- Meghan Markle's royal biographers say the "Duchess Difficult" persona portrayed in the British tabloids is a damaging cliché.
- "Finding Freedom" authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand spoke to Insider about the new book, the racist treatment Markle has received, and how the couple's royal exit has affected the monarchy.
- "Meghan hasn't really been able to step away from that 'Duchess Difficult' character, and it leaned into some really clichéd stereotypes that I think are quite dangerous to still use," Scobie told Insider.
- "Particularly when we're talking about successful women of color — being called too difficult, too demanding, too ambitious... these are things we hear time and time again," he added.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Meghan Markle's royal biographers called her "Duchess Difficult" nickname a "clichéd" and "dangerous" stereotype created by the media.
The nickname has been used to describe the Duchess of Sussex in the tabloids since she married Prince Harry in 2018 — a reference to what many suggested were demanding behaviors exhibited by Markle towards palace staff and other royal family members.
Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, authors of "Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family," told Insider that these stories — and the persona of Markle portrayed in the tabloids — are false.
Two notable examples include the report that Markle made Kate Middleton cry during a bridesmaid dress fitting for Princess Charlotte, as well as the rumor that Markle demanded a different wedding tiara from the Queen — stories which, sources told Scobie and Durand, are completely untrue.
"Meghan hasn't really been able to step away from that 'Duchess Difficult' character, and it leaned into some really clichéd stereotypes that I think are quite dangerous to still use," Scobie told Insider.
"Particularly when we're talking about successful women of color — being called too difficult, too demanding, too ambitious... these are things we hear time and time again."
This is even more apparant when you compare the press' treatment of Markle to that of her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton.
The duchess was criticized for being accompanied by a royal protection officer during a visit to Wimbledon last year. While the press implied that she appeared entitled, they praised Middleton for being "normal" and "down-to-earth" after she was accompanied by a security guard to a UK supermarket.
The duchess is far from the only woman of color to experience these double standards. Former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke about her experience being labelled as "angry" during her husband's presidential campaign in 2008, and said she was treated differently from other candidates' spouses.
"I was female, black, and strong, which to certain people, maintaining a certain mindset, translated only to 'angry,'" Obama wrote in her memoir, "Becoming."
"It was another damaging cliché, one that's been forever used to sweep minority women under the perimeter of every room, an unconscious signal not to listen to what we have to say."
Scobie added: "For Meghan it's going to take some time to break away from the damage of that.
"But I think that the decision that they've made to step away certainly allows that to begin."
Durand said this false narrative is also apparent in how Markle's relationship with the royal family has been portrayed in the media.
"The Duchess of Sussex obviously has a warm relationship with her father-in-law, the Prince of Wales, and with the Queen," Durand told Insider.
"I think people forget that the Queen has said quite strongly that Meghan and Harry remain beloved members of her family.
"So while there may be an effort to create this narrative, they do enjoy this support [from the royal family]. Everyone wanted them to go off and create a situation where they had more privacy, which was best for their family, for Archie."
Markle and Harry's royal exit was a loss to the monarchy
When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their exit from the royal family back in January, there was speculation that it could mark the beginning of the end for the British monarchy.
Royal watchers predicted that the institution would "be severely damaged in the long term" by Harry and Markle's departure.
"I think in order for the monarchy to truly modernize it also must advance and be a reflection of what society is. We often say that representation matters, and Meghan represented diversity and inclusivity," Scobie said.
"Of course, when we look at it from that perspective, it is a loss, because there isn't that same chance to move forward in that direction."
Durand added that the duchess "made the monarchy relevant again."
"For a lot of people, they could finally identify with the monarchy because they had someone like Meghan who was part of the royal family," she said.
Harry and Markle have been using their new platform to raise awareness of issues that are important to them, most recently including racial equality and the Black Lives Matter movement. They were the only royals to address BLM, which Scobie says highlights "some of the silence in the space that they left behind."
While royal commentators say it would be unusual for the likes of the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to speak about BLM, which could be interpreted as a political issue, Scobie argues that these "are really just humanitarian issues and don't belong in the political space."
"But we now see Harry and Meghan talking about systemic racism, and Harry talking to a civil rights leader on video and sharing that with the world," Scobie said.
"It's something that we may not have seen if he was still a working member of the royal family," Scobie said.
When approached by Insider, a spokesperson for Markle and Harry said: "The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to 'Finding Freedom.'
"This book is based on the authors' own experiences as members of the royal press corps and their own independent reporting."
Read more:
The inside story of Harry and Meghan's great escape from royal life, as told by 2 comic creators
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