When you’re a member of the Royal Family, wild rumors are just a part of daily life. The public can’t help but speculate about what the rich and the famous are up to. And because the royals exemplify the “stiff upper lip” of British life, we rarely know what’s true and what’s not.
In a few cases, though, we got startling confirmation that certain rumors were true all along, especially when it comes to controversial figures like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Which of the wildest rumors about Harry and Meghan ended up being true? Keep reading to find out!
Harry and William’s epic falling out
When it comes to Harry’s family, one of the most persistent rumors was that he and his brother William were butting heads. As The Sun reports, the major speculation is that William was warning Harry against marrying Meghan and that this caused a rift between them. And things only got worse after Harry and Meghan stepped back from most royal responsibilities, left the country, and eventually aired the Royal Family’s dirty laundry out in an infamous interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Still, as the future King of England, Prince William never openly criticizes his younger brother, even when that brother’s Oprah interview sent William in front of television cameras to claim that the Royal Family isn’t actually racist. But his body language speaks volumes. Whenever William has been near Harry this year (usually for solemn events like funerals for Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth), it’s clear from the body language that he doesn’t even want to be in the same room with his brother!
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Being royally difficult to deal with
One of the best perks about being a royal is having a trained staff to make your life easier. As for the workers, they tend to see this as a stepping stone to larger roles with the Royal Family. As journalist and royal expert Dawn Neesom shared with Page Six, “Once people join ‘The Firm’ they tend to stay.”
Now, after Harry and Meghan got married, they built their own staff. Soon, though, rumors persisted that the royal duo was royally difficult to deal with and it was causing staff to quit in droves. And as Neesom puts it, “The swift departure of Meghan’s aides raised eyebrows because it was so unusual.”
There were more rumors, including that William and Kate had to calm traumatized Harry and Meghan staffers down on multiple occasions. And once Harry and Meghan left England, their former communications secretary, Jason Knauf went so far as to file an HR complaint about Meghan’s bullying. To many, this was proof that those rumors of being difficult to deal with were true.
Meghan’s dad really is just trying to make a buck
As her wedding to Harry drew nearer, Meghan Markle’s father Thomas quickly became an albatross around her neck. He was originally slated to walk his daughter down the aisle, but Thomas was photographed in London preparing for the wedding. Soon after, he was hospitalized for heart surgery, and this was given as the reason he couldn’t attend the wedding. Still, rumors persisted that he was actually selling out to the media and anyone else and basically trying to profit off his daughter’s fame, and this is why the Royal Family kept him out of the wedding.
Unfortunately, this ended up being true. As People reports, Thomas was busted for staging those paparazzi photos. Since the wedding, he has profited from talking about his daughter to tabloids, going so far as sending a personal letter to the Daily Mail which prompted a successful lawsuit from Harry and Meghan. Thomas Markle as complete sellout: confirmed.
RELATED: Meghan & Harry Seek To Alter Memoir, TV Show After The Queen’s Death
Harry’s struggles with drugs and alcohol
These days, Harry presents himself as the perfect fairytale Prince Charming. However, when he was younger, he was mostly known to the world as a fiend for wild parties. By 16, he was regularly abusing alcohol and marijuana, and The Guardian reports that King Charles made his son spend a day in rehab. It didn’t seem to take, though, as Harry went on to make headlines for activities such as playing strip poker in Las Vegas.
Understandably, this led to persistent rumors that Harry was potentially addicted to drugs and alcohol. It wasn’t until many years later that Harry admitted this was true for his AppleTV+ docuseries The Me You Can’t See. As People reports, the prince confessed he engaged in dangerous and destructive behavior to cope with the death of his mother. “I was willing to drink, I was willing to take drugs, I was willing to try and do the things that made me feel less like I was feeling,” he said. “I would find myself drinking, not because I was enjoying it but because I was trying to mask something.”
Fortunately, as a husband and a family man, Harry seems to have conquered these demons.
The Royal Family never respected Meghan
As an American celebrity marrying into the Royal Family, Meghan Markle was always destined to be an outsider. And from the very beginning of her relationship with Prince Harry, rumors began to swirl that the Royal Family neither liked nor respected Meghan Markle.
Still, during her time in England, Meghan never openly said anything about this. Once she and Harry stepped down from royal responsibilities, though, they gave an interview to Oprah Winfrey in which Meghan began dishing about her life in the palace. During this interview, Meghan claimed that she was only allowed to leave the house twice in a four-month period, causing her to feel trapped. She eventually felt suicidal but claims the Royal Family kept her from seeking outside treatment because it would make the family look bad.
To hear Meghan tell the story, this is the primary reason she and Harry left England. And it certainly seems like proof of those early rumors that the Royal Family never liked or respected her!
RELATED: The Truth About Prince William & Meghan Markle’s Relationship