Theirs was a fairytale romance, something that hopeless romantics wanted to be inspired by. An yet, not even two years into their marriage, the headlines kept in baying for blood.
"Step too far: Meghan Markle slammed for putting her hands in pockets". "How Meghan's wedding flowers may have put Charlotte's life at risk". "Dictatorial bride Meghan wanted air fresheners for musty St George's Chapel".
From the moment Prince Harry put a ring on her engagement finger, poor Meghan never stood a stance. The British press kept on comparing her to her more reserved sister-in-law, the Duchess of Cambridge. And then there were daft comparisons of how she would never be able to fill her later mother's shoes.
Thinly-veiled racist remarks masked as criticism finally showed the fine veneer of the British public coming apart. No, an outside will not do! How dare our beloved Harry marry someone as common as a US actress?
At the time, one of Meghan's biggest detractors was TV personality and journalist Piers Morgan. His finely-tuned weekly columns aimed straight for the jugular.
Thrilled to see Meghan successfully exploit her Duchess of Sussex title to land a massively career-enhancing movie role that her royal husband blagged for her from Disney's boss at a premiere!
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 26, 2020
Just the uplifting & inspiring news we all needed at this difficult time. https://t.co/OKVZB65QuW
And then attorney and feminist Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu finally called him out for being a mean-spirited racist twit.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Piers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Piers #Morgan erupted on Tuesday during a heated #Debate with guest Dr. Shola Mos-Shogbamimu on whether there has been a “racist” campaign from the British press against the Duchess of Sussex #Meghan #Ma...
https://t.co/tIWSPGIOp0 pic.twitter.com/kV7fUU9pFM
— 💥💥💥💥💥⓵ⒷⓊⓋ💥💥💥💥💥 (@_1BUV)
Something had to give. And finally we were given some inkling of the Duchess of Sussex's state of mind while the couple were on their African trip and interviewed by ITV's Tom Brady.
In the documentary, Meghan talks about the issues she's grappled with as a new wife, mother, and duchess whose life has been judged and dissected by the media and public since she first began dating Prince Harry.
"Any woman, especially when they're pregnant, you're really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging," she said in the emotional video. "And then when you have a newborn, you know. And especially as a woman, it's a lot. So, you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed."
There it was. She had had enough. And so had Harry. Days after arriving back from their trip, the couple fired their first salvo and Harry announced he would suing British tabloids for alleged phone hacking.
From there it was only a matter of time till they'd make the decision to finally turn their heads on the monarchy for good.
Now that they've settled into a life of domestic bliss in the US, reports say that they've set up home in LA with little Archie. And yet, rumour has it that Harry is struggling in his new role. The point is that, yes, any big move would be a challenge for anyone - they've uprooted their entire lives.
But the move comes at the right time. It comes at a time where the couple need to set their own course without any outside interference. For the marriage to survive, they need to be each other's biggest cheerleaders.
Yes, Harry may be far from home. But with the British press watching their every move, the distance will do them some good. A change is what they need right now, far from the constraints of the royals and waiting to see things fall apart