Bethenny Frankel criticises Harry and Meghan’s post-royal lives as a ‘botched job’

Bethenny Frankel has again criticised Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, with the reality star describing the couple’s lives since leaving the royal family as a “botched job”.

The former Real Housewives of New York City star shared a video to TikTok on Tuesday 25 July to discuss how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been targeted by online criticism since stepping down from their royal duties in 2020. In her own remarks about Harry and Meghan, Frankel appeared to question both the couple and their publicist when she asked: “How could someone botch something so badly?”

She then expressed how she feels sorry for Harry and Meghan, and claimed that the royals think their lives are “fascinating”.

“I almost feel badly, like I think I do feel badly, because I can’t imagine having so much at your fingertips and letting it all slip away because of living inside your own head,” Frankel added. “And thinking every single thing that you do and say and want is so fascinating that you should be accepting awards at podiums around the world. Why?”

After discussing Meghan’s success as an actor before marrying Harry, Frankel once again remarked on the negative press that has surrounded the couple. “How do you do every single thing wrong?” she asked.

The reality star then claimed “god forbid” the couple were to split, they are “all that each other has” - seemingly referring to Harry’s estranged relationships with his father, King Charles III, and older brother, Prince William. Meanwhile, Meghan also has an estranged relationship with her father, Thomas Markle.

Frankel continued her video by claiming that she’d “never seen a botched job like this in my life” as she described Harry and Meghan’s public lives. “I just, I can’t imagine going from hero to zero like that,” she said, seemingly referring to their decision to leave the royal family. “Having money, having opportunities,” she added, before calling Harry and Meghan “two grifters” and urging the couple to stay out of the spotlight.

“Go away for a long time, and basta and close the mouth,” she said.

Frankel then referred to the various ways that Meghan and Harry have recently made headlines, including the paparazzi car chase they experienced in May and the false rumours that Meghan was becoming the face of Dior.

“What goes on?” she said. “Like, just quiet down for a really long time or just like, go on like the Real World or something, I don’t know.”

While Frankel didn’t specify why she was speaking out about Meghan and Harry, she did address the backlash that she’s previously faced for her opinions in the caption of her post. “Remember you cancelled me for stating the truth? Remember it happened again.” In the text over her video she wrote: “The biggest botch jobs ever.”

In the comments of the video, which has more than 276,000 views, many viewers agreed with Frankel and claimed that her criticism about the ongoing coverage of Harry and Meghan was “accurate”.

“I agree. It’s so sad. They could have had such a huge, positive platform,” one TikTok user wrote.

However, other viewers criticised Frankel for continuing to discuss the couple, with one writing: “You do make valid points but you bring them up an awful lot, maybe you should also let them be.”

This isn’t the first time that Frankel has criticised Harry and Meghan’s decisions after leaving the royal family. In a September 2022 episode of her Just B With Bethenny Frankel podcast, she discussed the release of Meghan’s Archetypes podcast, claiming that the duchess “can’t stop talking about the very thing that she wants to be irrelevant”.

Frankel also accused Meghan of trying to “take down” the royal family and said that, while it’s important to address issues of racism, that’s not something that “people are surprised by”.

“So you wanted out of there? Okay you got out but it is your husband’s family and you keep beating the same storyline,” she continued. “You want to be a voice for change, a woman for female empowerment, to talk about racism and how unacceptable it is, what it’s like to be a woman of colour? So do that. So do that in the future.”

The Independent has contacted a representative for Bethenny Frankel and the Sussexes for comment.