Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were certainly no strangers to controversy during their time as senior members of the British royal family.
With countless headlines about Meghan's alleged "unreasonable" behaviour, including her reported $200,000 baby shower in New York in 2019, and stories left, right, and centre that she and Kate Middleton did not get along, her time as the Duchess of Sussex was not an easy one.
This led to Harry and Meghan's official exit from the royal family in February 2021, with the palace releasing a statement about their decision to pull back from public life.
"Following conversations with the Duke, the Queen has written confirming that 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."
But it's clear their departure was not the end of drama for the couple as they continued to face backlash as new details emerged about their relationship with their staff and with the other royals.
Here's your guide to all the drama and scandal that has followed the Sussexes since they departed the royal family.
Another royal contradicts the story, October 2024.
Mike Tindall, the husband of Princess Anne's daughter Zara Phillips, married into the British royal family in 2011. In a snippet from his upcoming memoir The Good, the Bad & the Rugby — Unleashed, he shared that he found his life in the royal family "simple'.
"Believe it or not, marrying into the Royal Family was pretty easy for me," he wrote. "They were always nice to me, and I was always nice to them. Simple really."
These comments are in stark contrast to Meghan and Harry's account of her entry into the royal family and have seemingly cast a shadow of doubt over Meghan's experience.
In Harry and Meghan's Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, she had described a very different impression of meeting the royal family.
"I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through to the inside… that there is a forward-facing way of being and then you close the door, and you go 'Oh… okay, we can relax now'," she said.
"But that formality carries over on both sides and that was surprising to me."
There are some obvious reasons here as to why they may have found their experiences different. Meghan was introduced as the partner of a higher ranking royal, which inherently comes with more pressure. She was also American, and a woman of colour.
Kate Middleton's health update, September 2024.
After weeks of speculation and noise online, Kate Middleton released a video statement updating the public about her health condition and speaking candidly about her cancer journey.
Just a few hours later Netflix released teaser images for POLO, a documentary series produced by Harry and Meghan.
While the two may seem unrelated, online users were furious at the 'coincidental timing' of it all.
"You drop this just as Princess Catherine releases a video about her cancer treatment being finished," one user commented on the post.
"Great timing Netflix you're disgusting. Trying to piggy back off the Princess of Wales to sell a crappy series about a ponce who abuses horses," another wrote.
The Hollywood Reporter bullying allegations, September 2024.
Things were not looking good for the Sussexes when The Hollywood Reporter released a damning exposé about the couple.
The piece was entitled 'Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Harry and Meghan' and explored allegations from "sources close to the couple" that claim Meghan displays "difficult" and "unprofessional" behaviour towards her staff.
The article referenced the high turnover of staff, including their Global Press Secretary Toya Holness in 2022, and their Head of PR Christine Weil Schirmer in 2021, and put it down to Meghan's demanding and rude behaviour towards her team, branding her 'Duchess Difficult'.
Following the article's release, the Co-Editor in Chief of The Hollywood Reporter seemed to double down on the claims.
"Our reporter spoke with a dozen people, most of them are people who work very close with the couple in varying capacities — now and previously," Maer Roshan told Access Hollywood, adding that they "talked to one very high up source who works for the couple who said: 'everyone is terrified of Meghan Markle'."
The jam saga, August 2024.
In April, Meghan announced that her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard was going to be releasing a line of fresh strawberry jam. The coveted preserve was selectively sent to various friends and celebrities, including Kris Jenner and Prince Harry's friend Nacho Figueras.
However, just a few days later, Buckingham Palace's Shop also shared a video on Instagram to promote their own line of strawberry jam.
"Our Strawberry Preserve is made using only the finest berries and is delicious served in a variety of ways," the caption read.
The internet immediately erupted with claims that Buckingham Palace was unsubtly making jabs at Meghan and attempting to overshadow her brand announcement.
"Is it just me that loves the subtle shade?" wrote one user who commented on Instagram.
Staff resignations, August 2024.
Following the sudden resignation of Harry and Meghan's chief of staff, Josh Kettler, after just three months on the job, rumours once again hit the headlines that the couple were having a hard time retaining their staff.
These claims came off of a series of resignations of the Sussex's staff over the last few years. According to news.com.au, the couple had 18 senior employees quit since their royal wedding, and at least nine since their move to the US in 2020.
The Queen's funeral, September, 2022.
Following the claims made in Harry and Meghan's 2021 interview with Oprah about Kate Middleton and the rest of the royal family, the public was adamant on dissecting every interaction the two women shared following.
However, the first reunion came about due to family tragedy.
The Queen's funeral in September 2022 marked one of the first times the two women had reunited. In a TikTok video shared online, Meghan appeared to be attempting to take her seat and accidentally tapped Kate's hand in the process.
People were quick to jump on the interaction and claimed that Kate looked uncomfortable. Others blamed Meghan and argued she shouldn't have made physical contact.
The video was viewed 827k times on TikTok.
Netflix's Harry & Meghan documentary, December 2022.
In 2022, Harry and Meghan released a documentary on Netflix that explored the behind-the-scenes story of their life, including how they met, Meghan's time in the royal family and their life as it is now, with their two children.
The couple made several claims in the documentary regarding the royal family, including accusing them of protecting Prince William and Kate Middleton over Harry and Meghan.
"The issue is when someone who's marrying in, who should be a supporting act, is then stealing the limelight," Harry said. "There's a hierarchy of the family. You know, there's leaking, but there's also planting of stories."
"I wasn't just being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves," Meghan said, of the palace's failure to step in and protect her from the press. "The truth didn't matter, the clickbait did."
Among the revelations, Meghan revealed she had looked to King Charles III as a father figure. When Meghan's star began to rise even further as she entered the royal family, she cut ties with her problematic father Thomas Markle.
"I've lost my dad in this, so him as my father-in-law was really important to me," Meghan said in the doco.
They also spoke to the tense relationship between Harry and William in the months leading up to their decision to step down as senior members of the family.
"It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that simply weren't true," Harry said, revealing he ultimately moved for Meghan.
"She sacrificed everything she ever knew, the freedom that she had, to join me in my world," he said.
Harry and Meghan's sit down interview with Oprah Winfrey, March 2021.
Shortly after their departure from the royal family, Harry and Meghan did a sit down interview with Oprah Winfrey where they dropped some pretty controversial bombshells.
Meghan spoke about her experience being "silenced" by the royal family and her intense feelings of loneliness amid the rampant headlines about her at the time.
And in arguably the most controversial statement in the entire interview, Meghan and Harry spoke about alleged racist comments made by someone within the royal family.
"In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time… so we have in tandem the conversation of 'He won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born," Meghan said.
The claims came as a shock to the world and further emphasised the narrative online that the two did not get along with the royal family.
Watch Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah Winfrey. Article continues after video.
Feature Image: Getty.
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