Royal Commentators Worry Harry and Meghan Are Overshadowing William and Kate

After years of telling readers that Prince Harry and Meghan Sussex are unpopular, irrelevant and destined to fail outside the monarchy, the Daily Mail’s royal commentators are now openly worrying that the Sussexes are attracting more attention than Prince William and Kate Middleton.

And this time, we have their own words. During the latest episode of Palace Confidential, Daily Mail royal editor Rebecca English joined Richard Eden and Richard Kay to discuss Harry and Meghan’s recent Nottingham visit.

What began as another discussion about the Sussexes supposedly challenging the monarchy quickly turned into an extraordinary admission about William and Kate’s inability to command the same media attention.

Richard Eden Admits William and Kate Are Being Overlooked

Richard Eden, who has spent years criticising Harry and Meghan, sounded genuinely concerned about the future King and Queen. Eden complained that some of William and Kate’s recent engagements were receiving less newspaper coverage, pointing to William’s cricket event on the Mall and the couple’s Northern Ireland. He pointed out that William’s recent cricket event on the Mall and the couple’s Northern Ireland visit hadn’t even made it into some newspapers.

“I’m really worried about this because William and Catherine’s policy seems to be to just keep calm, carry on, and ignore them. But then what’s happening is coverage of their events is really just becoming less and less. […] And the last thing we want is for William and Catherine to be sort of overlooked and then Harry and Meghan, because they’re doing sort of interesting things and causing controversy, to get all the coverage.”

There it is. Even Richard Eden acknowledges that Harry and Meghan are doing things people find interesting. Of course, he couldn’t resist inserting the word controversy. Since when did visiting charities, supporting community organisations and reconnecting with women involved in a successful charity cookbook become controversial?

The Daily Mail Admits Sussex Stories Attract More Clicks

Luke Blackall offered an even more revealing explanation. Addressing complaints that newspapers should stop covering Harry and Meghan, Blackall acknowledged:

If you’re in the news business […] people will click on stories about them more than they will about a perhaps a traditional engagement.”

The Daily Mail’s own commentators are admitting that the newspaper covers Harry and Meghan because readers are interested in them.

The double standard became even more obvious when Rebecca English suggested Harry and Meghan should visit charities “quietly and discreetly.” So let me understand this. William and Kate apparently deserve more newspaper coverage for their charitable engagements, but Harry and Meghan should carry out theirs without attracting attention? Why should the Sussexes hide their work because royal commentators believe the future King and Queen deserve the spotlight? Charitable organisations benefit from publicity, and that opportunity shouldn’t depend on Buckingham Palace’s approval.

Nobody forced royal journalists Roya Nikkhah and Matt Wilkinson to attend Harry and Meghan’s Nottingham visit, just as nobody forces YouTube commentators to devote so much coverage to the Sussexes. Editors decide which stories deserve attention. Yet the Daily Mail panel somehow managed to turn its own editorial choices into another problem Harry and Meghan had supposedly created.

And now, columnist Sarah Vine published yet another opinion piece titled “The one way to solve the Harry issue? Give him his titles back.” So which is it? Are Harry and Meghan supposedly irrelevant, or are they so important that the British press cannot stop discussing their every move? The Sussexes aren’t forcing anyone to cover them. The British media keeps making that choice, then complaining about the attention they’re receiving.

Richard Kay even described the Sussexes as the “bright shiny new thing” on the royal scene. But Harry and Meghan married more than eight years ago. Harry was already one of the world’s most recognisable royals, while Meghan had established a successful career as an actress, humanitarian and lifestyle entrepreneur before joining the royal family.

If the shine still hasn’t worn off after eight years of marriage, six years outside the working monarchy and relentless negative press coverage, that says a great deal about their enduring appeal. And perhaps an even greater deal about the British press’s inability to stop talking about them.

William and Kate Have Had Six Years to Make Themselves Interesting

Here is what makes this discussion particularly revealing. William and Kate have enjoyed years of institutional backing, palace communications teams and extensive royal press coverage.

They have their own initiatives, including Earthshot, Homewards and Kate’s early childhood projects. Nobody is preventing royal journalists from covering those programmes.

Why should Harry and Meghan have to dim their own light just so William and Kate Middleton can shine? If William and Kate’s engagements aren’t generating the same interest, perhaps the responsibility lies with them to put in the work, develop more compelling initiatives and give people a reason to pay attention.

Is Harry and Meghan’s Confidence the Real Problem?

There is something about Harry and Meghan’s independence that seems to make certain sections of the British establishment deeply uncomfortable. And I suspect Britain’s obsession with class, hierarchy and knowing your place has something to do with it.

British society has a complicated relationship with confidence. People are encouraged to succeed, but not to appear too ambitious. They can be talented, but they are expected to downplay their achievements. Heaven forbid someone openly acknowledges their success without performing the obligatory act of British modesty.

We have all heard the familiar phrases: Who do they think they are? Don’t get above your station. Know your place. And isn’t that precisely the attitude we keep seeing directed at Harry and Meghan? Britain’s monarchy sits at the top of a traditional social hierarchy where status is inherited and not earned. William was born to inherit the throne, while Harry was expected to play a supporting role.

But Harry married Meghan, a successful biracial American actress who had already established her own career, humanitarian interests and public identity. She wasn’t raised to believe her success should depend on making somebody else look more important.

There is also an uncomfortable racial dimension. Confidence celebrated in someone from a privileged background can be interpreted as arrogance when expressed by a Black woman who refuses to conform to expectations.

And the Palace Confidential discussion illustrates the problem. Harry and Meghan’s charitable visits become provocative, their independence becomes defiance, and their popularity becomes a threat to the monarchy.

Why should Meghan apologise for knowing her worth? And why should Harry accept a supporting role simply because William was born first?

Harry and Meghan’s greatest offence, it seems, is refusing to remain in William and Kate’s shadow. They have demonstrated that they can attract attention, support charities and build successful ventures without Buckingham Palace directing their lives.

Perhaps it’s time the future King and Queen gave people more compelling reasons to pay attention.