Despite living just 90-odd miles from Hollywood, Meghan Markle's efforts to crack the city's social circles continue to fall flat. You can count the number of LA events she and her husband, Prince Harry, are invited to on one hand. This only makes the events they are excluded from even more glaringly obvious, including the city's night of nights, the Oscars.
Although she seems to be trying to reinvent herself as a Netflix producing mogul and is clearly desperate to be accepted by the hoi polloi, celebrities, unsurprisingly, seem to be giving her a wide berth since her photo row with the Kardashians following Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday bash in November last year. The couple committed that most heinous of celebrity faux pas and demanded the iconic family remove pictures of them partying from social media. The photos appeared online at the same time as the Royal Family in the UK were marking Remembrance Day, and they realised too late the dreadful optics.
They could have stayed home that night - Harry hardly forgot what day it was! But, having gone out because they were so desperate to be accepted by these power players, they then should have owned it and held up their hands to say they made a mistake.
Months later, Meghan is still desperately trying to make things right. On US Mother's Day last month, she even sent Kris a basket from her lifestyle brand, As Ever, filled with its newest candles named after Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet’s birth dates, limited-edition Mother’s Day chocolates, and a handwritten note.
The Kardashian-Jenner matriarch took to her official Instagram account to thank the Duchess for her “beautiful gifts", writing: "Thank you @meghan @aseverofficial for the beautiful Mother's Day gifts! These candles smell so delicious!! Happy Mother's Day!!!"
A basket of her lifestyle tat isn't enough to build bridges, though. While Kris has continued to follow Meghan on Instagram since the incident, she doesn't appear to notice or react to her posts.
This includes her latest post, shared on Tuesday, June 9, which contained multiple photos of her, the Duchess, her daughter, and her husband. She also included a photo of her daughter wearing a shirt with a sketch of Beyoncé and the words "Queen Bey" printed on it. It reeked of desperation to be liked by the singing superstar, but didn't seem to do much to endear her to the Hollywood high flyers she is eager to have in her circle.
Her actions following Kris' birthday have shown Meghan and Harry think they are the most important people in any room - something that doesn't go down well in a city full of VIPs. Meghan is not well-liked or important enough for a power move like that, and it was social suicide.
The subsequent grovelling proves Meghan knows she made a serious social error, but it is too little too late. It is extremely unlikely she will be welcomed by the Hollywood elite now, and she only has herself and her ill-thought-out social climbing to blame.
