TIRED OF THE LIES
Under attack by members of her own family, Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, finally reach the breaking point
She was an unexpected visitor. On Oct. 6, Meghan Markle’s estranged half-sister, Samantha Grant, showed up at London’s Kensington Palace, where the duchess lives with Prince Harry. When she wasn’t allowed in, the man she was with “handed the security guard a letter,” says an onlooker, presumably with a message for Markle. “Everybody would love to know,” Grant later tweeted, “what’s in that letter.”
It’s just the latest in a seemingly endless string of personal betrayals and public attacks from the people Markle should be able to count on most: her family. Since her romance with Prince Harry became public in October 2016, she’s been under fire from Samantha, her halfbrother Thomas Markle Jr. and, worst of all, her own father. Over the summer, Thomas Markle gave a series of interviews lashing out at his daughter and the royal family. Calling the royals “cult-like” and comparing them to a “Stepford family,” he accused them of cutting him off from his daughter. Harry, 34, and his princess, 37, have tried to ignore the mud-slinging, but it hasn’t let up. At the breaking point and fed up with the lies, they’re privately fighting back — any way they can.
It isn’t easy. As a royal, Markle can’t call out her relatives, or she’ll be seen as sinking to their level. She’s expected to stay above the fray. But the stress is getting to her. “Meghan is really anxious about Samantha being in London,” says a source, adding that the couple wasn’t at the palace at the time of the ambush visit. “She knows these tactics won’t stop. It’s sad that this will continue — and it’s making Meghan very uneasy.”
FAMILY FIRE
It’s been this way since the start. The romance had just made headlines when Grant, 53, announced she was writing a tell-all book, called The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister, about her half-sibling. After the engagement, Markle’s half-brother, 52, sent a public letter to Harry, warning him that his future wife is a “jaded, shallow, conceited woman [who] will make a joke of you and the royal family.” He followed that up with a public letter to his half-sister, begging for an invite to her nuptials.
The future Duchess of Sussex was left reeling — but the worst was yet to come. She’d been estranged from her half-siblings for years, but she and her father had stayed close. That all changed in May, when the 74-year-old former lighting designer staged a series of profitable paparazzi photos in which he pretended to prep for the
royal wedding. He apologized (and Grant insisted she’d talked him into doing it) and skipped the “I do’s” at Windsor Castle that month, claiming he’d suffered a heart attack. But he recovered with suspicious speed and promptly started giving interviews to any British tabloid or TV host who would listen. “Meghan is absolutely broken by the drama with her father,” says the source. “There’s no way she can have a relationship with him, or even reach out to him to stop him from speaking, because he’ll record the conversation and sell it! She knows that.”
For a while, Markle felt there was nothing she could do. She wanted to speak out and address the lies she felt her family was telling, “but Harry would never let her,” the source says. As an actress, the former Suits star “is used to replying to any sort of controversy on Twitter or through a publicist. But Harry has learned that you can’t publicly address these issues because it only makes things worse.”
HER SUPPORT SYSTEM
Markle was frustrated, and felt deeply alone in London. But she found support and comfort from her husband — who vowed to help any way he could. With his blessing, Markle’s beloved mother, Doria Ragland, 62, flew from L.A. to be by her side, secretly staying with her and Harry over the summer. And the duchess made a secret solo trip to Toronto (where Suits was shot) to visit her best friend and stylist, Jessica Mulroney.
She’s also found a strong support system in the royal family, who’ve rallied around her. Her sister-inlaw, Prince William’s wife, Kate Middleton — who also struggled to adjust to life in the palace and in the public eye — has been one of her closest confidantes. Meghan considers their private one-on-ones and pep talks a sweet gesture during this dark time. More unexpected support has come from Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, 92. “The queen has really taken Meghan under her wing,” reveals an insider. She’s let Markle know she can have any extra security she needs, and that she has the freedom to escape the palace and spend time in the country whenever she wishes. “Her Majesty has been very supportive about the problems Meghan has faced with her family,” says the insider. “She’s sympathetic. She knows the situation is out of Meghan’s hands.”
With the encouragement of the royals, the duchess decided the best way she can fight back is to forge her own path as a strong, independent member of the British monarchy. In September, she held her first fundraiser, launching Together: Our Community Cookbook, with proceeds going to residents displaced by the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire. It was considered a smashing success. “She has big philanthropic plans,” notes the source, who says she views Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana, as a role model. And on Oct. 16, she and Harry are set to take their first overseas trip representing the crown, a whirlwind 16day tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. “Meghan is going to throw herself into work,” the source notes.
She’s also eager to build a new family with her prince. “Meghan and Harry are trying for a baby,” the source reveals. “They both want a big family, at least three kids.” In the meantime, she intends to stay busy — and send a message that no matter what her family says, she won’t let it destroy her. “She’s starting to feel more settled,” the source says. “She’s going to get bolder about going out and doing things — and not being trapped behind those palace walls.”