The battle between Meghan Markle and the British royals rages on!
Now the king's cousin explains why Meghan had to go through the gauntlet…all according
to plan.
There's a good chance that what you've heard from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle about
the royal family's treatment of the Duchess of Sussex has convinced you that something
is seriously out of whack.
If not, though, then maybe some insight from a third party might help — one who has seen
how the Firm operates up close and in person.
King Charles' cousin Christina Oxenberg has told the New York Post that, having lived
among British royals for most of her life, she's seen this kind of hazing before.
She told the outlet:
"To Meghan Markle, I say, 'What you are going through is a hellish kind of hazing.'
If she can just hang in there, someone else will come along who can take the heat.
Nobody gets a pass."
As Oxenberg tells it, dating a male member of the royal family often demands the survival
of the fittest.
Kate Middleton went through it, Princess Diana went through it, and even Camilla Parker-Bowles
and Sarah Ferguson ran this weird marriage gauntlet back in the day.
The family's stringent approval process was even featured on an episode of The Crown,
in which Diana is depicted passing the so-called "Balmoral Test."
And not every girlfriend made it through to the end.
For example, the disgraced Prince Andrew also once dated an American actor, Koo Stark.
But Stark soon became tabloid fodder after it came to light she had appeared in films
with sexual scenes.
Stark later told Tatler that, amid the controversy and negative headlines, Queen Elizabeth went
out of her way to show support.
Still, Oxenberg painted a dark picture.
She said:
"There's a good example of how you can suffer as a royal for no good reason."
Princess Michael of Kent was another one who got the royal treatment in the worst possible
way.
Oxenberg explained:
"She was treated the same way Meghan [has been] treated — with this mocking and lack
of respect.
[...] It was all done out of habit and not full of hatred and violent plotting.
I was a witness."
In their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry both accused
the royal family of racist behavior, and both pointed out that the Firm seemed unwilling
to do anything to protect her from the vicious attacks by the press.
"They were willing to lie to protect other members of the family but they weren’t willing
to tell the truth to protect me and my husband."
For example, when the British tabloids reported that Meghan had made Kate Middleton cry in
the run-up to the former's wedding, nobody from the Firm stepped up to reveal that it
had, in fact, been the other way around.
And Christina Oxenberg admits that the royal family has been especially hard on the duchess,
but she thinks it's less to do with race than it is to do with Meghan's nationality.
She told the Post:
"They are tough, they are tough on foreigners.
It's not about your skin color, it's about being a foreigner."
Not that that makes it okay.
In fact, Oxenberg went so far as to accuse the constant attacks on Meghan as "treasonous."
She said:
"She is Harry's choice of wife.
By their own metrics they have called it a class system.
They came up with that system, [by which] you have to respect Harry's choice."
In the few times that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have made their way back to the UK since
stepping down from royal life officially, the British press have been as merciless as
ever in their attacks against her.
Plus, as Meghan argued to The Cut, "none of it had to be this way."
The Duchess of Sussex said that, before taking the major step of quitting royal life, she
and Harry had suggested simply making their own money so they wouldn't be using taxpayer
funds.
She explained:
"That, for whatever reason, is not something that we were allowed to do, even though several
other members of the family do that exact thing."
Of course, there are two sides to every story.
According to Katie Nicholl's new book, The New Royals, William felt that Harry had left
him holding the bag.
Nicholl writes:
"He always expected Harry would be his wingman; there was a long-term plan in place for the
brothers to work together and support one another."