Since they’d been gone for six weeks, many people expected the Sussexes to dive right back into work. However, the pair had another plan.
Just one day after visiting Canada House, the Sussexes announced their intent to step back as full-time working members of the British royal family. The news sent the royal family, the press, and fans across the globe into a tizzy.
Since then, the pair have outlined their new vision for the future and they’ve also completed their final royal duties. However, some royal experts believe that Megxit was inevitable.
The first time the Sussexes hinted at Megxit and their deep unhappiness was in October 2019. During their royal tour in South Africa, the pair filmed an ITV documentary Harry and Meghan: An African Journey. In the movie, the couple openly discussed the brutal harassment and scrutiny of the press.
Since then, the Duke of Sussex has gotten more candid about their decision to rollout Megxit. “The decision that I have made for my wife and I to step back is not one I made lightly,” he said during a speech at a dinner for his charity, Sentebale.
“It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I haven’t always got it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option.”
In a leaked phone call where two Russian pranksters, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyaro posed as Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg, and her dad Svante, Prince Harry went into more detail about Megxit.
“That’s probably a conversation for another time, there’s lots of layers to it and lots of pieces to the puzzle,” the prince reportedly said. “But sometimes the right decision isn’t always the easy one. And this decision certainly wasn’t the easy one but it was the right decision for our family, the right decision to be able to protect my son.”
When they first announced their plan to step back from royal life, the Sussexes had hoped to remain part-time working royals while seeking financial independence and living in the U.K. part-time. Ultimately, the royal family vetoed this idea. As a result, the Sussexes were ousted completely.
“To say they were crushed is an understatement,” Omid Scobie, Bazaar.com’s royal editor. “It’s a decision that the couple still feel wasn’t necessary, but also wasn’t a surprise, given the lack of support they received as they were relentlessly attacked by sections of the British press with almost daily mistruths and hateful commentary.
They knew something had to change, but they also didn’t want to stop supporting the queen. One can’t help but wonder if things might have been different if a family member or two had stood up for them during the darkest times.”
In a new Vice special, Meghan Markle: Escaping the Crown, British journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown says that Meghan had no choice but to leave the monarchy since it is a stubborn institution built on exclusion and steeped in racism.
“This is such a racist country,” Alibhai-Brown told Vanity Fair. “In America racism is not qualitatively better, but at least nobody denies that there’s racism. In some ways, it is more difficult for those of us people of color who live here, because it is insidious and hidden, and people don’t want to talk about it or accept it.
Megxit was the only way their marriage would survive. I just thought, Well done. You’re taking the only step you can take in order to save yourself and your baby and find your own happiness…I think it’s a brave and bold and important decision.”