Meghan Markle has revealed that she has not been finding it
easy with the intense media scrutiny and being a new mum and a newlywed.
The Duchess of Sussex revealed in a new ITV documentary that
she has not really been OK behind the scenes and it's been a struggle to cope.
ITV's Tom Bradby followed Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on
their recent 10-day tour of Africa and he got to speak with Meghan about how
she has been coping through pregnancy and the early stages of motherhood amid
the pressures of press interest in her public life as a member of the Royal
Family.
Meghan looked emotional as Bradby asked her the question and
she admitted that the glare of the intense spotlight and the incessant and
often negative press coverage from some sections of the media had made things
harder at a time when she was already "really vulnerable".
Bradby spoke to Meghan in a garden in Johannesburg, South
Africa, about her experience before and after giving birth to Archie in May.
He raised concerns Harry had shared with him earlier in the
trip that she could suffer in the face of the same media pressures he believes
harmed his mother Diana.
Bradby told Meghan: "He’s obviously very concerned
about protecting you, and protecting you from what he felt his mother went
through. It’s obviously an area one has to tiptoe into very gently."
He then asked Meghan what the impact had been "on your
physical and mental health of all the pressure that you clearly feel
under?"
"So that was made really challenging and then when you
have a newborn … especially as a woman, it’s really, it’s a lot.
"So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mum
or trying to be a newlywed."
When Bradby asked how she was coping, Meghan said:
"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."
Bradby then added: "And the answer is, would it be fair
to say, not really ok? That it’s really been a struggle?”
To which Meghan replied: "Yes."
Meghan added: "Any woman, especially when they’re
pregnant, you’re really vulnerable."
Bradby travelled with the royal couple and their son Archie
on the recent 10-day tour of Africa for an ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan:
An African Journey, which airs on Sunday at 9pm on ITV.
The royal couple's tour of Africa, which ran from the end of
September to early October, was notable for the unprecedented statement issued
by Prince Harry in which he accused sections of the British tabloid press of
pursuing a "ruthless campaign" against his wife.
The Duke of Sussex’s public statement was released on the
couple's website on October 1 as it was announced Meghan was suing the Mail on
Sunday after it published a private letter she wrote to her father. The paper
denies wrongdoing and confirmed it would defend the case.
In his statement, Harry claimed some newspapers had
"vilified (his wife) almost daily for the past nine months" and
published "lie after lie" at Meghan’s expense because she was out of
public view on maternity leave.
