It's been the year of 'Meghanomania', at least, according to Tatler - who this week have looked back over the year where the Duchess of Sussex has supposedly become one of the most divisive royals since Fergie and Princess Diana.
The article(now spreading like wildfire) was published yesterday and let's just say it's given us a lot to talk about. entitled 'One Year Of Meghanomania' it touched on some more controversial things we already know have defined Meghan's first royal year: for example her notoriously tricky relationship with her family, the constant fire-fighting of unflattering'difficult Duchess headlines' and rumors of a frosty relationship with Kate Middleton.
But it also spilled the tea on some shocking new information (sic? as nobody seems to know exactly what to believe from the endless rumour mill anymore). Whatever your opinion about the press circus that has followed Meghan Markle in her first year as a Royal, it's given us some major thinking points. If you don't have time to read it yourself, don't worry, we've done it for you and here are the key takeaways:
1. The Me-Gain Nickname
One of the elements of the Meghan press narrative that's been the hardest to pick apart through 2018/19 is reports of Mariah Carey behavior with staff.
Is Meghan indeed a 'difficult duchess', as headlines suggest? Or merely a victim of a character-assassination in the press? The article supports the theory that Meghan is unpopular with her staff, but went a step further by suggesting that staff have started to refer to her by a new name: 'staff at Kensington Palace are now calling her ‘Me-Gain’ 'Me-gain'. (Bit of an unfair thing to call a heavily pregnant woman - don't we think?)
2. That Harry is 'besotted' with her
Realistically, it's what you would expect from a newly-wed couple, but we know Harry's reported 'devotion' with his wife has also taken on a twisty and unpleasant life of it's own in the last year translated into print (the monarch allegedly yelled 'What Meghan wants, Meghan gets' in the lead-up to the Royal Wedding). According to the article: it's now nigh-on impossible to catch Harry's attention as royal insiders allegedly say he is gazing, cow-eyed with devotion, at his wife.'
Another way, according to sources in the article, that Harry's love for Meghan has taken a toll is with his friendships 'Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip, the ultra-loyal, tight-lipped Harry pal, who, it’s said, advised Harry not to marry Meghan and has paid the price: banishment.'
3. That Meghan was planning to quit her day job just four months after meeting Harry
Ready for one of the most jaw-dropping claims made by the piece? According to a source, Meghan quit her job only four months after meeting Harry. Gina Nelthorpe Cowne, a former agent of Meghan's who told Tatler that in September 2016, shortly after Meghan met Harry ‘there was a big change. She did give me a difficult time.’ going on to confirm that Meghan wrote to her in October informing her that she was giving up her career and wished to terminate their contract. The allusion being, that Meghan had her sights set on a Royal Wedding long before there was one on the horizon.
4. The newspaper editor who predicts the marriage will last for five years and two children
Among, apparently, a cohort of people who doesn't think Meghan and Harry are a couple built to last is an unnamed newspaper editor.
According to Matt Ridley, the Old Etonian chum of the Archbishop of Canterbury who is quoted in the piece, the aforementioned editor hosted a lunch attended by Ridley, where he 'shared his guesstimate about Meghan-Harry: after five years and two children, she’d take them to California to see their grandmother – and file for divorce.' We can't decide whether the fact that this was such a remarkably specific prediction makes it astute or just a bit creepy...
5. That Meghan deliberately separated Harry from his 'old muckers'
Apparently, one of the most heinous crimes that Meghan has committed to Harry's former 'set' was by sifting them out in favour of celebrities with more social media cache.
'Harry is now less in with his old Gloucestershire set than he used to be.' the article states - also hinting that the social politics of the wedding saw a shift in Harry's social set 'Although Skippy [Inskip] was invited to the couple’s wedding, alongside many of Harry’s old friends he was edged out of the reception at Frogmore House in favour of big celebrities.'
6. Some people genuinely thought Meghan was pregnant on her wedding day
And yes, that would make her almost approximately a year pregnant - which does see rather unlikely. 'The rumours may be false, but not as false as the speculation Meghan was pregnant on her wedding day – "that’s why the dress was so baggy," the article stated 'one young woman assured me – and certainly not as false as the rumour that theirs is an IVF baby.'