Meghan Markle heads for trouble as her career ambitions are called into question | Royal | News

Meghan Markle's claim that she complained to Procter & Gamble (P&G) about its “sexist” dishwashing detergent advertisements, prompting the industrial giant to change its advertising, has once again been called into question.

The Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry embarked on a quasi-royal four-day tour of Colombia last week, leaving a journalist – Bianca Betancourt, digital culture editor of Harper's Bazaar – in charge of news bulletins to the world's media.

On the final day of their tour, the couple took part in a panel titled “Afro-descended women and power: a voice for equality,” where Meghan mentioned her infamous “washing dishes” story. However, it was omitted from the official bulletin sent to media around the world regarding her appearance.

The Duchess has mentioned on several occasions that at the age of 11, she wrote a letter to P&G after feeling offended by an advertisement for the company's dishwashing detergent. The advertisement addressed women doing housework and stated: “All over America, women are battling greasy pots and pans.”

But according to Meghan, after her complaint, the company changed the wording of the ad from “women” to “people.”

Her claim has long been questioned, as it is still unclear whether her actions contributed to the change. However, Ms. Betancourt's failure to mention her claim in her bulletin raised even more questions about the story.

Recounting Meghan's speech during the panel discussion, the editor of Digital Culture said: “I am very lucky to have felt like my voice was heard from a young age, and that is a luxury that many young girls and women often cannot afford.

“For us and the work we do with Archewell and the work we do as parents…”

Meanwhile, the Dail Mail sent its own senior world news reporter, Nick Pisa, to Colombia to cover the tour, and he published a slightly modified report of Meghan's speech.

Mr Pisa's report states: “I was very fortunate from a young age to feel that my voice was heard. And I think that is a luxury that many young girls and women often cannot afford.”

“I was 11 years old, and you may know this story: I had seen a commercial that I found sexist, and I wrote a letter, several letters, about it, and the commercial was changed.

“When you're 11 years old, you realise very quickly that your own little voice can have a very big impact. I think that creates the framework for feeling empowered to use your voice because you know you're being listened to. It never feels good to use your voice and no one is listening to you. That's not ideal.

“So for us and the work we do with our Archewell Foundation…”

According to the Daily Beast, Ms Betancourt claimed she did not include Meghan's epistolary story to conform to her newspaper's “style.” She said: “My story was written for Bazaar readers and I simply highlighted new information that might be of most interest to them.”

“We do not record every single statement made at any type of event we cover, and we never have.”

Meghan's story has been disputed by several of her critics, as well as her own father, who could not verify its accuracy.

Author Tom Bower claimed in his book “Revenge: 'Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors'” that Vanity Fair initially printed the story in a profile about Meghan, but then removed it after fact-checkers could not confirm its accuracy.

Her father, Thomas Markle, had previously stated that his daughter's story may have been “somewhat embellished.”

In 2020, he said in the documentary “Thomas Markle: My Story”: “I think Meghan was part of some kind of letter-writing campaign. The story that she changed the ad on her own was perhaps a little embellished.”

A year later, in March, he told Good Morning Britain: “It was all part of the social studies class at school and they all wrote letters.”