When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals there was one overwhelming reason they gave for their decision: privacy.
The couple expressed their frustration at the intense public scrutiny they encountered and claimed the constant barrage of criticism was detrimental to their well-being.
However, in the subsequent years since ‘Megxit’, Harry and Meghan have raised eyebrows as the Sussexes appeared less concerned about their privacy than they originally claimed.
Nowhere more so was this evident than during Harry and Meghan‘s bombshell interview with Oprah, in which serious allegations were wedged against the Royal Family.
Here the couple talked openly about Meghan’s mental health and claimed one – unnamed – member of the family had speculated about the colour of their son Archie’s skin when Meghan was pregnant in a racist way.
Unsurprisingly it wasn’t long before their contradictory behaviour was noticed by the media and even parodied on the American series South Park, where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were portrayed as talking heads who demanded privacy but still embarked a ‘Worldwide Privacy Tour’.
While their actions since they stepped down have been mocked, royal author Tom Quinn tries to answer why.
He claims that ‘if Meghan really wanted to be a private person, all she needed to do was go back to America and keep quiet – but what Meghan wants is privacy combined with world fame’.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Royal author Tom Quinn claims the interview was an example of how Meghan ‘aired grievances’ without her statements being ‘challenged’
Meghan when she was a working royal in 2018. The Duchess has in the past expressed her frustration at the intense public scrutiny she encountered as a working royal and claimed the constant barrage of criticism was detrimental to her well-being
A parody of Harry and Meghan as they appeared on the American cartoon South Park
Quinn exposes this flaw in Meghan’s argument using the Oprah interview as an example where Meghan ‘aired grievances’ without her statements being ‘challenged’.
‘The deep danger can be glimpsed when in the Oprah interview Meghan is encouraged to speak “her truth”. Well, if we all have our own versions of the truth then there is no truth. Speaking “my truth” is just a way of ennobling what is after all just one person’s opinion.’
On top of this, Quinn highlights that the media has become a tried and tested means of thrashing out grievances between the royals.
‘Their decisions to use the media to air their complaints about the family has frightening echoes of Charles and Diana turning to television to wash their dirty linen in public,’ he wrote.
‘But Meghan and Harry have gone much further because they exposed themselves to forensic examination.’
However, Quinn also attempted to paint a more sympathetic image of the Duchess of Sussex who was ‘sinned against’.
He said: ‘Meghan is perhaps both sinned against and sinning. It is true that she genuinely wants to do good in the world even if the British find her “Californian therapy speak” embarrassing and insincere.
‘But it is also true that Meghan is a powerful personality determined to get her way. To use Harry’s own phrase, “What Meghan wants, Meghan gets.” And Harry should know.’
Harry and Meghan together in October 2018. In the years since ‘Megxit’, the couple have raised eyebrows as they appeared less concerned about their privacy than they originally claimed
Aside from a claimed desire for more privacy, leaving Windsor for Montecito also brought with it financial opportunities
Prince Harry in April 2025. Harry stepped down as a working royal alongside Meghan in 2020
‘Meghan does seem to decide to a larger extent what she and her husband do and where they go. She does believe that the Royal Family did not give her what she needed, and that the family should have listened to her and changed to suit her.’
Aside from a claimed desire for more privacy, leaving Windsor for Montecito also brought with it financial opportunities.
According to royal author Valentine Low, it was Meghan’s yearning to monetise her royal title which led to ‘Megxit’.
Writing in his tell-all book Courtiers, Low claims that Meghan’s desire to ‘earn money for herself’ led the couple to abandon their duties entirely.
Low revealed that during discussions about how to reach a happy middle ground – which could please the whole family – multiple scenarios were explored.
These ranged from Harry and Meghan ‘having a month or a year to do their own thing‘ to ‘spending most of their time privately but doing a select number of royal activities’.
The one caveat for the Sussexes continuing royal duties – however small or minor – was that they must stick to the ‘normal rules about royal behaviour’.
Crucially, that would mean Harry and Meghan could not ‘act or take decisions in order to gain financially’.
Low writes: ‘Some suspected that in the end she wanted to make money. And the only way she was going to do that was by leaving her royal life behind and going back to America.’
Indeed, since stepping down as a working royal, Meghan appears to have focused much of her energy on her solo business projects and media projects – with the next season of With Love, Meghan set to debut next week.