Some days, I do wonder how much of the British establishment’s negativity towards the Duchess of Sussex is simply about her American-ness. Americans do things differently, and our ideas of “what a staff should do” and “work life” differs from the British standards, even more so at the royal level. I imagine that’s part of the culture shock Meghan is feeling right now – not only did she marry a British dude and move to England, she married a prince and now has a full staff of people who are supposed to help her and do her bidding, or at least that’s what she thought. Instead of helping her or doing her bidding, they’re leaking like a sieve to the Daily Mail on the regular. It’s par for the course of any royal household, for sure. But I can’t help but think that “Hurricane” Meghan is sitting there, reading this Daily Mail story and thinking “so the people I employ are running to the Mail to complain about how I want them to… work?” It’s so foreign to us as Americans. You can read the Mail on Sunday’s latest anti-Meg screed here. Some highlights:
Hurricane Meghan is “rewriting the royal fashion rules.” The Queen is said to have expressed surprise that Meghan, a divorcee, wore quite such a white dress for her wedding – an elegant boat-necked creation from fashion house Givenchy. But then the future Duchess of Sussex was always going to do it (or more pertinently wear it) her own way. It’s a boldness that has led to unease among some courtiers. ‘Meghan is being told she needs to start dressing less like a Hollywood star and more like a Royal,’ a source from one of the fashion teams which has visited Kensington Palace told The Mail on Sunday.
Meghan wears black and the Queen is shook. Meghan has “a penchant for non-British designers or her fondness for wearing black – traditionally worn by Royals only to signify mourning. No-one gave that memo to Meghan, who in August not only wore a black tuxedo to a special performance of the musical Hamilton, but caused a further frisson by displaying bare legs a good few inches above the knee. It is said this rebellious spirit has resulted in raised eyebrows from the Queen, who is a stickler for the rules.
Hurricane Meghan failed to wear a hat! While the Queen and Meghan are understood to have a warm relationship, a degree of tension was reported between the pair during their trip to Runcorn, Cheshire, in June. Meghan declined to wear a hat after apparently failing to understand that when the Queen’s aides informed her the Queen would be wearing one, that meant Meghan should follow suit.
Meghan texts her aides, how shocking. Six or seven a day – that’s the number of texts the new Duchess of Sussex sends to palace aides with ideas and requests. She’s an early riser, up at 5am rain or shine, and it is said palace staff have never experienced anything remotely like Meghan’s formidable work ethic, matched only by the incessant stream of ideas about how to shape her role. Quite aside from her publicised engagements, Meghan has been conducting a series of ‘undercover’ missions to meet the British people, particularly those associated with good causes. Well-meaning as she is, her particular brand of ‘up and at ’em’ West Coast energy is an uncomfortable fit with the more formal ethos of some palace staff.
Regarding the texting-at-5-am thing: when an American texts or emails you at 5 am, we’re not expecting an answer that moment. We’re sending you a reminder or a note because that’s when we thought of it, and it’s usually an FYI for the day. CB sends me stuff early in the morning (and I send her stuff at 5 am or earlier too). It’s not that she expects me to be awake, alert and working at that moment, it’s usually just an FYI or reminder of something work-related for the day, like a note about her schedule or mine. And I truly LOL’d at “palace staff have never experienced anything remotely like Meghan’s formidable work ethic.” SO GAUCHE. She has ideas and wants to work! She’s not content to send out press releases about being keen!
As for all the bitching about Meghan’s wardrobe – yeah, I’m a Meg Defender about most things, but I also think fair is fair – she’s made some wardrobe errors and this Mail piece definitely reads like the Queen’s courtiers offering a few somewhat gentle reminders to Meghan that she needs to tighten up her wardrobe choices, particularly around the Queen. The Queen’s courtiers have done the same with Kate over the years too. As for dressing less like a “Hollywood star and more like a royal” – lord help the Windsors if someone with glamorous star power actually makes the royal institution seem modern and sexy, eh?
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
*eyeroll* black has been worn many times by other RF members for most types of events. And as for the 5am thing – I worked with people based in LA and as a whole they are early risers because a) LA traffic is horrendous and b) LA is a city of early breakfast meetings, meetings that often happen before the work day officially starts and gym visits at the crack of dawn. That was how it was all explained to me. I could be wrong.
You’re not wrong. Lived in LA for 22 yrs and the biggest factor is the traffic. As the years went by I had to get up earlier and earlier just to drive a few miles. The last year I worked there I was getting up at 4am to be at work by 6:30. I had a 14 mile freeway drive from my garage to the office parking lot. Took an hour and some more to make that drive at that time of the morning. The 405 freeway in LA is the worst traffic I have ever seen anywhere.
sounds awful. i live in a city where everyone cycles everywhere so the working day starts at 09:30 with a leisurely coffee.
what city is this?? (I am exploring options for a move)
Don’t know who some of those LA people are but they sound like transplants. For the most part, depending on your job, some need to get up early because due to the time difference between East & West coast.
But yes, traffic is horrible. But that is all day, not just the morning. Gotta know the freeways out here & when to avoid certain areas.
LA people tend to get up so early because the business day has already started on the east coast. By the time they get to work at 8 or 9, its nearly lunch for NY/DC, etc.
This.
SF too. Which is why the restaurants downtown start serving lunch at 8:30 am.
Exactly. Not just LA people, all West Coasters. If East Coasters could change their work hours to noon – 8:00pm that’d be great and I wouldn’t have these bags under my eyes.
@KidV
As an East Coaster i would love to change the work hours to 12-8 so I could sleep in.
Yep. I just moved back to the East Coast after a decade on the West Coast, and am lovvvving that no one expects things to happen before 9 am.
All around the world we have different times zone to work/play in. Professionals, career working people start working early for a lot of reasons – family, commute to name a few.
So more power to the dedicated Duchess of Sussex, but she also need to remember The RF is very different from regular work/work ethics and careers.
As to her former life and more frequent wears. Let’s hope the DoSussex remembers she is a Royal now and not a celeb or ‘common’ – that is, less is more, such as less shoulders and more sleeve = ignore her botoxceleb stylist.
At the Variety Performance – The Duchess is once again a common celeb looking – in a strap top – No.
I work 12-8.30 pm and love it. Another reason Meghan would be used to early rising is because of early makeup and costume calls.
I agree l think that one of the many reasons some people have it in for Meghan is because of her American behaviour and outlook. British people don’t like to be seen to be too eager or too hardworking, but it’s all really pretence.
I do wonder if Meghan has learned the art of self deprecation, which Brits love, especially the upper classes. It was the first thing l wanted to tell her when she joined the Royals to enable her to spot it straight away. Poor Meghan, maybe she needs to hire American staff.
She lived in Canada for quite some time; we are also very good at self deprecation
🙂
When I worked in a western Canadian regional Federal Gov’t office, it was beneficial to get in early (7am was best I could manage with a 40km commute to office) as our “head office” was Ottawa which is 2 hours ahead of us in the west.
Another thought….this article started with Daily Mail (Fail?)? Was Sam Merkle the “source”? I just can’t clutch my pearls too much over this BS. As a Canadian I think much of the Royal Family related “protocol” and rules is just outmoded crap that should be deep sixed. I just don’t believe that anyone is chosen by God, by birth to rule……am all about merit & competence. Plus there would be manymany surprises if some of these aristocratic or royal families ever had dna done. BIG surprises.
The 5am texts are very millennial and very American. We start hitting people up as we wake up, getting our thoughts in order, sending things as they occur to us. Either email or text. Also it’s a very simple conversation.
“When you text me at 5am, what are you expecting in return?” The answer most likely will be I’m just Info dumping you as I’m prepping for my day and throwing out ideas to make sure we cover later. Im not expecting a response until you are getting ready. These are sort of preliminary to the day notes so that when we meet up we are already on the same page and been thinking about the same issues. It’s efficient and effective. It’s also does not mean it needs a reply any time soon.
I don’t know anyone who wakes up to their phone buzzing. That’s …. it’s so in the background of our life that it’s just white noise now.
They are also very unprofessional. She’s living in the UK, so if there’s one americanism she needs to drop, this is it.
If you have thoughts that need to be dumped, put it in an email. I’m a millennial too, but this entitlement to other people’s space and time is unheard of here in Europe and really quite shocking
Well, really. If my clients texted me their toughts and ideas at 5 am I’d be…not happy. Email is fine, but texts? No thanks. I’m not a 19th century maid.
People do guard their work and life balance in Europe a bit more zealously than Americans do. Once we clock off for the day, we’re out. Once we’re on the clock, we’re on. That’s one thing that I guard zealously, tbh, and I would be raising an eyebrow at emails circa 05:00 am.
I’m an American millennial and I have terrible sleep patterns, so I often have a work idea at 4am or some other awful time. I use an email scheduler so that I can write it whenever I think about it and have it sent at a reasonable hour to my coworkers.
I also have a large amount of sympathy for the staffers who are getting those texts — I’m one of those who leaves my phone on all night because if someone was in a car accident or at the hospital etc etc… I do not want to be woken up before dawn with a work thing that’s not going to let me go back to sleep.
This is ridiculous! I see no problem with it at all, but I also work in finance in a Toronto based firm.
My boss is up and at the office by 6AM every day. I don’t start until 9AM, because we have flex hours and there’s a time zone difference. I put my iPhone on Do Not Disturb until 8AM and deal with the messages when I get in. People are so precious. I doubt Meghan thinks these need to be dealt with immediately.
Also for those parroting email it still goes to my phone and buzzes. Also email is so passe. Millennials don’t email. They text and use instant messenger. Email is so our Gen X/Baby Boomer bosses and clients can talk to us.
British people also have a strong work ethic! You’ll find hard workers in every corner of the world. The difference is countries like the UK have many employee protection laws in place such as minimum wage, 12 months maternity leave, 4-5 weeks annual holiday. While these things might seem strange to Americans, it puts value in how you treat your staff. Personally I would not appreciate my boss sending me a text at 5am in the morning!
Canadian here, and if I got a text before 6 AM I’d probably be freaking out wondering what was wrong, lol. (I start work early but not THAT early). Maybe it is a difference in cultures, because I don’t ever get texts from my boss outside of work hours; I don’t even know if she has my number in her phone.
I’m not saying that Meghan shouldn’t be sending out early morning texts to her staff, because at the end of the day she is the boss. The staffers will just have to get used to it.
I own a business in the US and unless it is an emergency, like a natural disaster a client needs to respond to, I never text or email outside of business hours. I send myself plenty of reminders for things to do when I get to work, but I try very hard to keep work and family separate. We work in a stressful industry and I think it makes a huge difference in keeping everyone sane.
Fellow Canadian here, before I retired I would routinely get texts very early in the morning and some very late at night – my boss was a workaholic so I’d turn on my phone in the morning and bango, there’d be 8 or 10 texts I’d have to deal with before I’d even showered and had breakfast.
I had a very nice American boss once (lawyer originally from NYC) who would pretty regularly text me at 5am about non-urgent work stuff. It annoyed me at first because I am used to pretty strict boundaries between work and not-work. I started to put my phone on silent at night and let her know that I preferred not to be disturbed for non-emergencies outside working hours, and we reached an mutual understanding (we were not in the US). I guess if it’s not the cultural norm in the UK to text your staff at any hour then Meghan should adapt to that, not the other way round.
Some people can’t just put their phones on silent, if you have an elderly parent for example. If my boss had texted me at 5am, I’d expect an apology, if it happened more than once I’d go to HR.
Jadered:
Is there a certain income level that exempts British employees from overtime rules, etc? Here in the States, many employees earning salaries and bonuses as opposed to hourly work are considered exempt-which means that there isn’t a defined amount of hours to earn the income. We consider it at my company to be a matter of workload: technically your workload should require around 40 hours a week to complete. Some may be faster, some may be slower, etc. With the wrong people in Place, it’s a system that could be abused. Right now, I’m pulling well over 40 hours a week as I’m doing a workload integration, but that has a hard stop 12/22.
ETA: hourly employees in the States also tend to have less protections and benefits, which is mainly the healthcare and sometimes 401K access, and they don’t have a guaranteed income in many cases as employers can manipulate the schedule to avoid a lot of the required benefits, so there’s a trade off. Not a GOOD trade off, mind you. Just-workload expectations are a little diff.
My boss emails me at all hours of the night, and I do something similar with my team. I don’t expect responses, and those parameters were established early with my direct reports. Other than one, they respond around 7-8AM the next day, or whenever. If I need something desperately, I’ll call, but it’s not like anyone is going to die in my business, so I limit the calls to early evening or morning and keep them rare. All these employees are exempt, so it’s definitely culturally considered ok.
I once worked for an attorney that quite literally barely slept. 3 AM emails and texts became perfectly normal to me. There was never any expectation that I get up and start working at that time. But I did frequently feel like I was behind the 8 ball before I even brushed my teeth sometimes.
I think that it’s more acceptable to email outside of normal working hours than to text. A text in the middle of the night could imply something more urgent and you’d perhaps be more likely to feel the need to check it if you heard your phone buzz.
@THEHUFFLEPUFFLIZLEMON the employee contract should state what the rules are on overtime and the pay. Usually anything over your basic hours is considered overtime & you should be paid for it. Sometimes overtime might mean your basic salary rate or it can mean an uplift. Workplaces where you complete a timesheet at the end of the week it’s easier to claim for the hours you’ve worked, however in other workplaces some employers might try to get you to stay behind for free but it is down to the employee to agree on getting paid otherwise you have the right to refuse. The key as an employee is not to make a habit of continuously staying behind without pay otherwise it becomes an expectation.
The UK as with the rest of the EU is subject to the working time directive. If an employer expects you to work more than 48 hours a week the employee needs to actively opt out of the protections. I believe the UK is the only EU country where the opt out applies We have pretty great employment protections. What happens in the future is anyone’s guess.
I don’t need text messages from the boss at 5am. It’s rude and unprofessional.
Put you’re amazing idea in an email and I’ll deal with it during working hours.
I send people emails in the middle of the night and the small hours of the morning but it doesn’t mean l expect them to be answered then. It is just my way of getting my list of to dos done.
5 am email? No problem. I won’t be answering that until 8am. 5am text? There better be a fire or a family member has passed. Incredibly rude to text before many people are even awake. Especially when I keep my phone on in case there is an emergency. I don’t care if you are up at 5am working, send me an email.
Yeah – there are more and more laws coming up regarding “the right to disconnect”.
Just because you don’t expect someone to reply right away doesn’t mean it’s right to send texts at all hours to employees. There are so many people who have different situations – spouses that do dangerous work, ailing relatives, etc – that they can’t just turn their ringers off, which means they’re still being disturbed, likely in a panic, at all hours.
And even if they’re not being disturbed in the middle of the night – if they’re getting these messages outside of work hours (I’d say within the hour prior to their shift that’s not too bad) it’s interrupting their work life balance.
My husband is a plumber. He’s been supplied a work phone. He will book days off and still get multiple messages from his boss, asking him questions that can wait until the next day, or asking if he can run to a job or a training session ON DAYS HE’S BOOKED OFF. If he’s on-call, or if it’s something that genuinely can’t wait, he doesn’t care. But when he’s being asked questions that can wait on his down time, it takes his mind right back into work-stress mode. And he’s a super sweet guy that has a hard time saying no even when it’s a huge inconvenience to himself (he’s finally started putting down some boundaries thankfully). But I mean – even on his birthday which was booked off well in advanced, he got called the night before and asked to go to a training session from 7:30 – 10:30 am on the day he’d booked. Then later in the afternoon he got another text asking about a specific job. He’s super conscientious too – so if he’s getting a question after work on a friday about a job that involved a difficult client, he’s going to spend hours dwelling on that.
So while you might think ‘oh well, they don’t have to reply right away’ there’s still a pretty high chance that you’re overstepping boundaries if you’re a boss texting employees. If you’re more or less on equal ground as far as your job title, it’s not AS bad, but still should be kept in mind.
exactly muffy. my boss used to text me every morning, multiple texts, just little things to do once i got to the office – and i’m hourly. NOTHING that couldn’t have waited until i was clocked in and getting paid – started to feel like my boss was taking advantage of me, so i turned off text alerts for her and now i just read her messages and respond to her once i’m at work.
there’s no reason to text your employees’ personal phone when you can just email their work email instead so they can see it at work. i hated waking up and seeing multiple text messages about work first thing in the morning! that’s my time for me.
boundaries are important.
ITA @Muffy. I had a boss that was like that, all kinds of emails in the middle of the night. So when I got to work first thing there were already multiple communications from them. There was never any chance to ease into the day and get organized, it always put me into instant triage mode. It was awful.
Don’t text me at 5 am. Very rude and unprofessional, if to an employee. Don’t put your makeup on that early as well, or you might end up with too much blush!!! Wait till the sun’s shining. We can see and think clearer then.
@Erinn, i work in sales. We give our cell phone number to customers. I hate it! I get calls early in the morning, late at night, on my days off. Its like I’m never really off work. And like you said, even one call takes you out of off mode into work mode.
The US has labor laws also to protect workers.
Eastern European here. Getting a text at 5am will absolutely not fly. I’ve always got my phone on vibration so that I could wake up if there’s an absolute emergency and someone’s blowing up my phone. But that also means that I’ll wake up at a the simple ‘bzzt’ of a work/non-emergency text message.
If you’re going to be messaging me at 5am, someone better be freakin’ dying. Send a damned e-mail.
It is possible to set your phone to “Do not disturb” so you don’t get notifications between certain hours, say from 10:00 pm-7:00 am. This is what I do to avoid hearing the buzz of texts when my phone is on vibrate. Sometimes, I wake up to late night or early morning texts from friends or work, but my sleep is not disturbed.
I live in Eastern Europe. I send texts at 5am to the print factory for my business. I work when I can and I work on the treadmill at 5am. You don’t have to reply to the texts. The printers understand and never complain and love how flexible and responsive I am to their team. Technology and globalisation means businesses have to be on the ball to compete…every day there is a new start-up…business in Europe will not stay at the socialist/ex-communist pace. If you want your business to compete you play the capitalist game. …or get left behind. This kind of “work to order” thinking is why Europe is struggling right now. Do as you please as an employee, play by the socialist rules, but see where you are in a couple of years. Business is fast paced, you play or drop out of the game.
Agree with every single word @Shijel!!!
@Iphone User: Great concept, but I would worry about emergencies. When everybody is home and tucked into bed, then I keep phone on, volume off.
The US is also struggling. The only people that are reaping the benefits of all the work that overworked and underpaid employees are putting out are the 1%. Nothing is trickling down to the people you feel the need to text at 5am.
I am up at 520a but I don’t expect my bosses to text me they don’t even ring me and that’s how I like it. I can do all I need to IN the office. Plus I don’t keep my phone on at night. I work at an Inv Bank and no one is in at that hour.. can barely get them in for 930a.
agreed! Texting people at 5am is downright rude. A lot of people that have great work ethic are still considerate of other people’s downtime. Nothing can be done at 5am anyway so why not make a note and wait until an appropriate time?
Yes, American work ethic is just another name for modern slavery – sending 5AM texts is one example of encroaching on somebody’s time. Unless I’m at work at that hour I will not be reading/thinking/dealing with it.
That said, I think Meghan is one of those people who just don’t need much sleep. I will never forget her Australia tour. 16 days of constant work while being pregnant and jet-lagged. Some people can function on very little sleep and naturally thrive on being active.
I text my employees at 5 am, midnight, Saturdays and Sundays; they know they do not have to respond until their work hours. They also text me whenever and it is just not a big deal. Every job I have ever had was very similar and Americans certainly have a different culture when it comes to work. But this also varies state-to-state. I mostly see this “Devil Wears Prada” attitude on the East coast and a few states down South. The West coast is a whole other world in that regard.
I wouldn’t work for anyone for very long if that boss thought it was ok to text at 5 am, midnight, all weekend. I hope you’re at least open to an employee who says please don’t text at all hours.
I would tell you it was fine to your face (being the boss and all) and quit at the first chance.
@lulu huge work going on in this area across many universities and research institutes re it’s negative psychological and other effects on employees. Great work already done with police forces across England, Scotland and Ireland.
So please do read up a bit on this. Just because you think it’s okay and you don’t expect a reply, it doesn’t mean that it is okay. That one text might be on someone’s mind for their entire weekend – how they are going to action it, etc.
You can purchase apps that send messages at certain times if you absolutely need to write them down.
Personally, I keep a share point file which I update whenever I please via my phone, categorise the appropriate staff to action it. It solves the problem of multiple emails all day and also doesn’t disrupt anybody’s personal time.
@lulu, I’m going to chime in supporting your viewpoint. Interesting (and baffling to me) to see people up in arms about this. I’m also an East Coaster. I found my feet in the workforce as a young employee around a boss who did this, so this was my “normal”, and it’s how I learned to communicate at work. There was never, ever, any expectation that I needed to answer the text at 5 AM or evenings or weekends. My time was my time any text outside of business hours was addressed when i returned to work. In return, I would text my boss reminders or questions as they popped into my head after hours, just because i didn’t want to forget the idea once I had it.
That was my normal, and it still is, to some degree.
Most of this stuff just sound like teething problems that Meghan just has to learn from. Especially when it comes to the fashion. Why didn’t the Queens courtiers tell her that if the Queen is wearing a hat, Meghan should follow suit. She’s hardly a mind reader.
As for the 5am texting, I don’t understand how that would be ok in any country. I can understand if you’re texting someone in a different country and the time zones get confusing but I would find it rude if an employer was texting me that early. I get annoyed if a friend is texting me at that time unless they have a good reason. Most people keep their phones on for emergencies and don’t want to be woken up by things like that. It’s not about work ethic, it’s about respect for your employees.
Why didn’t her damn husband tell her to wear a hat.
I’d be especially pissed if the “boss” texting me at 5am didn’t have a real job.
If your work day starts at 0500 then does it finish at 1300? In England it should. We have 8 hour days in civilised countries.
It is also very well known that Prince Charles and the Queen both begin work at very early hours.
I seriously do not believe a word of this article.
Exactly. If there were no hard workers in the UK, doubt you’ll would have ruled half the world or managed to survive and win two world wars. I like Meghan but find it tiresome to pretend that she’s introducing hard work and modernity and liberalism to an entire country of rubes.
OMG! The nerve of that woman expecting people to work at the jobs they get paid for! Clutch your pearls, the monarchy will be destroyed over this! Smelling salts please!
I’ve spent 5 years in a job where my boss would text me all the time (weekends, vacation, wee hours of the night/morning). And that was not OK. I have an excellent work ethic and was working my a§§ off but in no case did my boss have the right to intrude my personnal life the way she did. Because, even though you don’t “have to” reply to a text, you’ve still seen it and now you are thinking about work during your own personnnal time. Believe me, I was miserable and stressed all the time. Now I have a new job, working probably even more, but never get a text outside of business hour. It changed my life.
IF Meghan does that, which I doubt very much since it’s coming from the DM, it is not OK.
Agreed, I hate it when I get a text when I am off, it makes me feel like I have to respond which I hate when I just want to relax, especially on vacations!!! I just think it puts you in an uncomfortable spot with your boss.
It’s not ok to text someone any hours of the day and specially at 5am. I’m sure she’s professional and does not do that.
How awful. Imagine getting up early and being “keen” to work!!! KP staff won’t know what has hit them. Lol
The Queen is 92, Charles 70, and other older royals are well into retirement age. They work but don’t brag about it. Meghan hasn’t done anything much yet. After leaving the army and having nothing to do, Harry did the least amount of work out of any royal, so maybe she should work on getting his ass working.
Not really fair. Charles has a very strong work ethic, She is not the first.
Yeah, I don’t understand what this story is meant to achieve because Charles is famous for being a workaholic as far back as the 90s. They’re probably trying to set it up as courtiers having an issue with her ‘West Coast oh-so-American-attitude’ which is “shaking up” their British way of doing things. Man, the DM and other tabs REALLY have it in for her. Someone had predicted way back in 2016 that Harry’s very strongly worded (and justifiably irate) letter defending her will make the UK tabs ravenous for their blood. And now we can see the result. The British media is a very slippery and odd sort of a creature. Diana must have been preternaturally smart to have played them so well.
After dragging Kate for years for being lazy, you’d think the tabs would be pleased that Meghan is so enthusiastic about her role. Instead they paint her as an interloper hell bent on destroying the monarchy by, you know, doing what she is supposed to do.
I agree with you, but I don’t think Diana was that smart. She may have won in the media war with Charles, but her life was tragic. The press still hounded and stalked her and her children. Now Charles and Camilla are taking family photos with her grandchildren. The British media is disgusting, and most people I know do not approve of their treatment of Meghan.
The only part I believed was the Queen being surprised about the hat. I can see Meghan not getting the implied message and Harry also not getting that.
Also the stereotype is the West Coast is more relaxed while the East Coast is full of workaholics.
The part of the hat story that’s weird to me is that Samantha Cohen definitely should have known that was the message and Meghan needed a hat—she worked directly for the Queen before joining Harry and Meghan temporarily, right? Maybe Meghan just outright refused and didn’t understand that it truly was a thing? (It was so windy that day I think she would have benefitted from wearing one!)
Charles is a man, silly!!! That’s the difference.
I have a co-worker who would laze around when our boss was female. Now we have a male boss and he is Johnny on the spot. Funny how that works, isn’t it? Grumble grumble…
Another DM non story trying to bash Meghan. If you read the full article is full of rehashed nonsense.
I don’t know what gets me more irate.
The articles which constantly portray Meghan in such a negative light or those who constantly defend that none of these articles exist.
Of course not. You know the entire British Royal family and the citizens are layabouts. How would you’ll survive without the Americans and Meghan..yes, wry sarcasm, intended. Flattery is ok, appreciating someone is ok, but over the top flattery is just stupid. By the time Charles was the age of these four, he’d already well established his foundations, when there wasn’t a blueprint for doing so.
Eh. I agree that if I send a text at a weird time I’m not expecting an immediately response. That said, I try not to send texts at weird times because I’m mindful that not everyone has “do not disturb” on and I don’t want to wake them.
Yeah, I go for email-and sometimes even delayed send-for stuff between like 12-6, depending on who I’m emailing.
Does she actually send the texts at 5am though ? The excerpt above says she’s up at 5am, and she sends 6-7 texts a day but the two are not necessarily linked.
THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT!! Never says the texts were sent at 5am, which would be a no-no in my book. It just says she’s up at that hour, and on the go all day.
Apparently the staff are unfamiliar with airplane mode.
Lol!
Lol. I never put my phone on airplane mode and it should not be expected by any boss. PEople have families and friends that might have emergencies. My parents were in Asia and my phone was always, always charged, 24 hours a day and never on airplane mode, unless I was actually on an airplane. And even then, I’d text in on whatsapp and check in.
The excerpts posted don’t say it, but based on the headline here, I was thinking the fuller article maybe said it?
No, it doesn’t, the title here is misleading. I read the entire article and it says Meghan gets up at 5am. It’s not even implied that she texts at 5am, it says she texts 6-7 times a day.
Thanks @Sophia’s Side Eye.
This post is really strange then, both creating the accusation that Meghan texts her employees at 5am, and then trying to gaslight us all into believing that it would be a normal American thing if she did it.
Meghan might get up at that time because she likes to work early. Also, even if she is sending her team texts at 5AM, I’m sure she doesn’t expect an answer at that time.
They should be thrilled that she has her own ideas about her role and eager hit the ground running.
Totally agree about the 5am text thing. Americans do it all the time, but we don’t expect people to jump out of bed to respond. It’s more like having an idea, dashing the idea off before it leaves your head, and then you don’t have to worry about it. But for people thinking she wants her staff to respond…no. That’s what “nighttime mode” on our iPhones is for!
You not expecting a response isn’t the point. You disturbing someone by sending a text at that hour is the point. I can’t set my phone to do not disturb for numerous reasons. I have to rely on people being decent and not sending texts at that hour unless it’s an actual emergency. Your phone also has a reminder function so you can dash off the note and remind yourself to send a message at a socially acceptable hour.
This American does not think sending texts at that hour is ok and doesn’t know many, if any, people who do.
Absolutely agree with you. @Sarah, you have you brilliant idea? Put it in the email, that is appropriate. Not texting. My phone is on silent most of the time but I can afford that luxury because I don’t have children. Most people cannot turn their phone off/
Unless they are expected to be on the job at 5:00 a.m. Nowhere in the story does it state what time her employees are expected at work.
This!!
Agree totally.
I agree. Unless it’s really important or you’re both on the way to the airport for a meeting or something, it’s not okay.
In France it’s forbidden to contact workers outside of working hours. I think more European countries are creating/having laws against this. I think that’s a good thing. It will stop a lot of stress.
Thank you.
Is she texting at 5am? It says she wakes up at 5 am and texts throughout the day, but not necessarily that she is texting at 5 am. But LOL at “formidable work ethic.” I’m sure she is a hard worker, but its funny to me that it is so shocking to KP staff.
Re: her clothes, I don’t think the queen cares about black. That is something that has bizarrely picked up steam – that the royal family cant wear black except for funerals/mourning – but we have seen several members of the royal family wear black for various occasions. Meghan seems to mostly wear it at night (minus some of her black pants) and I kind of feel like that is an American thing – to go for basic black at night. (I’m sure British people wear black at night too lol, I just know that I was raised with the thinking of “if you aren’t sure what to wear, wear something simple and black.”)
For the other stuff – I don’t think the Queen cares that much. Maybe Meghan should have worn a hat, but it sounds like the Queen’s people weren’t really direct with her about it, and Meghan’s people weren’t either. Someone should have flat out said, “the queen is wearing a hat, you need to wear a hat as well,” rather than assuming that Meghan would know to wear a hat bc the Queen is.
Tbh, if they didn’t care, they wouldn’t have said what they said. Something about Meghan’s disrespect of the Queen duly noted. Can’t remember the exact words but they were said when the hat story was first printed a while back. These were The courtiers/Queen’s staff words, not from the Queen herself.
@becks1 I agree. I think after what the Queen is seen in her lifetime she is pragmatic enough to recognize that her children and grandchildren are in happy relationships and this plays MUCH better than tumultuous 80s and early 90s (I’m sure as a mother and grandmother she’s emotionally happy too, but I’m speaking to her larger pragmatism). I don’t think she’s staying up at night worrying about the uncouth American’s lack of hat bringing the monarchy down.
It’s just a hat. I am pretty sure the Queen has other crap to worry about then worrying about why Meghan is wearing black and no hats at all. These stories not only make Meghan look bad, but also makes the Queen look like a protocol dictator.
I’m sure she’s used to being up at 5 a.m. depending on when she was due on set. It’s a habit that’s hard to get out of. Also she may be a morning person and gets more done then. They are just finding excuses.
The clothes issue I can agree with.
If Meghan is smart she will take notes from Camila and Sophie.
Yes, I think she needs help but not because she’s dressing “Hollywood.” FFS get her a real stylist who will make sure MM’s clothes fit properly and don’t have tags hanging from them.
A text at 5am would wake me up & I would have to check to see if something had happened. And you know that something important could have happened, whether it is someone had died or that some newspaper or blog anywhere in the world would have released something harming. Don’t text your employees outside of workhouses except in emergencies. Instead send an email and schedule it to arrive during working hoursß
Agreed.
Work ethic good.
Texting anyone for any reason other than an emergency at 5am is bad.
Personally, it’d wake me up and I’d not be able to go back to sleep. And if she texts multiple ideas as they stream into her head, or just once would make a big difference – although it doesn’t specify. Maybe she could draft an email with ideas that way they could read them when they, you know, get to work?
As mentioned upthread by someone else. They say she gets up at 5 am and sends 6-7 texts throughout the day. No where did it say she started texting at 5 am. The anti-Duchess of Sussex media want everyone to draw the worst conclusions they can without them clearly stating it anywhere.
I think this is majorly a “cultural difference” thing. Having lived in the UK, the Brits are always unfailingly polite but very strict about their work vs life balance. In my experience, sending multiple text messages to work colleagues (who I’m not friends with) is always a no-no as it is considered rude and as if their personal space is being invaded.
Yes @Cocoagirl. I agree with you.
@Heather, I think the way Kairser put’s it here as an “American work ethic” (lol) vs. UK is more the problem. That’s not the way Americans on the whole run their businesses or treat their employees. And when they do they tend to have a hard time retaining permanent quality employees. Good workers that know their value tent to move on to find better jobs that respect their personal time.
Yea the story is a hit job and some as demonstrated here, are eager to lap it up because they already dislike Meghan and just want their biased confirmed for whatever stupid reason is available.
I would choose to send an email at 5 am. I wouldn’t text because it could disturb someone at that hour (unless they were expected to be up at at em).
The complaints about her working and having ideas are hilarious. If these are real quotes the people behind them need to pull their lives together.
I said this in the other thread but i’m going to repeat it on here:
The backlash or bad press on Meghan has been a whole new level recently. It like the British press just want to trash her even more than usual. What up with that?
Harry’s letter (in 2016) coupled with the tabs’ usual modus operandi of making money via the royal family- this involves assigning a dramatic soap-style storyline to each royal “cast member”. Add to this, the stir Meghan’s arrival has created. The tabloids havent had it this good since Diana and Fergie!
I’m tired of it. There seems to be a nasty smear campaign against Meghan. It’s disgusting and disheartening to see. The funny thing is that a lot of people keep saying that Meghan is irrelevant, but people (haters, fans, and the press) seem to be obsessed with talking about her every day.
The press did the same thing to Fergie, Andrew (in his case, deservedly) and before that, Margaret . Basically anyone who is not “staid”will be picked upon. Meghan’s situation as an American and therefore a distinct newcomer to British society makes her a sitting duck .
I agree it has gotten worse lately, and it seems that along with the usual anti-Meghan bashing there are now palace sources sending a message via the UK press telling Meghan, “stay in your lane.” I feel it’s backlash to their successful tour, as press from other countries seemed to really enjoy H&M. Also, maybe revenge from Andrew that H&M announced her pregnancy three after Eug’s wedding. It’s all very petty.
This story really puts the palace staff in a bad light. It makes clear that they didn’t expect a person with such a work ethic LOL
Exactly, would they prefer Meghan to roll out of bed at noon and avoid doing Royal duties?
If you think about it, if Meghan doesn’t work a lot neither do the staff, which is a cushy job if no one rocks the boat. I’d complain too if my sweet gig were disrupted! Haha, but seriously people who complain about working too much for the royals, which is public service, need to get it together.
In my experience, if someone is sending work related texts at 5 am they are expecting a quick response. If they didn’t want immediate action they’d send an email.
Eh, I don’t know about that. My nephews are in their late teens/early 20s, and they and their friends NEVER “email”, the TEXT only. Don’t call friends on the phone, they TEXT. It’s generational.
When I was teaching, I used to get emails from parents at 9/10 pm ON A SATURDAY NIGHT! I had to get another phone, different #, and shut the work phone off at the end of the school day and not turn it on till The next work morning, exactly at the beginning of my work hrs. Otherwise they EXPECTED me to be “on call” like a friggin’ doctor! Ha! Not on THAT salary! Lol.
As for my personal phone, I set it up for “Do Not Disturb” during certain hours, and the only calls that can come through during that time, are from designated family, in case of emergency. I’ve never had a problem since.
But that’s the difference – that’s dealing with their friends, not work related texts like SamC mentioned. If it’s work, and it’s important, I expect an email – paper trails are easier to keep track of via email.
The anti Meghan stories have reached a boiling point for me. There is no need to attack this woman for everything she does. I thought the hate and scrutiny would calm down some after the wedding, but it has gotten worse.
She has been married for only 6 months, preegs and recived another not very positive article . Press honeymoon ended faster than I thought.
Sadly she never had press honeymoon.
Meghan never received a press honeymoon. She has been attacked consistently for over two years.
In Brittan? Her family certainly attacks her regularly….but the U.S. press generally kisses the butts of all “royals.” If anything, the US press has been easy on Meghan, seeing how she is American, was an actress, yada, yada. Take that, Cressida! A marriage and a baby in such a short time frame hits the news quick. After the baby boom, the interest will fade. Only one Diana in a lifetime.
The dailymail is pissed because they can’t run a story saying the Duchess said she would hit the ground running and she didn’t. They knew nothing about the cookbook, and so many people were involved. Also some of the designers knew she was pregnant and kept quiet (future business)
Now they’re on to taxes, if the Queen tax guys can find tax shelters all over the World for the Queen, it’s completely legal for Meghan to file her taxes separately.
Texting anyone by anyone at 5:00 am is bad form. Why wake that person up because something sprang to mind? I’m in a group text with some close co-workers and there have been times when someone will send out a text at 8:00 am on SATURDAY and the phone keeps buzzing because people are responding. It’s cool that you are up but I’m trying to sleep in. So sending at text out at 5:00 am is bad form even if you are not accepting a reply.
But the six to seven texts a day? That’s not bad. It could be much much worse. And I find the whole business of wearing hats to be old fashion. Frankly, they are “dealing” with a woman who is used to working, they can adjust to her.
You might consider using airplane more or do not disturb or sleep mode to avoid being bothered so early. I work in a UK-based company and my teams are at work five hours before I get up, and texting/whatssapping me. I don’t turn DND/airplane off until I get up/hit the computer at 8am, which is therefore when their texts arrive, though they’ve been messaging me for hours.
I shouldn’t have to put my phone on any mode. People should be aware that texting early in the morning is bad form.
Plus, a year ago my parents house went up in flames around 5:30 am (on a Saturday actually) and my mom had to call the house phone (yes, I still have an land line) because my phone was on vibrate and I didn’t hear it when she initially called. So for that reason alone, I’m not going to change my phone. People should learn when to text and not.
In whatsapp you can actually choose to set groups on silent mode. Then you just check in whenever you like and are not constantly bothered with pings.
I think sending lots of texts is not a good managing form. But as with all this stories… Who knows if it is even true.
When it comes to work ethic: this whole “I am a worker bee… I work 80 hours of more…” is total bs. You can only work for so many hours fully concentrated . Only very few people can keep up like this for more than a few weeks. If you “hang” in your office 10-12 hours a day then you are just no efficient. Or your management needs to get you a colleague. Different rules when you are self employed.
But I am coming from middle Europe and we have mostly better work conditions. I do not think we are lazy because we pull less hours. I think in the US doing of lots of hours is some sort of status symbol. I am not talking about people who need to do two jobs to survive….
ITA with your comment. I just don’t get these “work martyrs”. I’m from central Europe, too, BTW. 🙂
Scy, it’s the Puritan background.
Sounds more like cultural differences more than anything else, American ways versus British ways, and honestly I like Meghan but she may need to conform a bit as she is now living in their country and within the Royal family.
This is one of the reasons some of the women Harry and William dated didn’t want to marry them. Its sooo many rules to follow and Meghan now has the added burden of the cultural differences. Good luck to her!
In America it’s bad form and even rude, to text employees or anyone at 5am.
Eh, American here – and I’d say the attitude toward after hours texts varies – in some industries it’s the norm, not so much in others.
Rude? Lol no.
It’s definitely rude when your texts wake people up. It’s also rude to intrude on people’s home life.
Well it says she wake up at 5:00 a.m. Not sure if that means she’s texting at that time as well because that would definitely be poor manners but the article is somewhat ambiguous (maybe intentionally as well).
I like her fashion choices. They’re formal but not overly stuffy. Kate is a year younger than Meghan and dresses like she’s at least 30 years older. It’s not so much her fault but it does age her quite a bit.
As far as the texting at 5 am: I had a micromanager who would text and e-mail me every thought that came into her mind at any given moment. It drove me absolutely crazy. I know it is not expected to respond immediately but I don’t want to already have 20 texts and e-mails when I start the workday. Just bottle it up and send one text or e-mail during office hours like a somewhat considerate person.
.
The “ ‘up and at em’ West Coast energy” description is awesome. I get that it wasn’t meant as a compliment, but I am a California girl, and an early riser, so it sounds good to me!
I identified immediately with that phrase, too. Love the feeling.
Around the Queen: follow the rules. More formal engagements: pick rules to break wisely. Informal engagements: break all the rules, gurl!!
The thing that sticks out to menus the texting at 5am- to me that isn’t appropriate regardless of who you are. Very recently at my work we had a big discussion about email timings and the impact it has on work-life balance; emails before 7 and after 10 have been stopped where possible. Brits have a good work ethic too, as does Meghan, but I also think there are appropriate times to message people. I don’t care if you don’t expect an answer, you could have woken someone up which I think is rude. If you don’t want an answer or one right away then wait until a respectable hour to send the email. I’d be annoyed by this 5am messaging, too.
I doubt she’s sending texts at 5 am. The article said she gets up at 5 am. Then says she sends 6-7 texts a day (which really is NOT a lot). The two are not linked, the I Hate the Duchess Media wants you to correlate the two because it makes the duchess look bad, without actually saying something they may have to walk back later. Don’t fall for it.
@Joni – it does not. A copy and paste of the original article headline: “Getting up at 5am, bombarding aides with texts and her eyebrow-raising fashion….”
They certainly want people to make a (false) connection that she is texting staff at 5am – just as Celebitchy has erroneously done – but the source article doesn’t actually say that. If it were actually true then I am sure the Daily Heil would have explicitly written that.
Royalwatcher – Joni isn’t wrong through. The title for this celebitchy article is:
“Gauche American duchess has work ethic, texts employees at 5 am, shock”
and the slug for the post (which would reflect the original title of the post) is:
“gauche_american_duchess_has_work_ethic_texts_employees_at_5_am_shock”
So Joni is correct in saying “The title of this article is “texts employees at 5am”. “, which you go on to admit. But they were never referring to the article being referenced in this post – they were talking about the post on Celebitchy. So it’s not anti-Meghan media doing it because Celebitchy certainly isn’t anti-Meg.
Unpopular opinion. Texting that early isn’t a great idea, even if obviously someone is not expected to reply right away. That said, I didn’t read it like she was texting that early-more like she got up at 5 AM in the morning. Texting six times a day seems reasonable, as long as it is not at 5 AM-and of course the daily fail could’ve made it all up but they seem oddly specific- like someone is feeding them lies or possibly the truth.
I am with Princess Meghan on the clothing thing, though. Some of those rules are beyond ridiculous, especially when you compare it to the Danish, Dutch, etc. royal families. Also, the British habit of implying but not directly saying something-I can completely see why Meg didn’t pick up on the hat thing. I know American straightforwardness is seen as too friendly in some countries, but compared to hinting rather than not out right saying something-it’s a better method in my opinion.
To be honest, I think we all over overestimated how welcoming the royal family and courtiers would be. Remember, Philip is a virulent racist (not in a privileged old white guy who says mildly racist things, but a Trump level racist) and Harry said some racist things before reforming-and I doubt he just picked that racism up without hearing it from the family.
People also love to rag on the Middleton family and claim they planted this rumor, but I completely believe that some of the royal circle and Will and Harry’s friends made fun of Kate for her non-Aristo, middle class background. I am sure Meghan has it so much worse from the snobs because she’s American, divorced, and Black.
I am not saying Meghan is perfect and I’m sure she has flaws, but I suspect she’s better than 99% of the royal family. I also worry that elements in the royal circle might try to drive her out. For example, it seems suspicious the royals haven’t made some sort of deal with the tabloids to scale back on the Meghan coverage-perhaps because certain figures want her taken down.
Nowhere was it said that she sends texts at 5 am only that she arises at that time. All these articles seemed to be designed to make her sound horrible and unlikable.
Meghan is still new to the country and royal family, so it’s not surprising that she doesn’t know the royalty fashion rules right away. She’s up and ready to work early, but later in her pregnancy and after the baby is born, she might not be.
I don’t text anyone before 7 am, and when I get a call or text I always check, no matter what time in case it’s something important
I believe none of this. Her fashion is hit or miss precisely because she’s trying to stick to the staid, boring dressing standards expected of royal women. I think Michelle Obama’s portrayal of the Queen in her book is a more accurate reflection of how she operates than these haughty, stuffy DM articles. Nothing about the Queen’s outward demeanor toward Meghan has indicated anything other than complete acceptance and warmth. Meghan does NOT dress ‘Hollywood,’ my goodness.
The hat thing is much ado about nothing. Who cares! Certainly not the general public who are more concerned with Brexit. The stupidity of this is beyond words. The crowds that show up to greet them are hardly going to be put off by a lack of hat.
The criticism of her work ethic actually reflects well on her. It means she wants to earn her keep and be effective. No doubt if she were terribly lazy they would fault her American ways too. Damned if you do, damned if they don’t. (I wonder if Anne’s or Charles’ staffs have these complaints? Since they both work a LOT by royal standards? Hmm.)
I genuinely like her though I am not one who thinks she walks on water and is above reproach. That said, they really do hate her, don’t they? Pathetic.
Most British people do not hate Meghan she is very very popular in the U.K. Don’t believe all you read.
I was referring to the Daily Mail.
A MAN WOULD BE PRAISED FOR HIS WORK ETHIC. But since she’s a woman, she’s an over-the-top crazed workaholic abusing her poor staff, who are simply not used to such demands!!
One more time for the people in the back!
This! I am a woman, and I am a manager of a smaller company of about 40 people. The push back that I get sometimes for simply having high standards for my employees or having new ideas or pushing the company to grow is absolutely infuriating. Just today I asked for clarification on spending with one of the vendors we use for food and the response to me questioning something as simple as a grocery bill escalated to me calling someone a liar. However, I have seen this vendor work with various male counterparts and it is never like that. Women are allowed to take charge when needed without the world having a meltdown!
I disagree. If a man were texting his employees at 5am, that man would be called abusive. I know because my boss, a man, has texted me at all hours of the night and I’ve had to talk to him I’m about his abusive behavior.
Same. I used to have a boss who used to text / email staff at 4 to 5 am and everyone hated him. He would come to the office at 8 am and ask co-workers whether they had already taken care of things. Totally crazy. Everyone felt so under pressure – and mega-happy when he finally left.
In comments much earlier, I agreed with others who didn’t assume from the story that she had texted at 5 am; it just said she woke up at 5 am. Yes, texts at 5 am would be bad from ANYONE!
This definitely sounds like a clash of cultures. The American style of requesting is direct, “I want this done, etc” while the British, especially the old money, upper-classes, are much more indirect, “It would be lovely if, etc”.
Meghan’s direct way of speaking might come across brash and demanding to a British staff.
A good example is the hat thing, The Queen’s courtiers think it sufficient to mention that the Queen will be wearing a hat for the outing and take it for granted that Meghan should know to wear one, too. While an American like Meghan didn’t hear any request regarding hats and so did what she wanted to do.
I do think it’s worrying that so many complaining stories about Meghan are being leaked from the palaces. She might not be doing anything wrong, but she’s been very quick to rub the people around her the wrong way.
Exactly, would they prefer it if Meghan rolled out of bed at noon everyday and tried to avoid Royal duties?
THIS!! i have a feeling the courtiers finding it jarring to be dealt with so directly without the usual british ‘etiquette’ even if she wasnt being rude. plus, they are probably bristling that she didnt want to conform, as if it is a US vs UK rejection if she doesnt immediately obey. most times, the actual royal or boss is not that bad, but their entourage magnify everything as a way to magnify their own importance and ‘power’
I think you’re right, Bread. That was the read I got on the story from a few weeks ago that mentioned Kate speaking to Meghan about the treatment of the staff (or however they phrased that)—it sounds like she’s direct and hasn’t really picked up whatever tone/treatment the Brits use.
I also think the thing this piece and the “sources” are not coming out and saying is that people are balking at her wanting to find new ways to use her role and coming to them with a lot of new ideas (which is great!) but she’s been a member of the royal family—an organization with long-established rules/customs/protocols/expectations—for such a short time there might be the sense of “Who does she think she is?” because she wants to change their system without fully integrating into it first.
Agreed. In a family where your place determines the rest of your life, knowing what and where that place is , is crucial.
Meghan will be fine, regardless of the coverage, as long as she’s married to Harry, her job is for life, whether she does it well or not.
The problem here, assuming that all this is true, seems to be a matter of the courtiers not respecting her. This isn’t their first rodeo and they’ve been doing this for a while, so perhaps they aren’t too impressed with the changes/requests put forward by Meghan. As the latest member of this team, especially one with zero experience in the business of royalty, gaining their trust should be at the top of her agenda.
Imagine if your boss’s spouse suddenly turned up at the office, was named CEO and stated giving you orders.
She will learn and adapt, she’s only been there for 6 months. Hiring a new team, will go a long way in stopping the leaks.
Just wanted to say I loved every single one of the comments of bread and all the responses. Very, very interesting to me; I hadn’t really thought of how her enthusiastic actions could possibly be resented, and why. This is kind of like an awesome miniseries: intrigue galore! Of course, she’s a real human being, and I hope she finds her way soon with supportive staff behind her.
I say about 99% of the Mail’s article is BS. The Queen might have been surprised that Meghan didn’t wear a hat, but I don’t think there was tension. In the way they acted with each other, there was a genuine friendship. That’s why I really don’t believe tiara-gate either.
No employer should be texting their employees outside work hours. Even if the employee is not expected to respond straight away they are brought back into work mode and that is a disruption to family life and down time. A 5 am text read at waking will not allow the employee to have a morning routine free from work stress. I would get a separate work phone and turn it off when not on the clock if my employer was bothering me at home. I ask my clients and employees to only text or call me during business hours unless it is an absolute emergency. I abide by the same rules. My business does fine and the world keeps turning even though I don’t work constantly.
My phone is on vibrate mode at night. I do not put it on silent mode in case there’s an emergency. I do not want to hear buzzing for anyone’s text messages at all hours of the night or ridiculously early morning.
When I first moved to SoCal after having grown up on the east coast, I thought people had lax attitudes towards work by comparison. Things have changed though.
women in the Royal Family simply can’t win. everything they say, do, wear, fart is so scrutinized by the Brit press is creepy
Oh FFS. What a ridiculous article. She has a WORK ETHIC and people are complaining about it? What am I missing? And the “Hollywood star”-there have been wardrobe choices that I didn’t love, but overall she has been completely appropriate, not “flashy” or “showing off skin.” The day she traveled with the Queen she looked gorgeous and totally covered up. This reads like she was wearing some skanky outfit and the Queen was horrified. She’s been out and about, did a fantastic job on their tour, helped the Grenfell victims by putting out a cookbook, and got pregnant immediately-what the hell else do they want from her??
+ a million!
People constantly talk about protocol with clothes with the other Duchess, so if you agree to those protocol rules then I guess Meghan has been “inappropriate” a few times. The short blazer dress and the very high slit dress are the only 2 I can think of. The beautiful Givenchy skirt was lovely but it showed off her bodysuit underneath. She also leans towards trends too much which isn’t a good look for a Royal, imo.
What they want is her not to be black. Too bad mofos, get used to it!
Black, American and middle class. The horror.
Sorry, but if their work hours aren’t “from 5 AM…”, then yes, texting your employee at 5am is inappropriate and it’s exploting your worker, forcing him to work during his free time. It’s harrassment and mobbing, and in no way normal, proffessional behaviour. I don’t want to guess how it is in USA (although, by the tone of the title, it seems it’s normal here?), but if I’m not wrong, France even has a law forbiding your emplyer to even e-mail you after your working hours are over, so as not to harass you with work. I work at very stressful job, but my boss would never, ever text me at 5 am and expect an answer-that would be extremely rude.
Just saying again: this article never says she texted at 5 am, just that she awakens at 5 am ready to work, and send 6 or 7 texts a day. I think she may not be texting at that hour, hopefully!
I held an executive job with a large staff. The exec team certainly sent emails at all hours of the day and night which was just a reflection of when we thought of something. At least for us, emails were reminders, info sharing, documentation …..but if you texted, the implication was urgency.
MM is a leader now with staff and a royal at that. She maybe should rethink how she communicates. Staff will immediately jump at everything she puts out…..that just is. So being a bit more self aware and then accordingly respectful/thoughtful of timing would be a good thing,
…assuming you believe the crap the Daily Fail spews.
Much ado about nothing. My college student texts me in the wee hours all the time… I get them when I take my phone out of airplane mode when I wake. She knows to call the landline in an emergency.
Have these people never heard of airplane mode????
For those of us who don’t have a landline and who need to be available for work or personal reasons, airplane mode isn’t an option. We have to rely on people being decent and observing the basic rule of not texting people at 5 am.
This story is just ridiculously and its seem like the daily mail has ran out pay stories by Meghan father and sister so now their switching gears by trying to portrait as villain who terrorist her staff. With texts message my God the horrible she up at 5am all this story did show that meghan was seriously about hit the ground running she makes plans and expected her staff to do their jobs and help her not run to the daily mail with complaints. The daily mail has a obsession with Meghan they are constantly writings negatively about her its like they can’t let it go that harry didn’t married a white woman. Enough is enough with the British press and their racist bias towards meghan they gone on to long without being checked they spend their summer constantly paying her family to speak horrible about her. Their constantly villain Meghan
It’s actually Harry’s girlfriends in general that they are mean to. They were horrible to Chelsy the whole time they were together. She was just some dumb drunk African whose father was in bed with the dictator Mugabe according to them. They ignored the fact that she was studying to be a lawyer and that everything her grandparents had was stolen by Mugabe making it unlikely that her father had anything to do with him. They only started to like her when Harry started dating “Messy Cressy.” Now they like Chelsy and Cressida and hate Meghan. Harry made a mistake when he issued that statement in 2016. The DM took it as a threat and doubled down. It’s why no other girlfriend was protected. It only makes them worse. They just also happen to be racist, but they’re able to bring in their racism no matter what. They proved that with Chelsy.
I’m not at all surprised that Meghan’s work ethic has taken the courtiers by surprise, in fact I’m sure it’s taken W&H&K by surprise too. Meghan is used to working 12+ hour days filming Suits and the younger royals barely scratch out a 2 hour work day, 2 days a week (45 minutes per engagement and perhaps an hour to read the brief). Most members of the royal family really don’t know what it is to work a full time job because with the exception of their time in the military they never have.
Texts in particular outside work hours are intrusive, and not respectful of your colleagues’ time. And too often people send early morning or late night work-related messages as a virtue signaller: “I’m so busy/important/keen – look at me working all hours.” If there’s a work message I don’t want to forget to send I email it to myself so I have that quick reminder in my inbox, and then send it to the team closer to office hours.
I live in L A and I take the dreaded 405 freeway everyday to work. I am up at 5:30AM and I still think it’s incredibly rude for someone to text me about work at that time. That’s not about a great work ethic. That’s someone who doesn’t know boundaries. And no, I’m not putting my phone on silent because you have a problem. I keep my phone on through the night because I believe that if someone calls me at that time, they must really need me. However, there’s always that one friend . . . I’ve had to edit her in my contacts so that I do not get any alerts from her when she texts me because she send random shit all through the night. Love her to death though so this is how I deal with it:)
Hopefully, Meghan isn’t doing this. But the article is worded to make us believe that she rises at 5AM and starts texting immediately. Hopefully, this isn’t the case. I admire anyone with a great work ethic, but as a poster said earlier, put anything before 8AM in an email. A 5AM text would be ridiculous if it is true.
If the monarchy were to actually become modern and sexy than it wouldn’t be doing it’s job. The only reason the monarchy exists is to uphold tradition and be reassuring when the British government is making a mess of things. So, yes, Meghan is probably scaring the shit out of them. Their jobs depend on being just behind the times enough that that they seem to never change, but modern enough that they don’t seem completely out of touch. Meghan being American was always going to cause friction even if she followed every single rule. The fact that she isn’t is only going to make things worse because it really does seem like she’s insulting the British. I’m not saying that’s her intention by any stretch of the imagination, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t taking it that way. Racism is definitely a player in why some people don’t like her, but it’s also the idea of an American changing up the British monarchy. It’s just not a good look. I’m hoping she sees why some might be upset and doesn’t blow it off. She really needs to try it the British way before she starts changing things up. She’s supposed to be a public servant after all.
Again, this is garbage the DM is spewing. You actually have no idea if she’s following the rules or if they’re making up crap to sell newsprint. If it seems like she’s insulting the British, it’s because the DM wants you to think that. It gets them lots of clks with posters, which translates to money for them. Meghan is a gold mine the likes of which they haven’t seen, as someone mentioned above, since the days of Di and Fergie. They won’t stop even if they drive her to miscarriage or divorce. They are delighting in turning a country against her and making millions at the same time. I can only conclude the Fail is owned by a bitter racist old man with an agenda.
I completely agree.
They’re just jealous Jan. I think if she was white and all 100% English noble blood they probably would ease off. But no, the black woman from America has to get hate from every corner. I think she’s a wonderful person. I follow a fan page on Instagram and she and Harry are so friendly to fans, especially children. I haven’t seen many pictures of Kate hugging anyone over the years (I’m sure they exist), but Meghan is always hugging her fans and greeting them warmly. She seems very kind and humble to be part of something so big.
^^^ And this is fundamentally the problem at hand. The BRF is not measured by how many children or people are hugged or how warmly they are greeted. Meghan is smart and warm by all accounts but I think she has not quite grasped the role of the monarchy here in Britain- it’s not her fault- the BRF plays an ambiguously defined and ephemeral sort of function but it is NOT to hug or be part of a popularity contest. You are expected to put your head down, be quiet and keep on working like the Queen or Charles for the large part has.I am not saying the other duchess has got it either, But i think Meghan will have to learn the very “British” way of being as a royal (unfortunately) and as a foreigner judged very harshly for it. Diana, with her touchy-feely nature was the exception, not the norm and there was more to her appeal than just that.
@Cocoagirl – Exactly!! The hysteria and the fandom is not healthy. Harry started it all in those early public engagements. He is not helping her. I always feel sorry for the kids that don’t get the special hug. She’ll settle in, and will probably become a well loved member of the family, but genuine regard takes time.
It’s interesting how with all these stories about Meghan, I’m also seeing an uptick in stories praising Kate for her “regal” headband, paying satorical tribute to Diana and of course how warm and caring her and William are. Coincidence, I think not.
It’s quite obvious what’s happening.
Ah yes, the ‘regal’ headbands to distinguish her from commoner Meghan. I had a good laugh over that headline. We are to infer that Kate is superior and Meghan is to stay in her lane.
It’s pretty sad if they are talking aout your headbands and not your work ethic.
Sounds like reaching here. There is no connection between awakening at 5vand texting at 5. Sheesh, lmbo
Just my 3 or 4 or 5 penn’orth:
Don’t mistake what you read in certain papers as being the truth about what “the Establioshment” or the Royals thinkg about anything.
On the subject of employment in the UK, mostly at shop floor and/or more junior admin levels salaries are paid for say a 35/37ish hour week but overtime is paid above that. Above that level – managers/directors etc. overtime is not paid and you put the hours in required and it is definitely not limited to 35/37ish hours per week. Employees are entitled to 28 days leave, which can include bank holidays.
If my boss was texting me at 5 am I would be leaving my phone in another room and wondering why he/she wasn’t organised enough to text me at a reasonable hour. There is no need to text at that time of day unless it is a genuine emergency, otherwise it is inconsiderate bad manners.
Just my thoughts.
I think leaving your phone in the other room until you’re “on the clock” is totally fine. Not sure I agree though that early morning texts from an employer means they are disorganized or should be considered bad manners especially if somebody else is paying the phone bill. To be honest, if I were working for the royals I’d expect to be going bonkers all the time.
Totally agree!
There are work hours and there is time off. During your time off an employee can expect to be left alone- unless there is an emergency. If she just has ideas/ reminders etc, she has to text/ call/ speak to her staff during work hours. Everything else is intrusive. If my boss would text me at 5 am or some other time, and I would probably wake up from it, or I would wake up to a chain of messages with ideas, I would give him/ her the: sit down asshole speech and remind him/her about labour law
Agree with texting at 5 in the morning.
Clearly there must be a different attitude in the US.
I would be quite annoyed if my boss kept texting me at that time- would almost seem passive aggressive.
There is not a different attitude in America. For most jobs, a boss texting you at 5 am is completely out-of-line.
I get that this site loves Meghan Markle, I like her too, but we don’t get to rewrite social norms in order to defend anything she’s even rumored to do.
There is a big difference between a boss emailing or texting at 5am. Unless a job either starts at 5am or requires you to be on-call at that hour (either of which may be the case for royal staff, I don’t know), there is no excuse for 5am texting unless it’s a time sensitive emergency.
It’s not different in the US, but labor laws are weak and employees are too scared to say anything. (And no, leaving the crappy employer isn’t always an option. )Employers usually exploit their employees and most people can’t afford to say something and lose their job.
Yea in America…. it’s considered getting somethings done. ESP if youre salaried like it shouldnt be a thing of expecting something at 5am always but like this post said its more like a reminder. There really isnt a thought of reasonable hour when something needs to be done…essentially what Meghan is doing is PM the curation of her role and causes…. americans kinda understand.
Oh this story is so all over the place and back handed. They are trying to twist things that are objectively positives into negatives and rehashing old stories that have been debunked about protocol. Number 1) the story doesn’t actually say that Meghan is texting people at 5am, it says she is up and 5am and texts people 6-7x a day. But because many people, it seems, lack close reading skills, the DM knows people conflate the two. Voila! Meghan is a demon boss who texts people at 5am. 2) Royals CAN wear black outside of mourning. This “breach” was bandied about with Kate too and has been so thoroughly debunked. Also, Meg’s “short” black dress was no shorter than many things Kate has worn to DAYTIME events before. 3) Unless someone told me directly, if I was told the Queen was wearing a hat I would simply say “good for her” and go about my plans. If that is code for “you should too” someone should have said that to Meghan. I work with Brits a lot and I am in the UK a lot for work. I understand the more passive and understated way of communication among Brits, but I think even most British people would not read that bit of info as meaning “you must also wear a hat” either. 4) In what way is Meghan’s wardrobe Hollywood….at all??
I wake up at 430/5am so I have time to go to the gym, come back, get dress, make breakfast and do some early morning work before heading into the office. I pretty regularly start firing off emails and messages to my team at 530/6am because I run an international team so things are moving on our projects very early for us in the US. It is the name of the game.
isn’t the west coast known for being laid-back lol
The royal staff must be used to some lax conditions if 6 or 7 texts in one day is overworking them. This doesn’t make MM sound like a bad boss. It makes it sound more like the staff are used to doing a lot less.
Exactly. They’re spinning a staff used to lazy bosses and not doing much into Meghan being a diva. I think it’s fantastic that she wants to make this role hers and actually DO something with it. The Grenfell cookbook was just the beginning.
Bingo @Dr Mrs. That was my first thought too.
Like a lot of you have pointed out, it says that she gets up at 5 and that she sends 5-6 texts throughout the day. It doesn’t say that she gets up and immediately text people. Also 5-6 texts a day isn’t that bad.
This comment section is incredible disappointing, where is the critical thinking from my fellow Celebitchies? Nowhere in the article does it say she sends text messages at 5am.
Agreed. The title is misleading. I responded more to the commenters who send or receive 5am work texts. I would tell my boss to send an email at anytime but texts would be poorly received.
Totally agreed. Also, some people cannot put their phone on silent. What if you have a sick/elderly parent and you may get calls in the night. Its frightening when the phone goes, believe me.
Its not life or death, she can wait to text until 9am. I agree – emails fine. I would not like to wake up to texts from my boss. Whatsapp already is bad enough if your team has a whatsapp group. Don’t start me on that. Boundaries get forgotten quickly. Not with this one with Meghan, sorry.
Have these people not heard of the Do Not Disturb function??
I work with an international team based on a couple of continents. If I couldn’t text or email them until it was 9-5 their time, nothing would get done. It is at their convenience to check the messages, but I have to send them whenever I have a chance. Work/life balance is important, but we get to choose our work environments. Don’t go into a job that necessitates flexibility and dynamic hours unless you’re prepared for it.
But she’s not dealing with an international team here, so it shouldn’t be a problem. She’s not in a different time zone that would require that sort of flexibility. And not everyone has the luxury of using do not disturb, and not all phones let you to select certain numbers to push through while on that function. Some people have sick relatives, or other reasons that they need to keep their phone on. Either way – emails are more professional than texts and less likely to be disturbing.
@Erinn – the point isn’t whether she works with an international team. The point is that this seems like a misalignment of expectations rather than some egregious work etiquette error on Meghan’s part. It sounds like (if this is true) her staff have become accustomed to a different style of work. There are many, many jobs where you are expected to be on call or have dynamic/unconventional hours. This is an expectation which should be set at the beginning, and perhaps it was not because it was assumed by Meghan. She should have that conversation with her staff, and if they can not accommodate her work style and requirements, maybe it isn’t a good fit. If they need to be off of the clock and unreachable at certain times, they should find a position which is more accommodating.
And sorry I don’t buy that the phones they are provided don’t have DND and allow certain numbers. This is a basic function of most iPhones and Android phones.
Exactly, Erinn.
I don’t believe royal staff are paid particularly well. I’m amazed they can afford phones to receive these texts on. That being said, because they’re not high paid, they should not be getting texted out of hours and definitely not at 5am.
Oooh comments can go on a second page now?? That’s new, right? (I was so confused at first when I saw the last few comments and couldn’t find any of the earlier ones lol.)
(I know, relevant to the discussion.)
I don’t know if she actually sent texts that early, but I would be pretty upset if my supervisor was texting me at 5am. Thankfully, I work for my city and not a private firm, so it’s not an issue when it comes to private time. My friend, who was an associate at a private firm, would continue receiving texts from the partners well into the night.
First, enough with the wearing black. Diana broke that ‘rule’ long ago; more recently, Kate has worn black to at least a dozen events. I guess the DM is like the trump WH, repeat a lie often enough & people will repeat it.
And as others have mentioned, the article says Meghan is up at 5 & that she texts her staff, not that she texts them at 5. As for not being used to such a work ethic from a royal, yeah, I believe that.
She is an early to bed and early to rise person. That’s how her body works and Nothing is wrong with that at all. Especially when compared to princess Margaret and her penchant for sleeping in or the Yorks and their partying. She has a healthy lifestyle and I am here for it. .
This is just a nitpicking non-story. If I were her I would hire my own staff who could work with my way of doing business. I see no issues with the departures as it’s an opportunity for others. I am glad she is shaking things up
If I had her job I would be a workaholic too! Her job is to basically be a philanthropist and spokeswoman – wearing nice clothes, connecting with people, being social, helping charities and good causes – sounds like a dream. I’d wake up at 5 am too.
Wow it really feels like the entire thread missed the actual news in this article that Meghan is doing tons behind the scenes and working much harder than most of the Royals.
I didn’t mean to imply that she has a cushy or easy job – Meghan has a hard job and is doing great – I was saying that It’s one of those jobs that’s worth getting up at 5 am for. I mean, I can’t see myself being a workaholic for many other jobs besides hers – it would be so meaninfull that it would give you energy and passion to keep going! And like others have said, if she were a man she would be praised for her hard work right now instead of criticized .
She does have a cushy job! Name one part of this “job” that is hard!
@Huh. The public scrutiny. Her father publicly harassed her for months.
I manage people, and I would never send a text to my team before working hours or after working hours. Actually I wouldn’t text them unless it was an emergency, or something really funny happened. Email is always fine. My team is fully expected to live their own lives from 5p-9a and if they answer emails while on vacation I pitch a fit.
I have a family member with a life threatening illness that alerts via text so phones need to stay on at night. I’m very cognizant of that and do not bother my team on off hours.
Hopefully she isn’t texting outside of their hours. I like to think she isn’t a jerk.
I would hate a boss texting me at 5 AM. I have my boss’s cell in my phone but I only text her when it looks like there are issues with the subway so she knows I may be late. Or if we’re on a work trip abroad (which happens at most twice a year). My boss is a workaholic so she’ll send me Skype/email messages after work hours like 7 PM or even around midnight. I unfortunately agreed to install my work email on my phone and for as long as I have this job I feel like I can’t get rid of it. But while I might read the emails during the weekend (usually they are few), I won’t answer or deal with them until Monday morning. So at least my boss knows that her workaholic hours don’t apply to me.
Obviously we are not sure Meghan is texting at 5 AM… but if she is, hopefully she learns email is the way to go.
She’s the only interesting member of the royal family. Maybe the others should be copying how she does things.
I dunno I can see this. Meghan gave up her career as an actress for what I think she really does see as a full-time humanitarian position. And she may be looking at the staff from a HW perspective where everyone is at beck and call of the star. But as long as W&K and H&M share “courts” and therefore staff, M will always come in fourth in that equation, and first is a future king. And then there’s BP and CH, also above everything at KP. So while she may be super eager to define her role, in reality she will only be able to define it insofar as the BRF allows her to define it. And maybe she has, in her excitement and enthusiasm and yes maybe a little bit of ego at being the shiny new penny, overstepped what some people are comfortable with but I don’t think it’s the staff being unwilling to work so much as someone somewhere (or multiple someones) feeling the need to remind her that her wishes don’t get to be paramount.
This^, times 1,000. She is zealous, she is eager, she is the shiny new person, but she’s still a ways down in the pecking order and some people are trying to tell her to “slow her roll.” I hope she enjoys her pregnancy and eases her way into royal life. The fast-tracking isn’t always necessary or something might get missed.
Clothing has issues, but again she should get to ease her way into this. The biggest issue I take is why someone will not tell her to please get her flipping hands out of her pockets. I don’t care what anyone says, that wreaks of Hollywood red carpet style and is not appropriate for a member of the Royal Family. Between the wrinkles, pockets and unremoved price tag on the tour, I wonder if she really has the right people around her or if it’s a bit of deliberate sabotage. I thought her best friend, Jessica Mulroney, is a bona fide stylist? Why wouldn’t she sit Meghan down and talk to her about some of these details? Like, did an undercover distant Markle family member or friend of Piers Morgan’s infiltrate and get hired to assist with her fashion life? That would explain it.
If it’s true, I think it’s highly inappropriate to be texting staff at 5 am, unless it’s an emergency.
To me texts have sort of an urgency attached to it, emails are not on the same level.
Regardless of what time Meghan starts her day in the morning, staff has still a right to family time and me time.
She can put her ideas in an email and send it at 8 am or keep a notepad handy with a pen to jot down, if somethings pops up in her mind or as things come up during the day.
I admire people with good work ethic and eagerness to get things done.
She seems to have it, but it’s also important to be considerate of others and their free time.
In regards to fashion, I’m glad that she is not a fashionista, it certainly wouldn’t be right as a member of BRF.
I mostly like her clothing choices so far, I would say that there is a slight hint of fashion, but luckily she is not dressing dowdy and immature as Kate does in those boring and horrid coat dresses, fly around skirts, cheap looking leather nude pumps (just switching to suede would look much, much better), hoof like 3-4-5 inch wedges or painted on jeggings.
I admit, I Iove my skinny jeans, it works well with my tall slim body and very long legs, but they are not the painted on kind.
There is plenty of room between skin tight – can barely take a breath and baggy.
I see no issue of wearing black to evening events or more somber events even during daytime, hats seem kind of outdated to me in 2018.
I love pockets and I see absolutely nothing wrong with it even for a Royal, especially on a chilly day.
The only looks that I truly disliked so far on Meghan was that messy stripped dress with the black blazer thrown over her shoulders with a cross body bag, too fussy and busy.
The olive green sleeveless dress with the big lapels and the ankle monitor shoes during her Invictus speech.
Also the see through dress at the beach with the big slit was not right for a member of BRF, when she was chatting with kids, the slit on side of her leg reached almost all the way to her crotch.
A couple of times her pants dragged on the ground and for events related to sports, she should leave the high stileto heels at home.
She needs to fine tune things a bit, especially in regards to ironing and tailoring.
Se through dresses are fine on a private vacation, but not on a Royal Tour.
Very true. I think she’s eager to show what she can do to impress her husband, charles, the queen, the public etc, in the same way any new employee is eager to show their worth to the boss. The difference here is that this is not a regular job. Whether she is good at it or bad, as long as she’s married the job is hers. There will be no promotions, but steady demotion out of the public eye as the cambridge kids grow up.
I think splitting the kensington office is the right way to go. The courtiers do not see her as their boss, and resent her style, which is probably just a communication mismatch. Also perhaps they only see her as Harry’s wife, and as such she comes fourth in their list of priorities, after Harry. So they probably do expect her to know her place, it is the royal family afterall, your “place” determines how you are treated, sadly not your work ethics.
Having people she chooses herself will certainly help.
+1
Agree she gave up her job – expecting ‘fulltime’ hard work and dedication … and she will be welcomed/allowed all this by The POW , but The Duchess of Sussex also need to remember she is Royalty now, and there is no regular professional career for this family.##
The removal of PAs, other staff of The Sussexs, could be the result of Samantha, senior aide/security concerns – at the Royal Tour market incident with The Duchess.
In Australia if we texted employees at 5am we’d be reported for harassment. Don’t care about what she wears or any of the rest of it (hell I text my employees during the work day) but cut the 5am texts out, thats unprofessional.
But there’s nothing to imply that she DOES text at 0500. She does yoga in the mornings. I doubt she’s engaged in downward dog, cleansing her third eye and sending a message to facilitate world peace via IM simultaneously. It’s difficult to find the relevant emoticon while doing the Sun Salutation. Probably, as I mentioned below, gossip has turned to rumour has turned to tabloidism has turned to “truth”.
And, if her staff are indeed complaining about having to deal with six or so texts in a day, and are being indiscreet – according to “they” (anyone remember Pulp Fiction?), “they” need to get the boot. Pronto. If you can’t trust those around you, your life is made absolutely toxic.
It says in the article that Meghan is getting up at 5am not that she texting the staff at 5am So no she is not being unProfessional.
“a source from one of the fashion teams which has visited Kensington Palace” – sounds like someone who dropped off the dry cleaning overheard a conversation, decided to make a few quid selling it to the Daily Hell and they, in their usual immoral and unethical fashion, embellished it. Just as “some” courtiers could be anyone from Princess Michael of Kent to a pot-scrubber who works in the Royal Kitchens. Never let accuracy get in the way of a good hate, eh, Wail. I wonder here who remembers Virgil’s depiction of a thousand painted eyes and tongues that rise through the cloud tops, the greater she grows?
But the most disgusting thing is – she’s pregnant. She’s a young, pregnant, vulnerable woman whose “family” are hell on wheels and who’s moved country without her beloved mother by her side, and all the gutter press can do is appeal to the worst and darkest side of people’s hearts. She’s done nothing wrong. My G-d, car doors and 5am yoga and hats (or no hats, the horror!!) and she’s being treated like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. It has to stop. This isn’t commentary, it isn’t criticism, it’s evisceration and it’s appallingly damaging to mental health.
If the hat story is true — and that’s a big “if” — how is that not a failure on the part of SAMANTHA COHEN, not Meghan? It would have been her job to facilitate communication and make sure the Queen’s expectations were conveyed to her. Meghan is not a mind-reader and should be able to rely on staff for things like this.
If it is true, I don’t think it makes Meghan look bad, I think it makes her staff/HM’s staff look incompetent.
The coverage of Meghan since the tour ended has been absolutely disgusting.
It says SHE is up at 5am
NOT that she is actually texting employees at that time
Use your critical reading skills people
The article was excerpted. Responsibility should fall on CB for misleading ppl here with a click bait title that is not accurate.
I feel sorry for the poor woman. It’s just a pile on at this point.
Really is too much she pregnant and the British press has not stopped in fact to me it seems like the pregnancy has rampant up the more negative racists vile section of the public. I don’t know what is the press end game to me they have contributed to the more extremely abuse meghan has gotten their just as fault as the grown adult people who threatening and wish meghan and her unborn harm because the color of her skin.people who don’t like meghan will use any excuse to bash her this article says she up at 5 and the people who don’t like her are twisted it around to she texting the staff at 5am and terrorist the staff.
I read the DM comments and only see a few veiled racist comments and never see anything threatening her. Really, stop misrepresenting the comments. They aren’t positive but they are not threatening.
@Vanessa SO true, and because the press is being so vile it’s as if it validates these people in their racism. I won’t quote the absolute horror I found on a hate site (I mean, how could anyone actually hate her??? Stupid me, someone yet again quoted one of those off phrases used in conjunction with her so I attempted to find the origin. Wish I hadn’t. I literally felt sick, not realising that people could in this day and age be so completely disgusting) earlier but it was straight out of Margaret Mitchell, and with Dumpster in the White House there’s even MORE subliminal validation…. And as I said before, this against a pregnant woman, too. It has absolutely got to stop.
Claire it’s also on social media where I don’t click on it but it turns up in my feed. I’ve had to mute and block so many people it’s ridiculous. All over a woman none of us know or will ever meet. The dog whistling has to stop, if only for all our own sanity.
There’s no pleasing people sometimes, Kate is TOO lazy and Meghan TOO hardworking. Sheesh.
I agree with many posters here that employers shouldn’t contact their staff outside of office hours. And if you’re not expecting work done or even a response at 5am, what’s stopping you from putting it in an email or saving it for when your employees are on your time? She could easily make a note of it and bring it up when her staff arrive for the day. I also doubt this is unique to Meghan; I imagine other royals are guilty of it as well, as are many employers. This happens all the time and there needs to push for employers to respect their employees off time.
@ Claire I didn’t go on a website this on the Kensington Palace Instagram account and the only website I read about meghan is on here
omg! The irony! Kate criticized for not working enough, and Meghan bashed for waking up EARLY!!! TEXTING!!! Wanting to make a difference, she has already done SO much. Even if it was only the cookbook. Using these stupid stories — as if the Queen really cares about one hatless day out of hundreds — instead of delving into all the visits Meghan and Harry made, the countries, the events, the people. We are fed drivel disguised as poorly made shade.
As an actress, Meghan would be use to early set times. If I recall, in their engagement interview, she mentioned getting off a red eye flight from a London and going straight to the Suits set. So she’s most likely an early riser due to her acting experience. And no where in the article does it say she texts people at 5 a.m., only that she gets up at that time.
This is a very millennial thing to do. We get that it doesn’t require an immediate response. Just to let it perculate in the back of your mind while you go about your business getting ready for the day. This is normal. I mean – most of us have a job and one or two side ventures so …
Workshy Wills, Duchess Doolittle and now Hurricane Meghan. Do the clowns at the Fail want the young royals to work or not?
A question…What time does Harry get up? Surely not 5am.
I think if the brit staff or royals think she is being brash it is the American/UK difference. I notice it as an American living in Canada. My work ethic is considered too go getterey for Canadians. I don’t have enough life/work balance. That is mainly because as an American, it is a dog eat dog world and there are 100 people willing to take a pay cut to get your position. I alsoamtold I am too blunt, too forthright. Canadians and also Brits are more beat around the bushers. Just some observations.
No! She’s caused the Queen to raise an eyebrow! God forbid!
Let’s just say that these employees do have an issue with her work style and find it a bit uncomfortable. Why not just bring it up with Meghan herself rather than going to a publication to get your message across? How can anyone expect to foster healthy communication with a team, if you can’t trust them to come to you with their concerns but rather the tabloids?
@Sage It’s a rollercoaster. They build them up with praise, knock them down a bit then repeat. Please don’t mistake the the Daily Mail online as representative of the UK public/press. The site is basically a huge gossip site with hundreds of articles for clicks & money. It isn’t aimed at just the UK market hence all the articles on the side bar of shame about American celebs. The commentators are a rabid bunch and an awful lot of them are outside of the UK.
I have only heard one person in my presence say they thought Meghan wasn’t royal material because she was black. Most people raised their eyebrows at the clothes and her OTT early appearances. They don’t hate her personally just worry that she might hurt Harry, or damage the RF. We still remember Fergie!! A lot of people warmed to her more after seeing her Mum at the wedding and understanding what an awful family she had.
The U K population has an ever growing % of mixed heritage citizens. The younger generations ( on the whole) don’t even see colour. Different cultures clash but colour is not such an issue. Obviously this is coming from a white pov. There are some moronic racists out there but they are very much in the minority. Regarding Meghan, most people are just anti Hollyweird and say it quietly, American. I’m sorry to any one in the UK if this isn’t you’re experience. I’m not denying there is racism in this country, I just feel it isn’t as big an issue in this county as it is in the U.S. and not the only reason people might not take to Meghan.
My workplace had a rule that we would only text/e-mail within working hours, which honestly, was so nice. It helped delineate work from life. Yes, maybe you don’t expect a reply at 5am, but if I get that text at 5am I feel like I have to reply immediately. I like to keep my work and life separate and balanced. Don’t drink the Neoliberal koolaid. You don’t have to grind yourself to death.
The Daily Fail are full of lies but even their articles states she gets up at 5am and text them 6 or 7 times a day- not that she is texting them 6 or 7 times at 5am.
Why should Meghan stop working or work less to make others look better? Royal work is literally NOTHING compared to a woman who worked 12+ hour days on set, did humanitarian work, and still found time to run her social media accounts and website.
Honestly, Maybe some of them can take notes from Meghan. She works harder than most of them combined and yet still manages to have more energy and look more youthful than every single person in that family.
Holy crap, get Streak or Boomerang if you have a need to send emails at all hours of the night. You can write it, set a time for it to send (an hour from now, 8am the next day, whatever) and the recipient will get it during working hours.
Anyone else remember Di’s cute little black dress? I dont recall people grasping their pearls over that?