A week after the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, launched her Spotify podcast to the world, the former Suits actress has delivered more bombshell revelations in a wide-ranging interview.
In a sit-down at her $US14 million ($20 million) estate in the Californian town of Montecito with US magazine, The Cut, Meghan addressed the breakdown of her and Prince Harry’s relationships with their fathers, compared her wedding to the liberation of Nelson Mandela and spoke cryptically about forgiveness.
The 7000-word cover story dropped on Tuesday (Australian time) – a day before the 25th anniversary of the death of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana. It was matched with a cover shoot – done at a nearby property.
In it, Meghan, 41, who shares Archie, 3 and Lilibet, 1, with Harry, opens up about “losing” her father and says it “doesn’t have to be the same” for her husband and Prince Charles.
The duchess was reportedly close to her father, Thomas Markle, as a child. Their relationship fractured in the days ahead of her wedding to Prince Harry, and he did not attend the ceremony at Windsor Castle. Meghan was walked down the aisle by Harry’s father, Prince Charles.
Tweet from @TheCut
Harry’s relationship with Charles has reportedly been tense since the Sussexes quit as working royals in 2020. During last year’s trainwreck Oprah Winfrey interview, Harry revealed that his father stopped taking his calls after the split.
“Harry said to me, ‘I lost my dad in this process’,” Meghan told The Cut.
“It doesn’t have to be the same for them as it was for me, but that’s his decision.”
She has more to say on the acrimonious split.
“I think forgiveness is really important. It takes a lot more energy to not forgive,” she told the magazine.
“It takes a lot of effort to forgive. I’ve really made an active effort, especially knowing that I can say anything.”
The Mirror‘s royal editor Russell Myers was among the first to react to Tuesday’s revelations, describing it as an “extraordinary interview”, with many “pure gold” quotes.
“One of the most extraordinary pieces I’ve ever read. Just when you think you’ve heard it all, there’s another jaw dropper round the corner,” he wrote.
Over at the Daily Mail, royal editor Rebecca English said the “extraordinary” interview was “often unintentionally hilarious” – and that her “warblings have an unmistakable undertone of cool menace”.
Privacy, and publicity, on Meghan’s terms
Meghan agreed to a sit-down cover with The Cut in early August to talk about her Archetypes podcast, in which she interviews high-profile actors, musicians, athletes and even primatologist Jane Goodall.
It’s the first Spotify content from Harry and Meghan, and shot swiftly to the No.1 spot in the US. The couple signed lucrative deals with Spotify and Netflix in 2020, worth upwards of $175 million.
“Post-royal, there’s no need for her to hold back,”The Cut reveals.
“She’s flinging open the proverbial doors to her life; as any millennial woman whose feminism was forged in the girl-boss era would understand, she has taken a hardship and turned it into content.”
Tweet from @TheCut
Leaving royal life
On their British exit in 2020, Meghan said she and Harry were happy to live in any other Commonwealth country to escape “abusive press coverage” and her declining mental health.
“Then maybe all the noise would stop,” she said.
“Because just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy.
”So we go, ‘OK, fine, let’s get out of here. Happy to’,” she said, raising her hands in a sign of mock defeat, according to The Cut.
Meghan also related a story from one of her first royal outings after Archie was born.
In July 2019, she and Harry attended the star-studded premiere of The Lion King. Meghan said was “scared to go out” at the time.
At the theatre, an unnamed cast member from South Africa pulled her aside.
“He said, ‘I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison’.”
Of the story, The Cut says: “Of course, she knows she’s no Mandela, but perhaps even telling me this story is a mode of defence, because if you are a symbol for all that is good and charitable, how can anybody find you objectionable, how can anybody hate you?”
The duchess also takes the magazine on her drive to pick up Archie from his pre-school, revealing one of the benefits of no longer being a working royal. She said she’d have to put up with up to 40 photographers at the school gate, if she was.
“Sorry, I have a problem with that. That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy. That makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child,” she said.
In fact, the children of senior royals are usually protected from media intrusion. Prince William and wife Kate Middleton are known for regularly doing the school run with Prince George and Princess Charlotte, without being hassled by photographers.
What else from their Californian love story
A reality TV series? Would it be a historical documentary or a reality docu-series?.
“What’s so funny is I’m not trying to be cagey,” Meghan said. “I don’t read any press. So I don’t know what’s confirmed”.
“The piece of my life I haven’t been able to share, that people haven’t been able to see, is our love story.
“I hope that is the sentiment that people feel when they see any of the content or the projects that we are working on.”
