Duchess Camilla will take over Meghan’s old patronage with the National Theatre

Given all of the royal gossip over the past three years, it’s easy to forget all the times we’ve heard some specific story about which royal hates Meghan for such-and-such a reason. I certainly forgot that the Duchess of Cornwall had beef with Meghan in March 2020, during the Sussexes’ farewell tour, the epic You Coulda Had a Bad Bitch Tour. Because Harry and Meghan were only in the UK for a little bit more than a week, they scheduled events back-to-back. Which meant that they ended up “stepping on” other royals’ events. Camilla had scheduled a big speech on domestic violence that week and no one else had anything else on the schedule. Then Meghan visited the National Theatre and released photos on her Instagram. Camilla fumed about that for months. She’s still mad about the thunder-stealing. Camilla was also mad, as it turns out, because she always wanted to be patron of the National Theatre. Now she’s getting her wish:

The Duchess of Cornwall is set to become patron of the National Theatre after being left ‘miffed’ Meghan Markle was given the role in 2019. The Duchess of Sussex, 40, was stripped of the royal patronage last year after she and Harry stepped back as senior members of the royal family. Now sources say Camilla, 74, was ‘pretty miffed’ after Meghan was handed the coveted position, a role which had belonged to the Queen for 45 years.

‘She really wanted it’, a source told The Sunday Times. ‘She was pretty miffed when it went to Meghan, and will be all the more delighted to take it on now, after being disappointed not to get it first time round.

Meghan was given the patronage in 2019 – with royal insiders claiming her career as an actress made her a ‘natural fit’ for the position, after she starred in the US legal drama Suits for seven years. The esteemed role was among the patronages Meghan lost after the Sussexes confirmed they would not be returning as working members of the Royal Family last February.

An avid supporter of theatre and literature, Camilla is said to be ‘delighted’ to take over the patronage and is keen to support an industry which greatly suffered during the pandemic.

During her time as patron Meghan made just one public appearance at the theatre, shortly after her appointment, and visited privately in March 2020. Pictures of the visit were released on the same day Camilla delivered a speech on domestic violence at the Southbank Centre in London – a move said to have angered the Duchess of Cornwall. Buckingham Palace had reportedly urged royal correspondents to focus on the Duchess of Cornwall’s long-planned engagement, which came on a day when there were no other major Royal engagements. Camilla was said to be ‘very upset’ at the release of the images, insiders told the Mirror.

[From The Daily Mail]

What’s strange is… why didn’t Camilla get the patronage of the National Theatre before Meghan even joined the family? There must have been some reason they didn’t want Camilla in the first place. It sounds like Camilla was seething about not getting the patronage before Meghan even came around, and Cam seethed even harder when it was just handed off to Meg. Anyway, sure, now Camilla is getting the patronage she always wanted. It’s been suggested – by Keeners – that Kate might have wanted the National Theatre patronage too, but the courtiers are apparently wary of giving Meghan’s old patronages to Kate (because of the comparisons, etc). It also sounds like this was some kind of years-long manipulation by Camilla to get a high-profile patronage. It’s not like Meghan cares at this point, in any case.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.