Meghan Markle apparently challenged the Royal Family’s expectations from the start. A royal historian claimed the Palace failed to understand how ambitious she would be after marrying Prince Harry. According to the author, that misjudgment reflected a much older problem within the monarchy. The institution, he argued, has repeatedly struggled to find the right role for the “spare” and their spouse.
Author claims royal family didn’t know what to do with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
According to royal historian Robert Lacey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle exposed a problem that had existed within the monarchy long before their relationship. He claimed the Palace had not figured out how to give Harry, as the younger brother of the future king, a meaningful position. More importantly, Lacey argued that officials also failed to work out where his wife would fit.
Speaking about Markle while promoting his book “Battle of Brothers,” Lacey said the Palace treated her as though she would simply take on a conventional supporting role. That assumption, he claimed, was a major mistake. “They made the mistake of dealing with the spare’s wife thinking she was just a routine royal,” Lacey said (via Express). “She was never going to be a routine royal.”
Lacey also described Markle as a “force of nature” and claimed she had an unusually strong sense of self-belief. However, his comments placed some responsibility on the institution itself. In his view, the Palace should have recognized that she was unlikely to quietly settle into a traditional royal role.
The problem, he suggested, was not unique to Harry. Younger members of the Royal Family have historically struggled to establish their own identities while the heir remains at the center of the institution. Princess Margaret and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have faced similar questions over their positions. “They just don’t know what to do with the spare,” Lacey said. He added that the same uncertainty applied to “the spare’s wife.”
Meanwhile, Harry’s position within the family later became the subject of his 2023 memoir, “Spare.” The title itself highlighted his feelings about being the younger son, while the book detailed his frustrations with life inside the Royal Family.
Lacey has also claimed that Harry and Markle became royal “rock stars” because of their popularity. That attention may have created another difficulty. The couple could attract significant public interest despite holding less senior positions within the hierarchy.
Ultimately, Harry and Markle’s time as senior working royals was brief. They announced their decision to step back in January 2020 and completed their final engagements in March that year.
