Meghan Markle isn’t asking for much.
She may be married to Prince Harry, thus making her a member of the British Royal Family, but she’s hardly high-maintenance. Sure, the press may follow the former Suits star everywhere and some people curtsy for her, but it’s out of tradition, not demand. And, according to many reporters, including one from The Telegraph, the new mum requests that people don’t even refer to her by her formal title, the Duchess of Sussex.
Moreover, the reporter describes one conversation in which the Duchess told her that she doesn’t “want people to love her.” Instead, the writer says that Meghan wants to be heard, especially when she speaks about issues that are of importance to her, like mental health.
This was clear when the Duchess made a speech at a non-profit named Luminary Bakery, in which she said, “We get into this habit of wanting things done immediately nowadays. There’s a culture of instant gratification, of the instant fix. But we aren’t mechanical objects that need to be fixed. You’re a wounded creature that needs to be healed, and that takes time.”
This should come as no surprise considering the impact she’s had on Prince Harry. Since they began dating, the formerly closed-off prince has increasingly begun to speak about his own mental health and the impact his mother, the late Princess Diana‘s, death had on him.
One could even say that her goal to be a voice for the downtrodden encouraged her to file the lawsuit against the British press. In their statement at the time, the pair stated, “As a couple, we believe in media freedom and objective, truthful reporting. We regard it as a cornerstone of democracy and in the current state of the world—on every level—we have never needed responsible media more.”
Negative press coverage may not be an issue that all men and women deal with on a daily basis, but when it comes down to it, Meghan says that “our hopes, our fears, our insecurities, the things that make us tick… well, those are very much the same.” She adds, “And there’s comfort in that.”