When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot at Windsor Castle in 2018, it was billed as a fresh chapter for the British monarchy.
The former Suits star was expected to bring new energy to the firm, carving out a distinct role within the Royal Family while embracing her royal duties.
But Meghan’s enduring love for the limelight shaped by her life on television sparked what royal author Tina Brown calls an “irrevocable identity crisis” for the Sussexes, a struggle that continues more than seven years later.
The newlyweds’ wedding at St George’s Chapel was just the beginning. Yet, by 2019, just two months after welcoming their son Archie, the couple were spotted mingling with Beyoncé at The Lion King premiere in London.
That August, the Sussexes jetted off to Sir Elton John’s private villa in the south of France, following Meghan’s birthday getaway in Ibiza.
Within just eleven days, the duo took four private flights including a trip to New York to watch Serena Williams at the US Open despite Prince Harry’s impassioned barefoot plea at Google’s summer camp on the importance of saving the planet.
In her bestseller The Palace Papers, Brown writes that at the heart of the couple’s challenges as senior Royals was a central question, Were the Sussexes “celebrity royals” or “royal celebrities”? That dilemma, she argues, defined much of their time in the spotlight.
The Royal author points to the summer of 2019 as a turning point for the Sussexes, when a whirlwind of celebrity encounters and environmental hypocrisy seemed to confirm that Harry and Meghan “had made the decisive and deadly pivot to the meretricious side of the equation.”
In July that year, Harry declared during a Q&A with primatologist Jane Goodall that he and Meghan were limiting themselves to two children to help combat climate change. Critics were quick to call out the irony, given the number of private jets the couple had taken that summer.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams described their travels as “royal celebrity at its worst,” arguing that “when royalty becomes mere celebrity, it loses its special cachet.”
He added that the contrast with Prince William and Kate Middleton was stark, noting that the Cambridges opted for a budget flight to Aberdeen en famille, while Harry and Meghan bypassed any visit to see Queen Elizabeth at Balmoral.
The Duchess also courted controversy with her role as guest editor for Vogue’s September 2019 issue, Forces for Change, alongside Edward Enninful.
While the edition went on to become the fastest-selling issue in Vogue’s 104 year history, critics described it as a “mystifying bore” for traditional subscribers and noted the absence of the late Queen from the list of 15 “women she admires.”
The backlash reportedly left Meghan feeling snubbed by British sensibilities, contributing to feelings of rejection and loneliness, with some reports suggesting she even contemplated suicide.