Having your name made into a verb is a singular distinction, even for a royal – but the Duchess of Sussex is unlikely to be happy at how hers has found its way into the English language.
In the Urban Dictionary – an online lexicon of slang – ‘Meghan Markle’ is listed as ‘a verb for ghosting or disposing [of] people once you have no use or benefit from them any more without any regard to genuine human relationships’.
Accompanying examples of usage are given to illustrate the meaning: ‘Do not Meghan Markle me when your movie comes out!’, ‘She did a Meghan Markle on her friends as soon as she became famous’ and ‘Mary did a Meghan Markle on her poor husband as soon as she became famous’.
The definition may seem harsh to the Duchess’s camp. But there is little doubt that she has virtually dropped all contact with a number of former close friends and family members since meeting Prince Harry, most notably her 74-year-old father Thomas Markle. He was frozen out after he was exposed by The Mail on Sunday staging photos with the paparazzi just before the Royal Wedding last year.
Childhood friend Ninaki Priddy received similar treatment. She had once been so close to Meghan that they were said to be like sisters. But Ms Priddy is believed to have been unhappy over the way Meghan ended her first marriage to Trevor Engelson and found herself ‘Markled’.
Millie Mackintosh was also ‘Meghaned’. The Made In Chelsea star had been tipped to be a bridesmaid at the Royal Wedding, but in the end she wasn’t even a guest. Some said she had been ditched as Harry and his bride mercilessly culled anyone from their social circles they suspected might be to blame for stories about the couple being leaked to the press.
Mail on Sunday columnist Piers Morgan became pally with Meghan after meeting her when she was an actress on legal drama Suits but he too found himself dropped by the royal.
He said: ‘As someone who has actually been Meghan Markled by Meghan Markle, I feel great empathy with anyone who gets Markled in life. There’s never any need for it. You should always at least have the basic good manners to tell someone why they are no longer of any use to you as you crawl ruthlessly up the social ladder.’
And it seems Harry may be following his wife’s approach, after reports that he has banished former close pals including his onetime wingman Tom Inskip. Some speculated that the Duchess asked the Prince, 34, to ‘Meghan’ his old friends before he froze them out. However, defenders of Meghan, 37, have pointed out that, though the Urban Dictionary is popular worldwide, it has no official status and is vulnerable to being manipulated by trolls. The definition for ‘Meghan Markle’ was created by ‘Hayley71’ in December and has received 25 ‘thumbs up’ and just one ‘thumbs down’ from users.