The Eight People Meghan Markle Should Be Afraid Of

The following article includes mentions of mental health struggles.

It's not easy being Meghan Markle. Okay, some stuff is easy, like living at Tyler Perry's mansion, or signing multimillion-dollar deals with Netflix, or hosting lavish baby showers, but otherwise, things have been pretty tough since she married Prince Harry.

The Sussexes' marriage appears to be rock solid, but Meghan's tenure as a "working royal" was notoriously rocky. Within two years of their wedding, she and Harry made the startling decision to give up their senior roles within The Firm and move to Los Angeles. They later gave a bombshell interview to Oprah Winfrey, in which they claimed that — due to the treatment she'd endured by both the press and her in-laws — Meghan's mental health had deteriorated to the point that Harry felt it was no longer safe for them to remain in England. To make a long story short, Meghan hasn't exactly won over her husband's family or home country.

Meghan has since become increasingly vocal in the press, even speaking up about U.S. politics (famously a royal family no-no). While she's beloved by many stateside, it looks as though Meghan has broken more than a few eggs on her way to the top. So, without further ado, we present the definitive list of who seems to be out to get Meghan Markle and why.

Meghan Markle has a lot of haters, but British commentator and reporter Piers Morgan might just top the list. Over the years, few have been more critical of the American duchess than Morgan. He took his dislike for her to such an extreme that he infamously walked off the set of "Good Morning Britain" and quit (or, was asked to quit) in 2021, after facing backlash for claiming she was lying about her deteriorating mental health to make the royal family look bad, per BBC News.

So, why all the hate? Apparently, Morgan is still holding a grudge from Meghan supposedly "ghost[ing]" him back in 2016, per The U.S. Sun. According to Morgan, the pair connected on Twitter and then grabbed a drink while she visited London. Later that night, she was apparently introduced to Prince Harry, and he says he "never heard from her again." He became increasingly critical of her, calling her a "ruthless social climbing actress" and a "hypocrite," among other things.

Morgan's main issue with Meghan (besides the alleged ghosting) appears to be how she treats the royal family. After the Sussexes' Oprah Winfrey interview, he tweeted, "This interview is an absolutely disgraceful betrayal of the Queen and the Royal Family. I expect all this vile destructive self-serving nonsense from Meghan Markle — but for Harry to let her take down his family and the Monarchy like this is shameful." 

The moral of the story? If Piers Morgan ever slides into your DMs, don't leave him on read.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

We're willing to bet that of all the people on the list, Meghan Markle might be most afraid of her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton. At first, it seemed like Meghan and Kate might actually become good friends. The duo were all smiles during their joint Wimbledon appearance in 2019, for example, per Harper's Bazaar. That camaraderie was short-lived, though.

As Meghan's wedding to Harry approached the previous year, stories emerged about conflict between the duchesses. Things reached a crescendo when outlets reported that Meghan had made Kate cry during a dispute over her flower girl dresses. It wasn't until years later, during Meghan's infamous Oprah Winfrey interview, that she set the record straight. "No. [I didn't make Kate cry]," Meghan said. "... The reverse happened." She added that Kate apologized and took responsibility for whatever transgressed between them, though that didn't exactly help — the real issue was that Kate wouldn't set the record straight in the press herself. "I protected that from ever being out in the world," Meghan said, claiming that they'd forgiven each other and moved on ... although that doesn't seem entirely accurate.

Kate has never spoken publicly about her relationship with Meghan or acknowledged her claims that she was the aggressor. The closest she's ever gotten was in 2021, when someone leaked a since-deleted video on Instagram of Kate speaking with a group of high school students during a school tour, per She Knows. When one of the students asked about Harry and Meghan, Kate appeared to roll her eyes and responded: "What else?"

Ever since she wed Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's (now estranged) father, Thomas Markle, has proven to be a thorn in her side. The trouble started when Thomas posed for paparazzi photos days before the wedding — something he'd be instructed not to do. He then suffered a heart attack and couldn't attend the ceremony due to his ailing health, leading Prince Charles to step in to walk Meghan down the aisle instead, per Insider.

Things unfortunately only deteriorated between Meghan and Thomas after that, as he continually spoke about their relationship publicly. According to BBC News, Meghan wrote him a long emotional letter in a plea for him to stop, which he then released to the press. She went to trial against a British tabloid that published the letter for violating her privacy and won the case in December 2021.

Since releasing the letter, however, Thomas has continued talking to the press, even though that was evidently the cause of the rift in the first place. As recently as October 2021, he appeared on "Good Morning Britain" and claimed he would continue to do so until Meghan spoke to him. "I will do a show at least a month, if I can get it through, and eventually sooner or later she'll start talking to me," he said (via Newsweek). "This is way too childish; this is kind of silly, it's time to talk with each other, we're family." 

As far as we can tell, those apparent threats fell on empty ears, as Meghan has continued to live her best life in LA.

If Meghan Markle doesn't get along with her dad, you better believe she doesn't see eye to eye with her long-lost half-sister, either. First, a little context. Meghan and Samantha Markle were reportedly not raised together, as Samantha is a good bit older than the duchess. Perhaps because of their casual acquaintance, Samantha has long been accused of "cashing in" on Meghan's rise to the international spotlight when she became engaged to Prince Harry. The elder Markle sibling began giving interviews to the press, which Meghan mostly ignored, at least publicly. Soon enough, the interviews turned critical when Meghan and their father fell out, according to Us Weekly.

Samantha (who is firmly team Thomas Markle) even published a book called "The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister Part 1." Claiming that Meghan had been a spoiled child, per Us Weekly, Samantha further alleged that after Thomas landed in the hospital in 2018, the royal family wanted to reach out and help him, but Meghan wouldn't allow it.

While Meghan hasn't publicly talked about Samantha, it's well known that the relationship appears acrimonious on both sides. The former "Suits" star came under fire after an email between herself and her former press secretary was leaked in November 2021. In the email, she reportedly claimed she barely knew Samantha and that, if they needed to go after her, they should attack the fact that she'd "lost custody of all three of her children from different fathers" (via Showbiz CheatSheet). At the time, Express reported that Samantha planned to file a defamation lawsuit against Meghan.

Next up on the list of people Meghan Markle should probably look out for is her father-in-law, Prince Charles. When Meghan wed Prince Harry, it seemed like she and Charles were on great terms — he walked her down the aisle, after all — but behind closed doors, things were not as copacetic as they seemed on TV.

As far as we can tell, things already appeared strained between Harry and Charles, and were therefore seemingly worse with Charles and Meghan. Remember that letter she wrote to dad Thomas Markle? Well, according to texts leaked in November 2021, Meghan only agreed to reach out to Thomas over his rounds in the press in order to get Charles to cut Harry some slack over the situation (via the Daily Beast). "By taking this form of action I protect my husband from this constant berating," she reportedly wrote to her former communications chief. "And while unlikely perhaps it will give my father a moment to pause."

Then there was the Oprah Winfrey interview. Among the more shocking moments were Meghan's claims that an unnamed royal family member asked about soon-to-be-born Archie's skin color. According to sources cited by Page Six, that senior member was allegedly Charles. However, things really hit the fan when Harry and Meghan decided to move stateside and give up their royal duties. Charles reportedly refused to bank roll their lifestyle any longer, supposedly leaving them with no security and no royal backing thousands of miles from home, per Vanity Fair.

By most accounts, the royal family was welcoming for Meghan Markle when she first started dating Harry. One distant relative, Princess Michael of Kent, however, reportedly could not have been less kind. Princess Michael of Kent (whose first name is Marie) — who is the wife of one of Queen Elizabeth's first cousins — has been accused of racism when it comes to her interactions with Meghan, per Town & Country.

The first such incident occurred in 2017, when she attended the annual Christmas luncheon at Buckingham Palace. Princess Michael of Kent wore a decorative brooch deemed deeply offensive by many, as it depicted a racist caricature of a slave (via Harper's Bazaar). With a well-known history of alleged racism, Marie previously caused a scandal in 2004 after telling a group of Black customers to "go back to the colonies" while dining in NYC.

That said, she later expressed remorse for the brooch, releasing a statement that read: "Princess Michael is very sorry and distressed that [the brooch] has caused offence," per The Telegraph. However, it seems this was too little too late. The incident was detailed in the 2020 biography "Finding Freedom," with authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand writing that Meghan "wondered if there wasn't a message being sent in the pin of the torso of an African man wearing a gold turban and ornate clothing" (via the Evening Standard). No matter the intent, they noted, the brooch "showed insensitivity" on the princess' part toward Meghan's roots and experiences with racism.

It might seem cliche to say that Meghan Markle should be intimidated by her mother-in-law (well, step-mother-in-law), but the alleged truth is that she and Camilla Parker Bowles no longer get along. According to insiders cited by the Mirror, when Meghan began dating Prince Harry, the Duchess of Cornwall was welcoming and even tried to take the former actor under her wing, having once been a royal outsider herself. The more comfortable she got, though, the more Meghan reportedly began to step on Camilla's toes. 

The first such incident occurred as Camilla prepared to give a speech about domestic violence (an issue she cares about deeply) in 2020. The outlet reports that, while Meghan had promised not to overshadow the event, she apparently broke her word by releasing pics of herself attending a theater event the same day. Camilla was supposedly "furious" and "very upset."

The final blow to the relationship apparently came a year later, when Meghan and Harry spoke to Oprah Winfrey about the trauma they'd endured at the palace. While Harry claimed that his father was incredibly hurtful in financially cutting him off and leaving him without protection, Prince Charles' wife wouldn't hear of it. Camilla reportedly placed the blame for the fractured relationship between her husband and stepson directly on Meghan. As a palace insider told The Telegraph, "I don't think the Duchess will ever forgive Meghan for what she's done to the Prince of Wales."

Last but not least is Prince William. According to those close to the palace, there is allegedly no love lost between Meghan Markle and her brother-in-law. These two reportedly started off on a bad note when Will warned younger brother Prince Harry against rushing into anything with Meghan. The ginger prince was (perhaps understandably) angry, and it didn't exactly set the foundation for a good relationship between Meghan and William going forward, per Fox News.

An allegedly unsupportive brother-in-law is one thing, but rumor has it that William later took the family feud to a whole new level. You might remember back in 2019 when reports began to swirl of Wills' alleged affair with a family friend named Rose Hanbury. While you'd expect those allegations to be headline-making news on the same level as Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles' affair, the story barely got any traction. Now, here's where things get interesting: William's supposed dalliances were hardly reported on because he and wife Kate Middleton were allegedly busy behind the scenes planting stories about Meghan, per StyleCaster. That April, The Times released an article stating that Will had been getting cozy with the press, and it wasn't long before Twitter was overrun with theories that there was a connection between the hushed-up alleged affair and the scathing tabloid articles about Meghan.

Of course, whether or not that's true is unclear. One thing that is certain though: We probably won't see William — who's also refuted the Sussexes' claims of racism within the royal family — hanging out with Meghan anytime soon.