Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have lived through a particularly complicated year 2020, punctuated by some ups and downs, and marked by their departure from the Firm after months of harassment by the British media and tensions with other members of the royal family. A look back over twelve months that the Sussex couple are not about to forget.
On January 8, 2020, after months of personal reflections and private conversations, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry formalized their decision to retire from their royal duties.
Tired, exhausted and wounded by the campaign of harassment waged by the British media since Meghan Markle’s arrival in the Firm, the Sussex couple surrendered their apron, eager to start a new life away from the United Kingdom and the Royal Family.
A radical decision taken by Prince Harry, who had no intention of letting his wife go through what his mother Princess Diana had lived through for so many years. After a period of transition in Canada, the couple flew to Los Angeles, just before the U.S. borders closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This Megxit, the British will remember. Beginning with Prince William and Kate Middleton, with whom the relationship has deteriorated over time, they never had any chemistry with Meghan Markle. The last appearance of the Fab Four last March at Westminster Abbey on the occasion of the Commonwealth celebration speaks volumes about the palpable tensions at the heart of the torn clan. After having definitively left London, the Sussex started their new life in Los Angeles, before settling in a huge estate in Santa Barbara.
An adjustment that will require a lot of effort from Prince Harry, completely isolated from what he had always known since his birth and thousands of miles away from his closest friends.
Rejected by the Crown
By leaving the royal family, the Sussex couple thought they could preserve their mental health while continuing to maintain a good relationship with the Firm at a distance. This was without counting on the tenacious grudge of Prince William, who had been very angry and particularly cold with his little brother since his departure.
Soon Meghan and Harry received the message loud and clear that they were no longer welcome in the affairs of the Crown. At Remembrance Sunday last November, Prince Harry had requested that a wreath be laid in his name at the Cenotaph, in honour of the soldiers of the two World Wars. The request was denied by the Firm, which only widened the gap between the Duke and the rest of the Royal Family.
A few months after the Sussex’s departure from the United Kingdom, Finding Freedom, a biography full of revelations about the couple, appeared in bookstores. A book so well documented that many people wonder about the role that Meghan and Harry had in its writing.
While the authors of the biography have always firmly denied the personal involvement of the Sussex couple in the project, Meghan Markle was recently forced to admit to having played a role in the writing of the book, by ensuring that a “third party” gave certain information to the authors.
Justice gets tangled up
It was in the context of her lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited, the company that publishes the tabloids Mail On Sunday and MailOnline, that the Duchess made her revelations via her lawyers. Several months ago, Prince Harry’s wife appealed to the courts to clear her honor, even though excerpts from a very personal letter to her father had been published in the tabloids.
This is yet another case for Meghan Markle, internally broken by personal concerns, including her miscarriage, which she revealed in the columns of the New York Times last month. A year of pain, sacrifices, challenges and questions for the couple, more than ever united despite the trials.
Photo credits : Agency / Bestimage
