Tatum O’Neal has branded the Duchess of Sussex “tacky” after a Wimbledon fan described how she was told not to take photos of the royal at the tennis tournament.
Sally Jones, a media consultant and former BBC sports journalist, said she was trying to get a shot of Serena Williams on Centre Court when she was tapped on the shoulder and asked by a royal protection officer not to take pictures of Meghan because she was at the tournament in a “private capacity”.
O’Neal, who used to be married to Wimbledon champion John McEnroe, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “It’s so upsetting to me, because if you think of Princess Diana and you think of how absolutely inclusive she was and she would never turn anyone away.
“I had so much hope for Meghan. I wanted her to be the next Princess Diana and it seems like it’s all about her and it’s really upsetting me. I’m sorry Harry, because I love Harry.
'You are a royal, you are not an actor. To have a bodyguard muscle, someone out, is so tacky.'
Actress @Tatum_Oneal says she finds controversy surrounding Meghan Markle's recent appearance at Wimbledon 'upsetting'. #GMB pic.twitter.com/kcGU5D5gkN
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) July 10, 2019
“You are now a royal, you are not an actor, to have a bodyguard muscle somebody out, I just think it’s so tacky, you know?”
The Oscar winner, whose parents are actors Ryan O’Neal and Joanna Moore, added: “You are not entitled to a lot (of privacy) when you are a royal… I’m fine now. I can walk down the street. I like being anonymous.
“Being raised by so many celebrities, in a way, and then marry a celebrity in my early twenties, I just decided that I would always be nice to people who asked for anything, an autograph or a picture, because that is something they remember for the rest of their life and it’s one second of my life.”
She continued: “If you get the ring reset… and you do a 400,000 dollar renovation and you do the private jet to New York for the party… it’s not Diana. This is not Diana, this is something else. I don’t know what it is.”
O’Neal praised the Duchess of Cambridge, who has also attended Wimbledon this year, saying: “I think Kate really gets it. She gets the lack of privacy and I hope they (the couples) are not fighting… Can you imagine though, it seems to me they could not be nicer people, how do you not get along with Kate and William? They are so nice.”
Jones earlier told GMB: “I’m a great fan of the royals… Two days earlier the Duchess of Cambridge had also been watching, also from that court, no fuss.
“It all seemed to be part of that business about the secrecy over the godparents and trying to prevent the media getting any kind of handle on… and that business of one moment you are told Meghan has gone into labour and a few minutes later you are told the baby was born a few hours ago.
“You almost feel the media and the public, who really love that couple, are really being taken for mugs.”