Meghan Markle complained about royal walkabouts, claims new book: "Can't believe I'm not getting paid"

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Australia, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand over the course of 16 days on their first official tour of 2018. Huge audiences lined up to witness the two as they traveled the world with an astounding 76 engagements.

An upcoming book claims that Meghan Markle complained about not earning money for walkabouts while on the royal visit to Australia, reports The Mirror. In a book written by The Times' royal columnist Valentine Low, he alleges that Meghan "enjoyed the attention" she received but did not understand the significance of royal walkabouts. The Australian people, according to Low, found the Duchess of Sussex's "refreshingly casual approach to royal visits" to be "a hit."

On October 6, 2022, Headline Books will publish Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind the Crown by Valentine Low. One part of the book reads, "Although she enjoyed the attention, Meghan failed to understand the point of all those walkabouts, shaking hands with countless strangers."

Meghan was seen as "an amazing role model" during the trip, he continues. The text claims, "When she turned up at the home of a farming family, she brought some banana bread that she had baked herself. When the couple visited a school to see the work of a program to improve the educational outcomes of young Aboriginals, she was feted as an inspirational role model." But, Low claims that "it was a different story" behind the scenes of the tour in an extract made available to The Times.

The book reports that Meghan was overheard by anonymous staff workers, saying, "I can't believe I'm not getting paid for this". It also quotes a tour attendee claiming that Meghan wanted to "bring in her people rather than turn to the traditional Buckingham Palace folks," but that this was "extremely difficult." An earlier source said that Meghan was bewildered by the enthusiasm of royal fans. The insider claimed that when Markle saw the line of royal fans waiting to see them outside the Sydney Opera House, Meghan allegedly said, "What are they all doing here? It's silly," to which the attendee responded, "They're here because they admire and support a monarch and an institution that you're representing."

The book further says, “In the spring of 2017, more than six months before the couple was engaged, she told one of Harry’s advisers: ‘I think we both know I’m going to be one of your bosses soon’.” The author claims that when they first started dating, Meghan insisted on being recognized as Harry's girlfriend. He writes, “Faced with hordes of journalists intent on trawling through every aspect of Meghan’s life, Harry became determined to protect his girlfriend. Meghan, meanwhile, told him that if he did not do something about it, she would break off the relationship." 

The book continues by quoting a source according to whom Meghan was saying, "'If you don’t put out a statement confirming I’m your girlfriend, I’m going to break up with you'. Harry was in a panic. Another source said, ‘He was freaking out, saying, 'She’s going to dump me'.”

A source is quoted in the book as saying, “The Australia tour is one of the most important in the royal world but there have long been allegations of rows with staff. If these assistants come forward it will form the center of the Palace’s bullying probe. It was a critical time.”

Cover Image Source: Getty Images/Geoff Pugh