As I covered, Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast had some interesting insights into the Windsor family’s reaction to the Duchess of Sussex’s New York Times op-ed. Meghan revealed that she had a miscarriage in July, and the reaction from the various royal households was either “no comment” or “this is a deeply private matter.” Sykes pointed out that unlike every other Sussex headline, the palaces were not running around to slam and smear Meghan, so perhaps this is a “royal reset” in relations between the Sussexes and the Windsors. But as Sykes also pointed out, there were some royal commentators doing the most to go negative (although it’s unclear whether this was authorized by any palace):

It didn’t take long for some pundits to begin sharpening their knives against Meghan: Camilla Tominey, an influential royal commentator for the Daily Telegraph where she is also a senior executive, sent out a breathtakingly harsh take in her weekly newsletter in which she wrote of Meghan’s decision to reveal her miscarriage.

“The piece she has written for the New York Times will only serve to further support the Mail on Sunday’s defense that Meghan has repeatedly invaded her own privacy,” Tominey wrote. “In describing how she watched her ‘husband’s heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine,’ she has disclosed one of the most intimate moments in her own marriage.”

Sadly, there will be many in the upper echelons of the British establishment who will peddle this line in the days to come. The clever ones will pretend to respect Meghan’s public statement on the one hand, while simultaneously undermining her or calling her stupid or shortsighted on the other. They are on a losing ticket, not least because Meghan is clearly an extremely smart person. For example, she shrewdly used her piece not to wallow in her own grief but as a springboard to discussing the wider crisis that America finds itself in this Thanksgiving weekend.

[From The Daily Beast]

Yeah, I don’t understand what Tominey is even trying to argue – Meghan’s privacy is hers to “invade.” Meghan can tell her own story, in her own words, at any time. That’s her choice. And if that was all the royal establishment had to criticize, it just shows how thoroughly they hate Meghan and Harry for *anything*. Meanwhile, there are some people in the media questioning why the official word from the palace wasn’t more generous to Meghan:

The Royal Family made a “huge mistake” by “abandoning” Harry and Meghan after the Duchess of Sussex disclosed her miscarriage earlier this week, a royal expert has claimed. The Royal Family botched an attempt to repair their relationship with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, according to Russell Myers, the Royal Editor of the Daily Mirror. Mr Myers labelled the “cold” response from Buckingham Palace a “huge mistake” and a “missed opportunity”. He suggested the failure to stand by Meghan and praise her for the op-ed suggests “how big those cracks are in the relationship”.

Buckingham Palace’s only comment on the sad news was a short statement that said it was “a deeply personal matter we would not comment on”. This prompted criticism that the response “lacked empathy” and showed a “cold” side to the royals.

TalkRADIO host Kevin O’Sullivan described the response as “sulky” and “strange”. He said: “When the palace released their statement, they neglected to note that Meghan had decided not to make it a deeply personal matter. She decided to share it with the world. They were wrong on that.”

Mr Myers told talkRADIO this morning that “this is a huge, huge missed opportunity for the Royal Family” before accusing them of “abandoning” Meghan. He explained: “They should have backed her to the hilt on this. They should have made public statements on this saying this is a really brave and honest thing to do. It would have potentially mended some of the cracks in the relationship that we have been talking about for months and months now, that are obviously there and still very raw. I thought the response was very stuffy, to be honest. We understood that Meghan and Harry spoke to senior members of the Royal Family about the miscarriage. We don’t know who but you can determine it was Charles, William or maybe the Queen. This was a massive missed opportunity. The palace could have got out front and centre on this and it would have been more of a conversation. It wouldn’t just be Meghan out on her own.”

He added: “Harry and Meghan – the whole view of them being outsiders is only further entrenched when they don’t get supported like this, unfortunately. In certain quarters of the palace, there are people at odds with Harry and Meghan’s approach by saying they wanted privacy and then they are doing an op-ed in the New York Times. But I think it was a bit of a sad, missed opportunity and they haven’t covered themselves in glory. They should have said they stand shoulder to shoulder with her, and she is very brave. One must wonder how big those cracks are in the relationship where they can’t even do that.”

[From The Express]

I won’t defend the Windsors here, but I’ll say that it was nice that Meghan got the chance to tell the story on her terms, in her own way, and there wasn’t any pushback from the palace, and there weren’t courtiers running to the Mail to brag about how happy they were to shun her yet again. But yeah, this would have been the moment for Kensington Palace – William and Kate – to offer a more personal statement of support. Again, the fact that they can’t even pretend to care shows how mad W&K still are at the Sussexes’ popularity.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.