In 2021 Meghan Markle revealed she had deliberately dressed in dull, neutral tones to ‘blend in’ with the royal family in fear of standing out, or committing a serious sartorial crime by accidentally wearing the same colour as another senior royal. But in the past fortnight, it was clear that the Duchess of Sussex was out to show the world, the Royal Family included, that she is NOT willing to camouflage her star status in shades of beige for a minute longer. Instead, Meghan, 41, opted to make a grand entrance to the Women Of Vision Awards in a shimmering gold, strapless gown, a pair of sky-high stilettos, as well as a clutch, and not forgetting a Prince, as arm candy. Her powerful fashion statement cost over £3000, and it’s clear that Meghan’s ‘star moment’ – which came just ten days after the Coronation of King Charles – sent out a clear message that the Duchess is more successful and popular than she has ever been. 

Not only was Meghan honoured as an ‘incredible leader’ for her work advocating for women and girls, the glitzy event also followed days after she and husband Prince Harry, 38, were reportedly spotted on a quadruple date with Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden, as well as Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk, alongside the founder of dating app Bumble and her oil businessman husband, at a sushi restaurant in LA.

And now an insider reveals that after years of playing second fiddle to Kate Middleton, 41, during her time as a working royal, Meghan believes the pomp of the Coronation and Kate’s typically English style couldn’t hold a candle to her own OTT Hollywood glam. 

The source says, “Meghan is very confident right now as far as her overall showbiz appeal and is basking in all the positive reviews and kiss-ass compliments she got on the night from all the fans and hangers on. It solidified her opinion that she’s way more glamorous than Kate will ever be; the royals will never live up to the glitz and razzmatazz of Hollywood. Meghan believes she deserves way more credit for her style and success than she’s gotten to date. She feels it’s pathetic and demeaning at this point to be compared to someone, like Kate, who she insists is way past her sell by ticket in the glamour stakes – or so she believes – and Harry couldn’t agree more! He’s always boasted about his trophy wife being 10 times hotter than William’s!” 
While Meghan was championed as a ‘breath of fresh air’ by the public and the ‘future of the monarchy’ by royalists, her popularity soon dramatically descended when the couple stepped down as working royals in January 2020. 

And in March the following year, royal hell broke loose when she and Prince Harry gave an explosive interview to Oprah Winfrey, during which they alleged a long list of serious complaints against the royals, including racism and bullying, and accused the institution of ignoring Meghan’s mental health struggles. 
Meghan also directly accused Kate of making her cry over the infamous ‘dress-gate’ drama ahead of her May 2018 wedding to Harry – which Harry later supported in his January memoir, Spare. 

Backing up Meghan’s statement, Harry said Kate’s unwillingness to have her daughter, Princess Charlotte’s, bridesmaid dress altered had led him to find Meghan “sobbing on the floor”. Detailing an incident that happened just months prior in February 2018 at the first Royal Foundation meeting, when the two royal couples were dubbed ‘the Fab Four’, Harry also recalled Meghan asking Kate to borrow her lip gloss. He wrote, “Kate, taken aback, went into her handbag and reluctantly pulled out a small tube. Meg squeezed some onto her finger and applied it to her lips. Kate grimaced.”

The couple returned to the UK for the first time for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last June, but didn’t come into close contact with Kate and Prince William until following the Queen’s death in September. In one of the iciest exchanges caught on camera between Kate and Meghan as they greeted well-wishers and mourners outside of Windsor castle, Kate is seen looking daggers at Meghan before Harry steps in and gently leads his wife away. 

And while Harry travelled back to support his father at the Coronation alone, Meghan stayed at the couple’s lavish £11.8 million mansion with their two children, Archie, four, and two-year-old Lilibet. But while Kate looked stunning in a regal robe and an Alexander McQueen dress and headpiece for the occasion, Meghan headed out hiking in LA just days later – wearing over £150,000 in accessories, including a Cartier watch Harry inherited from Princess Diana. 

Yet while fans have questioned her choice of workout gear – with one commenting, “Doesn’t everyone get blinged up to go rambling and take a camera crew?” – the source says Harry champions Meghan as the epitome of Hollywood glamour. The insider says, “Harry says she’s the modern day version of a true princess, and he too says it’s a travesty that she’s forever compared to or held up alongside Kate. They would never admit this publicly because it would cause absolute outrage, but privately the view is that Meghan is stylish and glamorous, whereas Kate’s a stiff, awkward type of character who doesn’t even come close to her in the appeal stakes.”

The source also says Meghan, as a former actress on US legal drama, Suits, doesn’t understand the appeal of Kate’s style. They add, “Meghan just doesn’t get it. Kate plays it safe and is so conservative and Meghan views her as a Plain Jane from the 1950s who hasn’t moved with the times at all. 

And yet she’s held up by her supporters as this perfect, classy quintessential princess who puts Meghan firmly in her place? She and Harry scoff at that. They say it’s yet another example of the appalling bias that’s directed towards Meghan – who he sees as a true star.” Tellingly, recent reports have also linked the new adaptation of Disney’s Little Mermaid to the feud between Kate and Meghan – suggesting that Disney, who signed a voiceover deal with Meghan in 2020,  may have been influenced by the royal drama. 

According to a reviewer, the film sees Prince Eric guessing Ariel’s name, and producers have opted for both ‘Diana’ and ‘Catherine’ – the latter suggestion seeing Ariel reportedly look ‘disgusted’. One fan wrote, “That dig on Princess Catherine is low and petty for a world-class respected institution”, while another added, “Meghan wants to be the Little Mermaid”. 

The Duchess has previously compared her time in the Royal Family to the experience of Ariel, who is ‘silenced’ as a sacrifice for gaining legs and being able to marry her Prince, as she revealed to Oprah she had watched the film during her time living in Windsor. And if that wasn’t enough, a close look at Meghan’s recent gold dress reveals the gold fabric is actually made up of shimmering mermaid scales. A coincidence? Perhaps. But it’s clear Meghan won’t be silenced now.