Meghan, 39, who is mum to 18-month-old Archie, wrote about an “almost unbearable grief” that left her husband Prince Harry holding the “shattered pieces” of her heart. Following her disclosure in an article for the New York Times, the Queen and other members of the Royal Family expressed their sadness. It is believed they were told of the miscarriage soon after it happened in July but kept quiet for Meghan’s sake. A royal source said yesterday: “There is understandable sadness in the family.” And Harry’s uncle, Earl Spencer, told Lorraine Kelly on her morning ITV show: “I can’t imagine the agony for any couple of losing a child in this way. It’s so very, very sad. And of course, I totally agree with you, all thoughts with them today.” Since moving to California in March, Meghan and Harry have kept in touch with their royal relatives, especially Prince Charles and the Queen. This is despite differences over the way the Sussexes quit their duties in the Firm.
Yesterday Meghan was praised by charities for speaking out about miscarriage.
Sophie King, a midwife from Tommy’s pregnancy charity, said: “Her honesty and openness today send a powerful message to anyone who loses a baby – this may feel incredibly lonely, but you are not alone.”
An estimated one in four pregnancies ends in miscarriage, with most happening during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Meghan did not say how far along her pregnancy was but described how she felt a sharp cramp as she cradled Archie after changing his nappy at home.
In an opinion piece she wrote: “I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right.
Meghan was praised by charities for speaking out about miscarriage (Image: Getty)
“I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.”
She went on to describe being in hospital later, when she kissed Harry’s knuckles, which were wet from their tears.
She wrote: “Sitting in a hospital bed, watching my husband’s heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine, I realised that the only way to begin to heal is to first ask, ‘Are you OK?’”
She recalled being asked the same question by ITV newscaster Tom Bradby during the making of a documentary about the Sussexes’ African tour last year. Her response, that not many people had asked that of her, was taken as a dig at the time at members of the Royal Family.
In the New York Times piece, published on the eve of Thanksgiving in the US, Meghan urged people to reach out to loved ones.
Meghan described being in hospital and kissing Harry’s knuckles, which were wet from their tears (Image: Getty)
It was not clear if that extended to her father and other relatives to whom she has not spoken since her wedding to Harry in May 2018. She is close to her mum, Doria Ragland.
Meghan wrote: “Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few.
“In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100 women, 10 to 20 of them will have suffered from miscarriage.
“Yet despite the staggering commonality of this pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning.”
Asked about the timing of her disclosure, a spokesman for the couple said it had taken them time to “process” their loss.
Meghan’s revelation comes a month after a High Court judge agreed to delay the full hearing of her £3million privacy and copyright court case against a newspaper publisher that printed a letter she wrote admonishing her father Thomas Markle, 76.
The hearing, which was due to start in January, was postponed until autumn next year for confidential reasons.
Meghan is by no means the first member of the Royal Family to lose a baby. Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall, 39, revealed she suffered two miscarriages between the births of her daughters Mia, six, and Lena, two.
Meghan was holding Archie at the time of the miscarriage (Image: REUTERS)
Sophie, Countess of Wessex, lost her first baby in 2001 due to an ectopic pregnancy.
Meghan in her essay also wrote about loss in general and the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, who both died at this year at the hands of police officers in the US.
Meghan said: “A young woman named Breonna Taylor goes to sleep, just as she’s done every night before, but she doesn’t live to see the morning because a police raid turns horribly wrong.
“George Floyd leaves a convenience store, not realizing he will take his last breath under the weight of someone’s knee.”
