Meghan Markleis getting real about the pressures of life in the spotlight as a new royal.
When asked how long she can manage the constant onslaught of attention, lack of privacy and ongoing tabloid rumors, Meghan revealed she just takes “each day as it comes,” adding, “I think the grass is always greener. You have no idea. It’s really hard to understand what it’s like. I know what it seems like it should be, but it’s a very different thing.”
Recalling her conversations about the topic withPrince Harry(and sharing her nickname for him, too), the mom of one said, “I have said for a long time to H, that’s what I call him, ‘It’s not enough to just survive something. That’s not the point of life. You have got to thrive. You have got to feel happy.’ “
Meghan added, “I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a ‘stiff upper lip.’ I really tried, but I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging.”
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“I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought it would be fair. And that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile,” she said.
“If things were fair … If I’d done something wrong, I’d be the first one to go ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I would never do that,’ ” she continued. “But when people are saying things that are just untrue and they are being told they’re untrue but they’re allowed to still say them — I don’t know anybody in the world who would feel like that’s okay.”
Meghan continued, “That’s different from just scrutiny. That’s…. what would you call that? It’s a really different beast, you know.”
Earlier in the documentary, Meghan got real about the pressures of being a new mother and the negative attention from the press she received during her pregnancy and the first months after son Archie was born on May 6.
“Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, you know. And especially as a woman, it’s a lot,” she said. “So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed. It’s um…yeah. I guess, also thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m okay, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
Asked if it “would be fair” to say that she’s “not really okay, as in it’s really been a struggle,” Meghan responded, “Yes.”
Ultimately though, Meghan said that husbandPrince Harry, 35, and son Archie have helped her get through things.
Harry & Meghan: An African Journeywas filmed during the royal couple’s trip to Africa at the end of September and in early October.
Towards the end of the tour, the couple announced their decision tolaunch legal action against theMail on Sundayfor publishing a private letter than Meghan sent to her father as well as News UK (owner ofThe Sun) and MGN (former owner ofThe Mirror) regardingalleged illegal interception of voicemail messages.
In addition to the lawsuits, Harry spoke out against the British tabloid press for the “ruthless” treatment his wife has received “over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son” in a rare statement.
“All we need to do is focus on being real, focus on being the people we are and standing up for what we believe in,” he said. “I will not be bullied into carrying a game that killed my mum.”
Harry & Meghan: An African Journeywill air in the U.S. on Wednesday, Oct. 23. (at 10 p.m. ET.) on ABC.
source: people.com
