Meghan Markle Breaks Royal Family's "Golden Rule" Months Before Exit, Expert Claims

When Meghan Markle married Prince Harry, she was expected to follow all of the Royal Family's "rules." Family members are expected to abide by a list of do's and don'ts, ranging from the clothes they can wear and acceptable nail polish to maintaining a certain level of privacy on all matters, especially regarding the media. However, Meghan Markle disobeyed one "golden rule" months before her Megxit to the United States, and a new documentary maintains that breaking it damaged her relationship with other family members. 

Meghan Did an Interview During Her Trip to Africa

During her trip to Africa with her husband, Prince Harry, the couple and their son, Archie, visited South Africa, Malawi, Angola, and Botswana. They also documented the trip with a camera crew and an interview with ITV's Tom Bradby. 

During the interview, Meghan publicly opened up about her struggles in the Royal Family, shocking the world. She confessed that she was "not okay" with the pressure of being a royal and new mom and said some disparaging things about the family. 

She Said Her Life Was "Really Challenging"

She described her life in the family as "hard" and "really challenging." "Look, any woman — especially when they are pregnant — you're really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging," she said.

"Then when you have a newborn, and especially as a woman, it's a lot, so you add this on top of just trying to be a new mum or trying to be a newlywed."

"It's not enough to just survive something. Right? That's not the point of life. You've got to thrive, you've got to feel happy and I think I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a stiff upper lip," she continued. 

"Never Share Secrets of the Royal Family"

A new documentary, ITVX's The Real Crown: Inside the House of Windsor, points out that Meghan "went on TV with her own explosive interview" and committed a major faux pas. "Meghan has broken the golden rule: never share the secrets of the Royal Family," narrator Adjoa Andoh says. 

"They were the golden couple, sprinkling fairy dust all over southern Africa and then at the end of that tour, they completely shot themselves in the foot," added Penny Junor, author of Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son.

Harry and Meghan Made Things "About 100 Times Worse"

"The sad thing is, I think she was just being honest about how she felt. But that interview probably made things about 100 times worse in terms of already frosty relations," agreed Ayesha Hazarika, journalist and broadcaster. 

And Richard Kay, royal journalist and old friend of Diana, Princess of Wales, also believes the interview was "rather ill-advised," explaining, "They talked about how grim their lives were against a backdrop of one of the most benighted and poorest parts on the globe."