Meghan Markle’s close pal has hit out at the “ridiculous double standards” she claims exist within the royal family.
Bryony Gordon, who struck up a friendship with the Duchess of Sussex in 2018, called out what she sees as Markle’s unequal treatment compared to other members of the Firm.
“Can you blame the couple for wanting to escape the peculiar prison of royal life, especially given the ridiculous double standards applied to the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Andrew?” Gordon wrote in the Daily Mail.
The podcaster, 45, revealed that her first encounter with the “Suits” alum, 44, took place at a Royal Foundation event in 2018, where she had chaired a mental health panel.
“She gave me a big old bear hug, the kind that makes you feel at ease — particularly when you are being presented to assorted royals in front of a bank of baying photographers,” Gordon wrote.
“Meghan’s down-to-earth demeanor worked like a charm,” she went on, “removing all the anxiety felt by myself and the other attendees.”
She revealed that they had stayed in touch following their initial meeting seven years ago — and have since shared lunches, worked on charitable projects and spent time at her and Prince Harry’s old Frogmore Cottage property, to which they were forced to hand back the keys.
Gordon has also visited Markle in Montecito, Calif., she claims.
“Each time we meet, or exchange texts about life, I wonder what it says about the world that she could be so vilified and trolled, while other members of the royal family seem to have been given a free pass to behave as badly as they want,” Gordon wrote.
Gordon specifically mentioned Prince Andrew, whose alleged antics were recently laid bare in author Andrew Lownie’s new book, “Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York.”
Among the myriad claims in the biography, Lownie alleges that the scandal-scarred royal called a palace staffer working in the royal household a “f–king imbecile” for not referring to the late Queen Mother by her full title.
What’s more, Lownie claimed that the disgraced Duke of York was physically confronted by the Duke of Sussex over alleged comments about Markle.
While Harry has since shut down the claims, calling them “gross inaccuracies, damaging and defamatory remarks,” Gordon said she was “gripped” by the book’s extracts.
“With each sordid allegation I have become more and more furious that so little was done to help Meghan as she struggled with life in the royal family, while so much was done to protect Prince Andrew,” she wrote.
Gordon further questioned how Markle, who “occasionally emailed her staff at 5 a.m.,” could be so widely condemned, while other royals were seemingly let off the hook.
“Somehow, Andrew got away with it for decades, while Meghan was branded ‘Duchess Difficult’ the moment she so much as asked the Queen if she might be able to borrow a tiara for her wedding,” she went on, referring to the alleged nickname Markle’s staffers had for her.
“Why is it that people will tolerate all manner of misbehavior from the likes of powerful men like Prince Andrew, but not a woman who, according to critics, has a habit of occasionally emailing her staff at 5am?”
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However, it could be argued that the royals have made a considerable effort in reprimanding Andrew for his many controversies — including his close association with late convicted pedophile and financier Jeffrey Epstein, the sexual abuse lawsuit filed against him by the late Virginia Giuffre and his links to alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
The late Queen Elizabeth II stripped her son of his military titles and royal patronages, as well as his HRH title, in 2022. He was also forced to give up his role as a working royal.
Shortly after losing his HRH titles and military honors, Andrew’s Freedom of the City of York honor was also taken away following a historic vote by councilors.
And in February, a high school named after him announced that it will be changing its name to distance itself from the disgraced duke’s controversies.
