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Moments After The Royal Wedding That Signaled Trouble For The Royal Family
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00:00Meghan Markle tried to seamlessly join the royal family, and for a time it looked like
00:05it was working. But then Harry and Meghan went public with their decision to step down as senior
00:10members. Ahead of their exit, there were a number of events that suggested all wasn't well behind
00:15palace doors.
00:16News that Meghan Markle was not adjusting to royal life started to surface in the moments
00:21leading up to her wedding. As it was originally reported by the tabloids, the former Suits actor
00:25was apparently forging a frosty but cordial relationship with sister-in-law Kate Middleton.
00:31Things appeared to take a turn for the worse during a heated bridesmaid dress fitting.
00:35According to reports from The Sun and The Telegraph, the argument was, in some sense,
00:39about pantyhose. Kate wanted the bridesmaids to wear tights, as is customary, but Meghan wanted
00:44to nix royal protocol and allow bare legs. To make matters worse, Princess Charlotte's
00:49bridesmaid dress required extra fittings, and the pair reportedly couldn't agree on the schedule.
00:54A source told The Telegraph,
00:55Demands were made about when subsequent fittings would be, and Kate left sobbing.
00:59The same source also claimed, quote,
01:01"...there was a sense that Meghan never really wanted to be friends after the Duchess of Sussex
01:05snubbed her future sister-in-law's attempts to hang out."
01:08Two years later, Meghan refuted this tabloid story in her illuminating interview with Oprah Winfrey.
01:13It was allegedly Kate who made Meghan cry over the dresses.
01:17The issue was correct about flower girl dresses, and it made me cry.
01:22Meghan said Kate apologized, even bringing her flowers, and both parties moved on.
01:27Though tabloids have gotten ahold of, or straight-up invented,
01:30a ton of inside information about the royal family's fraying relationship,
01:34there's one bombshell that Meghan and Harry kept quiet for more than a year.
01:38We now know that events surrounding Meghan's first pregnancy, which she announced in October 2018,
01:43had a significant impact on the couple's decision to quit their senior roles.
01:47In the pair's eye-opening Oprah Winfrey interview, the biracial actor alleged that there were
01:51concerns and conversations about how dark her son Archie's skin might be when he's born.
01:56What?
01:58And who is having that conversation?
02:03A royal family member who was not Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip apparently had several of these
02:08talks with Harry, who says he was shocked.
02:10But he wanted to make sure that I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it,
02:15that it was not his grandmother nor his grandfather.
02:19In a statement, Buckingham Palace said that some recollections may vary,
02:23but that the family was saddened to discover Meghan and Harry had been struggling. The palace
02:27planned to take the allegations very seriously, addressing them behind closed doors.
02:32Meanwhile, The Washington Post-reported Prince William told a reporter that the royals are, quote,
02:36very much not a racist family, and he still hasn't spoken to his brother.
02:41A month after Meghan Markle announced her pregnancy, it looked like the royal fab four were on the outs.
02:47Harry and Meghan announced that they were checking out of Kensington Palace,
02:50where they lived next door to Prince William and Kate Middleton. As Reuters reported,
02:54it was the first indication of tensions behind the scenes.
02:58Despite what it looked like, a report from the Daily Mail claimed that drama wasn't to blame — at
03:02least not drama — with the royal family. Instead, the system was the problem.
03:07According to the tabloid, the plan to move to Frogmore Cottage was reportedly fueled by Harry's
03:12desire to, quote, escape the goldfish bowl of royal life for the sake of his marriage and his unborn
03:16child. This would eventually be confirmed in the pair's Oprah interview. With the move came the
03:21disillusion of the fab four's joint office, as noted in People magazine. Meghan and Harry would
03:26be working on their own. Royal's author Sally Bedell-Smith told People,
03:30The arrival of Meghan has changed the dynamic of the relationship in a fairly significant way.
03:35It is inevitable and practical because it gives Harry and Meghan some freedom
03:39to build up their own collection of interests and charities.
03:43In April 2018, a month before the big wedding, it was clear that Harry and Meghan were taking
03:48every opportunity to stay out of the public eye. The pair even skipped out on Meghan's first Easter
03:53with the royal family, a moment that could have smoothed over the incessant royal rift rumors,
03:57but scandalized the tabloids instead. Even though Harry hadn't attended church service in years,
04:03Express went as far as claiming the couple snubbed the queen. The following year, Meghan skipped out
04:08all on her own. Though her pregnancy with Archie's fast-approaching due date was the perfect excuse
04:13to stay at home, it still raised eyebrows. Maybe there was no so-called rift in the family,
04:18but her absence sent a clear message that she was not going to do her pregnancy publicly,
04:23like Kate Middleton, who was heavily pregnant when she attended the service a year prior.
04:27The service also fell on the queen's birthday, which would have been a great argument for Express
04:32to save a quid and run the same headline twice, but alas, they missed the opportunity. The couple
04:37celebrated from afar, sharing a sweet message on their official Instagram account.
04:41If Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Easter absence made it seem like they were no longer
04:46entertaining the public demands of royal life, Archie's birth proved it. The couple circumvented royal
04:51traditions to give their newborn a greater sense of privacy, which is inherently at odds with being
04:56a member of one of the most photographed families in British history. Still, what's most telling are
05:01the lengths the pair went through to take control from the hands of the crown. According to Vogue,
05:05Archie's birth was handled more privately than past royal births. Meghan didn't don four-inch heels and
05:10pose for a photo-op on the hospital steps like Kate Middleton did directly after giving birth.
05:15Meghan told Oprah, in fact, that she wasn't even asked to do so. Vogue noted that Meghan and Harry
05:20kept their newborn's identity hidden for two days, posing for a smaller,
05:24controlled photo shoot in Windsor Castle involving two photographers rather than an
05:28onslaught of media. Furthermore, the couple separated themselves from the royal family throughout.
05:33According to Vogue, Meghan did not use the queen's team of royal doctors and had her own natural
05:38birth plan. She kept her birth plans private, though she's said to have attempted a home birth,
05:43as the queen did, later moving to a private hospital. When it came time to announce Archie's arrival,
05:48the pair did not go through Buckingham Palace, as is customary. Instead,
05:51they announced it on their own, through their official Instagram account.
05:55The Sussexes' first child was set apart from the royals by both his name and his title.
06:00According to Vogue, Meghan and Harry opted for Archie Harrison simply because they liked it,
06:05even though it held no royal significance. They also circumvented tradition when they
06:09chose not to give Archie a double middle name. In the couple's eye-opening Oprah Winfrey interview,
06:14Meghan also revealed that the royals didn't want Archie to have a royal title, which she claimed
06:19was, quote, different from protocol. Meghan also alluded to the fact that the decision may have
06:23had something to do with her son's mixed race.
06:25The first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren
06:34would be. According to The Guardian, the royal protocol established by George V in 1917,
06:39dictates that only the children and grandchildren of a sovereign are automatically given royal titles.
06:45Archie is a great-grandchild and thus not entitled. The outlet noted that when Grandpa
06:49Prince Charles becomes king, Archie will be, well, entitled to the titles. Of course, it seems unfair
06:55because Prince William's children have titles, but it has to do with lineage. The queen made an
06:59exception because William is the future monarch, and Prince George was already entitled because of
07:04his place in the line of succession.
07:06With title comes security. After Meghan and Harry's Oprah interview, the public learned that the brunt
07:12of their decision to exit the royal family hinged on the security the family provided to their newborn
07:16son, or lack thereof. Again, Meghan suggested that Archie's mixed race was a factor in the royals'
07:22decision to withhold a title and consequently withhold security, since the two are typically knotted together.
07:28According to The Guardian, extended members of the royal family also do not have automatic
07:33right to security, paid for by the crown, and Archie is seventh in the line of succession.
07:38Since it involves taxpayer money, the decision involves both the home office and metropolitan
07:43police. Nonetheless, considering Meghan's horrifying treatment in the press and the way tabloids were
07:47a factor in the death of Harry's mother, it makes sense that security would be a breaking point.
07:52It was also apparently the motivation behind the pair's Netflix and Spotify deals, which they claimed
07:57allowed them to afford security when they were allegedly financially cut off in the wake of their decision to leave.
08:04Every year on Christmas, the queen publicly addresses the nation. It's a key moment that
08:08stokes a sense of unity across Britain and the Commonwealth, while giving a nod to the family's
08:13achievements, initiatives, and struggles over the past year. Remember, these people are paid by
08:18taxpayers to do good, and anyone who's watched the crown knows that the queen's job is not only to lead,
08:23but also to preserve the nation's morale, which was especially difficult during 2020's address.
08:29The official message is a televised affair, and for Britons both at home and abroad,
08:33a nostalgic pang of warmth on a holiday centered around family. As such,
08:38the queen always displays a selection of family photos on her desk. In 2019,
08:42mere days before Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would officially announce their exit,
08:46the queen's photos spoke volumes. The Sussexes were notably absent on the queen's desk. She did,
08:52however, showcase photos of her husband, Prince Philip, her son, Prince Charles, and his wife,
08:57Duchess Camilla, Kate Middleton, Prince William, and their children, and her father, King George VI.
09:02In fact, the address didn't contain a single mention of Meghan or Harry. This was a huge contrast
09:07from the year prior, where the Sussexes were on full display. Less than a month after the queen's
09:12Christmas address, Meghan and Harry announced they were stepping back from their royal duties.
09:16The crown was forever changed.
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