The British royals have a long
history of hazing newcomers — particularly women who are dating family
members — and only those who are “tough as nails” tend to survive, said a
cousin of King Charles III in an exclusive interview with The Post.
“To Meghan Markle, I say,
‘What you are going through is a hellish kind of hazing,’” said Christina
Oxenberg, a descendant of Serbian royalty who counts King Charles III as a
third cousin. “If she can just hang in there, someone else will come along who
can take the heat. Nobody gets a pass.” Including, she added, Kate Middleton.
Oxenberg, 59, is a writer and
fashion designer and the younger sister of actress Catherine Oxenberg. Their
mother is Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, who, Oxenberg said, was once very
close to Charles.
Oxenberg, who has lived among the British royals most of her life, recalled
the snobbery once whispered behind the new Princess of Wales’ back.
When Prince William, now the
heir to the throne, was dating Middleton before their 2011 marriage, the royal
family thought it pretty funny that the British press labeled her “Kate Middle
Class,” Oxenberg said.
According to the Express,
Camilla — now the queen consort — allegedly referred to Middleton’s
parents, Carole and Michael, as “Meet the Fockers.”
“They thought it was all very funny — Kate Middle Class and Sarah Ferguson
and Koo Stark,” Oxenberg said. “They meant no disrespect; after all, she is the
future queen of England.”
Stark, an American actress and
photographer, dated Prince Andrew for 18 months in the early 1980s before his
mother, Queen Elizabeth, put an end to the relationship. Although she initially
liked Stark, who bought Andrew his first pair of blue jeans, the monarch
quickly intervened once the British press unearthed the actress’s appearances
in soft-core porn films, which made her an unlikely match for the prince.
“It was a very flimsy reason,”
Oxenberg told The Post. “There’s a good example of how you can suffer as a
royal for no good reason.”
