Meghan Markle has been perceived as the reason for Prince Harry’s feud with the royals, and one book even named her the “Yoko Ono” of the family.
Meghan Markle made history in January 2020 when she and Prince Harry announced they were stepping down as senior royals. Their split from the family escalated two months later as they relocated to California to escape what the Duke once described as “abuse and harassment” from tabloids. Their highly-publicized departure was dubbed Megxit while palace workers also had a nickname for the actress.
Meghan Markle was the ‘royal equivalent of Yoko Ono’
Dylan Howard and Andy Tillett, authors of Royals At War, shared insights on how palace employees and one royal aide felt about Meghan, a beloved TV actress before marrying Prince Harry.
“Things had gotten off to a bit of shaky start, with the Palace staff acting hoity-toity around Meghan,” they wrote, referring to the Sussexes’ move into Frogmore Cottage in April 2019. “But that was just because they didn’t get her. She was, after all, a bona fide television star who ‘had so much to impart and so much love to give,’ said one Meghan pal.”
The authors continued: “But a royal aide had hinted that Meghan was the royal equivalent of Yoko Ono.”
“Here the Sussexes’ closet aides were comparing Meghan to an ambitious, foreign-born older woman who was accused of exploiting a needy, confused, world-famous young man and breaking him off from his friends.”
Japanese artist and singer Yoko Ono was blamed for the breakup of the Beatles due to her alleged influence over John Lennon and his music. For decades, die-hard fans blamed Lennon’s wife for persuading him to instigate a split and creating a rift between band members.
Paul McCartney does not hold Yoko Ono responsible for their dissolution but claimed the band experienced a “period of change” involving John and Yoko’s relationship.
Former French First Lady shades Meghan with dodgy edit
The 2020 royal book wasn’t the first time Markle, 42, had been compared to Ono. Model and former First Lady of France Carla Bruni joined the bandwagon in January 2023 by posting an edited Instagram photo of Harry and Meghan.
The original image showed the Sussexes grinning from ear to ear during their engagement announcement, but Bruni replaced Meghan’s face with Yoko Ono’s instead. “All you need is love,” she captioned, taking inspiration from the 1967 Beatles hit.
Bruni has since deleted the photo but praised Harry for his “sincere and brave” memoir two weeks later.
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