Christina Oxenberg Is King Charles’ Third Cousin Who Said Hazed Meghan Markle Should ‘Hang in There’

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle discussed how the royal family treated the Duchess of Sussex after they stood down as senior royals. Christina Oxenberg, King Charles' cousin, has recently been speaking up for her.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, decided to step back from being active royals in October 2019 and left England for the United States in March 2020.

One year later, the pair sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a two-hour interview to address how some royal family members mistreated the Duchess of Sussex, the racism she endured, constant tabloid attacks, and more.

Christina Oxenberg Is King Charles' Cousin and a Sister of Actress Catherine Oxenberg

Christina is the New York-born second daughter of HRH Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and her businessman husband, Howard Oxenberg. At two, her parents separated, and she moved to London with her mother and actress sister Catherine.

After their move, she discovered the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and her grandmother, the late Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark, were first cousins making her the third cousin of King Charles III.

She did not have a normal childhood, had difficulties growing up, and did not have a great relationship with her father because he believed she was not his child, so he was never very friendly with her.

Her father's doubts started after he discovered that Elizabeth was having an affair with President John F. Kennedy about the same time she became pregnant with Christina.

He never found the truth about the child's paternity, but the late president also believed Christina was his daughter. At 15, she had attended more than 12 boarding schools in the UK, US, and Spain.

While in boarding school, she took a long exeat one weekend, and when she got home, she met a stranger who told her that her mother had sold the house to them.

Christina no longer had clothes in the house as the new family was already living there, and they informed her that her mother had relocated to the United States with no contact number.

Homeless, she asked a friend to accommodate her while she tried to locate her mother, who was her closest family member. After she succeeded, she revealed that her mother was carefree about her welfare.

When the term ended, she moved back to the United States to live with her mother. However, she ended up not going to university and got her first job in New York as an assistant's second assistant, followed by receptionist duties in a musician's office.

Tired of working, Christina traveled the world for six months before getting a job in 1982 as an aide to New York nightlife legend Carmen d'Alessio, and one of Studio 54's founding figures.

Four years later, on a trip to London, she met the late founder of Quartet Books and British businessman Naim Attallah, and he commissioned her first book, "Taxi," a collection of anecdotes.

She started publishing articles in various publications, including Allure Magazine, The London Sunday Times Magazine, Tattler, Salon.com, Penthouse, and more.

The same year she published her first book, she married British painter Damian Elwes. They traveled and lived in Paris, Costa Rica, Morocco, and Colombia. After seven years, they divorced, and she returned to writing.

Today, Christina, who once went into the wool business and became a fashion designer, is the author of over eight books of fiction and non-fiction, a contributory blogger, and a columnist.

Christina Oxenberg Is Used to Spilling the Tea about the British Royal Family

Christina is used to ruffling feathers, especially celebrity and royal feathers, as she has no qualms about spilling their secrets. To do this, she has a subscription-only Patreon account where she creates original content weekly.

She revealed that she writes everything people have asked her not to repeat because she no longer cares at her age. The author has talked about her mother, Jeffrey Epstein, Warren Beatty, Jackie Onassis, and more.

Christina Oxenberg Has Been Very Supportive of Meghan Markle

Recently, her focus topic has been on the British Royal family in the wake of the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. After the Queen's death, Meghan and Harry traveled to the United Kingdom to commemorate.

In an interview, Christina revealed that it was difficult for an outsider to date a male royal family member because it was too tasking, and only the strong would survive the experience.

According to her, what Meghan was going through was not new. However, she had some words of advice for the Duchess of Sussex. Christina said:

"To Meghan Markle, I say, 'What you are going through is a hellish kind of hazing.' If she can just hang in there, someone else will come along who can take the heat. Nobody gets a pass."

According to the author, other women who had dated male royal family members like Kate and Princess Diana also suffered the same fate.

Even though fans have praised Harry for his support for Meghan Markle during the Queen's funeral, Christina has acknowledged that the Duchess has suffered more because of her nationality.

The author stated that it was not okay for the royal family to have treated the Duchess the way they had, and she said the constant attack on Harry's wife was treasonous because she expected them to respect his choice despite the class system.

However, she also understands that because of the system the royals have out in place, a royal can suffer for no good reason as they have a natural habit of hazing outsiders.