The Royal (And Very Problematic) Double Standard Between The Treatment Of Meghan Markle And Prince Andrew
Why is Prince Andrew being protected?
Matt Dunham/AP/REX/Shutterstock Prior to Meghan Markle’s bombshell Oprah interview, the Royal Family has been scrambling to brand her a “bully” — meanwhile, a much more controversial culprit roams free.
Buckingham Palace has announced they're investigating claims Markle bullied two personal assistance who were employed by the Royals and drove them out of the Palace back in 2018. The Palace said they were taking these claims very seriously and would be conducting an internal investigation.
Yet, the numerous allegations stacked against Prince Andrew, who had close ties with child sex trafficker Jeffery Epstein, have been completely ignored by the Royal Family.
Both Meghan and Harry spoke at length to Oprah about their refusal to be silenced by Royals yet there is one voice still being diminished by the family — Prince Andrew’s alleged sexual assault victim.
Since 2015, horrifying allegations against Prince Andrew have been continuously overlooked by the Royal family.
Virginia Giuffre, a woman who was being held captive by Epstein in the early 2000s, claimed that she was trafficked to the Prince and forced to have sex with him on multiple occasions when she was 17.
Prince Andrew denied the claims in a damaging 2019 interview where he gave multiple bizarre excuses intended to shut down the allegations.
He also appeared to show no remorse for Epstein’s victims or for maintaining a close friendship with a man who had committed such heinous crimes.
When Prince Andrew was named as a person of interest by an investigation in the U.S. it was reported he was offering zero cooperation and refused to travel to the US in order to aid the investigation.
Since then, he has stepped back from his royal duties but continues to be shielded by the Royal Family who have not addressed the allegations nor conducted any kind of internal investigation into his actions.
The desire to protect the Royal institution is prioritized over all else, even when criminal matters are involved.
When Prince Andrew’s alleged pedophilia threatened the sanctity of the Crown, the family chose to cover up the entire situation and shield him from any further damage.
Yet when Markle opened up about her depression and suicidal ideation due to the endless criticism she faced in the press, she revealed the Crown did nothing to help her.
When Meghan and Harry opted to step back from their royal duties to protect their mental health and well-being, it drove a divisive wedge between them and the Royal Family. Yet when Prince Andrew stepped away from his duties after the child trafficking scandal, it simply meant he stopped appearing in official family photos and attended a different Christmas Day church service than the Queen.
The Meghan Markle bullying accusations also seem somewhat ironic given some of the revelations in Markle’s Oprah interview.
It is hard to imagine that a woman who was being pillaged by the press and was subjected to numerous racist and misogynistic discriminations during her time as a Royal would have taken the time to bully and harass staff members.
If Markle did bully Buckingham Palace staff, why has the Palace taken two years to launch an investigation into these allegations?
Some Royal experts also raised the question of why no similar investigation has been launch by the Palace into the claims against Prince Andrew. But the real question is why have they shielded him from the official FBI investigation and what are they hiding from officials?
Alice Kelly is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Catch her covering all things social justice, news, and entertainment.