A phrase repeated by the late Queen Mother could have played a huge role in making royal life difficult for Meghan Markle before she and Prince Harry stepped down.

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When Meghan Markle joined the Royal Family – no one expected it would end the way it did.

The Duchess of Sussex joined The Firm back in 2018 when she got married to Prince Harry in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. However, fast-forward almost five years later and they are in a completely different place, with the couple quitting as working royals and leaving the country for a new life in California.

A number of factors were responsible for Harry and Meghan leaving, but some believe the late Queen Mother’s “well-worn mantra” might have been the source of certain issues. Meghan has explained that she struggled with having to remain silent at specific times and not being able to fully express herself.

In her previous life, the Duchess of Sussex probably would have responded to claims and made political statements either directly or on her social media blog, The Tig, which she shut down. Members of the Royal Family have traditionally not spoken out – and this stance was largely down to the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother had a special mantra
The Queen Mother had a special mantra

Meghan and Harry quit as working royals
Meghan and Harry quit as working royal

Speaking back in 2019, royal expert Victoria Arbiter, claimed the Queen Mother’s “well-worn mantra” could have caused Meghan a few problems. Speaking to Nine News Australia, she said: “I think really she [Meghan] is doing incredibly well. It’s very difficult when you come from a celebrity background where a publicist can stand up for you or come out and say ‘no, that report is categorically untrue.’

“But, generally speaking, members of the public follow the Queen Mother’s well-worn mantra: ‘Never complain, never explain.’ And so you have to sit back while the world’s media and social media just comment.” Of course, both Meghan and Harry have since had their say on the problems Meghan experienced in the Firm in their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Since then they’ve been incredibly open, making allegations against various members of the Royal Family in their Netflix docu-series Harry’s autobiographical memoir Spare. The Queen Mother, Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, was a prominent figure in the Royal Family before her death in March 2002.

As well as spending more time one-on-one time with his grandmother the Queen, William also shared a closer bond with the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother had a much more personal relationship with William, who she treated drastically differently to Harry. William would be invited round for tea with his great-grandmother but Harry was often snubbed.

“The Queen Mother always made sure Prince William was seated in a prominent seat next to her and Harry never was,” explained journalist Richard Kay in Channel 5 documentary Prince Harry: The Troubled Prince. However, it was surprisingly claimed that Harry was actually left more money than William in her will when she died in 2002.

The Queen Mother left an estimated £14 million from her estate to her great-grandsons – with Harry was reportedly left more. Rather than it being down to personal preference, she acknowledged that William would benefit financially from becoming King. Therefore, the Queen Mother tried to compensate by leaving a larger share of her wealth to Harry. But according to a Forbes report published in February 2020, Harry didn’t actually get any inheritance from his great-grandmother.