Meghan Markle Says Her Friends Warned Her Not To Marry Prince Harry

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got extremely candid in a rare televised interview over the weekend. Meghan opened up about the intense tabloid scrutiny she's been subject to since her relationship with Prince Harry was first made public. The Duchess of Sussex admits it's been a difficult few years behind the scenes, especially as she tried to adopt a "stiff upper lip" over the constant criticism. Though Meghan was surprised by the intensity of the tabloid scrutiny, she revealed her British friends warned her not to marry Prince Harry because the tabloids would "destroy her life."

When asked about the past year of her life, including the way she's been treated in the press, Meghan said: "It's hard. I don't think anybody could understand that. But in all fairness, I had no idea, which probably sounds difficult to understand here. But when I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I'm so happy but my British friends said to me, 'I’m sure he’s great but you shouldn’t do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life.'"

"I very naively — I’m American. We don’t have that there — [I said] ‘What are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense. I’m not in tabloids.' I didn’t get it. So it’s been, yeah, it’s been complicated," Meghan continued.

Meghan also added how the stress effected her life as a newlywed and a new mom. "Any woman, especially when they are pregnant, you are really vulnerable, so that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, and especially as a woman, it is a lot," Meghan confessed.

"So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed, I guess thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I am OK," she continued, tearing up in the process. "But it’s a very real thing to be going through behind-the-scenes."

Meghan and Harry recently announced they will be taking legal action against multiple British tabloids for their treatment of Meghan. In addition to a number of negative stories about the Duchess, the Daily Mail published a private letter she wrote to her estranged father. Many of the tabloids also gave Meghan's estranged family a platform to publicly bash the Duchess.

ITV host Tom Bradby asked Meghan if it'd be "fair to say that [it's] not really OK and it's really been a struggle?" Meghan, visibly emotional, quickly replied "yes."

Meghan and Harry will be taking an extended sabbatical from their official royal duties, as well. It's reported that they will spend Thanksgiving in America with Archie and Meghan's mom Doria Ragland.

Photo: Getty