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The Sussexes

The Duchess of Sussex on the pressures around her: ”it’s not enough just to survive”

The Duchess of Sussex has spoken of the impact the pressures of joining the Royal Family have had on her. In an interview with the ITV programme ‘Harry and Meghan: An African Journey”, the duchess said that she had been taken aback by the scrutiny her every move had come under from the tabloid press in the UK and hinted that she wouldn’t tolerate her situation not changing in the future, saying ”it’s not enough just to survive something….you’ve got to thrive and feel happy”.

Opening up to journalist Tom Bradby, Meghan admitted that when she and Harry were getting serious, some of her British friends warned her against getting married to a prince. She told the programme they had told her ”you shouldn’t do it – the British tabloids will destroy your life”. The Duchess of Sussex went on to say she felt ”naive” for not believing them.

Meghan’s admissions came at the end of the programme as she opened up about life as a royal. She said that in the year since she had married the Duke of Sussex, she had felt under a lot of pressure. And she said ‘I never thought it would be easy, but I thought it would be fair and that’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile”.

The duchess also spoke about how she had tried to deal with the new interest in her, saying she had ”tried this British stiff upper lip thing” but that it hadn’t helped. She added that she thought it was ”probably really damaging”.

But it was her remarks about how that is impacting her life now that raised the biggest questions. The Duchess of Sussex said that ”it’s not enough just to survive something – that’s not the point of life”. She went on to say that ”you’ve got to thrive and be happy”, adding that she and her husband had talked about this issue and the impact it was having on them.

‘Harry and Meghan: An African Journey’ is on ITV1 and the ITV Player in the UK.

About author

Lydia Starbuck is Jubilee and Associate Editor at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra. Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024. June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station. June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.