An emotional moment. Meghan Markle praised the words of encouragement that she received from a flight crew member following her royal exit.
“We had left Westminster Abbey, and then that was it. I had to go to the airport. We get on the plane. And it’s not the pilot — but whoever is sort of overseeing the crew — and he came and he knelt next to my seat and he took his hat off. I just remember looking at him, and he goes, ‘We appreciate everything you did for our country,’” Meghan, 41, detailed during sixth episode of the Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan, which started streaming on Thursday, December 15.
The kind word came after her final senior royal engagement with Prince Harry in March 2020, which was a Commonwealth Day service in London. While discussing the emotional trip, the former actress explained why she was so affected by the interaction. “It was the first time that I felt like someone saw the sacrifice,” she said. “Not for my own country. For this country, that’s not mine.”
The Duchess of Sussex broke down again after she and Harry, 38, touched down in Canada, where they briefly stayed before moving to California. “We landed and one of our security guards — who had been with H for so long and these guys were so wonderful — I just collapsed in his arms,” she recalled. “[I was] crying. I was like, ‘I tried so hard.’ He goes, ‘I know you did. I know you did, ma’am, I know you did.'”
Meghan continued: “Like, I tried so hard. And that’s the piece that’s so triggering because you go, ‘And it still wasn’t good enough. And you still don’t fit in.'”
In January 2020, Harry and Meghan announced their plans to step back from their senior roles as working members of the royal family. One year later, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the decision was made permanent. The Sussexes now reside in the United States with son Archie, 3, and daughter Lili, 18 months.
In the candid docuseries, the Duke of Sussex recalled the pair’s state of mind while attending the Commonwealth Day event with other members of his family, including King Charles III and Prince William, amid the royal shakeup.
“We were nervous seeing the family because [of] all the TV cameras and everybody watching at home and everybody watching in the audience,” he told the cameras. “It’s like living through a soap opera, where everybody else views you as entertainment.”
According to Harry, his interactions with his relatives felt “really distant” due to their private issues. “Which was interesting, because so much of how they operate is about what it looks like, rather than what it feels like. And it looked cold. But it also felt cold,” he noted.
During episode 6, Harry weighed in on whether he expects his father, 74, or William, 40, to acknowledge their part in the family divide, saying, “I’ve had to make peace with the fact that we’re probably never gonna get genuine accountability or a genuine apology. My wife and I, we’re moving on. We’re focused on what’s coming next.”
Harry & Meghan is available to stream on Netflix now.
