Meghan Markle believes successful women of colour like her are called ‘demanding or aggressive’ because of 'sexist and racist' attitudes, a new book claims.
Meghan is said to have thought some of the stories about her were down to her sex and because she has a black mum.
Extracts from new biography Finding Freedom, by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, claim a friend said that she was seen as ‘Duchess Different’ and because she stood out she was not liked by some.
The controversial book is serialised by the Sunday Times.
The friend said: "It was open season on Meghan, with many looking for anything and everything to criticise ‘“Duchess Different".
“That’s what people have a problem with. She’s the easiest person in the world to work with. Certain people just don’t like the fact she stands out.”’
Meghan, a former actress, is claimed to have a solid work ethic which includes waking at 5am each morning and talking to her key aides about how to shape her new role in the royal family.
However shortly after Harry and Meghan’s marriage in May 2018 rumours emerged that she was wasting no time in putting her 'stamp' on her new role and those around her.
The book claims this led to her decisive and assertive nature being seen negatively.
The authors wrote: "Meghan felt as though some of the commentary and tabloid stories were more than a culture clash; they were sexist and prejudiced.
"If a man got up before dawn to work, he was applauded for his work ethic.
"If a woman did it, she was deemed difficult or “a bitch”. The double standard was exacerbated when it came to successful women of colour, often labelled demanding or aggressive.’
The authors said in the book that while racism ‘takes a different form in the UK from in America’, it remains ‘ingrained’ here.
It is claimed that a worker at Buckingham Palace once said he was ‘surprised’ to hear Mr Scobie, was was privately educated, speak so well.
In their book, Mr Scobie and Ms Durand say: "Racism takes a different form in the UK from in America, but there is no mistaking its existence and how ingrained it is.
"A major theme of racism in the UK centres on the question of who is authentically “British”.
"It can come through in subtle acts of bias, micro-aggressions such as the palace staffer who told the bi-racial co-author of these words, “I never expected you to speak the way you do”, or the newspaper headline “Memo to Meghan: we Brits prefer true royalty to fashion royalty”.
"While the columnist was criticising Meghan for her Vogue editorials, there was another way to read it, which is that to be British meant to be born and bred in the UK — and be white."
