Republicans tell Royal family to strip Meghan Markle of titles after paid leave support
Republicans have slammed Meghan Markle for her latest interference in US politics and asked the royals to “strip her” of her royal title. The US Representative for Missouri's 8th congressional district Jason Smith also asked the Duchess to “stick to acting” after she sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday, October 20, while supporting paid family leave - a legislation moving through Congress that would provide 12 weeks of paid time off to most workers to care for a sick spouse, child or parent.
Meghan wrote an over 1000-word letter to the Democrats in which she detailed her childhood days struggles. She penned her message on the Sussexes' new post-royal letterhead, not as an elected official or a politician but as an “engaged citizen and a parent and as a mom”.
She stated, “I grew up on the $4.99 salad bar at Sizzler – it may have cost less back then (to be honest, I can't remember) – but what I do remember was the feeling: I knew how hard my parents worked to afford this because even at five bucks, eating out was something special, and I felt lucky.”
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“And as a Girl Scout, when my troop would go to dinner for a big celebration, it was back to that same salad bar or The Old Spaghetti Factory – because that's what those families could afford,” the mum-of-two added.
But her push for paid family leave has been seen as her most noticeable political intervention in the US. Smith told DailyMail.com, “Ms Markle's latest interference in US politics reignites the question in my mind as to why the Royal Family does not simply strip her and Harry officially of their titles, particularly since she insists on sending this under the pretense of being the Duchess of Sussex.”
He added: “While her attempts at appealing to working class families by recalling her days of eating at Sizzler were laughable, her comments make crystal clear that the passage of this massive tax-and-spend bill is aimed more at helping global elites get huge tax breaks than helping the working families she claims to have dined with.”
Representative Lisa McClain (R-Michigan) told DailyMail.com: “Meghan Markle is incredibly out of touch with the American people and should stick to acting instead of trying to play politics. The last thing we need right now is wealthy celebrities pushing their liberal agendas on the American people.”
Angela Levin, a journalist and biographer of Prince Harry, admitted that the former actress is indeed a US citizen, but the letterhead that she used from “the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex” signals that she’s using her British title to interfere in American politics.
Levin noted, “Meghan's two page letter to lobby Congress about giving money on parental leave, is obviously another step towards trying to turn herself into a politician. But the notepaper she is using is astonishingly 'From the Office of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex' and shows how she isn't even aware that she is talking to politicians in a republic that won its independence from the crown in 1776.”
She added, “The truth is that the bill about parental leave is on its way to being confirmed, and could be hijack by Meghan's belief it was largely due to her. In addition if she was writing a profession letter what on earth is she getting all cosy and intimate by stating the letter is also 'on behalf of Archie and Lili - notice she is not calling her Lillibet, the Queen's nickname - and Harry. Poor old Harry has come last.”
Royal commentator and former editor of International Who's Who, Richard Fitzwilliams, also commented on Meghan’s latest step. He said, “Using the example of the $5 salad bar and how she had to struggle in the past is an attempt to link with the way so many families struggle to pay their bills.” But Fitzwilliams went on to point out that “since she was privately educated and her father was one of Hollywood's top lighting directors, whether the audience she seeks are impressed by her account of how she had to struggle.”
“She and her father are estranged as she is at the moment from the royal family. The issue she highlights is undoubtedly an important one, but many will sense a ruthless streak in her behaviour which needs moderating if she were ever to seek election. What, I wonder, is Harry's future in all this? An autobiography at the end of next year won't be helpful to mending his relations with his family. Meghan is where she is because she married into the royal family. It will be fascinating to see how, if she chooses politics, people in the US will regard her,” he added.