<p>In light of Harry and Meghan&#8217;s revealing interview with Oprah, it&#8217;s clear that there were troubles between the palace and the Sussex&#8217;s from the beginning. It&#8217;s not completely true to say that no one saw it coming when Meghan and Harry chose to retire from their royal duties at the beginning of 2020. They had been one of the senior royals for a year and a half before they chose a life in America of freedom and, as we&#8217;ll come to see, possibly lucrative work in Hollywood.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life47

<p>At Popular Everything, we&#8217;re breaking down the talk around the former royals, from their aspirations to become more famous to Harry and Meg&#8217;s divided opinions on life in the United States. There&#8217;s no denying that Meghan has a powerful personality, and maybe Harry&#8217;s seeing it properly now for the first time. Especially now that she&#8217;s revealing all a tell-all interview.</p>

<p>Harry&#8217;s public image and private life turned upside down when Meghan came into the picture. After having met on a blind date, it took them a year and a half to realize they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, and another year and a half to bow out of royal life. But, as it became clear, they had no intention of leaving the limelight.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life45

<p>After a rocky exit from under the Palace&#8217;s watchful eye, they fled to the U.S. where Meghan&#8217;s mom resides. They told the public that they wanted financial independence and freedom of movement, which put them under intense strain to pay taxpayers back for the cost of their mansion refurbishment. In order to save their reputation, they agreed to reimburse the country over $3 million dollars.</p>

<p>During their time as a royal couple they received a lot criticism for their conduct &#8211; especially Meghan. She was seen as a rule-breaker with little care or consideration for the British tradition, who was taking Prince Harry away from his family. Naturally, her reputation only grew once news hit of their desire to leave the U.K.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life57

<p>From spending Christmas away from the queen and other royal family members to defying tradition by keeping baby Archie&#8217;s godparents a secret from the public, it became clear that they were distancing themselves from the crown. They&#8217;ve both spoken about the challenges they face being in the public eye, leading many to believe they wanted a more quiet life elsewhere. But there&#8217;s plenty of evidence to suggest that&#8217;s not their true intention.</p>

<p>Towards the end of July it came out that some &#8220;impromptu&#8221; paparazzi shots taken just a year before Meghan met Prince Harry, had in fact been planned by the then-actress. She had tried to increase her public profile, but this was a cringy way to go about it. But, as you&#8217;ll come to see, this kind of behavior would repeat itself in 2021. Here she is pictured in March 2015 leaving a restaurant in London.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life60

<p>The photos also really make it seem as though it was a pre-arranged event. Her hair and makeup are perfectly intact and her outfit is loud and attention-grabbing. Seeing Meghan stooped to such levels isn&#8217;t exactly a good look for her, especially considering that it wasn&#8217;t that long ago.</p>

<p>On July 28th news broke of how Meghan and Harry refused the queen&#8217;s offer to have a trial separation period from the royal family. They were offered 12 months to back out from royal duties and see if their feelings had changed in that time. But as we can tell, the Duke and Duchess weren&#8217;t interested.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life42

<p>Papers were reporting how &#8220;adamantly opposed&#8221; to a review process Meghan and Harry were, making it look as though the couple was ungrateful for their privileges. We know now that they opted for a clean break from the palace, with almost no chance of a future return.</p>

<p>You could call it a rough start for Harry and Meghan in their new life in America, not least of all because they might have spoken out of place. In July, while on a video call with young leaders from the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust (QCT) they made critical comments towards the queen&#8217;s commonwealth itself. &#8220;There is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past,&#8221; they stated.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life25

<p>They continued &#8220;So many people have done such an amazing incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs, but I think we all acknowledge on there there is so much more still to do.&#8221; Naturally, the couple received a lot of criticism for their comments, which were deemed by the papers and the public to be insulting to the queen. And many speculated that Harry was simply relaying Meghan&#8217;s own personal anti-royal opinions.</p>

<p>Earlier this year Meghan took newspaper <em>The&nbsp;Mail on Sunday</em>&nbsp;to court, alleging that they exploited her father Thomas Markle (pictured) when publishing private letter entries between the father and daughter. She lost the first round of the legal battle against them in May, with much of her case being dismissed as &#8220;irrelevant.&#8221;</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life2

<p>The following month, Meghan pulled out of the legal battle. Her lawyer costs were expected to be over £60,000, and she was forced to pay up for the tabloid&#8217;s costs of over £50,000. So, it wasn&#8217;t a very worthwhile venture in the end. And it sowed suspicions in the public&#8217;s mind as to why she&#8217;d just drop her claims. </p>

<p>The Sussexes had been involved in several charities as senior royals, and their exit from royal life and move to California didn&#8217;t stop them from seeking ways to give back. In August they stepped out during the pandemic to volunteer for non-profit organization&nbsp;Baby2Baby, to help distribute supplies to children in need. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life9

<p>With their face masks securely fastened, showing themselves on the front line served as a bit of good publicity for them. They spent time with students who were returning to remote learning due to lockdown restrictions. &#8220;Thank you for putting smiles on the faces of the children and families we serve and helping us provide the supplies, basic hygiene, and clothing every child deserves,&#8221; Baby2Baby wrote on their Instagram.</p>

<p>Meghan was far away from her family and friends during her time as a royal, but that&#8217;s all changing now since she and Harry moved to California. In August news dropped of how Meg&#8217;s fashion designer friend Misha Nonoo (pictured) was trying to buy a home right by the couple, among the mansions of Montecito.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life5

<p>Looking from the outside in, it seems as though Meghan and Harry are creating a new inner circle for their new life in the U.S. But with all of Harry&#8217;s friends and relatives back in the UK, it looks like Meghan might be the one with more support. </p>

<p>August also saw the release of a biography about Prince Harry and Meghan, called <em>Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of A Modern Family</em>. They had bought their new sprawling home in the Californian Hills for over $14 million dollars, but the book revealed they&#8217;ve also had a lot of freebies along the way.</p>

Megxit, Explained_ A Visual Timeline of the Events Leading up to Harry and Meghan&#8217;s Royal Departure 22

<p>For example, the Sussexes stayed in a house in Beverly Ridge while the lockdown started and they shopped for their new home. Studio mogul Tyler Perry lent them his eight-bedroom mansion free of charge for months, in what would have cost them tens of thousands of dollars to rent. It was definitely a sign of the privileges they enjoy due to their time as high profile royals.</p>

<p>Meghan has a half brother from her father&#8217;s side, Thomas Junior, who shed some light on their private family affairs. He claimed that their father has lost hope in ever reconnecting with his famous daugher: &#8220;As far as a reunion goes, he’s given up on Meghan and Harry completely.&#8221;</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life59

<p>&#8220;He doesn’t trust her and doesn’t want to know that person because of the lies, manipulation and deceit,&#8221; Thomas Junior told the papers. He speaks to their father everyday, and chose to come out about their lack of relationship in August in light of new claims <em>Finding Freedom</em> made. Meghan definitely could have done without the bad press.</p>

<p>On August 4th Meghan celebrated her 39th birthday, which gave her a flood of well wishes from Harry&#8217;s side of the family. The queen posted a picture of herself and Meghan on official state business during a joint visit to Chester in 2018. Kate and Will opted to post a photo that tugged on the heart strings a little more, whereby Meghan was crouched on the floor talking to a little girl.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life1

<p>Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall took to their Twitter account to wish Meghan a happy birthday, sharing a candid photo of her smiling. All the senior royals referred to Meghan as the Duchess of Sussex, giving a much needed public stamp of approval. </p>

<p>The royal biographer Angela Levin went on national television on August 6th to talk about how much Harry has changed since being with Meghan. Appearing on ITV&#8217;s Royal Rota, she stated that &#8220;he has become a bit of a shadow of himself.&#8221; Having met the prince, she claimed that he used to have &#8220;royal stardust about him.&#8221;</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life11

<p>Angela continued: &#8220;I found that he was charismatic&#8230; He was brilliant with people especially if they were physically, emotionally or psychologically damaged, he had a mischievous charm to him.&#8221; This bit of press only encouraged people to see her as the master manipulator of her husband Harry.</p>

<p>Meghan and Harry experienced a joint stripping of their social media accounts on the royal family&#8217;s own social media pages. People noticed this change on the 10th of August, whereby Meghan and Harry&#8217;s Sussex Royal Instagram and website was taken down from appearing alongside the other high profile royals.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life15

<p>Meghan&#8217;s HRH title was taken down, along with her education, career, and philanthropy. The couple was also forced to drop their Sussex Royal branding on request of the queen, who thought it would be improper to still use after stepping down as senior royals. Their Instagram is still live, but they haven&#8217;t posted in the months since they left the U.K. It seems like the royals are moving on after all.</p>

<p>Meghan spoke to Marie Claire in August, where she left a politically charged statement, which is highly uncommon and frowned upon as an ex-senior royal. She urged her fans to &#8220;exercise their fundamental right&#8221; by voting in the coming election, as she herself will be doing. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life8

<p>&#8220;I know what it&#8217;s like to have a voice, and also what it&#8217;s like to feel voiceless,&#8221; Meghan told Marie Claire. &#8220;I also know that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard,&#8221; she insisted. Having broken royal protocol in such a public way, it&#8217;s starting to become clear that her political involvement was only going to grow with time.</p>

<p>Meghan really didn&#8217;t need this on her plate. It is understood that gal pal Jessica Mulroney is her best friend, with Meghan having served as Jessica&#8217;s maid of honor in 2016. She got herself into a spot of controversy over the summer when she was accused of being racist by a black influencer called Sasha Exeter. Sasha accused Jessica of &#8220;threatening her livelihood&#8221; after she had posted a &#8220;Black Lives Matter&#8221; related video on her social media.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life23

<p>Jessica then took a two-month hiatus from her own social media, before returning on August 11th. She denied the accusations put against her, but the damage had already been done. ABC immediately replaced her T.V. spot as a fashion contributor on Good Morning America. Meghan was silent on the issue, with people speculating that she was mortified about how Jessica handled the situation.</p>

<p>The famous couple was accused of trying to kiss up to the crown towards the end of the month, after jumping on a video call and singing their praises. Meghan spoke about her pride in &#8220;continuing the legacy of your grandmother,&#8221; while addressing Prince Harry. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life34

<p>It might not have had the outcome they expected, however. Meghan and Harry were accused of trying to rebuild bridges with the queen after a distant few months, as they need the crown more than the crown needs them. Their royal connections had so far given them allowances and privileges that they&#8217;d be unlikely to get otherwise.</p>

<p>August also saw attention shift towards Meghan and the Duchess of Cornwall&#8217;s relationship. Meghan supposedly refused support from Camilla, who sympathized with Meghan&#8217;s situation. Camilla&#8217;s own life introduction to royal life had been tremendously rocky after the passing of Princess Diana.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life16

<p>It is thought that Camilla offered herself as a mentor, but Meghan made it clear that she didn&#8217;t see it that way. Speaking on an ITV documentary, Meghan tearily stated that &#8220;Not many people have asked if I&#8217;m OK.&#8221; The public took that to mean that the she didn&#8217;t feel supported adequately by the Windsors.</p>

<p>In what might be remembered as one of the most iconic royal interviews, Meghan chatted with famous feminist and activist Gloria Steinem in August, in what was referred to as a &#8220;backyard chat.&#8221; Notably, Meghan stated that Prince Harry was a shining example of a &#8220;masculine feminist.&#8221; Throughout their conversation, Meghan encouraged American viewers to vote in the upcoming elections.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life35

<p>She stated: &#8220;If we aren&#8217;t part of the solution, we are part of the problem.&#8221;&nbsp;While some thought that it was good for Meghan to identify herself with a passionate activist, many thought she was defying royal protocol by politicizing herself. Royal family members are not allowed to become politically involved, so her statements felt like she was trying to distance herself from the crown even more.</p>

<p>Unfortunately for Meghan, the days that followed her interview with Gloria Steinem raised more questions about her character. Meghan spoke about her love for Gloria&#8217;s feminist phrase &#8220;linked not ranked,&#8221; so much so that she was even wearing a bracelet with the words etched on it. </p>

A Complete Breakdown of the Drama Behind Meghan and Harry&#8217;s New Life27

<p>But people pointed out the hypocrisy of her saying that and still using the ranking title, Duchess of Sussex. Considering how ranks and titles go hand in hand with the royal family, people also understood her to be taking a dig at the crown. All in all, the interview that was meant to make Meghan more relatable to the public might have done more bad than good for her image.</p>

<p>One particular body language expert, Judi James, compared Harry and Meghan to another famous couple that once divided public opinion: John Lennon and Yoko Ono. This comparison came about in light of Meghan&#8217;s interview with Gloria Steinem, where she mirrored &#8220;world peace sentiments just like the late musician&#8217;s wife did. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life40

<p>Judi wrote that: &#8220;Meghan and Harry [are] going further down what looks like the John and Yoko &#8216;power-couple-for-global-harmony&#8217; route&#8221;. And we can&#8217;t help but notice that Meghan even dresses a lot like Yoko! But the two share a lot in common, as both women have been accused of taking their husbands away from the public. John left behind The Beatles, whereas Harry has left the royal family.</p>

<p>Rumors began spreading in the second half of August about the T.V. show Meghan and Harry are planning on creating. It was thought that the duke and duchess wanted to focus on feminism and racial equality, and will intend to take a controversial &#8220;political stance.&#8221;</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life12

<p>It certainly seemed plausible, considering Meghan&#8217;s increased engagment with politics and voting. She also narrated a Disney+ channel documentary called <em>Elephants </em>back in April this year, suggesting that she dipped her toe back into the entertainment industry. As we&#8217;ll come to see, Meghan and Harry have been getting increasingly politicized.</p>

<p>August ended with the spotlight shining on something Meg would much rather forget. She had been married once before to Trevor Engelson, a Hollywood producer, between 2011 to 2013. Like Meghan, he remarried with Tracey (right) and welcomed their first baby girl together just before September.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life39

<p>Meghan hasn&#8217;t spoken publicly about the eight years in total she shared with Trevor but unfortunately, that hasn&#8217;t prevented them from going away. Previous friends of hers spoke to the papers about how Meghan prioritized her overseas career and how that ultimately ended their marriage. All in all, it&#8217;s a blast from the past her public image could have done without.</p>

<p>In the same Zoom call in celebration of the Rugby League&#8217;s 125th birthday, Prince Harry was asked the question everyone&#8217;s been wondering about. Former rugby player and coach Ellery Hanley asked him about how he was finding life in America, to which he had a quick and positive answer.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life53

<p>&#8220;Oh easy question. I am loving it. It&#8217;s fantastic,&#8221; he told the staff and volunteers. And he made mention of his intentions to get his son Archie involved in some backyard activities: &#8220;What I need is a few mini rugby balls that I can get Archie involved with the game&#8230;I&#8217;ve got a little bit of space outside which we&#8217;re fortunate enough to have,&#8221; he explained.</p>

<p>The papers did a bit of quick math and realized something sketchy about Meghan and her famous friend Jameela Jamil. Jameela is a British actress, radio presenter, and model who accused Harry&#8217;s uncle Prince Edward of some serious predatory allegations. She made her comments on Twitter to over a million of her followers.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life41

<p>According to the papers, she and Meghan met and became friends the day after Jameela&#8217;s comments. Apparently the radio presenter traveled to Meghan&#8217;s Californian mansion where the two hit it off. If it&#8217;s true, it&#8217;s pretty damning evidence that Meghan wants nothing to do with Harry&#8217;s family anymore.</p>

<p>Reports began to surface that Meghan and Harry might land a seven figure megadeal on the popular music streaming service, Spotify. Former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama recently launched her very own podcast on the platform and it has been met with huge success.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life32

<p>Because of it, Spotify allegedly wanted to create something similar with Harry and Meghan. The music streaming service is said to be worth $22 billion, so it&#8217;s expected that they&#8217;ll pay big bucks to secure the royal duo. We expect it would be hard to turn down an offer like that.</p>

<p>On September 2nd Meghan and Harry paid a visit to a preschool in Los Angeles, where the pair got elbow-deep to plant flowers with the kids. It should have made them caring and parental, but instead it just angered the parents from the school. Many had reported to the papers that the duke and duchess were given rights to their kids that even they weren&#8217;t allowed. With the pandemic threat, parents are heavily restricted from participating at schools.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life14

<p>One parent spoke of how &#8220;I could not even hold my daughter&#8217;s hand and take her into school last week when she started kindergarten. These two just &#8216;turn up and break the rules whenever they feel like it?'&#8221; Another parent asked rhetorically: &#8220;Not safe to go back to school but safe for mingling with strangers for a photo op?&#8221; It turned out not to be such a great look for the royal duo.</p>

<p>At the beginning of September, it was confirmed that Meghan and Harry had signed what many suspected to be a hugely lucrative deal with streaming giant, Netflix. But don&#8217;t expect them to be in front of the cameras &#8211; they&#8217;ve made it clear they intend to be in producer roles. For Prince Harry it&#8217;s a totally new role, but Meghan used to be a sitcom actress pre-Harry. It&#8217;s clear she wants to be more of a decision-maker.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life48

<p>Meghan stated to the public that she&#8217;ll no longer be stepping in front of the camera. The Sussexes claim they want to amplify diverse voices and see themselves achieving that best through producing. &#8220;Our lives, both independent of each other, and as a couple have allowed us to understand the power of the human spirit,&#8221; they said in a statement.</p>

<p>The Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings confirmed something that the public had long speculated about the couple. He revealed that they had hunted down the best deal they could find for their exclusive production rights. &#8220;They&#8217;re smart, they were shopping it around across all the major companies,&#8221; he told CNBC.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life31

<p>&#8220;I think we really put together the best complete package,&#8221; he finished by saying, refusing to reveal how much Harry and Meghan were being paid. This news certainly didn&#8217;t do Meghan&#8217;s money-hungry public image any good. In a public statement, the Sussexes claimed they want to create &#8220;content that informs but also gives hope,&#8221; but many believe they&#8217;re simply trying to rebuild their reputation.</p>

<p>One thing that everyone started to notice was that Meghan&#8217;s style was changing, and starting to look a lot like what it was before her life as a royal. She had ditched her fancy dresses and skirts and started leaning more on casual comfy clothes, like the ones she&#8217;s wearing below.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life62

<p>But just because she ditched the heels it didn&#8217;t mean her clothing budget had decreased. The sweatpants she wears here are actually from the L.A. designer James Perse and cost over $400! Which is hardly the price tag you&#8217;d expect with a slouchy style. It looks like being a royal did rub off in some ways.</p>

<p>The photos below were taken back in January, just after she and Harry told the world they were stepping down as royals. But September saw the former actress sue a picture agency over misuse of her and Archie&#8217;s private information. Which can be a bit confusing, as you can&#8217;t even see Archie&#8217;s face.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life51

<p>She also appears to be smiling at the paparazzi ahead, making it even more confusing. The lawyers representing the picture agency wrote that Meghan &#8220;knew everything that was going on and was a volunteer in the sense that she carried on walking when she knew she was being photographed.&#8221; The case continues, but it definitiely doesn&#8217;t look as straight forward as Meghan claims. </p>

<p>On September 24th we got a peek inside Meghan and Harry&#8217;s extravagant Los Angeles mansion. Appearing over a video stream for <em>Americ</em>a<em>&#8216;s Got Talent</em>, Meghan sent one of the contestants a supportive message. And she let the public have a glimpse at some of her and Harry&#8217;s expensive furnishings. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life61

<p>Meghan and Harry also used Elton John&#8217;s decorator to help them style their new Californian home. They consulted with designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard, who boasts of clients such as Tommy Hilfiger, Cher, and members of the Kardashian family. Obviously, the couple wanted a home worthy of A-list guests.</p>

<p>Rumors also began to surface about Meghan and Harry&#8217;s eye-watering fee for giving speeches. The sum was predicted to be around $250k to $400k, having been heavily reduced from their original price of around $1 million. Apparently, they&#8217;ve been putting potential clients off due to the level of control they&#8217;re demanding.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life29

<p>It&#8217;s only because of a leaked contract that we know of their demands. Industry organizers warned them that their demands would &#8220;raise eyebrows&#8221; as the level of security being requested for protecting high-profile senior royals is extremely demanding. But as we know, Harry and Meghan chose to step away from that life for more freedom. But it looks like they won&#8217;t go easy.</p>

<p>On September 9th, a list of Meghan and Harry&#8217;s demands for hiring them at speaking events was leaked, and it didn&#8217;t shine a good light on them. Back when they still wanted $1 million, they also demanded to be paid upfront, even for attending virtual events. &#8220;And in case of a technological failure, event bookers must detail what contingency plans are in place if there are&nbsp;&#8216;connectivity issues,'&#8221; their leaked proposal stated.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life22

<p>Meghan and Harry also demanded the right to pick the moderators of the event. &#8220;The choice of introducer and moderator will be at the final discretion of the speaker,&#8221; they wrote in the contract. Unfortunately for the couple, these revealing details made them seem even more out of touch and entitled.</p>

<p>It&#8217;s not just a huge Netflix deal that Meghan and Harry want to secure. They&#8217;ve trademarked the name &#8220;Travalyst&#8221;&nbsp;for their intentions to lobby governments with their sustainable travel project. The details are still pretty vague, but their intentions to get politically active are becoming more and more obvious. </p>

Megxit-Explained_-A-Visual-Timeline-of-the-Events-Leading-up-to-Harry-and-Meghans-Royal-Departure-34

<p>It&#8217;s hard to say if this is a good look for Meghan and Harry, who personally indulge in several private jets flights a year. But this is just another step towards politics that we were seeing from the couple, and one that would continue to prove itself over time. &#8220;Lobbying with respect to laws regarding sustainable travel,&#8221; as they put it, wouldn&#8217;t be the only thing they do.</p>

<p>Finally on September 7th Harry and Meghan finished repaying the $3 million spent renovating their U.K. home. Apparently, it was made possible only after securing their multi-million dollar Netflix deal. But either way, it was a good move for the couple who offered to pay their large renovation costs, without being forced to.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life18

<p>With the backlash that they received from the British taxpayers, however, it can be argued that they didn&#8217;t have much of an option either way. In order to move away from their money-hungry public image, they needed to prove that they weren&#8217;t interested in taking from public funding. Especially since they wished to keep their cottage as their U.K. residence. Surely there was nothing to criticize them about here.</p>

<p>Before Meghan and Harry were congratulated too much, the papers remembered that they hadn&#8217;t always intended to pay back their mansion renovations so soon. They had previously offered to pay taxpayers back $23K a month, which many took as disrespectful as it would have taken them 11 years to pay it back.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life19

<p>One reporter called their offer &#8220;a deal of such indulgence.&#8221; It became even more obvious that their recent deal with Netflix only a few days prior was to thank for Harry and Meghan&#8217;s big gesture &#8211; they are said to have secured a deal worth almost $100 million. But Harry had inherited over $25 million from his late mother Diana, so the renovation costs could have been very comfortably covered before. The more you know&#8230;</p>

<p>Only a few short days after Harry and Meghan signed their deal with Netflix did they tell the public that they actually won&#8217;t be going ahead with the Invictus Games fundraiser&nbsp;to be broadcast on Amazon. The music and comedy show was set to take place in June 2021, with the royals making speeches and everything. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life46

<p>Hoping to have raised at least £1 million, Harry and Meghan announced through lawyers that: &#8220;The true position is that the format of the event was no longer viable in light of COVID 19.&#8221; They claimed that it had nothing to do with their multi-million dollar Netflix deal, but the papers and the public certainly didn&#8217;t believe this claim. For many, it was too soon to say whether or not the games could go ahead. </p>

<p>In light of Meghan and Harry&#8217;s huge Netflix deal, royal family critics had a lot to say about Meghan&#8217;s priorities compared with those of Camilla. With the Invictus Games Fundraiser out of the window, public perception shifted towards believing that Meghan only really chases the money, despite her efforts to look like a philanthropist. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life17-1

<p>Amanda Platell wrote about how &#8220;Meghan Markle will make millions for herself &#8211; but Camilla will make a difference to the world.&#8221; Unfortunately for the former actress, her charitable contributions pale in comparison to other royal family members, including those who are also relatively new and much older.</p>

<p>Meghan and Harry clearly heard about their people&#8217;s discontent with their lack of charity, and only two weeks after landing the Netflix deal they made a big donation. $130K was given to a charity for African Girls Education, CAMFED, to celebrate both Harry and Meghan&#8217;s Summer birthdays.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life58

<p>About their donation, they wrote that there&#8217;s &#8220;No better way to celebrate what really matters.&#8221; The couple was touched after their biggest fans fundraised&nbsp;$130K, a sum which Harry and Meghan decided to match. It did them good to be seen donating to such a worthy cause.</p>

<p>People are anticipating a clash between brothers Prince William and Harry in light of the Netflix show <em>The Crown</em>, which will document the life of their late mother. Princess Diana&#8217;s eating disorder will be depicted on screen, which is bound to ruffle Prince Williams&#8217; feathers. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life43

<p>It&#8217;s likely to be rubbing Prince Harry the wrong way as well, but he&#8217;ll have to bite his tongue as he&#8217;s only just partnered with the same streaming giant. William and Harry are known for already having a strained relationship, and it&#8217;s thought that this revealing portrayal of their mother will only distance the brothers more.</p>

<p>Just because Harry and Meghan stepped down from their royal duties, doesn&#8217;t mean they&#8217;re out of the woods just yet. Apparently, their decision to partner with streaming giant Netflix faces reviewing from royal officials &#8211; an arrangement they agreed to upon leaving behind their public duties. </p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life24

<p>So, maybe Meghan and Harry aren&#8217;t as free of royal life as they&#8217;d like to be? We wonder how long their decisions will be under palace discussions and whether or not it&#8217;s a long or short term arrangement. Either way, as far as the public is concerned it&#8217;s a confusing mess as to how strong their royal ties really are.</p>

<p>Meghan&#8217;s confusing relationship with her BFF Jessica Mulroney just got a whole lot more confusing. Jessica posted a photo on her Instagram of her son walking with Meghan on her wedding day to Prince Harry. But it didn&#8217;t take long before she decided to delete the post&#8230; leaving everyone wondering why.</p>

Meghan-Markles-Trusted-Circle-of-Friends_-A-Whos-Who-of-the-Duchess-Private-Life-18

<p>She tried to explain how &#8220;bullying and hatred&#8221; led her to delete the sweet throwback photo, and that she has&nbsp;&#8220;had to put up with for three years.&#8221; She wrote on her Instagram stories: &#8220;Be kind. Be gracious. We are grown ups… stop acting like teenagers. Real women don&#8217;t put down other women.&#8221; It&#8217;s all a bit cryptic if you ask us.</p>

<p>On the 25th of September it was revealed that Harry and Meghan&#8217;s 2019 royal tour of South Africa, Botswana, Angola, and Malawi, which was their final tour before Megxit, cost British taxpayers over $300k. It therefore became the most expensive royal event of the entire year.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life4

<p>It&#8217;s certainly a hard sum to swallow for two people on only a 10-day tour. And the couple rounded off the oversees visit with a fresh privacy lawsuit against the press. Needless to say, this new information doesn&#8217;t do much to help their image as money-hungry royals.</p>

<p>British publication Tatler magazine conducted a poll with several thousand members of the British public, about their opinions on Harry and Meghan. The results came back with 68% believing that the duke and duchess should have their royal titles stripped &#8211; a sure sign that they&#8217;re not too well-loved by the public.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life56

<p>On top of that, 63% believed that Meghan didn&#8217;t have a place to be commenting on American politics, likely because of her responsibilities as a former senior royal. Over a third of the people, 35% to be exact, think that Meghan &#8220;wants to be president of the United States one day.&#8221; Only time will tell just how involved she gets.</p>

<p>It is thought that Meghan and Harry may have violated the terms of their Megxit deal by getting too involved with U.S. politics. The end of Septemeber saw the couple release a video in which Harry urges everyone to use their vote, while Meghan makes suggestions about who should be voted for.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life54

<p>It&#8217;s certainly out of bounds for a royal to be so involved, but because of Harry and Meghan&#8217;s newfound independence, it&#8217;s unsure how the palace will take it. In particular, Harry&#8217;s sentiments that mirror Meghan&#8217;s were the most shocking: &#8220;As we approach this November, it’s vital we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity.&#8221; It&#8217;s left people wondering just how much of what he said were his own thoughts and opinions.</p>

<p>Feel like hearing Meghan talk about humane technology for 15 minutes? It&#8217;s all yours for only $13K! Meghan joined Fortune&#8217;s Most Powerful Women virtual summit on the 29th of September to talk about &#8220;rebuilding the digital world.&#8221; But it&#8217;s an exclusive event, available only to members willing to purchase the $13K event ticket.</p>

A-Complete-Breakdown-of-the-Drama-Behind-Meghan-and-Harrys-New-Life36

<p>But dont be too discouraged &#8211; it&#8217;s thought to be a topic that&#8217;s close to Meghan&#8217;s heart as she will address how tech is a big part of the new Archewell foundation. Knowing approximately how much Harry and Meghan demand for speaking opportunies, we can bet that she&#8217;s bringing home more than a pretty penny.</p>

<p>In February 2021, Meghan and Harry had some joyous news to share with the world. Meghan was pregnant with their second child, with Archie being less than two years old. This news came after they revealed to the public that they had unfortunately suffered a miscarriage in July 2020.</p>

A-Glimpse-Into-Meghan-and-Harrys-Life-in-the-U.S.-and-Their-Rocky-Relationship-With-the-Royal-Family65

<p>They captioned the photo above with a short message that read: &#8220;We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child.&#8221; Harry had previously stated his desire to expand their family up to a &#8220;maximum&#8221; of two children. So it&#8217;s possible that this will be their last ever pregnancy announcement.</p>

<p>In mid-February 2021, Buckingham Palace came out with a statement about how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would not ever return as working members of the British royal family. It means that the honorary military appointments and royal patronages that Harry and Meghan had held were now being taken away and passed on to others.</p>

A-Glimpse-Into-Meghan-and-Harrys-Life-in-the-U.S.-and-Their-Rocky-Relationship-With-the-Royal-Family69

<p>The statement spoke about confirming that: &#8220;In stepping away from the work of the Royal Family, it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.&#8221; But Harry and Meghan claimed that regardless of an official title, they will continue their duty and service.</p>

<p>At the end of 2020, It was announced that Spotify were partnering up with Meghan and Harry for exclusive rights to their upcoming podcast. The couple announced: &#8220;We created Archewell Audio to make sure that we can elevate voices that maybe aren&#8217;t being heard and hear people&#8217;s stories.&#8221;</p>

A-Glimpse-Into-Meghan-and-Harrys-Life-in-the-U.S.-and-Their-Rocky-Relationship-With-the-Royal-Family63

<p>Harry added: &#8220;And the biggest part of this is to create this community of where you can share, that will encourage everybody else to then share their own vulnerabilities within that safe space.&#8221; Along with their Netflix deal, it looks like Harry and Meghan have been cashing in on the opportunities coming their way.</p>

<p>The couple made a public appearance of sorts when they attended Spotify&#8217;s &#8220;Stream On&#8221; event to discuss their new podcast. Pictured in their Santa Barbara home on their couch, the public zeroed in on Meghan&#8217;s statement gown and the real message Harry and Meghan were trying to convey.</p>

A-Glimpse-Into-Meghan-and-Harrys-Life-in-the-U.S.-and-Their-Rocky-Relationship-With-the-Royal-Family67

<p>Meghan was wearing a pale blue Oscar de la Renta dress that featured bold lemon appliqués. Lemons historically signify abundance and prosperity, leading people to wonder if Meghan was using symbolism to usher in this new stage of life for the couple. As we would soon find out, that&#8217;s exactly what they were doing.</p>

<p>News of a tell-all interview between the Sussex&#8217;s and talk show host Oprah Winfrey got everyone&#8217;s feathers ruffled. Teaser snippets revealed that this was likely going to be their most revealing interview yet, where they would talk about their strained relationship with Buckingham Palace.</p>

A-Glimpse-Into-Meghan-and-Harrys-Life-in-the-U.S.-and-Their-Rocky-Relationship-With-the-Royal-Family68

<p>Highly anticipated, the two-hour-long special was set to release in early March, and was filmed in an unnamed location. &#8220;I just want to make it clear to everybody there is no subject that&#8217;s off-limits,&#8221; we hear Meghan telling the media executive. Most damning of all, Meghan is heard saying about the palace: &#8220;I&nbsp;don&#8217;t know how&nbsp;they could expect&nbsp;that,&nbsp;after all&nbsp;of this&nbsp;time,&nbsp;we would&nbsp;still&nbsp;just&nbsp;be&nbsp;silent.&#8221; </p>

<p>Allegations about Meghan&#8217;s behavior towards staff emerged in the lead-up to the couple&#8217;s interview with Oprah. One journalist reported witnessing the Duchess &#8220;hiss&#8221; at a member of her entourage once while on duty in 2018, and apparently, it ended in a flood of tears.</p>

A-Glimpse-Into-Meghan-and-Harrys-Life-in-the-U.S.-and-Their-Rocky-Relationship-With-the-Royal-Family64

<p>But it wasn&#8217;t Meghan who was crying, it was one of her members of staff. &#8220;Our eyes met and she lowered hers, humiliation etched on her features,&#8221; wrote the journalist. Along with many other allegations, the palace has decided to launch an investigation into whether Meghan &#8220;bullied&#8221; her staff during her time as a senior royal. </p>

A Glimpse Into Meghan and Harry’s New Life and Their Rocky Relationship With the Royal Family