At a glance, it looked as if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were on your average royal tour in Nigeria last week. They were given the ultimate VIP treatment by local leaders. She wore a dozen outfits, each one micro-analyzed for significance.
And there was the requisite homage-to- Princess Diana headline in response to the olive-green blazer over an all-white ensemble that Meghan chose for the flight back home. But Harry and Meghan were decidedly not on royal business, their decision to step back from such duties in 2020 turning into a de facto cutting of ties— first with the institution and ultimately, more jarringly, with Harry's family to varying degrees (though the 39-year-old has maintained that was never his intention and he holds out hope for reconciliation ). Of course, adversity probably isn't how most would characterize what Harry and Meghan have been through.
They're still rich, still famous and technically still the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Their children, 5-year-old Archie and 2-year-old Lilibet , while title-less at birth, are now even a prince and princess as grandchildren of the reigning monarch. As they celebrate their sixth wedding anniversary on May 19—only six years since now- King Charles III walked Meghan down the aisle in lieu of her absent father —the couple have long since found their footing as California transplants, and yet still are frequently the target of pointed criticism in some circles no matter what they do.
Almost as if they'd neve.
