Meghan Markle ‘wastes her potential’ sending jams to celebrities while Sophie Duchess of Edinburgh visits Ukraine, royal expert claims

The Duchess of Edinburgh’s visit to Ukraine has ‘proven she is the royal family’s women’s rights champion’, while Meghan Markle ‘wasted her potential’ by sending jam to celebrities, a royal expert has claimed.

Prince Edward’s wife, 59, courageously denounced Putin’s forces for using rape as a weapon of war as she became the first British royal to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Meanwhile, the Duchess of Sussex, 42, is gearing up to launch her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard and recently sent pilates instructor Heather Dorak a sample of her “kid-tested, mom-approved” product.

Speaking to FEMAIL, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams noted how Meghan’s work on women’s rights appears to have diminished in the wake of Megxit and how she could have flourished in the royal family.

He explained: “We know Meghan is a feminist who promotes women’s rights. At the age of 11, she famously protested a sexist commercial.

‘During her visits to Rwanda in 2016 and India in 2017 and in a memorable speech to the United Nations International Women’s Day Conference in 2015, she campaigned for equal opportunities.

‘She emphasized this during her visits to the Antipodes and South Africa, when she and Harry were still senior working members of the Royal Family.

‘This potential has certainly been squandered since she and Harry stepped down from their royal duties.

The expert noted how the Duchess of Edinburgh has worked tirelessly in recent years in the field of women’s rights, together with her sister-in-law Queen Camilla.

Richard continued, “While [Meghan] sends jars of jam to celebrities, it is the Duchess of Edinburgh who meets survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and displaced women during a historic visit to Ukraine.

‘It is Queen Camilla who has done so much to give a voice to survivors of domestic violence and who has spoken out so strongly against gender-based violence.’

He added: ‘If Meghan was serious about making a difference, she should certainly have remained a senior working royal.

“It does involve some compromise, but think of what could have been achieved for an important cause that she claims is so close to her heart.”

In January 2020, Sophie flew to Sierra Leone, where she visited a women’s center. Two months later, the Duchess traveled to the Republic of South Sudan and visited various initiatives to protect the safety of girls and women, and met with female peacebuilders and rights activists.

In March 2022, the Duchess gave a keynote speech at the United Nations in New York on the importance of upholding women’s rights in Afghanistan.

Yesterday the royal family denounced the use of sexual violence to “humiliate, degrade and destroy” women and girls as she met survivors of the Russian invasion.

The mother-of-two said she was grateful for the “honesty” and “openness” of the women she spoke to during an emotional one-day trip to Kiev and the surrounding areas.

The Duchess, who visited in her role as a campaigner for the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and the Women, Peace and Security agenda, said “women and girls pay the highest price” in war.

In January, Queen Camilla gave a speech at the 50th anniversary of the Swindon Domestic Abuse Support Service, saying she hoped the “horrific” scourge of domestic abuse would be “erased” in the next 50 years.

In 1993, the Duchess of Sussex wrote to Proctor & Gamble asking them to change the message in their sexist laundry detergent commercial.

The narrator in the original commercial explains that the soap is useful because “women across America are fighting greasy pots and pans.”

A young Meghan was unhappy with the commercial’s wording, especially after two boys in her class said it reinforces the stereotype that women “belong in the kitchen.”

In 2015, Markle recalled the incident during a speech at the United Nations on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

She said: ‘I remember being shocked and angry and also feeling so hurt. It just wasn’t right and something had to be done.’

Meghan recalled how her father inspired her to create change.

“He encouraged me to write letters, and so I did – to the most powerful people I could think of,” she said.

The young Meghan sent a letter to soap maker Proctor & Gamble as well as famed civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred, then-first lady Hillary Clinton and Nick News host Linda Ellerbee.

After Ellerbee received the letter, she and a camera crew from her show went to meet Markle.

Proctor & Gamble also responded by changing the commercial’s wording from “women” to “people.”

Little information has been released about Meghan’s new project American Riviera Orchard, but a trademark application filed in February shows the company plans to offer downloadable and printed recipe books, tablecloths, textiles and jams and marmalades, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. website.

Earlier this month, a branding expert said Meghan handed out the jam to her friends as a way to showcase her new business venture by giving them a “personal gift” that she likely produced herself using ingredients sourced from Montecito.

PR expert Nick Ede said the pots looked ‘very homemade with a stylish logo and almost handwritten brand name’.

He added that the jam “will most likely be sourced from Montecito and hand-produced by Meghan herself to make them feel special and cared for.”

And Mr Ede claimed her strategy was to “showcase the brand rather than Meghan” as she tries to get people to “accept the ARO lifestyle, not just her own personal brand”.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that the Duke and Duchess will visit Nigeria next month after Harry attended an event in Britain.

He will attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on May 8, with Meghan not expected to join him.

The couple will then head to Nigeria after being invited by the West African country’s chief of defense staff, who met Harry in Germany last September during the Invictus Games Dusseldorf.