Meghan Markle was brutally savaged by a royal commentator who claimed that she deserves “permanent exile” from the royals after her “despicable” attacks against them. The Duchess of Sussex, who turned 45 on Tuesday, has made a number of bombshell claims about her life within the Royal Family.

Despite her short-lived royal tenure, Meghan gave a series of interviews and made a docuseries on Netflix about what she described as a deeply isolating, restrictive, and traumatic experience while being a working royal.

Now, following the Firm’s silence on the duchess’s 45th birthday this week, a royal commentator has weighed in on whether there is any chance of the two camps reconciling at all.

Lee Cohen, a US-based columnist as well as a royal and foreign policy commentator, told the Daily Express: “She [Meghan Markle] brought endless drama, grievance and attention-seeking to an institution built on duty, discretion and service, casting a shadow over the final years of the beloved late Queen.

“Rather than embracing the privilege she was given, she chose profit and publicity over loyalty, and in doing so incinerated every bridge behind her.”

Mr Cohen added: “Another chance? The only thing she deserves is permanent exile from the family she insulted so despicably.”

During an interview with CBS Sunday Morning anchor Jane Pauley in 2024, Meghan used the word “trauma” to describe her experiences while launching Archewell Philanthropies’ Parents’ Network, an initiative designed to support families impacted by the harms of online bullying.

When Ms Pauley asked Meghan about her own history with severe online harassment and her past admissions of suicidal thoughts while inside the palace, Meghan explained how processing that pain became central to her healing journey.

She said: “When you’ve been through any level of pain or trauma, I believe part of our healing journey—certainly part of mine—is being able to be really open about it.”

She further revealed that the public does not yet know the full extent of what she went through as a working royal, adding:

“I haven’t really scraped the surface on my experience, but I do think that I would never want someone else to feel that way, and I would never want someone else to be making those plans, and I would never want someone else to not be believed.”

The CBS interview followed her previous bombshell appearances on Oprah in 2021 and The Cut in 2022, where Meghan spoke about still actively “healing” from her time in the UK.

Meghan has refrained from speaking about her time in the UK since then, while her latest visit to the country last month was kept quiet until after her meeting with the King and Queen at Highgrove House.