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Meghan Markle: “It’s almost unsurvivable”
Meghan Markle has revealed in a new podcast she was told she was “the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female” last year. Alongside her, Prince Harry praised the power of meditation.
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The couple were speaking to the Teenage Therapy podcast, whose hosts quizzed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex about their own mental health and campaigning around the issue.
Harry said the issue of mental health was of universal concern, which required a “much wider focus, acceptance, and appreciation.”
Both Meghan and Harry talked—yet again—of the potential damage to one’s mental health presented by the world online, using themselves as examples of victims of its worst excesses.
“I am told that in 2019 I was the most trolled person in the entire world, male or female,” Meghan said. “Now, eight months of that I wasn’t even visible on maternity leave or with a baby. But what was able to be manufactured and churned out—it’s almost unsurvivable. That’s so big you can’t even think of what that feels like… people saying things about you that aren’t true, what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging.”
Meghan acknowledged that her and Harry’s experiences “may seem different to what people experience day-to-day, but…we all know what it feels like to have our feelings hurt. We all know what it feels like to be isolated and othered.”
Harry said, “There are good days and bad days,” adding that “self-care as a priority is hugely important. Showing vulnerability is a strength.”
The couple talked to the teenagers about the importance of talking about, and sharing, one’s feelings. Meghan said she found journaling “a really powerful thing” that had helped her put past experiences into perspective.
For Harry, “Meditation is key,” he said. “I never thought I would be the person to do that,” he added, but he had found it “important to take a moment to create a time in the day to take a breath, to just focus on things things that really matter.”
“He’s very dedicated to it,” Meghan interjected.
Asked if she was ever hesitant to talk about something, Meghan replied, “At some point you just have to be comfortable in your own skin,” adding that when ITV journalist Tom Bradby (infamously) asked her how she was last year, and she responded that not many people had asked her that, she had been “exhausted” on what had been the last day of their African tour. She had been conducting official engagements, while also breastfeeding Archie.
“I didn’t realize my answer would receive such interest around the world,” Meghan said, though didn’t say whether the widespread perception—that her answer reflected a lack of sympathy and engagement by the royal family itself—was true. She said it was “a moment of vulnerability. I was tired. I’m a mom with a 4-and-a-half-month-old baby.”
Meghan said the question and answer had resonated with people—moms and parents particularly—because they too wanted to be asked if they were OK.
Maybe—and also nice dodge.
Today, if she were asked the same question, Meghan said she would say she was doing “really well,” acknowledging her family’s luxury of having “blue skies, fresh air, and green space” in California. A year later, she added, her answer was, “Yes, I am doing well. The past few months have been layered for everyone. We certainly can’t complain. We have our health and roofs over our heads.”
In fact, Harry and Meghan have complained a lot in recent months—first as exactingly detailed in the sympathetic biography Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family, as well as in the lawsuits they are currently conducting against multiple media outlets.
Queen found Balmoral summer stay “tedious”
The queen found her curtailed summer stay at Balmoral “a bit tedious” without the regular flow of family and visitors. “Balmoral can sometimes be a little hard going, but coronavirus made things even more difficult. There was quite a lot of time spent sat around, twiddling thumbs,” a source told the Telegraph.
Princess Anne made the trek north and so did Prince William and Kate Middleton, and the queen’s youngest son Edward and wife Sophie (presently in self-isolation after coming into contact with someone with coronavirus). Apparently, the summer holidays at the queen’s Scottish castle “simply wasn’t as enjoyable as usual” because of the pandemic-related restrictions in place.
The queen and Philip cut short their summer holiday and returned to their Norfolk home of Sandringham, where Philip has remained (at his Wood Farm residence). The queen returned to Windsor Castle earlier this week. The Telegraph also revealed that small gatherings adhering to the British “rule of six” have been planned for the queen (in the U.K., any social gatherings of more than six people are banned—apart from a set of limited exemptions including work and education).
The queen may also restart her traditional weekly meetings with the British prime minister (Boris Johnson, a coronavirus survivor himself). Palace aides told the Telegraph that royal Christmas plans were “fluid,” with the only guests of the queen at (most likely) Sandringham likely to be Edward, Sophie, and their kids.
Harry and Meghan’s British new year
Harry and Meghan may not be joining H.M. for Christmas but will likely have to see in the new year in the U.K. after it was revealed that Meghan’s high court battle with Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Mail on Sunday, is now due to start on January 11, and she will need to quarantine for two weeks before it begins.
The scheduling of the high court battle may just allow the Sussexes enough time to spend Christmas in California with Meghan’s mum, Doria, although the couple might choose to spend Christmas in the U.K. as well.
Indeed, there is some speculation that Harry may come back to the U.K. sooner than expected, with the Sun reporting this week that aides have been ordered to get Frogmore Cottage ready for them.
A source told the Sun: “Staff at Windsor have been told to prepare [Frogmore Cottage] for the possibility Harry could come back within weeks.”
Got talent
Netflix boss Reed Hastings, when boasting about having signed Harry and Meghan last month, said the couple had been involved in discussions with a number of different media companies before deciding Netflix could offer them the “best package.”
They also chatted to media impresario Simon Cowell, the Sun now reveals.
The source said: “Simon is a huge fan of Prince Harry and Meghan and has known the Prince for many years. Harry used to pop along to The X Factor back in the day.
They have mutual friends in common and now Harry and Meghan are moving into the entertainment industry themselves. Simon has been happy to offer his support on a casual basis.”
Malala conversation
As reported by The Daily Beast earlier this week, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have recorded a conversation with Malala Yousafzai highlighting the issues girls still face accessing education. The conversation, to be released at 11am EST Sunday, marks International Day of the Girl. A source close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex told The Daily Beast that the couple spoke to Yousafzai about how the coronavirus pandemic is negatively impacting the rates at which women and girls access education.
Before the pandemic, over 129 million girls were out of school around the world—Malala Fund’s research indicates 20 million more secondary-school aged girls may never return to the classroom when the health crisis ends.
Yousefzai, now 23, was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 because she continued to push for the rights of girls to have an education in Pakistan. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, and went onto study at the University of Oxford. The full video will be released on YouTube.
Drone paps say sorry
The Daily Beast was the first to report that Harry and Meghan were forced to go to the police about paparazzi drones which plagued them at their first L.A. home. They have now received an apology from picture agency X17 after “intrusive and illegal” photos were taken of their baby son, Archie, who was 14 months old at the time.
According to Sky News, Michael Kump, the couple’s lawyer, said X17 had apologized and agreed a “reimbursement of legal fees.”
This week in royal history
Happy second anniversary tomorrow to Princess Eugenie, younger daughter of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew, who married husband Jack Brooksbank at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor on October 12, 2018 in what must seem like a very long time ago for the family. Now Andrew, in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, is royal persona non grata.
Unanswered questions
Who is the mysterious person who told Meghan Markle she was “the most trolled person in the world” in 2019? How was this measured and adjudicated?
