Meghan Markle’s U.S. Fans Don’t Understand Why Royal Family Lets Protocol Stop Them From Protecting Her

Americans love Meghan Markle, says a royal family expert, so we “don’t understand” why the royal family won’t “protect” her from negative media coverage and other scandals, The Mirror reports.

Victoria Arbiter admits that she’s generalizing when describing America’s collective opinion of the second American to marry into the centuries-old British monarchy. After all, it’s fair to say that many Americans have never heard of Meghan Markle or, at the very least, pay no attention to what goes on in her life. But she says that, in general, Americans are proud of their daughter who married a prince.

“With Meghan in there they’re very proud – it’s one of their own behind palace walls,” she said.

The first time a divorced American woman tried to marry into the royal family, it was a nationwide scandal (in the U.K., that is) that almost brought down the monarchy. So in love with Wallis Simpson was King Edward VIII that he was prepared to abdicate the throne if the monarchy wouldn’t allow him to marry her (they didn’t and he did). Of course, in the decades since, the rules have relaxed quite a bit, and when Harry popped the question to Meghan (with the queen’s permission), and she said “yes,” the British public welcomed her with open arms.

Meghan Markle meeting Beyoncé is the only thing that matters today. #TheLionKing pic.twitter.com/dMk7MuHMsS

— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) July 14, 2019

Now, however, the honeymoon is over. Rumors of a feud with her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, general annoyance at her demands for privacy, and shocked eyebrow-raising at the $3 million price tag for renovations to her home have all taken a toll on the British public’s relationship with the new American duchess.

Arbiter says that Americans don’t understand why the royal family won’t “protect” her from all of the negative media attention.

“There is a sense, however, they feel that the Royal Family hasn’t done enough to protect Meghan. And that is a theme that is developing. There’s a sense there that she’s been under attack and that someone should have stood up and defended her” she says.

The problem, as Arbiter explains it, is that the royal family, as a matter of policy, does not respond to rumors, scandal, or negative media attention. There are a couple of reasons for this, but the main one, as Arbiter explains it, is that responding to the story just perpetuates it, keeping it in the papers.

Why she claims that Americans can’t understand that is unclear, however. Perhaps she believes that, because it’s been a couple of centuries since we were connected to the British monarchy, we don’t understand its comings and goings.