Why Was Meghan Markle’s Call for Equal Pay So Controversial?

Meghan Markle wrote an open letter to Democratic leaders urging them to support paid parental leave for all U.S. citizens. President Joe Biden‘s proposed tax credits are under threat of being cut from his social welfare package.

She was stark in her plea: “I grew up on the $4.99 salad bar at Sizzler — it may have cost less back then (to be honest, I can’t remember) — but what I do remember was the feeling: I knew how hard my parents worked to afford this because even at five bucks, eating out was something special, and I felt lucky.”

That honesty, and her roots, expose a stark class divide, and is part of the reason many in the U.K. can’t welcome her, observers argue.

The U.K. has an ingrained class system, and Meghan’s status as a divorced actress joining the royal family never sat well with many, and is one of the reasons she and husband Prince Harry eventually moved to California and left their royal lives behind.

The duchess went on to say the issue of parental leave was not about “Right or Left” but instead about “right or wrong,” arguing paid leave “should be a national right.”

Since stepping down from the royal family, Meghan and Harry have supported several social causes, and have launched Archewell Inc in a bid to “unleash the power of compassion to drive systemic cultural change.”