When Meghan Markle married Prince
Harry in May 2018, entrepreneur Rose Hulse perhaps understood better than
most the extraordinary journey the Californian actress was about to embark on.
Like Meghan, Rose was also an
independent, dynamic, successful and beautiful African-American thirtysomething
woman who fell for a thoroughly blue-blooded Brit.
The year before the Royal
Wedding, Rose — CEO and founder of ScreenHits TV — had married into the British
aristocracy; and the wedding was an elegantly grand affair which featured in
the pages of society bible Tatler magazine.
The ceremony at St George’s
Church in London’s Hanover Square was followed by a gloriously
multi-cultural reception at Spencer House, which is owned by the late Princess
Diana’s brother, Charles.
If anyone knew the challenges
of adapting to a new world shaped by centuries-old tradition, etiquette and
unspoken rules it was Rose.
More than that, she also
understood the huge responsibility Meghan was taking on — and the pressures she
would face — making history by becoming the first woman of colour to marry into
the Royal Family.
‘I was so happy for Meghan and
Harry, and felt honoured that someone of African descent had been provided with
one of the largest platforms in the world,’ says Rose, who in 2017 married
George Hulse, the grandson of a baronet.
‘I thought Meghan would have a
voice to reach every person on this planet and that they would listen and over
time would incite change and influence policy.
‘Finally, I believed, someone
with African-American roots could be a voice for all people of colour and help
to educate people. It was a very powerful thing for me.’
So it was with a sense of
overwhelming sadness that Rose last week watched the Duchess of Sussex’s
‘nuclear’ interview with U.S. interviewer Oprah Winfrey.
Meghan — pregnant with her
second child — stunned the world as she laid bare the reasons behind the royal
couple’s escape from the seemingly gilded cage of royal life.
Not only did Meghan claim that
the lack of support she received from ‘the Firm’ had left her suicidal, but —
most damaging of all — that she had been the victim of racism.
