Once again, Meghan Markle is at the center of an obsessive, condescending, and often bitter media cycle, this time due to her rebranded lifestyle business, “As Ever.” While royal commentators pick apart her every move, dissecting the aesthetics of her latest business venture, Prince William and Kate Middleton quietly jet off on yet another lavish vacation, largely escaping the same level of scrutiny.

Emma Brockes’ article on Meghan’s rebrand is a perfect example of how the media continues to frame her as an out-of-touch, self-important figure while ignoring the wider reality of royal privilege. Her piece, dripping with sarcasm and classist undertones, characterizes Meghan’s attempt at branding as a “valiant attempt to flog poshness to the little people.” The language used is pointed, with phrases like “aspirant lower middle-class vibe” and remarks about Meghan’s “self-image” versus “how the rest of the world sees her.” It is clear that the intent is not simply critique but mockery.

Commentators online have responded in kind, with some expressing exhaustion at the relentless coverage of Meghan’s every move. Lorraine King questioned why some people, particularly women, seem to take such pleasure in tearing Meghan down. Others noted the irony of these so-called opinion pieces, where journalists freely bash Meghan but cry foul when their own work is criticized. Many pointed out that Meghan’s lifestyle brand is hardly unusual—most celebrities, including the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chrissy Teigen, engage in similar ventures without facing the same level of venom.

Meanwhile, while Meghan is being mocked over her branding choices, William and Kate’s latest luxury getaway to Mustique has gone largely unnoticed in mainstream royal coverage. The Prince and Princess of Wales reportedly skipped the BAFTAs—an event William, as BAFTA president, would typically attend—to take a family trip to the Caribbean. Some critics have questioned whether William, at the very least, could have delayed his trip for the event and joined his family afterward.

The issue is not that the Waleses took a vacation. It is that their repeated, taxpayer-funded escapes are rarely discussed with the same level of scrutiny as Meghan’s business ventures, which require no public funding. The contrast is stark: while Meghan is ridiculed for trying to establish an independent income, William and Kate enjoy taxpayer-funded luxury while being shielded from similar criticism. Prince Andrew is forgotten.

Online discussions reflect this growing frustration. Some users have pointed out the hypocrisy of royalists defending William and Kate’s lifestyle while claiming Meghan is the one profiting from fame. Others have noted how the monarchy continues to rely on distractions, using Meghan as a convenient target to divert attention from the fact that the British public is funding royal extravagance amid a cost-of-living crisis. Here are other useless hacks like Emma Brockes.

The media cycle surrounding Meghan follows a predictable formula. Every few months, she launches or does something relatively benign, which then gets twisted into a symbol of her supposed narcissism and delusions of grandeur. Meanwhile, actual members of the British royal family who benefit from public funding continue to live in extraordinary privilege with far less public criticism. The irony is that the very publications mocking Meghan for trying to monetize her name are the same ones using her name to generate endless content and revenue.

The conversation around Meghan Markle has long ceased to be about her actions and instead serves as a reflection of deep-seated biases, classism, and, for some, outright resentment toward an outsider who married into the monarchy and refused to stay silent. Meanwhile, the people who should be under more scrutiny—the ones who still benefit from British taxpayer money—continue to live in luxury, relatively unbothered by the kind of exhaustive critique Meghan receives for something as simple as a lifestyle brand.

And so the cycle continues. Meghan launches something, the press ridicules her, royal defenders sneer at her efforts, and then William and Kate take yet another vacation while the public is too busy laughing at Meghan’s “aspirant lower middle-class” branding to notice.