Never afraid to speak up. Meghan Markle has faced plenty of challenges since marrying into the British royal family — but she hasn’t let them dim her light.
The former SuitsStar fell in a whirlwind love with Prince HarryIn 2016, the couple were engaged. During a candid interview with the BBC shortly after their engagement made headlines, Meghan and her then-fiancé opened up about the extreme negativity they’d been subject to in the public eye.
“Of course, it’s disheartening,” Meghan said at the time. “You know, it’s a shame that that is the climate in this world … but I think at the end of the day, I’m really just proud of who I am and where I come from, and we have never put any focus on that. We’ve just focused on who we are as a couple. And so, when you take all those extra layers away and all of that noise, I think it makes it really easy to just enjoy being together and tune all the rest of that out.”
The couple were married in May 2018 Meghan, the first Black member in the royal family, was an incredible feat. But, the world was shocked when she gave birth, to her son Archie.Queen Elizabeth II‘s first biracial great-grandchild, in May 2019. Meghan, five months later, admitted that her life in the spotlight had made it more difficult to be a new mother.
“Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging. You also have to consider the newborn. And especially as a woman, it’s a lot … on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed,” she said during the October 2019 ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, adding that “not many people have asked if I’m OK” throughout her hardships.
The stress of royal life was too much for them. In January 2020, the Duke and Duchess Sussex retired from their senior positions within the palace and settled in Los Angeles three months later with their son. The three-member family moved to Santa Barbara’s Montecito neighborhood, California in July 2020.
Scroll down to relive some of Meghan’s most honest quotes about the struggles of royal life, motherhood and more.
