Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have caused a rift with their new neighbours by issuing a series of rules forbidding people from speaking to them, asking to see their baby or patting the royal dogs.
The rules were announced at a meeting for residents of the estate near Frogmore Cottage, most of whom are current and former royal staff, including Prince Charles‘ old nanny Mabel Anderson.
Per reports in UK paper The Sun, neighbours are instructed not to approach or talk to the couple or ask to see baby Archie. They are also instructed to avoid patting the pair’s dogs “should they bound over.”
A ticked-off local told the publication:
“It’s extraordinary. We’ve never heard anything like it. Everyone who lives on the estate works for the royals and knows how to behave respectfully. We aren’t told how to behave around the Queen like this. She’s very happy for people to greet her.”
A representative for Buckingham Palace has denied that Meghan and Harry were directly responsible for the instructions which their attendants gave out, saying:
“The Duke and Duchess had no knowledge of this briefing and no involvement in the concept or the content. This was a well-intentioned briefing to help a small local community know how to welcome two new residents and help them with any potential encounter. There was no handout or letter. The talk was undertaken by a local manager and was widely viewed as being well received.”
While nobody’s denying the briefing actually happened, the prevailing theory seems to be that palace staff may have “second-guessed” the couple’s wishes based on their well-publicised desire for privacy.
Meghan Markle and Harry have not revealed the identities of their son Archie’s godparents, and have not told anyone the name of the black Labrador they welcomed to their family last September.
