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British RoyalsThe Sussexes

Meghan Markle’s comments in praise of Ivanka Trump ruffle a few feathers

An often underappreciated bit of modern-day wisdom is that nothing you do is ever really secret, and this goes a hundredfold for celebrities and the internet. Meghan Markle, whose engagement to Prince Harry was announced just last month, has apparently just been bitten by this truth.

Back in 2014, when Trump’s movement to become president was still just a wild suggestion, Markle had been reported in a TIG Talk interview to have expressed admiration for Ivanka Trump, daughter and now aide of current President Donald Trump. Hailing her as “staggeringly beautiful, but so incredibly savvy and intelligent that she’s not just carved a niche for herself”, Markle claimed that Ivanka was brilliant in a way that was unusual to most women born to privileged circumstances. She also admired how Ivanka was not one for drinking, dancing on tables, or other acts of depravity, but instead focusing on getting a college degree and seeking commercial success not just for her father’s empire but also her own.

The interview quickly faded into obscurity not long after it was published, but as her impending marriage into the British Royal Family has brought Ms Markle into closer scrutiny by the public, her comments have resurfaced and have since gone viral.

While completely non-controversial at the time, since Donald Trump assumed office in January of this year the public attitude towards the Trump family has soured considerably, and the appetite for praise sent towards them is quite nonexistent among certain circles. Many feminist writers have found Meghan Markle’s comments on Ivanka Trump to be inappropriate now, especially in light of Markle’s exhaustive efforts in the cause of gender equality and women’s rights. One such writer, Gloria Steinem, once famously described Ivanka Trump’s position on feminism as “Nazi policy”.

Of course, times have changed. It’s not known whether Ms Markle’s opinions on Ivanka Trump have taken a different tune in the intervening three years since her interview, but she has been very open about her opinions on Donald Trump himself. Past statements about the US President revealed that she thought him “misogynistic” and “divisive”. She even went so far as to declare that, should he be elected to the Oval Office, she would promptly depart the country in protest.

With her marriage to Prince Harry and her expected relocation to the UK, possibly as the Duchess of Sussex, it would seem she’s quite intent on keeping to her word.

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