Meghan Markle opens up about ‘unbearable grief’ after miscarriage this summer

Meghan Markle revealed she miscarried in July this year, writing in The New York Times on Wednesday about the deep grief and loss she had endured with her husband, Prince Harry. The Duchess of Sussex, who married the British Prince in 2018, had the couple’s first child, Archie, the following year.

In the Times article, the 39-year-old wrote that she had just changed her son’s diaper when she experienced a sharp cramp and fell to the floor.

“I knew, by hugging my firstborn, that I was losing my second,” she writes.

Writing the “unbearable grief” of miscarriage, Markle said it was a conversation that remained “taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame and perpetuating a cycle of lonely mourning”.

Addressing the coronavirus, the Black Lives Matter movement and the recent turbulent presidential election, the Duchess of Sussex nevertheless offered a message of hope.

“For the first time in a long time as human beings we really see each other.”

Markle – whose mother is black – has also written about the death of Breonna Taylor, as well as the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed African American killed in police custody.

“Loss and pain have tormented each of us in 2020, in times both tense and debilitating.”

Markle’s very personal piece comes as she and her husband wage an increasingly public war with certain media outlets for their right to privacy.

But he carries with him the shadow of a previous royal bride – Harry’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Pressure from the tabloids has persecuted the British prince throughout his life and he blames them for his mother’s death.

Diana, whose treatment by the royal family is the subject of the fourth season of Netflix’s hugely popular “The Crown”, also allegedly miscarried in 1983 at Balmoral.

Harry and Meghan shocked the British establishment when they announced they were to retire from royal life.

Their withdrawal in March came after reports that she was deeply unhappy with life within the royal family and had had enough of the media intrusion.

The couple, who live with their young son in California, signed an exclusive deal with streaming giant Netflix for an undisclosed amount earlier this year.

Markle’s opinion piece comes after model and author Chrissy Teigen spoke candidly this year, about a stillbirth she and her husband, singer John Legend, suffered.

Teigen posted a series of intimate images of the tragic moments after the child’s death, which they named Jack.

The unvarnished post drew praise and criticism in equal measure, but Teigen was unrepentant about his decision.

“I experienced it, I chose to do it, and more than anything, these photos are not intended for anyone but people who have been through it or who are curious enough to wonder what something like this looks like” , she writes.

“These photos are only for people who need them.”

Markle’s use of The New York Times to talk about her miscarriage echoed Angelina Jolie’s 2013 opinion piece in which she revealed her decision to have a preventative double mastectomy.

Jolie, who was married to fellow Hollywood star Brad Pitt at the time, said she chose to reveal her decision “because I hope other women can benefit from my experience.”