At first, Harry and Meghan's exit from the U.K. seemed a pretty done deal. With their "Sussex Royal" brand, the couple appeared to have a source of income to rely on after stepping back from their duties. But when they were stopped from using the brand, life outside London may have started to look a little grimmer. So could the change of events make them reconsider their decision to leave the U.K. behind? Doing so may stir up more controversy than their exodus ever did.
Under pressure
Harry and Meghan's step away from the crown seemed drastic, but it may not have been a complete shock to royal watchers — especially considering what they went through.
The British media covered practically every moment of Meghan and Harry's courtship — and not always in the most flattering way.
The Queen's support
Even the Queen was forced to acknowledge the press' behavior in her statement on Harry and Meghan's exit.
"I recognize the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life," she said.
Leaving a door open
And while Meghan and Harry went through with their plan to leave, some have wondered if their spots will be held for them.
In other words: if they changed their minds about California and wanted to return to the U.K., would that be an option?
Saving his place
Harry did have to give up more than you think before heading to the U.S. When he decided to relinquish being a senior royal, he also had to leave behind his honorary military titles, including his role as Captain General Royal Marines.
For the time being, that position remains vacant.
Press problems
Maybe the title is being kept for Harry in case he returns to the U.K.? But it's unlikely he will renege.
One of his and Meghan's main reasons for leaving in the first place was the press scrutiny. And you can only imagine the frenzy that would follow a return.
Ruthless tabloids
Koenig believes that "the royal family would certainly welcome [Harry and Meghan] back with open arms" — but that the British press wouldn't be so gracious. "The media would be without mercy," she said to Insider.
"I would expect comments about tails between their legs." It wouldn't be easy for Meghan, who's been at loggerheads with the media for a while now.
Dirty psychological tricks
Meghan was in a legal battle with the British newspaper the Daily Mail, which published a private letter between her and her father.
Kerry Daynes, a forensic psychologist, has also claimed that she's been interviewed about Meghan so that her answers can be used against the duchess.
Character attacks
"I have been asked leading questions along the lines of, 'Can you confirm that isolating someone from their family is a tactic used by controlling partners?'" Daynes told Insider in 2020.
Given all this, it's hard to see Meghan wanting to be in the U.K. again.
Handling things with sense
The Queen gave the Sussexes a one-year grace period after they made their announcement, meaning they could have changed their plans if necessary. But for now, the family of four don't show any signs of returning to Frogmore Cottage.
Their former staff aren't there waiting for them, either.
Saying farewell
Yes, the staff at Frogmore Cottage were relocated and told their services would be no longer needed on the premises.
And unless something big happens, it seems the duke and duchess are resolute in their decision.
Standing up for fair journalism
And on their website for their former brand, Sussex Royal, the couple suggested they weren't completely against the media. Instead, they said that they "believe in a free, strong and open media industry, which upholds accuracy and fosters inclusivity, diversity, and tolerance."
It seems that's not what the British media was representing.
Not too unusual
But Meghan and Harry are not the first royals to create a furor. In the early 2000s, another scandal forced two other family members to step back from their jobs.
We're talking about Harry's uncle and aunt: Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
The Wessexes
Before they married, Edward and Sophie were making a good living away from the crown. Sophie had a successful career in PR, and Edward ran a production company.
And for the first few years of their marriage, the couple were allowed the best of both worlds: independence through their jobs and all the prestige that comes with being royal.
Best of both worlds
Yes, the queen granted them permission to continue their professional endeavors while serving their required royal duties.
And everything was seemingly going swimmingly until 2001, when a journalist went undercover as a prospective client of Sophie's PR company.
Caught on record
Unfortunately, the journalist in question claimed to have caught Sophie saying offensive things about the Queen and various politicians. In 2020 royal expert Marlene Koenig also told Insider, "It seemed that she was using her position to get high-paying clients."
Something had to be done to salvage the reputation of the crown.
Closing up shop
Following the incident, there was a crackdown on the couple. The timing was crucial: just before the Queen's Golden Jubilee.
And unlike Harry and Meghan, Edward and Sophie decided to abandon their respective careers to become full-time royals.
Severance pay
The Queen was even said to have paid Edward and Sophie $324,000 to help compensate their financial losses after leaving their lucrative positions.
Edward had been a career man for over a decade before his hand was forced — and yet he left it all behind.
Round two
This situation helped set the precedent that Harry and Meghan dealt with in early 2020. But they ran into trouble as they sorted out an appropriate balance between their new lives and their existing royal status.
And public scrutiny kicked up again after the release of the book Finding Freedom by journalists Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
Bombshell books
The same happened with Tom Quinn’s Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle.
And while much of the information in both books is unconfirmed, the authors still dropped some bombshells about what really happened behind palace doors.
What really happened?
Scobie and Durand imply throughout their book that Harry and Meghan didn’t leave royal life of their own accord.
Instead, they claim that Prince William and Kate were the main instigators and that Harry and Meghan were pushed out.
Brotherly love
But why would William force his own brother out of the royal family? It’s an understandable question to ask, especially considering what they’ve been through together.
Both were born into the spotlight and survived life’s most personal moments while in the public eye.
Growing up
They not only endured their parents’ extremely high-profile divorce, but for years they were also forced to read about the tabloid rumors swirling around their own family.
And, of course, the siblings also had to go through losing their mother.
"Snobby" Will and Kate
But according to Scobie and Durand, all of this history meant virtually nothing once Meghan came into the picture.
In the book, William and Kate are written as “snobs” who not only disapprove of Meghan, but of her Hollywood background.
All an act
It’s understandable if you think this sounds far-fetched. After all, there was a time when the foursome were thought to be quite close.
And they were often spotted having fun at events together. But some royal commentators believe this was all an act for the cameras.
Meghan's Hollywood background
Apparently, Will and Kate resented Meghan’s unconventional background as a Hollywood actress. They allegedly found her to be ill-equipped to handle her royal duties.
And to be fair, Meghan and Kate do come from very different worlds.
Fairytale romance
Kate Middleton regaled the world with her true rags-to-riches type of journey into the royal family. She went from being a “commoner,” who crushed on Prince William as a teenager, to a duchess.
It was a fairytale dream come true.
Star qualities
Meghan Markle, on the other hand, had a very different journey into the royal family.
Where Kate was the classic English rose, Meghan was the unexpected American actress and divorcee who already had a lot of fans — qualities that some say Harry was looking for in a life partner.
New reports
One of Finding Freedom’s biggest revelations described how Harry apparently had the opposite opinion of his brother and sister-in-law when it came to Meghan’s star status.
Unearthed reports suggest that Harry never had a classic English rose in mind for his future wife.
Someone "already in the public eye"
While still single, Harry allegedly lamented to a friend that “only somebody who was already in the public eye would be able to understand and handle everything that goes with being with [a prince].”
Former flames
And so it sounds as though Harry had someone like Meghan in mind from the start.
It’s possible that his preference for celebrities may have come from his experiences with former flames, such as English actress Cressida Bonas.
Cressida Bonas
Though Cressida Bonas is an actress, she’s blamed Harry’s fame as one of the reasons why they broke up. In 2020 she told the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph that it was “the fear of failing, the fear of rejection, [and] the fear of not getting it right” in the public eye that had put her off starting a life with the prince.
One of Harry’s other exes Chelsy Davy had a similar fear.
"Crazy and scary"
Davy and Harry dated on and off for about seven years, and during that time, she dealt with more than her fair share of public scrutiny.
In an interview with The Times in 2016, Davy revealed that she found being in the spotlight “full-on” and “crazy and uncomfortable.”
The price of fame
So, after two of Harry’s relationships went down the tubes in part because of his fame, it made sense that he was supposedly on the lookout for a partner who could handle public scrutiny.
“[Harry] feels comfortable being with someone who has already come to terms with the price of fame,” one source close to Harry told the newspaper The Sunday Times in 2017.
First meeting
And that person was Meghan. Though Harry admitted that he’d never heard of Suits, the TV show that starred Meghan Markle, they clicked from the moment they met.
“I thought, 'I’m really gonna have to up my game,'” he admitted during the couple’s first joint interview.
Maybe it's fate
Still, the source who’d mentioned Harry’s preference for celebrities agreed that the prince wasn’t exactly on the prowl. “I don’t think he went out and deliberately looked for a famous actress,” the source told The Sunday Times in 2017.
Regardless, Harry’s alleged quote was certainly prophetic and reveals a lot about how the prince was feeling at the time.
Are the reports true?
Soon after Harry had supposedly said this, he met Meghan. And the rest was history.
Since we’re not a fly on the palace’s walls, we’ll never know whether William and Kate pushed Harry and Meghan out, or if Harry was really on the lookout for famous actresses. If the latter was true, then it would turn out to be quite ironic.
Battling the press
Even with Meghan’s grasp on fame, the couple clearly weren’t prepared for the public attention that would be thrown their way. But it wasn’t just that.
The media, as well as reporting on what the pair were up to, was also fueling some harsh rumors about the duchess.
Ridiculous rumors
We’ve all heard some of the crazy rumors Meghan Markle has endured over the last few years.
There has been gossip about the duchess’ parentage, her race, her values, her religion, her childhood — the list goes on, each item more ridiculous than the next…
Bombshell news
Or are they? Though it’s obvious that some of these rumors are false, some are a little harder to deny.
We can’t know what goes on behind closed doors, making one of the most startling stories about Meghan in Tom Quinn’s 2021 book Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle all the more surprising.
Trouble with the Fab Four
Rumors about tensions between the “fab four” — a.k.a. Will, Kate, Harry, and Meghan — have followed them since the beginning.
And everyone from anonymous palace staffers to body language experts have put in their two cents about the validity of these claims.
Harry going "mental"
In 2019 royal expert Anna Pasternak told Yahoo!’s The Royal Box series that she thinks Prince William finds Meghan to be “difficult.” And in December of the previous year, a source supposedly told The Sun that Prince Harry “went mental” on his brother for trying to “finish his romance before it had begun.”
Once it was clear Harry was pretty set on Meghan, though, the media turned its attention to her.
Fast-tracked into royal life
Many sources came forward with details about the future duchess. Some were kinder than others — particularly about her introduction to royal life.
“Meghan was fast-tracked into the royal firm,” said body language expert Judi James to the Daily Express in 2020. “This suggested some trust in Meghan’s confidence as a new royal.”
Are any true?
But for every “nice” rumor, there seemed to be ten mean-spirited ones — especially when the duchess was compared to Kate Middleton.
“Kate is actually one of the nicest royals, and she hasn’t let life in her extremely grand apartment at Kensington go to her head,” said a palace insider in Quinn’s book.
Things aren't what they seem
“[Kate] was very warm towards Meghan when she arrived,” the same insider claimed. But contrary to photos of the sisters-in-law smiling together, rumors circulated that Meghan was actually jealous of Kate’s future as Queen’s Consort, a.k.a. the wife of the King of England.
Is Meghan jealous?
“I think [Meghan] has found that difficult to deal with,” said the same palace insider in Quinn’s book.
Apparently, Meghan’s “jealousy” even extended to the size of William and Kate’s apartment compared to the cottage in which she and Harry lived.
More anonymous allegations
“Although Harry loved their cottage in the grounds, Meghan was conscious that it was tiny in comparison to the vast apartment complex where Kate and William live,” the insider said.
And a second palace source had an even more shocking story to tell.
Wrong place, wrong time
According to a second source in Quinn’s book, the reason Harry and Meghan left royal life behind had less to do with the intrusive press swarming around them and more to do with Kate Middleton.
Apparently, Kate had witnessed Meghan doing something concerning.
"Kate was horrified"
“Kate was horrified when Meghan shouted at a member of Kate’s staff,” the source in the book claimed. “That was definitely the beginning of discussions about leaving Kensington Palace.”
This source touched on some of the internal conflicts that Meghan must have been dealing with, too.
Caught in between
“Like many people not used to dealing with servants, Meghan overdoes the imperiousness,” the source supposedly said.
“So, on the one hand, she wants to be like Diana, a people’s princess, and on the other she wants people to stand to attention when she clicks her fingers,” they added.
Royal pressures
According to a third palace source mentioned in Quinn’s book, the pressure of being a royal “makes [Meghan] overreact sometimes.” They added, “she doesn’t have Kate’s assured way of dealing with people.”
Comparisons aside, it’s possible that Meghan’s behavior went deeper than sister-in-law squabbles.
Meghan's looked down upon
Some think that Meghan’s reported “bad” behavior has more to do with how the entire royal family has treated her than anything else.
“There are the more reactionary elements in the royal family who do look down on her, and she knows it,” one of the sources continued.
Queen was "devastated"
Tabloids have loved to speculate about Queen Elizabeth’s feelings toward Meghan and Harry’s departure from royal life, with some claiming that the Queen was “devastated” and thrown off guard by the announcement.
Still, at least we know one thing for sure.
Statements
Despite all of the feuding with Harry and Meghan’s camp, the royals did offer public congratulations when Lilibet was born.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman told the media, “The Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have been informed and are delighted with the news of the birth of a daughter for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
Kate and Meghan
But all the same, the very public feud between Harry and his family hints at problematic times ahead.
On June 11, a week after Lilibet had been born, Kate told reporters that she hadn’t met the baby yet, despite wanting to see her — and she added she hadn’t even talked to Meghan face to face via digital media.
A new rift
And unfortunately, there may be a new bone of contention soon. According to Neil Sean, the royal correspondent for the news channel NBC, Meghan and Harry actually wanted to have Lilibet christened the same way her brother and cousins had been.
But allegedly none other than Prince William had scuppered those plans.
Problems
Sean told British newspaper the Daily Express in September 2021, "One of the bigger problems that Meghan really encountered of late is that she wanted her daughter, Lilibet Diana, to be christened in the place she was married alongside her husband Prince Harry."
"But that came to a grinding halt."
Very keen
The report went on, “Both Harry and Meghan were very keen to make that return and make sure that christening happened, particularly in front of Her Majesty the Queen.”
The couple weren’t put off by all the specific requirements of a royal christening.
No making up
Sean told the Daily Express, "Some people may say they’re just capitalizing on their royal connection, and why not? It's how they make money now."
"But moving forward there was one person who basically decided there wasn’t an appetite for this, and the person that seemingly is, so far, not willing to kiss and make up with his younger brother."
Saying no
Not good news, then, for people who were hoping the brothers might repair their relationship soon.
Sean said, “According to a very good source, Prince William was the one who basically said, ‘No, we don't think this is going to work.’” Kensington Palace offered no comment as to whether that was indeed the case.
A Windsor christening
But previous news reports had indicated that yes, Harry and Meghan really did want Lilibet to be christened at Windsor.
In July 2021 a “royal source” told Richard Eden of the British newspaper the Daily Mail, “Harry told several people that they want to have Lili christened at Windsor, just like her brother.”
Circumstances
The Covid-19 pandemic has of course made things more difficult in that regard, since Harry and Meghan live in America now and there have been lots of travel restrictions between the USA and the U.K.
Still, the source told the Daily Mail that the couple “are happy to wait until circumstances allow.”
Other opinions
But other people think Harry and Meghan may have already had Lilibet quietly baptized in America after giving up on plans to go back to Windsor.
In October 2021 royal expert Russell Myers said on the podcast Pod Save the Queen, “I just think they will probably drop an announcement that it’s already happened and that will be all you know about it.”
More issues
Myers went on, “It’ll be very interesting to see if it is in the States, whether there are pictures that emerge over in the States, whether you get to know who her godparents are, because hark back to the time when it became such an issue that Harry and Meghan decided not to release the names of [Archie’s] godparents.”
Organization
That same month British tabloid newspaper The Sun threw out some speculation from insiders about what an American royal christening might entail. Royal expert Ingrid Seward said, "If Lilibet is christened in America, maybe Harry’s friends would fly out. I don’t think any members of the immediate royal family would have time [to fly over]."
"Their schedules are organized six months in advance."
In Vogue
She also thought a ceremony in America might be more private than one in Britain. Seward said, "If it happens in the U.K. obviously people will find out, but if it happens [in California], I don’t know that there will be any official announcement."
"They’ll have their own Vogue cameraman there, there will definitely be photos, but they may not release any."
Back to tradition
Still, Seward said she was personally sure the ceremony would be held in Harry’s home country, and she would be “very surprised” if it wasn’t.
She said, “Harry has seen such a long tradition of royal christenings, and there’s nothing nicer than a royal christening and the beautiful long Honiton robe.”
Supreme Governor
Seward went on, “Harry’s great-grandmother is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England — and Meghan was inducted into the Church of England. If they wanted, Harry and Meghan could have [the christening] privately in the chapel at Windsor Castle.”
But could they really do that even if Prince William didn’t like the idea? Well, yes, they could, because Prince William’s authority doesn’t override that of the monarch.