The Duke of Sussex recently gave an all-access look inside his relationship with Meghan Markle through his autobiography Spare and the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan.
In the latter, he spoke about the moment he warned his spouse, five months after their May 2018 wedding at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. When Harry and Meghan set out on their first royal tour as a married couple in October, they had just learned that they were expecting their first child, Archie Harrison.
Photo: Karwai Tang
He claimed that Meghan “dazzled” him during the tour, making him “paranoid” about comparisons between Meghan and his late mother Princess Diana.
“Huge crowds showed up everywhere we went, and she didn’t let them down. She wowed people in Australia, Tonga, Fiji, and New Zealand. She received a standing ovation following one particularly stirring speech.
She was so intelligent that I felt compelled to warn her midway through the tour. My love, you’re succeeding too well. Far too well. You’re making it seem far too simple. This is how it all began, with my mother.
Maybe I came off as crazy or paranoid. But everyone was aware that Mummy’s predicament deteriorated further when she demonstrated to the family and the rest of the world that she was more adept at touring, interacting with people, and acting “royal” than she had any right to be. That is when things really started to change.
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In his words, Meghan was initially “hailed” for her smooth entrance into the royal family, but that soon changed as rumors of the “Duchess Difficult” began to spread.
The memoir also revealed details of their honeymoon and covert pre-wedding ceremony. In the summer of 2016, they went on a blind date in London and fell in love. In November 2017, Harry proposed to them at their former home, Nottingham Cottage.
The royals confused fans by claiming they had a “magical” ceremony at home a few days earlier, even though millions of people around the world tuned in to watch them exchange vows in Windsor in 2018.
Harry clarified the situation in Spare by stating that “The archbishop reached the official part, spoke the few words that made us The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, titles bestowed by Granny, and he joined us until death parted us, though he’d already done similar days earlier, in our garden, a small ceremony, just the two of us, with Guy and Pula the only witnesses. Except in our souls, unofficial and non-binding,” he wrote.
He claimed they were “worn down” when they flew off on their 10-day honeymoon to the Mediterranean in secret after their big day. “Our honeymoon was kept a secret from everyone. With the windows of our car covered in cardboard, we drove out of London and spent ten days in the Mediterranean. Wonderful to be outside, in the sun and on the water.
But, as Harry continued, “We were also ill. We were exhausted from the wedding preparations.
