It’s been a rocky road for Meghan Markle and the British royal family since she fell in love with Prince Harry.
The Suits alum started dating the prince during the summer of 2016. While she gushed about Harry to Vanity Fair during her September 2017 cover story, the couple spoke about their relationship — and preparing Meghan for royal life — for the first time during their engagement interview in November 2017.
“I think I can very safely say as naive as it sounds now, having gone through this learning curve in the past year and a half I did not have any understanding of just what it would be like,” Meghan said at the time.
Harry replied, “I had tried to warn you as much as possible. … I think you can have as many conversations as you want, trying to prepare as much as possible but we were totally unprepared for what happened after that.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex wed in May 2018. Despite the alleged tension between the brothers over how quickly Harry and Meghan’s relationship moved, the pair teamed up with Prince William and Princess Kate and the foursome launched a charity together. In June 2019, news broke that the group effort was already done and the two couples were splitting their charities.
“Kensington Palace is painting this as a natural progression,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “But there were definitely issues with Meghan and Kate seeing eye to eye on how they wanted to run this charity.”
In October 2019, Harry and Meghan spoke to ITV’s Tom Bradby and hinted that they were unhappy. Harry also confirmed reports that there was a rift between him and William.
“I have said for a long time to H, that’s what I call [Harry], ‘It’s not enough to just survive something. That’s not the point of life. You have to thrive. You have got to feel happy,’” Meghan said during the special, admitting she was “not OK.”
She continued: “I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a ‘stiff upper lip.’ I really tried, but I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging.”
Less than six months later, Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step back from their senior royal duties in January 2020. The pair subsequently relocated, first to Canada and then to Los Angeles. The pair informed Queen Elizabeth II in February 2021 that they would not be returning to the U.K. to work for the family.
One day after the queen‘s death in September 2022, King Charles III shared his “love” for Harry and Meghan in his first speech as the new monarch.
“I want … to express my love for Harry and Meghan, as they continue to build their lives overseas,” he said in the address.
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Scroll through for a complete timeline of the ups and downs, including the drama surrounding Harry and Meghan’s March 2021 CBS tell-all interview: