Her editor, Martin Townsend, was equally happy, so thrilled with the royal exclusive that he shared it with the Sunday Star, sister paper to the Sunday Express.
The story was gold dust. And Camilla was absolutely confident of her source. For once the newspaper decided against placing a courtesy call into the press office at Kensington Palace. The fear was that the palace would put out a statement, thus spoiling their scoop.
It was just like the old days of Fleet Street, the one-time newspaper capital of Britain. Normally Sunday newspapers have a gentleman’s agreement where they swap their first editions so that if a rival has missed a story, they have a chance to catch up for later editions. Not this night. Townsend decided to deliberately delay printing the first edition of the paper so that none of his rivals were in a position to match their scoop. Late on Saturday night frantic calls from journalists were being made to Kensington Palace when word spread that the Express had landed “a big one.” Camilla’s agitated competitors were met with “No comment” by the duty press officer. Off the record, Prince Harry’s communications director, Jason Knauf, an aggressive American, was reluctantly admitting that the article “had a ring of truth about it.”
Within minutes of the Sunday Express story breaking, social media went into meltdown as bloggers, royal enthusiasts, Suits fans, and online newspapers worldwide spread the news. Overnight Meghan Markle went from being a moderately well-known actor to one of the most famous people on the planet.
When the story became public, Harry was staying with Meghan in Toronto. After he took a call from Jason Knauf to tell him their cover had been blown, he and Meghan poured themselves a glass of wine and toasted each other. But the celebration came with a sober warning, Harry telling Meghan: “Our lives will never be the same again.”
At least they no longer had to hide from the world. Nor was the actor going to lose her mischievous sense of humor over this dramatic development in her life. Just hours after the story broke, she posted a cryptic photo on her Instagram site of two bananas cuddling, with the caption “Sleep tight xx.” The photograph which showed the bananas spooning—lying next to each other like a pair of spoons—attracted thousands of likes from her followers, who realized what she was alluding to. One user posted “Princess Meghan Markle,” while another wrote, “Is this a message for your red-haired Prince?”
Equally tongue in check was another photo she posted showing a cup of English breakfast tea and a jigsaw, perhaps indicating how the couple was spending their time indoors. But their lighthearted attitude did not last long.
There is a famous scene in the movie Notting Hill where Julia Roberts, who plays a glamorous American actor, opens the front door of the home of her bookseller boyfriend, played by Hugh Grant, to be confronted by a baying pack of photographers and reporters. Roberts promptly slams the door and heads inside. That’s probably how Meghan felt when, dressed in a long coat, a beanie hat, and dark glasses, she ventured out of her front door and made her way through the mob of media into a waiting Dodge van which then whisked her to work on the set of Suits. Harry somehow had managed to make his escape earlier and had caught a flight back to London.
Meghan might have been a veteran of promotional panels, forums, and podiums, but nothing could prepare her for the sonic boom, the shock wave of publicity that hit her.
Within the space of a few days, the print and digital media had painted her as a “gold digger,” whose “torrid sex scenes” from Suits were featured on porn sites. One story suggested that Prince Harry was responsible for breaking up Meghan’s relationship with chef Cory Vitiello, another that the prince had inundated her with texts until she agreed to meet for a date.
Under the headline HARRY GIRL’S ON PORNHUB, The Sun helpfully reported that she was featured on the adult site, where she could be seen “stripping off and groaning,” straddling her costar Patrick J. Adams in an office, as well as mounting him on a sofa. “It also includes close-ups of her crotch and her lacy bra—and has been viewed more than 40,600 times.” Another porn site superimposed Meghan’s head onto the body of a glamour model.
Commentators had a field day. Columnist Rachel Johnson, sister of British foreign secretary Boris Johnson, described Meghan’s mother, Doria, as a “dreadlocked African-American lady from the wrong side of the tracks.” She continued, “If there is an issue from her alleged union with Prince Harry, the Windsors will thicken their watery, thin blue blood and Spencer pale skin and ginger hair with some rich and exotic DNA.”
Her remarks acted as the call of the hunting horn for a torrent of racist abuse from online trolls. “Prince Harry could marry into gangster royalty—his new love is from a crime ridden Los Angeles neighbourhood,” claimed the online Daily Star. The story suggested that Meghan’s mother lived in a high-crime neighborhood surrounded by “bloodbath murders and drug-induced violence.”
In a matter of days, Meghan experienced racism and sexism on a level beyond any she had come across before. While she had been discussing and writing about such issues for the last few years, nothing came close to this onslaught. It was neither pleasant nor accurate, Meghan the campaigner, the humanitarian, and the woman reduced to a two-dimensional caricature. As biographer Sam Kashner wrote: “Criticism of Markle has been snob ridden, racist and uninformed.”
It was reminiscent of the gleeful horror that greeted Prince Andrew’s romance with American actor Kathleen “Koo” Stark when it was revealed that she had starred in an erotic film which involved a tender lesbian shower scene. But back then there was no internet. This time around Twitter, Facebook, online forums, and comment sections gave the whole world and its worst side the platform to “join the conversation.”
While Meghan was sympathizing with her mother who found herself accosted by photographers every time she went out as well as confused friends wondering what they should say to the media, other members of her own family added to the tumult.
Her half sister Yvonne, who was now calling herself Samantha, appeared particularly keen to share the limelight. Describing Meghan, whom she had not seen for years, as “princess pushy,” Samantha accused her of being a shallow social climber with a “soft spot for gingers.” Samantha, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, went on to say that her half sister’s behavior was “not befitting of a Royal Family member,” berating her for shunning her family after she became famous. Then Meghan’s young half nephew Tyler Dooley weighed in, announcing that Meghan, whom he had also not spoken to for years, was “blissfully happy” and that the actor was “hurt and stung” by his aunt’s accusations. If nothing else these scattered comments gave a sense of the dysfunction at the heart of Meghan’s family.
The coverage was Harry’s worst nightmare come true. Meghan had made the mistake of falling in love with him. Now she, her family, and her friends were destined to suffer because she made him happy. Through it all, neither Harry nor Meghan had made any statement. Kensington Palace also remained tight-lipped. But the media bedlam could not continue for much longer. Perhaps the deciding story was the one that appeared in the Sun. Under the lascivious headline FANCY QUICK PUCK MEG, it was suggested that Meghan’s marriage to Trevor Engelson had collapsed because she had become close to Canadian ice hockey star Michael Del Zotto. While Del Zotto and his agent categorically denied the suggestion, Harry decided to act. He contacted his brother, who had faced similar hysterical coverage during his courtship with Kate Middleton. They chewed over the problem, and though William was cautious about issuing a statement, especially as it would confirm Meghan was Harry’s girlfriend, he felt that matters had gone too far to remain silent. Unlike their father, William and Harry are not of the old royal school whose motto was “Never complain, never explain.” They have a track record of aggressively using the law to seek redress against intrusive photographers and other media outlets that invade their privacy. Harry went so far as to suggest hiring a retired Scotland Yard protection officer to watch over her. Meghan thought the idea “c
harming but unnecessary.” That didn’t stop the Suits producers from hiring their own heavies to protect their valuable asset, increasing security on set and accompanying her to and from work.
Amid these media histrionics their communications secretary Jason Knauf drafted a lengthy statement that addressed Harry’s concerns and complaints. There was no hiding the anger and distress that suffused the bulletin, the voice of a young man trying to protect the woman he loved—and preserve their future together. On November 8, Kensington Palace formally released the extraordinary statement. It acknowledged that there would be curiosity about his private life, but the past week “has seen a line crossed.”
“His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public—the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments. Some of it has been hidden from the public—the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life.
“Prince Harry is worried about Ms. Markle’s safety and is deeply disappointed that he has not been able to protect her. It is not right that a few months into a relationship with him that Ms. Markle should be subjected to such a storm. He knows commentators will say this is ‘the price she has to pay’ and that ‘this is all part of the game.’ He strongly disagrees. This is not a game—it is her life and his.”
While the prince’s statement helped calm the hysteria, his formal confirmation that Meghan was indeed his girlfriend meant that all media outlets, not just the British tabloids, now saw Meghan as a possible royal bride. Picture editors around the world scoured their back catalogues for shots of the latest royal-in-waiting. A photograph of her modeling a wedding dress for a scene from Suits was manna from heaven.
Her now official proximity to the royal family became the new agenda, several newspapers wrongly reporting that Meghan had helped Harry celebrate his thirty-second birthday at Balmoral, and that during her time in the Scottish Highlands she had even met with Prince Charles, who found her “charming.”
Though the story was incorrect, they were on the right scent. Meghan was indeed now an accepted part of the royal furniture—as senior journalist Richard Kay, who had been a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, discovered when, on November 10, 2016, he popped out of his office to buy a sandwich for his lunch.
As he strolled down busy Kensington High Street he could scarcely believe his eyes when he spotted Meghan walking along the road, holding two bags filled with produce from the Whole Foods Market store.
He followed her back to Kensington Palace and saw her waved through security into the grounds. It was an obvious sign that the relationship between the actor and the fifth in line to the throne was “serious.” Kay observed: “The timing of Miss Markle’s visit is hugely significant, not least because it appears she was in the UK when Harry publicly declared his love for her.”
What was even more telling was the fact that Meghan had spent only two days with Harry before flying back to Toronto to resume filming of Suits. Now that was commitment, the actor taking the trouble to see her boyfriend before he embarked on an official two-week tour of the Caribbean.
On the tour he would be representing the Queen at independence anniversary celebrations in Barbados, Guyana, and Antigua. It was a test of his mettle—and he knew full well that his grandmother would be monitoring his progress, as it was one of his first overseas tours to represent Her Majesty. It would prove to be an official tour of more import than he realized at the time.
Among many other activities he took an AIDS test with superstar Rihanna in Barbados, observed a minute’s silence for Fidel Castro in St. Vincent, and played cricket in St. Lucia.
Harry managed to remain cool when, at a reception for three hundred guests, Antiguan prime minister Gaston Browne suggested he and Meghan should return to the island for their honeymoon. “I believe we are expecting a new princess soon. I want you to know that you are very welcome to come on your honeymoon here,” he was reported to have said. Harry was later introduced to a group of scantily clad models with the words: “Whatever is done here, stays here. So don’t worry.” The prince said nothing but afterward told aides he found the incident “pretty distasteful.”
Not that Meghan was worried. He was in constant touch with her via Skype, reporting back on the progress of his solo visit. He was given full marks by the trailing media, royal editor Camilla Tominey commenting: “With his American girlfriend Meghan Markle putting a spring in his step, it’s fair to say Prince Harry has rarely been on better form. Comfortable in his own skin and completely at ease with the spotlight being shone on his official duties as the queen’s representative overseas, he has truly come of age.”
Though the attendant media were assured that the prince was heading back to London, it was a red herring. Harry took a 1,700-mile detour to spend a few precious hours holed up in Meghan’s rented house in Toronto. Her followers had the first clue that Harry was on his way when Meghan posted a picture of herself wearing a necklace with M and H as well as a snap of her beagle, Guy, in his Union Jack jumper. For the first time, a grand royal passion was being played out before the eyes on social media. Not that such access would last long. Within forty-eight hours the prince was flying back to London. He had just time enough to take a shower before he was on parade in the City of London answering phones and joking with callers for an annual charity fund-raiser where his charity Sentebale was a recipient.
Harry then joined his friends for a shooting weekend at Oettingen Castle in Bavaria, Germany, before he was reunited with Meghan, who came for a weeklong stay at Nottingham Cottage in early December.
They bought their first Christmas tree together, and the staff at the Battersea garden center Pines and Needles gave them a bunch of mistletoe for good luck. For the most part they managed to elude the watchful paparazzi, the couple wearing matching blue beanie hats to obscure their faces. They walked through the theater district, where they saw the slapstick comedy Peter Pan Goes Wrong and later the brilliantly staged The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, based on Mark Haddon’s novel.
Much as they would have liked to spend Christmas together, royal tradition threw a wrench in their plans. Every year the extended royal family gather at Sandringham, the queen’s twenty-thousand-acre estate in Norfolk. Girlfriends and boyfriends are excluded.
They did, however, see in the New Year together at Nottingham Cottage before flying on January 2 to the remote town of Tromsø in northern Norway on the edge of the Arctic Circle to see the dazzling and awe-inspiring aurora borealis, or northern lights.
Even if the happy couple were not quite ready to make a formal commitment to one another, they and others had to anticipate the future. In his mind Suits creator Aaron Korsh decided that Meghan’s private life now overshadowed her character, Rachel Zane. For her sake it was best to write her out of the hit series. As he said later: “I had a decision to make. I didn’t want to intrude and ask her: ‘Hey what’s going on and what are you going to do?’ So collectively with the writers we decided to take a gamble that these two people were in love and it would work out.” As Harry’s previous actor girlfriend Cressida Bonas had discovered, there was a high professional price to pay for dating a prince. If the Harry and Meghan romance had petered out, Meghan would have been out of work. It was a high-stakes romance with consequences for her career with every passing week.
Indeed, for how much longer could a potential princess be seen cuddling up to her screen lover, Patrick J. Adams, her hand placed suggestively on his knee? When Adams was asked by a fan what it was like “making o
ut on screen with a potential future English princess,” he replied deadpan: “The same as it was before she was a potential future princess.”
That said, both Meghan and her romantic costar Patrick J. Adams had by now appeared in more than one hundred episodes of the hit show. As far as he was concerned, it was time to hang up his role in Suits. Even if Meghan had felt the same way, her personal life took this professional decision out of her hands.
As he later told the Hollywood Reporter: “There was this natural sense that we both knew that the time had come for both of us. It went unspoken and we just enjoyed the hell out of the last few episodes that we got to shoot. We both knew that we wouldn’t be coming back. It made every one of our scenes that much more special. We had a great time. We could laugh through it. Even the things that might have frustrated us about the show, they became things that we could have a good laugh about and compare notes on just how crazy this thing had become.”
For as long as she was on the show, the producers were ready and willing to use her royal connections and newfound celebrity—that February she was ranked fourth among the most eligible dinner guests by Tatler magazine—to boost ratings. One trailer promoted the characters as “almost royalty,” while another featured a scene from a previous season of Meghan in a wedding dress.
Others had the same idea. The gritty British crime movie Anti-Social, originally released in 2015, was repackaged as a “special edition” and featured Meghan’s name prominently in the publicity. In the movie she played a fashion model named Kirsten and was seen emerging from a shower dressed in a towel, drinking champagne, and kissing an on-screen lover. A number of Trevor Engelson’s friends, who knew that he had always been reluctant to cast Meghan in his productions, now teased him mercilessly telling the Hollywood producer that he could have made a fortune repackaging his movies if Meghan had been featured in the original. “He got a lot of flak,” a friend told me.
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