Meghan Markle is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous people after she married Prince Harry in 2018. Since the former actress was romantically involved and also marrying into the royal family, naturally, she had to get along with its members.
According to Harper’s Bazaar, Meghan and Harry met through a mutual friend. They got acquainted online and decided to go on a date in person before the prince ended up showing up late.
At the time, Meghan apparently was warned by her British friends about Harry because of the possible scrutiny she might experience from the British tabloids. Admittedly naive, Markle dismissed the warnings and continued seeing him.
As news of their engagement was revealed, it became apparent that the royal family had embraced Meghan as their new family member. However, things went awry during the days leading up to their actual wedding when Meghan’s father decided to do the unthinkable and coordinate with the British tabloids to wreak havoc on the wedding and fuel more controversy surrounding it.
In the years that have gone by, Meghan’s strained image among the British public and the royal family seemed beyond repair. Together, Meghan and Hary stepped down as senior working royals and decided to leave the United Kingdom for a quieter life in the United States with their family.
Despite this, Meghan and Harry still became subjects of intense scrutiny because of their big move. Several publications have even reported that Meghan sent a letter to King Charles that talked about the racism she felt within the family, but what she received as a response was something she did not expect at all.
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle (2017), (Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images)
According to royal biographer Robert Hardman’s book “Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II,” a gracious King Charles asked Meghan if she wanted him to escort her down the aisle at her wedding, given the fact that her own father was not invited to the wedding because of the drama and controversy he had caused prior.
“Feeling for his future daughter-in-law, the Prince of Wales offered to step in, saying he would be honored to escort Meghan up the aisle of St George’s Chapel to the altar. The reply, according to one friend, was not quite what he was expecting: ‘Can we meet halfway?’” Hardman wrote. “Here was an indicator that this was no blushing bride, but a confident, independent woman determined to make a grand entrance on her own.”
In 2018, Harry discussed the same thing on the BBC documentary “Prince, Son, and Heir,” sharing that it was his idea to have his father ask Meghan if she wanted him to walk her down the aisle.
“I asked him to and I think he knew it was coming, and he immediately said, ‘Yes, of course, I’ll do whatever Meghan needs and I’m here to support you.’” Harry remembered. “For him, that’s a fantastic opportunity to step up and be that support, and you know, he’s our father, so of course, he’s going to be there for us.”
In January 2020, the world was shocked because of the so-called Megxit, a wordplay on the words “Meghan” and “exit,” and the term “Brexit,” which denoted the departure of Prince Harry and Meghan from the British royal family for a quieter life in the United States. Their shocking exit was the culmination of years of mounting pressure and drama from the British tabloids and the royal family.
Prince Harry, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Meghan Markle (2018), (Jonathan Brady-WPA Pool/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images)
In March 2021, more than a year after they settled in California after leaving the United Kingdom, Meghan and Harry sat down with Oprah Winfrey to talk at length about their departure as working royals of the British royal family.
Among the revelations that were made was that someone from the royal family talked about concerns over Archie’s skin color, given that Meghan is part Black.
“In those months when I was pregnant, all around the same time, so we have in tandem the conversation of, he won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title, and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born,” Meghan revealed.
She also noted that as a working royal, Meghan felt constant criticism, sexism, and racism from the British tabloids – which led to her mental health being compromised. In the most extreme times, she even felt suicidal.
“I just didn’t see a solution. I would sit up at night, and I was just, like, I don’t understand how all of this is being churned out. And, again, I wasn’t seeing it, but it’s almost worse when you feel it through the expression of my mom or my friends, or them calling me crying, just, like, ‘Meg, they’re not protecting you’. And I realized that it was all happening just because I was breathing,” she explained.
Meghan tried seeking help and asked the institution, but she was reportedly turned down because the appearance of her seeking help would tarnish the family’s image. At this point, she felt that she wasn’t good for the institution, hence the exit.
Eventually, the couple returned to the United Kingdom when Queen Elizabeth II died. However, only Harry attended his father’s coronation because Meghan was celebrating Prince Archie’s birthday in the United Stat
Meghan Markle (2018), (Ben Birchall-WPA Pool/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images)
Aside from the fact that it was Prince Archie’s birthday, many hypothesized that there was another reason why Meghan did not attend King Charles’ coronation ceremony.
The Telegraph posits that King Charles was the only senior member of the royal family who had reached out to Meghan after the Winfrey interview. Reportedly, Charles expressed his sadness and disappointment at the need to mount such a high-profile interview to discuss such damaging allegations. Elsewhere in the exchange, it was discussed that Charles’ remarks about Archie’s skin color were not made with malice. Meghan pointed out that she never intended to specifically accuse the said individual of being racist, but she was only raising concerns about unconscious bias.
The inside source revealed that although the letter was warm in tone, it had not eased the tension between the two sides. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Meghan has since dismissed the said speculation.
“The Duchess of Sussex is going about her life in the present, not thinking about correspondence from two years ago related to conversations from four years ago. Any suggestion otherwise is false and frankly ridiculous. We encourage tabloid media and various royal correspondents to stop the exhausting circus that they alone are creating,” Meghan’s spokesperson told People Magazine.
Additionally, Harry doubled down on an ITV interview in 2023, in which he said that Meghan did not accuse the royal family of racism.
“No. The British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention ‘they’re racists?’…The difference between racism and unconscious bias… the two things are different. Once it’s been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you, therefore, have an opportunity to learn and grow from that… otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism,” Harry explained.
King Charles III (2023), (Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage via Getty Images)
What can you say about the revelations stemming from reported letters between Meghan Markle and King Charles? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends and other royal family fans!
King Charles III (2023), (Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage via Getty Images)
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