It’s no secret that Prince Harry and Meghan have relocated to the Cotswolds and no one is more delighted than long-term resident Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.
The Prince Of Pattern, 61, predicts 45-year-old Meghan’s popularity could soar if she embraces an ordinary life there, emulating down-to-earth Kate Middleton, 44.
He said: ‘William and Kate live a very ordinary lifestyle for royals. Yes, it’s a very schmanzy lifestyle, it’s very Waitrose, but they don’t have the sort of world you would anticipate if you watched the Princess Diaries.
‘They don’t even have the opulence you would see Hollywood A-listers having. They take the kids to school, to the rugby fixtures, the flute practise… the ordinary stuff is very part of their lives.
‘I think this is the sort of life Harry wants. If Meghan can lean into that and relax a bit, enjoy it and let us appreciate her for who she actually is, rather than who she feels she ought to be, that’s one of the [important] things.
‘The thing about Harry is he’s genuine. Sometimes too genuine. That’s why everyone absolutely loved him.
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen said new Cotswolds resident Meghan Markle should emulate down-to-earth Kate Middleton to win over the locals and says ‘we’re very down and dirty here’
The Prince Of Pattern, 61, said: ‘William and Kate live a very ordinary life. Yes, it’s very Waitrose, but they don’t have the sort of life you might anticipate if you watched the Princess Diaries’ (stock image)
‘When Kate is talking to people, she’s actually really interested in what they are saying… She is not trying to make some sort of point.
He added: ‘We don’t see Kate as often as we used to, but when we do, it’s incredibly special.
‘When she smiles at someone, it’s like a floodlight. She is absolutely fixed on who they are and what they are saying and what they’re all about and that’s such an incredibly important part of the new royal mystique.
‘The royals used to be quite distant but now, when they do descend from the heavens, when we do bump into them, we want them to be relatable.
‘King Charles is more relatable these days than he has ever been and at this point more relatable than what we have seen of Meghan.
‘That’s a man who has grown up in an extraordinary way but he really understands his nation. But let’s see where it goes.’
Laurence recalled how down-to-earth Harry, 41, was when growing up at Highgrove, saying: ‘Everyone loved Harry for his banter.
‘The amount of times I saw him queuing up for a tandoori or looking very hungover in Waitrose on a Sunday morning, trying to sort out the way he felt before he went to have Sunday lunch with his dad.
‘Harry is like the Prince Of Bants. With the duchess, it will be a very different life to the one she’s known.
‘She is going to have to watch the white jeans, because it’s so muddy here. We need to see muddy Meghan at the tandoori. Just by doing that, she’d seduce the nation.
He continued: ‘They will enjoy being themselves a lot more if they let their hair down and let their freak flag fly. We are very down and dirty here and Harry knows that.’
Laurence said the British way of life is quite different to the Californian one.
‘Meghan has always found it quite difficult to understand that we in Britain are in it for the bants,’ he said. ‘Particularly with our famous people.
‘When Brits see you in the street, they feel that they are part of your fame. They’ve paid the licence fee. it’s like they are small investors, so they do feel quite proprietorial.
‘Us Brits express that by being jolly and rather off hand, We’re not sycophantic to famous people and I think Meghan found that really difficult. Whereas, in America, you put people on a pedestal until they really f*** it up.
‘In this country, we are used to seeing Jeremy Clarkson at the chip shop and Nigella on the bus. Being famous doesn’t stop you from being part of society. As long as she understands that. Being royal doesn’t really protect you from that.’
Should Meghan try to blend in with British country life or proudly keep her Californian roots?
Laurence recalled how down-to-earth Harry, 41, was when growing up at Highgrove, saying he would see him in the local tandoori or hungover at Waitrose
Laurence is convinced that the return to the UK is perfect for the couple because Meghan will be drawn by the A-list international appeal, with the likes of Beyonce, Jay-Z, the Beckhams, Taylor Swift and Ellen DeGeneres all frequenting the area.
He said: ‘It’s all about childhood memories for him and looking to rebuild your life on an emotional level. He wants his children to have the safe identity that he had.
‘He had a terrible childhood, there is no shrinking from it. The death of his mother was appalling.
‘The royal family did an incredible job of trying to support William and Harry but this was a terrible thing to happen. Harry’s going out of his way to make sure a lot of things that happened to him, aren’t going to happen to his children.
‘This is very much about bringing the children back to have a British education to be part of the British side of their family history and spend more time with the King.
‘King Charles is working harder than ever but he has his cancer diagnosis. We all realise how fragile life is at that age. I am approaching that age myself. It’s like sniper alley. There’s so much that can go wrong.’
Laurence has previously branded Meghan, The Duchess Of Beige, but hopes the couple will embrace colour in their Cotswolds home.
He said: ‘The majority of Cotwolds houses were built by people who loved pattern and colour. It’s a great celebration of all the countryside outside – but beige is the colour of nature when it has died.
‘They will enjoy being themselves a lot more if they really let their hair down and don’t feel everything has to be perfect, the colour of oatmeal and perfectly manicured. You can do what you want to do here.’
In sad news for Meghan and her As Ever business enterprise, Laurence is not a condiment lover, saying: ‘I have never really understood the point of jam.’
But he does admit he was ‘rather intrigued by Meghan’s wildflower sprinkles’ and is interested to see how much of her business empire comes to the UK with her.
‘If I was on Meghan’s team,’ he said. ‘I would be trying to get her in with Lady Bamford who is the great creative driving force behind Daylesford.
‘The Meghan brand would definitely sit very well there if they were looking for a collab.’
Laurence said Meghan needs to hang out at his end of the Cotswolds and would love to extend an invite for an afternoon tea, saying: ‘It’s posh here, but it’s very Jilly Cooper. Very naughty.’
Laurence Lleweyn-Bowen is host of The Royal Beat on True Royalty TV and is gearing to launch his new YouTube Channel LLB The Home of Home this coming January.
