Genevieve Hillis, Meghan Markle and Lindsay Roth enjoy a day out at Wimbledon. CREDIT: Getty
Fans at Wimbledon tennis tournament were told not to take photos in Meghan Markle’s direction after she made a surprise appearance to see her friend Serena Williams on Court 1 last week.
The 37-year-old’s body guards reportedly told people who were there to watch the tennis not to take pictures of her so she could ‘engage with people rather than camera phones.’
The Duchess of Sussex went to the tennis with her pals Lindsay Roth, who was tipped to be her maid of honour until she decided against having one, and Genevieve Hillis, who co-hosted Meghan’s baby shower with Serena Williams.
Spectator Sally Jones was approached by Meghan’s security and warned about taking photos in the Duchess’ direction. Up until that point she had no idea Meghan was there.
Sally told the Daily Mail the Duchess was ‘clearly looking around looking to see who was looking at her’, adding: ‘Harry and Meghan see themselves more as A-list celebrities rather than royals carrying out their duties. It’s control-freakery’.
It’s also been reported that Meghan and her friends had as many as 40 seats surrounding them, taking up four rows of the stand, while people queued outside to see the hotly-anticipated match.
The controversy comes after Harry and Meghan held a private christening for Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor over the weekend, with only a few photos shared with the public and the names of his godparents kept secret.
Royal watchers are starting to comment that Duke and Duchess of Sussex should accept that their Royal status means they have to share parts of their lives with the public.
‘A private capacity, at Wimbledon? This is so ridiculous. It’s rankly hypocritical and they’re not private people, they’re the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. If you want to be private, go back to America and live privately,’ said Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain.
While Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp Tweeted that Meghan was ‘bloody lucky’ to have the privileges she does.
Although normally made public in other Church of England baptisms, the official baptism certificate for baby Archie won’t be made available to the public. This means the names of his godparents may never be known.
In contrast, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge gave the media full access to the christenings of all three of their children.
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