But there appears to be precious little inner peace in Meghans troubled life today.It has been three years since Meghan went public with her romance with Prince Harry, and since becoming the Duchess of Sussex last year the very idea of sitting beside the ocean to contemplate the universe is unthinkable without being watched and condemned by social media trolls.So its little wonder that, as Harry and Meghan plan a six-week break, to include a large chunk of time in her Los Angeles homeland next month, rumours that they want to quit Britain are rife with suggestions that the couple will be house-hunting in Malibu and Beverly Hills.

And when all the leaves are brown and the sky is grey in England, you can be sure that Meghan is California Dreamin.

But its not just a song, its an animated principle that runs deep through Meghans veins.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, a California girl who lives by the ethos that most things can be cured with either yoga, the beach or a few avocados, she once wrote on her now-deleted lifestyle blog, The Tig, replete with snaps of sun-kissed palm trees and Meghan running, power-walking and performing yoga asanas.

When Meghans official coat of arms was unveiled last year, Buckingham Palace explained, the heraldic shield she helped design included two golden rays representing the California sunshine against a blue background symbolising the Pacific Ocean, set on a field of grass with golden poppies Californias state flower. I love being a California girl, she has said. Theres no place like home.

But unlike Dorothy in the Wizard Of Oz, Meghan cant tap her ruby slippers together and transport herself home.

Her legion of critics angered by Meghans repeated breach of Royal tradition throwing her own baby shower, not bringing her newborn to the hospital steps to meet the world, stopping Harry hunting and kissing and cuddling him in public might do well to understand that no HRH title or diamond tiara can change Meghan from the California Girl she is at heart. Her existential problem: Is Meghan too Californian?

George Bernard Shaw said that Britain and America are two countries divided by the same language, and Meghan is still reeling from the culture shock.

Meghans dilemma is rooted in her DNA, growing up in the most liberal, self-indulgent, touchy-feely, pseudo-spiritual state in America.

It is a scientific fact that if you stay in California you lose one point of your IQ every year, said author Truman Capote, no fan of the locals penchant for narcissistic introspection. In California everyone goes to a therapist, is a therapist, or is a therapist going to a therapist.

Meghans long-divorced parents, former TV lighting director Thomas Markle and Doria Ragland, were married in an Indian ceremony at the Self-Realization Fellowship temple in Hollywood, in a ceremony presided over by Brother Bhaktananda in blazing orange robes.

Doria, now aged 64, is a yoga instructor, who called Meghan Flower.

I started doing mummy-and-me yoga with her when I was seven, Meghan has recalled. I was very resistant as a kid, but she said, Flower, you will find your practice, just give it time. In college I started doing it more regularly.

Like many Californians, Meghan set great store by the importance of personal exploration. Self-discovery and self-actualization are virtually enshrined in the state constitution.

In coming to Britain shes had to give up her meditation guru named Light, and her psychic Richard Win, who predicted she would be moving to the UK months before Meghan met Harry.

She has moved from California, where making a human connection means expressing your innermost doubts and fears to total strangers you meet in the queue at Starbucks, and come to a country where emotional diarrhoea is considered impolite.

Worse, she has joined The Firm, as the Royals call their family, where emotions and self-interest have been suppressed for centuries beneath the stiffest upper lips in the nation, in what has proven a culture shock off the Richter Scale.

Meghans move to Britain has also seriously cut back on her available time for meditation, exercise and yoga.

I love an intense vinyasa class and even better if its blasting hip hop and done in a dark room with candlelight, she gushed before meeting Harry. Ill do yoga a couple of times a week.

She was also a fan of Pilates Platinum classes for cardio and strength training, raved about Russell Simmonss Meditation Made Simple app, and followed Hollywood personal trainer Tracy Andersons workout DVD, loved by Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian.

Her Frogmore Cottage home has been upgraded to include a wellness sanctuary and yoga studio where she can escape.

But she must miss Californias al fresco lifestyle not to mention the camaraderie and anonymity of working out in a class full of like-minded granola-eating woke souls who would never dare gawp.

Meghan admitted this week that she didnt know what she was in for when marrying into the Royal Family, and friends warned her: You shouldnt do it. She grew up in Hollywood wanting to be a Disney princess, and in later years was a fan of Elizabeth Hurley in TV series The Royals, which hardly prepared her for the reality of life under the strictures of the Palace, where insiders claim she feels personally stultified and emotionally calcified.

She has come from a land of political correctness run amok to marry a man who once dressed up in Nazi uniform for a party, and who exposed the temple of his body at a drunken bash in Las Vegas.

Not that its easy for Harry to understand his wifes psyche. Californians embrace introspection, though rarely do they have any real understanding of themselves. Rather, they enjoy the solipsistic self-exploration that makes them the centre of their universe, with all the intellectual rigour of a Cosmopolitan magazine personality quiz.

Its so important to surround yourself with people who are grounded and really optimistic, Meghan has said.

But there seems little grounding or optimism in Meghans life today. She has complained of Royal life in Britain that she is existing not living, and Harry has spoken of moving overseas, raising speculation that the couple could even resign from the Royal Family.

This is the same Meghan who was so affected by the experience of reading the romantic memoir Eat, Pray, Love, that she took a month off to tour Italy. Now every single moment of her day is planned out for her in advance and contains no room for spontaneity.

Its noteworthy that Meghan recently renewed the trademark for her deleted lifestyle blog, The Tig, sparking speculation that she might relaunch her innermost thoughts on the world once again in what would undoubtedly be seen as yet another breach of Royal protocol. In The Tig she once explained: I write about empowerment and self-identification.

One wonders if she can identify herself these days or spends much of her time California Dreamin.

Originally posted here:
Meghan Markle: Stressed Duchess gave up her whole way of life to marry into Royal Family - Express