“Meghan’s Toxics Diaries Leaked!” crows the spiteful, absurd cover story of this week’s Woman’s Day. Though that headline would indicate that the tabloid — or at least someone — has gained access to a journal belonging to the Duchess of Sussex, the actual article immediately walks that statement back and instead quotes a “source” who has supposedly heard rumors about it.
“Word is, there are 300 pages of Meghan’s handwritten account of life at Kensington Palace, and she focuses a lot of energy on how she didn’t get on with Kate,” the source says. The article then mentions a recent profile of Middleton published in Tatler, which it says painted a rather insulting image of the Duchess of Cambridge.
The tabloid also points out that one former Tatler writer, Vanessa Mulroney, is the sister-in-law of Markle’s good friend Jessica Mulroney and suggests that the magazine’s story “was planted by a Sussex sympathizer” to “fan flames” of a Middleton-Markle feud. “Meghan and Kate didn’t see eye to eye from the get-go,” the source continues. “[Markle] expected to be treated like the Queen, and sadly for her only one of them will reach that status.”
Gossip Cop could spend a lot of time here pointing out how there’s literally no evidence that Middleton and Markle are feuding or have ever feuded, but it’s clear that’s not going to stop tabloids from pushing this narrative, so let’s move on to all the other things wrong with this story. First, there’s the bait-and-switch of the cover story: The tabloid is clearly just trying to get your attention with that snappy headline.
If they had any actual “leaked” diary pages or evidence that they exist, they would have included that information. Second, why do tabloids always insist on framing Markle as a social climber who’s just out for power? She left the royal family, guys. She’s clearly not interested in being “treated like the Queen.” If you insist on publishing lies, you could at least make them coherent.
Third, there’s the Tatler piece. Are we really supposed to believe the story was “planted” by Team Meghan because… Markle’s friend’s sister-in-law used to work there? This idea is especially ridiculous because if you actually read the profile, which is titled “Catherine the Great,”you’ll realize that the tabloid has things completely backwards. Rather than being flattering to Markle and smearing Middleton, the article paints Middleton as the brave, long-suffering victim of Markle and Prince Harry’s selfishness.
Kensington Palace has actually demanded that the article be removed from Tatler’s website for being a “swathe of inaccuracies and false representations.” This isn’t about any feud between Middleton and Markle — this is Middleton sticking up for her much-maligned fellow duchess, breaking with royal family protocol in doing so. Why in the world would Markle plant an article that compares her unfavorably to Middleton if her ultimate goal was to ruin Middleton?
Finally, Gossip Cop should note that this rumor has come up before. A week ago, we debunked a story that claimed that Markle’s “secret diary” had been leaked from In Touch, which had picked up the story from the Daily Mail. In response, a friend of Markle’s told Vanity Fair that they weren’t aware Markle ever kept a journal and said, “These Meghan stories seem to get more far-fetched by the day.”
Gossip Cop frequently busts Woman’s Day for publishing insulting and false stories about the Duchess of Sussex. In April, the tabloid tried to claim that Markle and Prince Harry’s divorce papers has been “leaked,” once again clearly misunderstanding the meaning of that word. Naturally, the publication didn’t actually have any evidence the couple were getting divorced.
A month later, it tried to claim that Markle was throwing a tantrum over not getting enough attention on her son Archie’s birthday. “Meghan was looking forward to throwing the party of the century and making their debut into Hollywood society,” yet another spiteful source told the tabloid, “and now she feels the chance has been ripped away.” The biggest issue with this story? It was published three days before Archie’s birthday even happened.