![\"Meghan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/meghan-markle-and-bryony-gordon.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMeghan Markle’s close friend, Bryony Gordon, has criticised what she calls the \u201cridiculous double standards\u201d in the way she believes the Duchess of Sussex has been treated, in comparison to other members of the Royal Family.<\/p>\n
Gordon recounted her first encounter with Meghan at a Royal Foundation event in 2018, where she was chairing a panel for Heads Together, the mental health initiative supported by the young royals.<\/p>\n
She described being warmly greeted by Meghan, who gave her a \u201cbig old bear hug\u201d that put her at ease in a room filled with royals and photographers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeghan\u2019s down-to-earth demeanour worked like a charm,\u201d Gordon wrote, adding that it helped calm the nerves of the other guests, many of whom were charity workers attending their first royal engagement.<\/p>\n
GETTY<\/p>\n
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Meghan Markle’s close friend questions ‘double standards in Royal Family’<\/p>\n
Gordon revealed that since that initial meeting, she and Meghan have stayed in touch, sharing lunches, visiting charitable projects, and even spending time together at the Duchess’s homes in Frogmore Cottage and Montecito.<\/p>\n
With each interaction, Gordon said, she has been left baffled by what she views as the harsh treatment Meghan received from the press and public, compared to others in the Royal Family.<\/p>\n
Her comments come amid the serialisation of a new book by royal biographer Andrew Lownie, which makes a series of damaging claims about Prince Andrew\u2019s alleged conduct over several decades.<\/p>\n
Buckingham Palace and the Duke of York\u2019s representatives have not commented on the allegations.<\/p>\n
![\"Meghan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754614816_609_meghan-markle-and-bryony-gordon.jpg\")
PA<\/p>\n
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Meghan Markle and Bryony Gordon hugging in 2018<\/p>\n
Gordon wrote that she has been \u201cgripped\u201d by the extracts, and said they have left her increasingly angry.<\/p>\n
Writing in the Mail, the journalist questioned how a woman who \u201coccasionally emailed her staff at 5am\u201d could be, in her view, so widely condemned, while a senior royal had been accused of far more serious misconduct.<\/p>\n
The Duke of York, who stepped down as a senior member of the Royal Family in 2019, has always denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you blame the couple for wanting to escape the peculiar prison of royal life?\u201d Gordon asked.<\/p>\n
![\"Bryony](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/bryony-gordon.jpg\")
PA<\/p>\n
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Bryony Gordon also met Prince Harry during that engagement<\/p>\n
However, many supporters of the monarchy argue that the Royal Family has made considerable efforts in recent years to modernise and respond to public concerns.<\/p>\n
Prince Andrew was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages in 2022, following public pressure and a legal settlement\u2014signalling the institution\u2019s recognition of reputational risk.<\/p>\n
Others also point out that working royals, including Princess Anne and King Charles, continue to carry out hundreds of engagements each year.<\/p>\n
LATEST ROYAL NEWS:<\/strong><\/p>\n PA<\/p>\n | <\/p>\n Bryony Gordon pictured in June earlier this year<\/p>\n Queen Elizabeth II publicly supported the Duke and Duchess of Sussex\u2019s departure from royal life, issuing the following statement in January 2020: \u201cFollowing many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family.<\/p>\n \u201cHarry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family. I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family. It is my whole family\u2019s hope that today\u2019s agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meghan Markle’s close friend, Bryony Gordon, has criticised what she calls the \u201cridiculous double standards\u201d in the way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[1281,5105,7710,519,448],"class_list":{"0":"post-326587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-meghan-markle","9":"tag-royal","10":"tag-royal-families","11":"tag-royal-family","12":"tag-royals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114990444164163067","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bryony](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754614819_748_bryony-gordon.jpg\")