Fallout from Meghan Markle’s Tell-All Interview Means Changes for Her and Prince Harry’s U.K. Trip This Week
“We were all bracing for the release of Harry’s book. No one knew Meghan would take it upon herself to strike first.”
Marie Claire has reported for months that the royal family is on edge about Prince Harry’s forthcoming memoir, due for release by the end of the year. The frustration there seems to be surrounding not knowing what the book contains—but the most recent frustration between the Sussexes and the royal family is surrounding knowing exactly what Meghan Markle’s recent interview with The Cut includes: and, according to OK!, the royal family is none too pleased with its contents. (For the full scope of the contents, read the article—the condensed version, according to OK!, is that Meghan “dissed royal protocols, insisted she and Harry were ‘happy to’ leave the U.K., and seemed to blame the rift on them [the royal family], noting of the tension, ‘none of it had to be this way.’”)
In the aftermath of the article’s release last week, changes were made to Harry and Meghan’s return trip to the U.K., according to OK!—their first time across the pond since their lukewarm Platinum Jubilee visit in June. “Following Markle’s bombshell new interview, there will be no meetings with the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince William and Kate Middleton, or any senior palace staff,” the outlet reports.
According to a top advisor, “everyone is frightened to be around them. Anything you say might end up on the cover of an American magazine. We were all bracing for the release of Harry’s book. No one knew Meghan would take it upon herself to strike first. Any chance of a meeting with family members is now off the table.”
Other changes this U.K. go ‘round include that “Harry and Meghan’s team must approve all invited press [to the three events they’re scheduled to attend this week in both the U.K. and Germany]. Not one media is to be credentialed unless approved by the couple’s people,” an insider says. Additionally, “security has also been increased at each event, following the backlash to Meghan’s comments in the U.K.”
There will also likely be Netflix cameras in tow this time around, as opposed to the couple’s visit in June, where they were banned.
“It’s highly likely the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will bring a production crew with them to Germany and England in the coming weeks,” royal commentator Natalie Oliveri says. “After all, for this visit, they have no restrictions imposed by the royal family about what they can and cannot film.”
Oliveri noted that, since this trip—which sees the couple start the week in the U.K., hop over to Germany for an engagement, then come back to the U.K. by the week’s end—has nothing to do with the monarchy, “it is expected to be very different, with no such rules being forced upon the Sussexes.”
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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.