Meghan and Harry’s move ‘fuelled rumours’ says expert
It has been a year since Meghan and Harry took the decision to step back as senior members of the Royal Family. What transpired became known as “Megxit”. The pair quickly made clear they would split their time between North America and the UK.
Reports of a new home on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, soon emerged.
News of their arrival was initially received positively, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly welcoming the couple.
He even indicated that the country would fund security protection for them while they were residents there.
While early polls suggested Canadians thought highly of the pair – one revealed how 61 percent of the population wanted Harry to become Governor General of Canada – the warm sentiment soon changed.
Meghan Markle: The Duchess and Prince Harry left Canada after Canadians grew angry with them (Image: GETTY)
Prince Harry: The pair pictured at the Canadian Embassy in London, January 2020 (Image: GETTY)
The country’s leading newspaper, The Globe and Mail, shortly condemned the couple, claiming Canada wasn’t “a halfway house” for the royals.
A column in the paper then stated that the country was not there for anyone “looking to get out of Britain while remaining a royal” – a clear snub of Harry’s official title, urging Canada not to “allow” the couple’s “vague and evolving” plans to hold the country in limbo.
It added: “But this country’s unique monarchy, and its delicate yet essential place in our constitutional system, means that a royal resident – the prince is sixth in the line of succession – is not something that Canada can allow.
“It breaks an unspoken constitutional taboo.
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Royal Family: Meghan and Harry now live in California, close to Meghan’s friends and family (Image: GETTY)
“Princes are not shipped over here when no useful duties can be found for them on the other side of the Atlantic.
“Canada welcomes people of all faiths, nationalities and races, but if you’re a senior member of our Royal Family, this country cannot become your home.”
In another editorial, the paper wrote: “They reign from a distance. Close to our hearts, far from our hearths.”
The paper appeared to have a major influence on Meghan and Harry’s image in Canada.
In a poll released shortly after by the Angus Reid Institute, 70 percent of Canadians surveyed followed and were engaged by the developments of Megxit.
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Royal tour: Meghan and Harry’s tour of South Africa marked their fallout from The Firm (Image: GETTY)
The Firm: The family’s inner circle had made efforts to include Meghan in day-to-day royal life (Image: GETTY)
Around 73 percent of those asked said the security costs should have been covered by the couple themselves.
An online petition spearheaded by disgruntled Canadians demanded the royals pay for security out of their own pocket, gathering 90,000 signatures.
By March 2020, Meghan and Harry left Canada for the US.
It seemed a no-brainer for the Duchess, as she had lots of friends in California, also the location where her mother, Doria Ragland, is based.
Royal romance: The pair met on a blind date in 2016 (Image: Express Newspapers)
The move was reportedly frenzied as the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold.
A royal insider, at the time, told : “Harry and Meghan have left Canada now for good. The borders were closing and flights were stopping.
“They had to get out but this move was planned for some time.
“They realised Canada would not work out for various reasons and they want to be based in the Los Angeles area.
“They have a big support network there. It’s where their new team of Hollywood agents and PRs and business managers are based.”
More recently, the pair have taken a further step towards privacy after they announced they were deleting their social media profiles, last week stating they had no plans to return to social media for future projects.
Harry latest: The pair have visited the UK only a handful of times since their departure (Image: GETTY)
This was more than nine months since they ceased use of their popular joint Instagram account, racking up more than 10 million followers.
Meghan and Harry have recently set up the Archewell Foundation – a nod to their first child, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor – a non-profit organisation aimed at “driving cultural change” and putting “compassion into action”.
But according to day Times, they will not use social media to push its message.
It is understood that the pair had had enough of being on the receiving end of “online bullying”.
Meghan previously claimed she had been told she was 2019’s “most trolled person in the entire world – male or female”.
