Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex, Megan Markle, opened up in an emotional interview on her documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey about the pressures the media has put on her since joining the Royal Family. She reveals that she's not quite ok due to the public pressure and scrutiny of the media, especially since becoming a new mom.
Markle began her relationship with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, back in June 2016, when she was set up on a blind date by a mutual friend. Their engagement was announced on November 27th, 2017 and announced that she would retire from acting and became a British citizen. She and Harry were married on May 19th, 2018 at Windsor Castle. Markle became a mother on May 6th, 2019, when she gave birth to seventh in line to the throne, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. Sine taking maternity leave, she was out of the public eye and that's when tabloids swirled, creating lie after lie about the duchess.
On October 1st, Prince Harry had released a statement on their website expressing his anger toward the lies that the British media has created about Markle. He said that they have "vilified her almost daily for the past nine months," and "have been able to create lie after lie at her expense simply because she has not been visible while on maternity leave." He concluded that he cannot sit back and watch his wife being bullied by the media. He wrote, "I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces." He said that the "ruthless campaign" has only "escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son." Still, he and Markle put on a brave face and continue to do their humanitarian work across the globe. In their recent documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, the couple goes to South Africa to work for an organization teaching women to literally fight back against endemic violence. Watch Markle open up for ITV about her daily struggles below:
In the documentary, it shows the two very different sides of Markles' life. She spoke to ITV about her daily struggles since has only grown since giving birth to Archie. The reporter said to Markle that Harry is obviously concerned about protecting her from what his mother, Princess Diana, had gone through regarding the media. He asked her if the pressure has caused her any "physical and mental health" problems and Markle replied, "Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable." The Duchess continued, "So that was made really challenging and then when you have a newborn … especially as a woman, it’s really, it’s a lot." She said the stress is just added to "just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed." But the fact that the reporter had asked Markle if she was ok, meant the world to her. She said, "Thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m OK." She said that "it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes." In conclusion, the reporter for ITV asked Markle if it "would be fair to say" that she's "not really ok?" And Markle replied with a simple "Yes."
It's obvious that Prince Harry is wanting to avoid the stress that his mother was put under by the media that led her to her public battle with depression and self-harm. The very open and honest Markle is showing women all over the world that being vulnerable is ok, and being "not really ok" is still ok, but that there is no excuse for bullying. Fans can watch more behind-the-scenes of these royal's lives on their documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey.
Harry and Meghan: An African Journey premieres Wednesday, October 23rd at 10pm EST on ABC.