Whoopi Goldberg shuts down Meghan Markle debate on 'The View' over her use of 'HRH' title in gift note
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: On the April 30 episode of 'The View', Whoopi Goldberg made it abundantly clear that she’d had quite enough of the latest royal kerfuffle - Meghan Markle’s decision to sign a private gift “HRH, The Duchess of Sussex.”
As her co‑hosts parsed the finer points of protocol, Goldberg’s patience evaporated faster than a jar of strawberry jam.
Whoopi Goldberg rolls eyes at Meghan Markle's title use debate
The controversy centered on a homemade gift: a jar of strawberry jam, to be precise, inscribed “HRH, The Duchess of Sussex."
Though Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stepped back from senior royal duties in 2020, the duchess retained her title, if only for private use.
Host Sunny Hostin pointed out that while the agreement restricted Meghan’s public use of “HRH", it never stripped her of the honorific altogether.
“No, no, it’s not [a bad look],” Hostin argued, explaining that the jam was a private gesture between friends.
Goldberg, however, was already over the minutiae. As Hostin spoke, she quipped with mock exasperation, “Damn them!” and then, cutting through the analysis, barked, “Wake me up when you’re done!”
The remark drew laughter from the panel but underscored her frustration with turning a simple gift into 'Hot Topics' fodder.
Conservative commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin chimed in to call the use of “Her Royal Highness” on a personal gift “a little bit cringe,” though she acknowledged that any royal grumbling seemed “petty” in the grand scheme.
Yet even this mild critique couldn’t keep Goldberg engaged.
At one point, she threw up her hands and asked, “Can I ask a really dumb question that I just woke up for?” to which Joy Behar deadpanned, “Are we that boring?” Goldberg sighed, “It’s the subject matter,” as if that explained the entire segment.
Later in the discussion, Goldberg observed that the truly “cringier” element wasn’t Meghan’s title but rather the friend who made the private exchange public.
To Goldberg, the moment should have stayed between the duchess and her confidante, rather than erupting into a viral headline.
Meghan Markle’s ‘HRH’ gift basket that sparked debate
'The View' panel's comments came after Markle included a printed card that read “With Compliments of HRH The Duchess of Sussex” in a gift basket sent to her friend Jamie Kern Lima, co-founder of IT Cosmetics.
The gift, which contained Markle’s now-talked-about strawberry jam and ice cream, was sent “about a year ago,” Lima revealed on her podcast earlier this week.
While Lima praised the gesture as something that helped “lighten [her] load,” the public reaction has been more mixed.
Critics jumped on Markle's use of the HRH title, a designation she and Prince Harry agreed to no longer use in public following their 2020 step back from senior royal roles.
But according to sources close to Meghan, the gesture was entirely personal, not promotional.
Speaking to The Post, insiders emphasized that the duchess used her title in a private context, and not for commercial gain.
“It was a note to a friend, not a marketing campaign,” one source clarified, denying that the card violated the couple’s agreement with the late Queen Elizabeth II.
When Harry and Mark;e formally stepped down from royal duties, Buckingham Palace issued a clear directive: “The Sussexes will not use their HRH titles as they are no longer working members of the royal family.” But the titles were never stripped, only shelved from public use.
