Meghan Changing The Royal Rule

How Meghan Markle Is Modernizing The Monarchy

WHEN Meghan Markle arrived at London’s Royal Academy of Arts on Sept. 25 for her first solo event as the Duchess of Sussex, she exited her chauffeured vehicle, gamely shook a greeter’s hand and — gasp! — shut her own car door. The gesture — which strayed from royal family protocol, in which attendants tend to pesky things like door-closing — sent royal watchers’ tongues wagging. But it was just another subtle way that the duchess has taken a stance against stuffy tradition. “Meghan’s always been independent,” explains an insider, “and she’s started writing her own rules.”

MAKING WAVES