The Royals Wouldn't Let Meghan Markle and Mom Doria Ragland Go Out For Coffee

• Meghan Markle and mom Doria Ragland weren't allowed to go out for coffee while Ragland was visiting her daughter at Frogmore Cottage, according to royal editor Omid Scobie.
• "Her isolated existence stood out in particular to her worried mother, Doria Ragland, who during a summer 2019 visit to Frogmore Cottage was surprised to discover that neither she nor her daughter was able to go out into Windsor town to pick up coffees," Scobie wrote in Harper's Bazaar.
• "'You’re stuck in here,' Doria told Meghan at the time," Scobie continued.
• Meghan discussed her isolation as a working royal in the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

During the Sussexes' interview with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle revealed she became incredibly isolated after joining the royal family, prevented by "The Firm" from meeting with friends or even leaving the house. Writing for Harper's Bazaar, royal editor Omid Scobie gave another startling example of Meghan's enforced isolation, revealing that neither she nor her mother, Doria Ragland, were permitted even to go out for a coffee.

"Lunch with friends could have momentarily lifted her spirits, but social outings were dismissed by royal family members and aides who said it would be better to lie low. Her image was 'everywhere right now,' they told her," Scobie wrote. "Her isolated existence stood out in particular to her worried mother, Doria Ragland, who during a summer 2019 visit to Frogmore Cottage was surprised to discover that neither she nor her daughter was able to go out into Windsor town to pick up coffees."

"'You’re stuck in here,' Doria told Meghan at the time," Scobie continued.

Meghan described her lonely existence as a royal to Winfrey, as well as sharing the racism she experienced both from the royals and the media and the lack of support she received from the palace. The Duchess of Sussex said she was prohibited from going to lunch with friends because the royals felt she was receiving too much media coverage—despite barely being able to leave the house.

"I am everywhere but I am nowhere," Meghan said. Sharing the palace's fixation on optics, she added, "Has anyone talked about how it feels? Because right now I could not feel lonelier."