Meghan Markle says she ‘couldn’t even text my friends a photo’ under royal family’s constraints

The Duchess of Sussex says it felt like she was inside ‘bubble’ where ‘everything was controlled’ in episode four of her Netflix docuseries

Meghan Markle says it felt as though she were trapped inside a “bubble” where “everything was controlled” during her and Prince Harry’s time as senior royals.

The Duchess of Sussex opened up about the constraints of being royal during episode four of the couple’s Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan.

In the episode, which documents the couple’s royal wedding in 2018, their time in Nottingham Cottage, and the beginning of a rift in the royal family, Meghan claimed that she felt restricted from sending photos over text to her friends.

“We were in this bubble where everything is controlled by them,” she said in episode four, during video footage of the couple celebrating Christmas in Nottingham Cottage in 2018. “I couldn’t even text my friends a photo.

“‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that…’” Meghan continued, while reflecting on the guidance she allegedly received. “‘And do as you’re told.’”

Meghan went on to say that the restrictions made her feel like her world was getting smaller and smaller.

“Your world just becomes more and more like this,” she said as she drew her hands together.

The scene, which does not specify why Meghan was told not to send photos to her friends, concluded with Prince Harry solemnly looking down.

Also in the episode, Abigail Spencer, Meghan’s former Suits co-star, referred to the period as a “really dark time”.

“That was a really dark… That was really a dark time,” she said. “And I didn’t know what to do. Like, that’s the thing is, like, they are in this complex organism that I don’t know anything about, or how to help, or what to do, and I’m not allowed to say anything. Like, I was not allowed to say anything.”

Elsewhere in the final three episodes of the couple’s docuseries, Harry and Meghan reflect on her struggles with mental health, and their ultimate decision to step back from their roles amid a growing rift between themselves and other members of the royal family.