Meghan Markle’s stiff upper lip remark could be ‘swipe’ at Queen’s policy, expert warns
MEGHAN MARKLE’s remarks on the typically British stiff upper lip could be read as a “swipe at the traditional royal way to do things”, one royal expert told Express.co.uk.
Meghan Markle: I really tried to adopt the British stiff upper lip
The Duchess of Sussex opened up on how she “really tried” to adopt the “British sensibility of the stiff upper lip” in the bombshell ITV documentary aired on Sunday evening. However, Meghan said, this exercise of self-restraint in the expression of emotions can take its toll on the mental and physical wellbeing of a person, and she can no longer continue to adopt it.
Meghan’s remark could be seen as a critique of the way the Royal Family has been dealing with attacks and the media scrutiny in the past decades, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, he said: “The ‘stiff upper lip’ tends to embody a certain Britishness to foreigners.
“It could also be called generational, as for example the conversation on mental illness that William and Kate and Harry and Meghan have started, means being more spontaneous about difficult issues which people previously were not.
“Younger people want more freedom and are often different to those older.
“This comment by Meghan could, however, be seen as a swipe at the traditional royal way of doing things.”
During her record-breaking 67-year-long reign, Queen Elizabeth II has lived by a mantra passed on to her by her mother, the Queen Mother: never complain and never explain.
READ MORE: How Charles would 'urge Harry and Meghan to soldier on’ amid row
This means most senior members of the Royal Family have, throughout the years, rarely commented on rumours, either directly or through sources, or voiced their concerns to the public.
Princess Diana astoundingly broke this rule when she gave her explosive sit-down interview with Panorama in 1995, revealing secrets of her marriage, her husband and the Family.
The ITV documentary has been compared by several commentators to the Panorama interview - not just for the impact it has had but also for some of its content.
Meghan spoke of her anguish and how she struggled to cope with the media attention as a newlywed and mother of a five-month-old child in an emotional interview with broadcaster Tom Bradby.
Speaking about her attempts of shrugging off the media attention and criticism, Meghan said: “I have said for a long time to H - that how I call him - it’s not enough to just survive something, right?
“Like, that’s not the point of life, you’ve got to thrive, you have got to feel happy.
“I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of the stiff upper lip, I tried, I have really tried.
"But I think that, what that does internally, is probably really damaging.”
Moreover, Meghan’s remarks “not many people asked if I was ok” seemed to suggest she didn’t receive the support of her newly-acquired family - echoing the words told by Diana to Martin Bashir in 1995 regarding feeling isolated and misunderstood within the household.
Asked by Mr Bradby about the “impact on your physical and mental health of all the pressure that you clearly feel under”, Meghan said: “Well, I guess, and also thank you for asking, but not many people have asked if I’m okay, but it’s a very real thing to be faint behind the scenes.”