Four years have passed since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sent shockwaves through the world by announcing their decision to step back from royal duties.
The Sussexes’ departure, marked by months of speculation about tensions within the Royal Family, culminated in a poignant farewell during Meghan’s last solo engagement.
In a private meeting at Buckingham Palace with scholars from the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Meghan addressed students on topics ranging from climate change.
Omid Scobie, among the few journalists invited to the event, shared a touching moment in his co-authored book with Carolyn Durand, “Finding Freedom”.
As Meghan bid her team farewell, she hugged Scobie and uttered a tearful seven words that left a lasting impact.
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She said privately to Scobie in a moment of reflection and sadness, “it didn’t have to be this way.”
Scobie wrote: “Staff who had been with the couple from day one were mourning the end of what was supposed to be a happy story: two people fall in love, get married, have a baby, serve the Queen, the end. Instead, they were leaving the country.”
Meghan’s final solo engagement was followed by a joint appearance with Prince Harry at the 2020 Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.
Observers noted tension among family members during the event, which marked the first reunion since the Sussexes’ extended Christmas stay in Canada and the subsequent announcement of their departure from the Firm.
In a revelation from Harry’s controversial Netflix series released at the end of 2022, the prince shared his feelings about the Commonwealth Day service.
He explained: “It’s like living through a soap opera where everybody else views you as entertainment. I felt really distant from the rest of my family, which was interesting because so much of how they operate is about what it looks like, rather than what it feels like. And it looked cold. But it also felt cold.”
In these four years since the couple stepped down from royal duties, the rift with the Firm has only deepend. They have not returned to England together since the late Queen’s funeral in September 2022.
