I saw Meghan’s Fiji market drama, it was a sign of what was to come…the Queen would never have done that, says expert
MEGHAN Markle’s Fiji market drama was a “sign of what was to come”, claims a royal expert who witnessed the moment.
Meghan was being given a tour of Suva Market with Prince Harry during the 2018 Royal visit when her bodyguards intervened.
A Daily Mail reporter who was on the trip claims they saw Meghan “turn and ‘hiss’ at a member of her entourage, clearly incandescent with rage about something, and demand to leave”.
They wrote: “I later saw that same – female – highly distressed member of staff sitting in an official car, with tears running down her face. Our eyes met and she lowered hers, humiliation etched on her features.
“At the time I was unable to document anything as I couldn’t conclusively link the two incidents together, despite my suspicions. I have.”
Now, Channel 5 royal correspondent Simon Vigar has claimed the drama would have never happened with the Queen.
Speaking to The Sun’s Matt Wilkinson in the brand new show Royal Exclusive, he says that he saw the incident unfold firsthand.
Mr Vigar said: “I was at the engagement in the market in Suva, it was hot but it wasn’t chaos and there was a clear route for Meghan to take.
“It was supposed to last half an hour to 40 minutes but it was 15 minutes at that.
“At some point when she was meeting people, the whole atmosphere within the royal party changed, and I believe it came from Meghan.
“The whole thing really went into warp drive.”
He added: “Meghan walks past all these people who have lined up for hours to tell her about her business and they don’t get to meet her.
“In hindsight, everything makes sense including the hostility towards the British media.
“Meghan’s behaviour on that day, was that a true deflection.
“It didn’t look good and it’s not what a royal is all about, I’ve never seen the Queen do that.”
Video showed her being led out of the building flanked by her new female head of security and a Fijian security chief.
She then apparently whispered something to one of her aides before being whisked away.
Mr Vigar said: “At the end it was being spun as a security but it wasn’t. If there was any security issue the Scotland Yard detectives wouldn’t have allowed the event to start.
“I really felt sorry for the people that wanted to meet her.
“The woman with the gift at the end, she just zooms past.
“For us it was a story but for the palace staff it was a nightmare and they didn’t know what had happened.
“It sort of torpedoed her own day in the diary.”
The royal expert said that he had seen a number of “awkward” incidents with people being “edged out” of pictures next to Prince Harry over the years.
One onlooker at the time reportedly said Meghan appeared to “look concerned” before entering and “looked really disengaged, not her usual self at all”.
The witness told the Mirror: “She stopped to speak to a pineapple seller on one of the stalls and had a very blank and disengaged look on her face, which is very unlike her.
“It was very hot and humid in there so perhaps it wasn’t the best environment for a pregnant woman.
“After speaking for about a minute she broke off and spoke to the same aide again before she was whisked out of the market very soon after.”
At the time, the reason given for the abrupt end to her walkabout was that the crowds grew too big to control.
However, Meghan, then 39, was said to be concerned about the presence of UN Women, a group which promotes women’s empowerment, The Times reported.
Lawyers for Markle have denied this was so, stressing that Markle met with members of the women’s empowerment group later in the visit to the island.
The Duchess had missed morning duties, but had been expected to meet people at Markets for Change, a UN Women’s project.
Her visit was scheduled for 15 minutes but she lasted just six in the sweltering hot tent.
Following the claims, the late Queen launched a probe into the allegations.