position in the House of Windsor still remained to be seen. However, for the monarchy to truly survive, it must adapt—and rejecting a woman because she was divorced, an actress, or biracial was no longer tenable, despite whatever misgivings certain family members had been whispering privately.

  One courtier had said Harry had been “very brave” with some who hadn’t been as welcoming. Whether it was Meghan’s humble background, her American roots, accusations she was a social climber, concerns about the speed of the relationship, or simply veiled racism in British society, not everyone—and not just the press—was altogether supportive of Harry’s prospective bride.

  For Meghan, it just meant she had to work that much harder to prove them wrong—beginning, shortly after their engagement, the lengthy process of becoming a UK citizen without skipping the line.

  Citizenship was just the start. Knowing that his proposal had officially sealed Meghan’s entry into his unique, hard-to-understand world, Harry insisted his fiancée have a dedicated team to assist her in learning all the ins and outs of royal life. “Harry wanted staff that Meghan could truly trust in all situations,” a source said, “people that, no matter what, would have both their backs.”

  This team—who referred to Harry and Meghan as “PH” and “M”—included Amy Pickerill, who would become Meghan’s assistant private secretary; Heather Wong, Harry’s deputy private secretary and a former political appointee in the Obama administration, serving as Secretary of Public Affairs at the US Department of Homeland Security; Ed Lane Fox; and Jason Knauf.

  Shortly after the engagement announcement, aides at Kensington Palace and the Cambridges joined Harry and Meghan at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham, London. The quintessentially English country house was the perfect place to toast to a new working relationship together and discuss Meghan’s upcoming role within the Royal Foundation, including what type of projects she would like to explore within the charitable organization. “There were several meetings to make sure she was supported in carving out the right role for herself in the family, on empowerment, other issues she cared about, so she had the right resource support,” a courtier shared. And that was just the beginning of her introduction to the family business.

  Set to undergo the same informal training Kate had embarked upon following her engagement to William—a series of instructions that covered everything from how to most gracefully exit your chauffeured sedan while wearing a pencil skirt to when to curtsy to members of the family several rungs up the hierarchy from you—Meghan was connected to a team of experts. She had hoped to take etiquette lessons, too, but curiously they were never on offer.

  Meghan’s training wasn’t just in niceties such as how to curtsy. She also underwent an intense two-day security course with the SAS, the British Army’s most elite regiment. The training—which all senior members of the royal family except the Queen have completed at SAS headquarters in Hereford—is preparation for all high-risk secu
rity scenarios, including kidnapping, hostage situations, and terrorist attacks. Meghan took part in a staged kidnapping, where she was bundled into the back of a car by a “terrorist,” taken to a different location, and then “saved” by officers firing fake guns (the kind used in Hollywood filming) for realism.

  During the mock kidnapping, Meghan was even taught to develop a relationship with the enemy. She was also instructed on how to drive a car while in pursuit. A source said it was an “extremely intense and scary” experience for Meghan, but one that she was grateful to have gone through.

  Kate didn’t undergo her training until after her wedding to William, but Meghan’s took place earlier, as the couple had received an unusually high number of threats. “There have been some absolutely terrifying and stomach-churning threats made to Meghan since she started dating Harry,” an aide said. “Unfortunately, they continued for some time.”

  The level of threats wasn’t the only difference between Meghan’s and Kate’s experiences as royal fiancées. A former senior courtier said of Kate, “She was lovely and smart and shy and modest, and beautifully gorgeous. And very watchful. She always used to say, whenever she rang me . . . when she was the girlfriend, ‘I’m really sorry. I don’t want to bother you with these facts.’ I’d say, ‘Of course you should bother me with them.’ ”

  On the other hand, Meghan, said the courtier, “arrived in this job a fully formed adult, having lived already a third of her life. She is a Californian who believes she can change the world. She creates her own brand, she creates her own website, she does deals. She talks about life and how we should live.

  “Good for her,” the courtier, who admits to being “rather fond” of the former actress, continued. “That’s the way in America. In Britain, people look at that and go, ‘Who do you think you are?’ ”

  Fair or not, it was going take Meghan extra effort to avoid ruffling feathers.

  Jason and Ed had been filling in as Meghan’s advisors in an informal capacity for months. But now that she was officially embarking on life in the Firm, royal watchers would be observing her that much more closely. Any curtsy deemed too shallow or any skirt believed to be too short would be noted and commented upon and, as such, Meghan would need someone to help her in a full-time capacity, both guiding her through the potential landmines and comforting her when the public criticism grew to be too much.

  Amy Pickerill, or “Pickles” to friends, was appointed as Meghan’s right-hand woman. The University of Nottingham graduate and former media relations manager was just a few years younger than Meghan and would become known to the public as the woman who collected the countless bouquets of flowers, cards, and gifts thrust in Meghan’s direction during walkabouts. Behind the scenes, however, her job involved everything from managing Meghan’s schedule to whispering advice on how to handle individual situations. Should Meghan be unsure of a topic of conversation or the name of someone she was meeting at an engagement, it was Amy’s job to discreetly bring her up to speed. And should she simply need a comforting word after a long day, well, the aide offered those as well.

  In regard to her dress, Meghan didn’t want to be seen as too fashion forward. She had a “mindful vision,” hoping that the press would focus more on her humanitarian work and less on whether she landed on best-dressed lists. Her “work wardrobe,” as she called it, needed to consist of polished pieces in neutral hues that didn’t detract from the people she was going to be meeting or appear too showy. Each outfit must also include at least one piece or accessory by a local designer, a show of her solidarity to whatever area she might be visiting. “She really does put a lot of thought into those details,” said George Northwood, the British hairstylist who worked with Meghan for two years after her wedding. “I always remember wherever we went, she would always try to hero small businesses and local jewelry designers.”

  For that all-important first royal engagement—a December 1 trip to Nottingham to attend a World AIDS Day event and meet with Full Effect, a group of positive role models for kids—Meghan chose a khaki-hued midi skirt from the London-based brand Joseph, a basic black turtleneck, and a pair of black, suede over-the-knee boots crafted by British designer Kurt Geiger. Her look, which she put together herself, got the stamp of approval from Kensington Palace.

  Meghan’s decorum was on point as well. She didn’t need any coaching in how to charm fans. When she turned up at 11:05 a.m. to greet the crowds, who had been standing in the thirty-six-degree weather outside the National Justice Museum since 6:00 a.m., Meghan spent nearly a half hour chatting with well-wishers and delighting in the flowers, homemade cards, and Haribo sweets (well-known to be the prince’s favorite). Careful to not come off as pretentious, she extended her hand to each person along the route, introducing herself with a cheery “Hi, I’m Meghan,” as if they weren’t already familiar with her broad smile.

  The move was a winner. As she shifted to the next person in line, she left a trail of compliments in her wake. One woman marveled at how eagerly Meghan stooped down to speak with her three-year-old, praising him for waiting in the chilly weather. Another was impressed that Meghan had noted her familiar California accent and inquired about her reason for being in the UK. If there were nerves about how she would come off on her first day of royal duty (and there were, as she confessed to a senior aide the night before), she didn’t show them. She appeared genuine as she accepted sticker-laden cards from children, compliments on her shiny new ring, and questions about her recently wrapped role on Suits.

  When one local and her husband bravely asked if she would indulge them in a selfie, Meghan was polite in her refusal. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said with a smile, remembering the advice she had been given earlier by an aide. While she would have absolutely loved to pose with the pair, she was to be an official member of the royal family soon, and selfies were frowned upon. And Meghan was nothing if not a quick study.

  While Meghan was learning the proper protocol for becoming a royal, some aspects of royal life were changing. Even the Queen understood that fact when she made the decision to invite Meghan to the Christmas church service at St. Mary Magdalene and family celebrations at Sandringham. Significant others had not typically been welcome at this gathering until the union was made official by the Church through marriage. Kate hadn’t been invited to Christmas in 2010 after her engagement to William, but then again, it had been easier for Kate to spend the holiday with her parents at their nearby home in Bucklebury.

  The Queen hadn’t made an exception for Meghan because she preferred her to Kate. The monarch adored her ginger-haired grandson and wanted Meghan to feel welcomed by the family by inviting her to the royal holiday celebrations at Sandringham and the pre-Christmas lunch she held for extended family members at Buckingham Palace. This was the steadfastness that the Queen was admired for in action.

  The pre-Christmas lunch was an opportunity for the Queen to celebrate with many lower-ranking family members, who wouldn’t get an invitation to Sandringham. It was also the first family event for Meghan, who wore a black-and-white lace midi Self-Portrait dress and diamond earrings.

  Unfortunately, the Queen’s gesture of support for Meghan was nearly eclipsed when Princess Michael of Kent, the wife of King George V’s grandson Prince Michael of Kent, wore a blackamoor brooch to the celebration. Blackamoor, a style of Italian decorative art dating back to around the end of the Middle Ages, typically portrayed highly stylized images of African or other non-European men wearing head covering such as turbans and rich jewels to contrast with their very dark skin. Often depicted as servants, the blackamoor symbolized the subjugation of the Moors, a loose term to describe the Muslims of medieval Spain or anyone of Arab or African descent.

  Royal family members, including the Queen and the Duchess of Cambridge, often wore brooches at official engagements to offer a symbolic message. Kate picked the Queen Mother’s diamond maple leaf brooch for her first tour to Canada with William, and in 2013, the Queen wore a colorf
ul flower basket brooch, gifted by her parents to mark Charles’s birth in 1948, to Prince George’s christening.

  The blackamoor brooch has a complex history. Both Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly once had the Venetian glass brooches in their jewelry collections. But in today’s world, the image is culturally offensive and racist. The fashion house Dolce & Gabbana had been roundly criticized in 2012 when they used the exoticized European art style on the runway when debuting their Spring collection.

  When it comes to royal fashion, much thought goes into every detail. Princess Michael’s choice of brooch could have simply been a mistake, but in the back of Meghan’s mind, she wondered if there wasn’t a message being sent in the pin of the torso of an African man wearing a gold turban and ornate clothing. At the bare minimum, it showed insensitivity to Meghan’s African American roots and the racism she had encountered since pairing up with Harry.

  It was not Princess Michael’s first time being accused of racism. In 2004, she was overheard telling African American patrons of a New York restaurant to “go back to the colonies.”

  Princess Michael, who lived nearby Harry and Meghan at Kensington Palace’s Apartment 10, later apologized for wearing the brooch, in a statement saying she was “very sorry and distressed that it has caused offence.” Some aides questioned the sincerity of the princess’s apology. Regardless, the damage had been done, particularly since the Queen’s purpose had been to make Meghan, who had just moved to England, feel at home during the holidays.

  Harry and Meghan spent some of the holiday with William and Kate at Anmer Hall, as the Queen’s Sandringham invitation to Harry’s future bride did not include staying under her roof, which would not happen until the marriage was formalized.

  The ten-bedroom Georgian country house—on the grounds of the Sandringham estate, two miles from the Queen’s home—had been the Queen’s gift to the Cambridges. Originally intended as a country place, William and Kate had taken up full-time residence in Norfolk shortly after Princess Charlotte’s birth, because William was serving as an East Anglian Air Ambulance pilot nearby. There, the couple often entertained out of their huge kitchen with its glass-roofed dining area. Friends and family from nearby gathered informally in the inviting space for laid-back meals—a stark departure from lunch at Buckingham Palace or Sandringham, where guests were served by a full staff.