Duchess of Sussex Meghan has made a heart-breaking revelation. The news was unveiled in an opinion piece published Wednesday in The New York Times. In minute detail she described the chilling moment on a July morning when she realised she was having a miscarriage, losing her and Prince Harry's second child.
Depicting the hardships this year has given the world – from the deadly multi-wave coronavirus pandemic to Breonna Taylor's killing and George Floyd's petrifying suffocation by police – Meghan dwelled, in an emotional outburst, on her own, very personal, loss.
"After changing his [son Archie's] diaper, I felt a sharp cramp. 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", the former senior royal, who together with her British husband has settled in Santa Barbara, wrote, adding with pain:
"I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second".
She went on to describe how the two of them, she and Harry, had to face the reality and learn anew how to "be okay".
"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?'", Meghan, who presented herself in the by-line as "a mother, feminist, and advocate", continued.
Meghan and Harry, who quit their senior royal roles earlier this year, initially moved to Vancouver, but then crossed into the US, the former actress's home country, as it was readying to lock its borders due to the coronavirus pandemic. The couple, who were striving, as they said, for a "financially and personally independent life" away from the constant media limelight and speculation, reportedly leapt into a few business initiatives, including a well-being empire called Archewell.
Yet, what has caused real controversy and even prompted fierce trolling in recent months, is their regular participation in social – and at times ostensibly politicised - campaigns, reportedly breaching the Royal Family's protocol on remaining neutral.
In particular, in late September, the former actress triggered a backlash after she called on Americans not to ignore the November vote.
"Every four years, we're told, 'This is the most important election of our lifetime'. But this one is. When we vote, our values are put into action, and our voices are heard", the Hollywood star said during a pre-recorded message for ABC's Time100 special.
Husband Prince Harry also weighed in at the time, urging the public to "reject hate speech, misinformation, and online negativity", a claim considered by many as a veiled jab at incumbent President Donald Trump.