Though her introduction into the royal family took former Suits and Hallmark movie actress Meghan Markle out of the communicative limelight for several years, the Duchess and her hubby Prince Harry made large strides to return to the non-paparazzi public eye throughout the tumultuousness of 2020. And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, Markle chose this week to share a very candid and emotional confession with the world concerning a miscarriage she suffered over the summer in the midst of the pandemic.
Though her fans and followers weren't even aware that she was pregnant at all this year, Meghan Markle penned a touching essay with the New York Times in which she shared some of the heartbreaking details behind her miscarriage, which apparently happened on a July morning when she was caring for son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. In her words:
After changing his diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right. I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second. Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal.
That tragic and candid excerpt led into the main thrust of Meghan Markle's op-ed piece, which is essentially a sympathetic reminder of the power of asking others if they are okay. Markle reflected on a long and arduous 2019 trip to South Africa, in which she was fatigued and breastfeeding her and Prince Harry's then-infant son Archie. There, she had the rare experience of being asked by a journalist if she was genuinely okay, which clearly had a striking effect on Markle for her mind to go there in the midst of her miscarriage, inspiring her to ask her husband how he was feeling during that dark time.
Meghan Markle broadened her scope to look at the entirety of 2020, from people unexpectedly catching COVID-19 to citizens like Breonna Taylor unexpectedly losing their lives to the nation's peaceful protests unexpectedly becoming violent. In effect, Markle argues that many people are now left feeling more alone than ever without a real sense of where to turn for comfort when everything has become so politicized and polarized. She continued, saying:
Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few. In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from miscarriage. Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning. Some have bravely shared their stories; they have opened the door, knowing that when one person speaks truth, it gives license for all of us to do the same. We have learned that when people ask how any of us are doing, and when they really listen to the answer, with an open heart and mind, the load of grief often becomes lighter — for all of us. In being invited to share our pain, together we take the first steps toward healing.
As sad as this news is, it's also quite shocking that she shared the admission so soon after speaking about being the most trolled person in the world in 2019 – though not officially, if there can be such a thing. Perhaps it was precisely looking back at 2019 that led Meghan Markle to speak up about her own woes from this year. It just goes to show that you never know what someone else is going through until you either mentally put yourself in their shoes, or you actually open your mouth to ask them.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry currently have a mega-contract set up at Netflix, as established in September 2020, so fans can expect to see the pair producing a variety of different projects for the streaming service. No one should expect to see Markle taking on a Suits spinoff, or for her and Harry to front a new reality show, but stay tuned to learn about what projects they will have on the way. In the meantime, head to our Fall 2020 TV premiere schedule and our 2021 Winter and Spring TV rundown to see what new and returning shows are popping up soon.
