Meghan Markle’s candid admission that she was brought up to feel guilty about having “lots of” money has been slammed as a cynical “tactic” to appear relatable by a top branding expert.
The Duchess of Sussex’s original comment came on her podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, alongside billionaire clothing entrepreneur Sara Blakely.
Meghan told her businesswoman desk that she had been shouldered with a crushing “guilt mentality surrounding having a lot” of money since childhood.
However, branding expert Doug Eldridge was unconvinced with her statement and described the chat was “inevitable but terribly inauthentic”.
Meghan Markle has been branded 'terribly inauthentic' after her recent podcast admission
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During the podcast, Meghan also said her guilt was made worse by “scarcity mindset” that had been ingrained - which left people feeling dissatisfied regardless of their success.
She despaired about the compulsion some felt that they will “never have enough”.
"It’s like humidity you can't see it, but you feel it and it's undeniable,” Eldridge explained to Fox News in the US.
“For Meghan, this was a tactic to try and become more relatable to her audience, but you can't fake authenticity.
Meghan said she had been brought up feeling a sense of 'guilt' about being wealthy
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“You either have it or you don't. This has been an ongoing struggle for her,” the expert observed.
More than an ability to come across as genuine as she would like, Eldridge also felt Meghan was alienating herself from what should be her target audience.
“In terms of the royal family, her indirect references continue to hurt her with the target audience,” Eldridge claimed.
The branding guru slammed the duchess’ use of a “perpetual victim card” as now having “backfired”.
Eldridge believed that Meghan's attempts at being relatable had 'backfired' on her
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Eldridge felt that her attempts to appear relatable ultimately had an inverse effect, creating further “self-inflicted” gaffes.
Seemingly, the expert appears to be onto something as Meghan has seen her popularity sink in recent months.
According to polling from YouGov, the Duchess of Sussex is now viewed positively by just 20 per cent of Britons - whilst 65 per cent see her negatively.
These latest figures show only a slight change from February's survey, but mark a dramatic fall from 2019 when 55 per cent of the public viewed her favourably.
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Meghan has also seen her popularity sink in recent months
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Meghan’s favourability was not much better across the pond.
Only 41 per cent of Americans polled Duchess of Sussex positively, while a full quarter of respondents revealed they viewed her negatively.
The damming numbers leave Meghan lagging behind royals such as Princess Kate, Princess William and King Charles.
49 per cent of the 1,296 US adults polled felt positively about the Princess of Wales, while only six per cent were left with a negative impression.
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