Disney’s new live-action The Little Mermaid seemingly takes a swipe at Kate Middleton, also known as Catherine, Princess of Wales. Her royal rival and sister-in-law, Meghan Markle, has made it known that the animated version of the film is one of her favorite movies, previously drawing a comparison between herself and Princess Ariel, who loses her voice throughout the film.
The live-action scene comes when the lead character of Ariel, played by Halle Bailey, meets Prince Eric, and she recoils when he tries to guess her name, a reviewer who saw an early screening of the film told Page Six.
“Ariel has sacrificed her voice in order to get to the surface and [meet] Prince Eric. She can’t speak so he tries to guess her name,” they told the site. “His first guess is Diana. His second guess is Catherine, but after [Ariel gives a disgusted] reaction, he [concludes] ‘OK, definitely not Catherine.’”
Diana seems to be a possible reference to Prince Harry’s late mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a 1997 car crash. “Disney would be disingenuous to imply those name choices were coincidental,” the critic explained.
Meghan made a reference to 1989 animated The Little Mermaid during a 2021 televised interview, Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special.
The Duchess of Sussex recalled watching the film after the couple married in May 2018.
“I was sitting in Nottingham Cottage and The Little Mermaid came on,” Meghan recalled. “And who as an adult really watches The Little Mermaid but it came on and I was like, ‘Well I’m here all the time I might as well watch this,’ and I went, ‘Oh my God she falls in love with the prince and because of that she loses her voice,'” later adding, “But in the end, she gets her voice back.”
The former Suits star went on to explain, “I’ve always valued independence. I’ve always been outspoken, especially about women’s rights, and that’s the sad irony of the last four years, I’ve advocated for so long for women to use their voices. And then I was silent.”
Later in the interview when asked if she and her prince’s story had a happy ending, Meghan responded, “It does. Greater than any fairytale you’ve ever read.”
Meghan said in the same interview that she and Kate got off on the wrong foot prior to her wedding when the princess allegedly made her cry. Their relationship has reportedly been frosty ever since.
