South Park; creators leave Easter egg within an Easter egg regarding Meghan and Kate relationship

The blowback from the South Park episode ‘The Worldwide Privacy Tour’ continues with even the most eagle-eyed viewers missing one easter egg that surely is another barb towards Meghan Markle. This time, however, it stimulated the conversation once again about the relationship between Meghan and Kate Middleton.

Towards the end of the episode, where the character Kyle Broflovski finds himself living over the street from Harry and Meghan, the harassment the couple present the South Park regular with reaches fever pitch after returning home to see magazine images of Meghan Markle covered all over the front of his house.

Eagle-eyed fans of the show have pointed out that each individual photo presented in the show are actual replications of photoshoots and editorial spreads Meghan Markle has been involved with since becoming part of the mainstream conscience even more. But there was one image in particular that if you blinked, you would have missed it.

That image showed Meghan Markle (portrayed as a flappy mouth Canadian in the episode) dressed in the same outfit and undertaking the same pose as Kate Middleton had worn for the cover of the June 2016 issue of Vogue. Complete with wide brimmed hat and autumnal colours.

Was this a subtle dig at the disparity between the popularity of Catherine, Princess of Wales and the embattled Meghan Markle? The relationship between the pair has seemingly seemed cordial in front of the cameras, but behind closed doors - especially after the bombshell revelations about Prince William in Harry’s memoir, Spare - there’s been discussions of spats and ill will.

Peopleworld take a look at the relationship between Kate and Meghan once more to get to the root of why the usually topical South Park would make a more subtle jab at their target, compared to their bombastic approach throughout their history.

How it started - Kate and Meghan

Much before we arrive at when Kate and Meghan first met, we need to venture back to a relationship before the one ultimately Harry married into; Kate’s younger sister, Pippa. For a brief time, there was talk (or tabloid tattle if you want) that the younger Royal and younger Middleton were at an item, going as far as to attend William and Kate’s wedding as a pairing in 2011.

Though purely speculative, the relationship was a precursor to his public appearances with the Suits actress, and in 2017 both Meghan and Kate met for the first time. Things seemed amicable, with Meghan allegedly getting pointers from Kate ahead of her wedding to a member of the Royal family, according to a source to Us Weekly.

Understanding the pressures of royal protocol, Kate was viewed as a sherpa for Markle to navigate the sometimes tricky, definitely antiquated process of being a member of the Royal family and the dogmatic approach to certain decisions. However, Kate referred to Meghan as “a breath of fresh air” in 2018 and another source to Us Weekly stated that Harry ensured that Meghan had unrivaled access to both his brother and sister-in-law to make her feel comfortable.

But even during these halcyon moments between the Royal family, there were still rumblings of discontent between the Royal brothers and their respective partners. Reports of a heated interaction before Meghan and Harry’s wedding emerged in 2018, claiming that Markle left Kate in tears over Princess Charlotte‘s bridesmaid dress. Nearly three years later, Meghan addressed the alleged incident.

“The reverse of that happened,” she said in her first major televised interview with Harry since their step down from their senior royal duties was made permanent in February 2021. “A few days before the wedding, she was upset about flower girl dresses and it made me cry. It really hurt my feelings.”

“She was upset about something, but she owned it, and she apologised,” Meghan recalled at the time. “She brought me flowers and a note, apologising. And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone — to just take accountability for it.”

The cracks started to show after the news in 2018, despite a united front - and the tabloid press were quick to act on what could be a royal version of the HBO series Succession, just with much less swearing (we think)

Where it went - stepping down from royal life and media scrutiny

If the revelations of Meghan causing Kate to cry ahead of a wedding day became sensational tabloid headlines, when Harry decided to step down from Royal life every news outlet went into overdrive. The overwhelming feeling was that Harry was giving it all up for Meghan due to the constant media attention she was receiving - the majority of it negative. Which then drew parallels to how the media treated Princess Diana during her lifetime, with their prying into every aspect of the family.

The prospect of Harry and Meghan moving away from the Royal family led to allegations of a rift between the Princes, but sources close to the royals stated that “The ‘feud’ is definitely being played up.”

“Are they the best of friends? No. Do they speak every waking second? No. Do they hate each other? Absolutely not. They are two women under serious amounts of pressure, stress and under a huge spotlight that no one can relate to – they will always have a bond that no one can break.”

However, an interview Meghan Markle gave to CBS in March 2021 gave a different account of the difficulties Meghan faced marrying into the Royal family. “If members of his family say, ‘Well, this is what happened to all of us’ or if they can compare what the experience that I went through was similar to what has been shared with us — Kate was called ‘Waity Katie’ waiting to marry William."

"While I imagine that was really hard, and I do, I can’t picture what that felt like. This is not the same. ... Rude and racist are not the same. And equally, you’ve also had a press team that goes on the record to defend you, especially when they know some things are not true. And that didn’t happen for us."

Where we are at now - Spare and Netflix series

Then came the double punch to the stomachs of royalists everywhere - discussions of a tell-all memoir from Harry, a Netflix docu-series regarding the couple and their battle with privacy (the irony wasn’t lost on just Trey Parker and Matt Stone) and Harry’s media junket to promote the book.

Possibly, his media rounds were to seed some good will with the public, who were slowly getting tired of what they felt was ‘incessant complaining’ from the couple. But the Netflix series did nothing to alleviate the rumours of a sibling-in-law rivalry between the pair.

Speaking on an episode of the Netflix series, Harry and Meghan, the Californian recalled the first time she met Kate Middleton and how rigid she felt Royal protocol was, stating "I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. That there is a forward-facing way of being, and then you close the door and you go, ‘Oh, great. Okay, we can relax now.’ But that formality carries over on both sides, and that was surprising to me."

This, some commentators claimed, was a thinly veiled jab at Kate Middleton, given that previously Markle was vocal about how Kate was walking her through all aspects of marrying into a Royal family. Throughout it all, it has always felt that Meghan has been the first to bring up the relationships she has with the Royal family, including Middleton.

But for her part, Middleton has rarely commented publicly about Meghan in anything but a bright light; which has only led to the public to be even less enthused about someone claiming to want their privacy using a very public institution as the Royals in an effort to “punch up.”

But given how South Park have managed in recent seasons to keep their finger on the pulse of the general mood audiences have towards topical issues, it becomes clear that they share sentiments many are feeling towards Markle - that at the end of the day, she won’t reach the same level of public adoration as Kate Middleton.