Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Taking Six Week Break From Royal Life: What They Have Planned
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly planning a much-deserved break from their royal duties, with an upcoming sabbatical to the U.S., where they’ll spend the Thanksgiving holiday. Find out more about Prince Harry, Markle, and baby Archie’s trip to the states and why it’s so necessary for them as a family.
Prince Harry and Markle are taking “family time”
According to a report from The Sunday Times, Prince Harry and Markle will be bringing Archie to the U.S. for the first time, with a six-week break, beginning in November through the Christmas holiday.
A royal source confirmed the visit with PEOPLE, noting: “The duke and duchess have a full schedule of engagements and commitments until mid-November, after which they will be taking some much-needed family time.”
The couple are expected to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, at her California home, and return to England to spend Christmas with Queen Elizabeth and the royal family.
The trip to the states comes on the heels of the Sussexes’ legal action against the tabloid that printed Markle’s private letter to her father, Thomas Markle. Prince Harry wrote an emotional statement that took aim at the media for bullying his wife, drawing comparisons to the way his mother, Princess Diana, was harassed by the press.
“Not many people have asked if I’m OK”
In a trailer for the ITV documentary Harry and Meghan: An African Journey, Markle shared the devastating impact of experiencing constant scrutiny from the media and public.
She shared: “Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable and so that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, you know… especially as a woman, it’s really, it’s a lot, so you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed its, yeah, well I guess.”
Markle told the interviewer, “And also thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m OK. But it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
When the interviewer asked, “And the answer is? Would it be fair to say, ‘Not really OK,’ as in, it’s really been a struggle?,” she answered, “yes.”
Prince Harry and Markle are “struggling”
Tom Bradby, who followed their royal tour of Africa for the documentary, provided more insight about his interviews with the couple. He wrote in The Sunday Times: “But I couldn’t quite shake a sense of sadness, too, at the powerful impression that this young family, happy in themselves, is struggling to adapt to life in the spotlight.”
He recalled: “Can you cope with this, I asked Meghan at the end? I don’t know, her demeanor seemed to suggest, I just don’t know. We are, she said, taking it one day at a time.”
Bradby continued: “As we lifted off for home, I found myself left with a single question: if they can’t cope with this; if it is, as she says, existing not living; what then?”
He noted that the documentary shows the Sussexes are “more vulnerable and bruised than the spoilt, petulant, arrogant and entitled caricatures that are sometimes tied to the public whipping post.”