Megxit, One Year On: How The Drama Unfolded

With all that’s happened in the last 12 months, it’s hard to believe that this time last year, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were still senior royals. Yes, they’d expressed dissatisfaction with how they were treated – ‘Not many people have asked if I’m OK,’ Meghan told ITV’s Tom Bradby in summer 2019 – but it was assumed the couple would do the British thing: keep calm and carry on. After all, it wasn’t as if they could just call it quits. And yet, as we entered 2020, it became clear they intended to do just that.

The news that the couple were planning a departure broke in The Sun in January. Harry and Meghan confirmed it via a hastily constructed website, saying they were taking on a ‘progressive new role’. There was genuine worldwide shock. ‘Complacency had set in among the media,’ says Sean Smith, author of new book Meghan Misunderstood, ‘and the faceless individuals at the Palace, who both bullied the couple and assumed that they would just suck it up.’

The Palace was blindsided: yes, early discussions were in place, but there were details to work out. A Sandringham summit was called: the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William arrived to thrash out a plan with Harry. But if they hoped that a family meeting over tea would be enough, they were mistaken: Harry and Meghan voted with their feet, flying to a short-term base in Canada before moving to California.

Royal editor Ingrid Seward says that Meghan ‘very much felt that the British people didn’t understand her or particularly like her’. And it was predictable that the ‘blame’ landed squarely at her feet, as if she had dragged Harry to North America by his collar. ‘That was never the case,’ says Sean. ‘Prince Harry is a grown-up. Their decision to leave was exactly that – their decision.’ There were issues, of course. The Queen had lost both a grandson and a great- grandson – royal author Katie Nicholl calls these relationships ‘the greatest source of pleasure in her life’ – while rumours of a feud between William and Harry became rife. Supplanted stateside, the couple were incensed when a photographer snapped them on a walk with Archie, and launched legal action when another used a drone to photograph their son in their private garden. There were questions over who should be paying for their security and whether they should repay the taxpayer millions that funded the renovation of Frogmore Cottage. They answered the naysayers: they vowed to finance their lifestyles themselves, and have repaid those costs. They did so thanks to several savvy business decisions – signing with a public speaking agency and, most significantly, confirming a multimillion- pound deal with Netflix.

And yet, if they thought that their escape would give them a break, they were wrong. Instead, they have faced criticism at every turn, not least when they filmed a video encouraging Americans to vote. They did not specify a candidate, but their call to vote against hate was seen as anti-Trump. Others have accused them of calling for privacy while courting the press – a visit to a cemetery on Remembrance Sunday, for instance, proved divisive. But the arrival of Finding Freedom was the reddest of capes to the most enraged of bulls. Boasting unparalleled access and sharing remarkable detail, the book was an immediate best- seller. It was clear that Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand had impressive sources. But there was an elephant in the room: was the detail coming from inside the house?

The book’s authors’ note said yes – ‘We have spoken with close friends of Harry and Meghan... and, where appropriate, the couple themselves.’ The official line? No. And yet, November saw Meghan admit that she had, indeed, allowed a third party to provide insights on her fraught relationship with her father. This came to light via her court case against Associated Newspapers, which is ongoing. Expected back in the UK to testify this month, she has been granted a delay for ‘confidential reasons.’

It has been a difficult year for the couple. But 2021 is set to bring exciting new opportunities. They have a new team, and are preparing to launch Archewell, a charitable foundation. One thing seems certain though: we won’t see them move back to the UK. As Sean says, ‘Megxit is not a revolving door.’

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