Prince Harry and Meghan Markle : Timeline of rift between the couple and the royal palace

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in a tell-all interview with US TV host Oprah Winfrey, opened up about their relationship with the royal family, their decision to step down and their second child.

The couple married in 2018 but the row between the Sussexes and Britain’s royal family has captivated the globe since they started dating in 2016.

Here’s a timeline of the rift:

July 2016

Harry and Meghan met in the summer of 2016 on a blind date. By November, British newspapers started rumours that Harry had a new girlfriend. They wrote about her mixed racial heritage and her status as a divorcee. Soon after, Harry put out a blistering statement fiercely cautioning the press to rein in their coverage. “His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public — the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments,” the Kensington Palace statement read.

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November 2017

In November 2017, Prince Charles announced about Harry and Meghan’s engagement in a statement on Twitter and said that they would marry in May 2018. Later that day, during a BBC Broadcast, Meghan spoke highly of the royal family and how welcoming they had been to her.

March 2019

Meghan was racially abused online and Kensington Palace, which represented both the Cambridges and the Sussexes at the time, used its social media operations to combat racist online abuse.

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Later that year, the Queen gave the couple permission to set up their own office with its own staff at Buckingham Palace in the spring. It raised some questioned if there had been a falling out between the senior royal couples but Kensington Palace insisted it was part of a “long-planned move.”

May 2019

In May 2019, after the birth of Archie, Meghan broke a royal tradition and did not appeared before photographers with their newborns cradled in their arms hours after giving birth in central London.

June 2019

Harry and Meghan announced that they were separating from the Royal Foundation, the charity set up for the brothers in 2011. It sparked rumours of a rift between the couple and the royal family.

October 2019

During Sussexes’ official tour of southern Africa, the former TV actor talked about the intrusive media treatment she had endured since joining the family. “I never thought that this would be easy, but I thought that it would be fair,” she told reporter Tom Bradby. In the same documentary, Harry acknowledged that things were not good with his brother William. “We are certainly on different paths at the moment, but I will always be there for him, and as I know he will always be there for me.”

November 2019

The couple decided to take some “family time” towards the end of the year after a hectic schedule of public events.

January 2020

Harry and Meghan announced that they were stepping back from their roles as senior royals.

“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, we have chosen to make a transition this year” they said via their Instagram account, explaining that they hoped to “carve out a progressive new role within this institution.” The couple was asked to step back from their royal duties, including military appointments and would no longer represent the Queen.

February 2021

Buckingham Palace announced that Harry and Meghan had agreed with the Queen that they would not be returning as working members of the family.

March 2021

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in a two-hour tell-all interview with US TV host Oprah Winfrey opened about their decision to step back, how Harry feared that history would repeat itself and his relationship with his father.