New photos reveal shocking Meghan change
The Duchess of Sussex is looking remarkably different for a single reason, reappearing after nearly two months out of the spotlight.
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When Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex made a surprise appearance on the red carpet for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Gala on Sunday night, LA time, it was in a familiar dress.
She wore sculptural red Carolina Herrera number, reworked, de-frou-froued, made slicker and far more sophisticated. It was the perfect visual metaphor: Gone was the princess fantasy of the last time she wore it in November 2021, in its place a confident, modern woman stepping out on her own.
I know – deep.
Unlike at the glittering black tie New York event where the duchess debuted the frock in November 2021, this time Prince Harry was nowhere to be seen, the couple not clasped together, their hands not entwined, their bodies not leaning instinctively towards one another.
Is everything okay inside the House of Sussex?
I ask not because Meghan had the effrontery to leave the house without her husband, but because with this outing we have just crossed a major threshold: The duke and duchess have just spent the longest period apart since Meghan moved to the UK in 2017.
Recent days have seen a surge of reports about the Sussexes’ union, with claims that they are “spending more and more of their down time apart”, are “drifting apart”, with it being claimed that Harry “wants space”, that he spent the night of his 40th birthday not with his wife but friends, and that he reportedly ‘delayed’ being reunited with his wife after a lengthy international trip.
The current Sussex state of affairs, according to one UK report, “has become so bad that it could prove a real turning point in the couple’s six year marriage”.
It’s hard to know where to start here so let’s keep it simple and talk about some readily digestible numbers. The last time the Sussexes were seen together was August 18 during their DIY ‘we’re-still-royal-we-promise!’ tour of Colombia.
Since that time, the duke has appeared at a local Californian charity event and undertaken ten charitable engagements in 15 days in New York, London and Lesotho on his lonesome.
Meanwhile, the duchess has been hit by a series of brutal exposés which have labelled her a “dictator”, “just terrible”, a “demon” and as a boss who had “psycho moments”.
In 2016, days after their romance was revealed, Harry took the highly unusual and controversial step of putting out a barnstorming statement calling out the press’ treatment of Meghan; no such defensive manoeuvre has played out in the wake of Dictator-gate.
There are other possibly concerning portents that have largely passed unremarked, like the statement Harry released for his 40th birthday on September 15th. “Being a dad is one of life’s greatest joys,” he enthused, failing to mention his wife at all.
For two people who are supposedly “like salt and pepper” (“We always move together,” the duchess told The Cut in 2022) they increasingly look like they are on opposite ends of the table with a lot of other condiments in the middle.
It is not precisely known where Harry was on Sunday night as Meghan was giving her revamped dress a fresh spin on the red carpet in Los Angeles, however, the Express has reported he had “extended his solo trip abroad”.
Recent weeks have seen a whole lotta Harry out and about, with no sign of a duchess-like shape in the background.
On September 21, the duke attended a charity event at Kevin Costner’s California estate solo with the duchess having “pulled out,” according to the Sun, “because she was ‘sick’”. (Those inverted commas are really doing some heavy lifting there.)
The following day, Harry arrived in New York to attend a flurry of events aimed at relaunching him as a philanthropic leader (and not just a man willing to cash in on his family) before he headed to London and the tiny African nation of Lesotho for further charity events.
According to the Express, the duke had reportedly been slated to fly home over the weekend, having been away since September 22, however “has chosen to prolong his solo trip by an extra few days.”
A source told the newspaper that it was likely that the 40-year-old was off to Johannesburg and Cape Town for “private time” with friends and family. Meanwhile, “another secret visit, which has bizarrely been kept out of his official diary, is also planned.”
“It’s all very cloak and dagger,” the source told the Express.
If that report is correct, and even if Harry arrived back in California on Monday, that would mean he had been away for 15 days, the lengthiest stretch of time by far that the duke and duchess have been away from one another since their 2016 and 2017 days of long-distance dating.
While the father-of-two has done quick UK trips without his wife, Harry’s two weeks away from home is far from usual According to the Daily Mail’s Alison Boshoff, this was his idea. “I hear he wanted it this way,” a well-placed Californian source told the Mail. “I believe he wants space.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex spending so much time apart has, hardly surprisingly, led to much speculation and faux-concern in the British press.
The Sun asked, “Is Harry doing a Megxit?”, pondering if they are “leading separate lives” and reporting that there are concerts the marrieds “are drifting apart”.
Elsewhere the paper reported that, according to sources, “for periods earlier this year, [Meghan] was rarely staying at their luxury Montecito pad” while Harry has previously been seen “moping around” on his own at a cafe near their Montecito house.
This all comes after the Spare author reportedly spent his recent milestone 40th with friends on a hiking trip (albeit one reportedly organised by his wife) and not at home.
So, why might there be trouble in paradise for Mr and Mrs Salt and Pepper?
The Express has been on it, claiming that the duchess is reportedly “frustrated” with her husband’s spate of legal argy-bargying back in the UK.
The Sussexes are also said to be at odds over children Prince Archie and Princess Lillibet, with the duke ‘not wanting the kids to be seen in public in case they were photographed’ while the duchess favours “a more relaxed lifestyle, allowing them to attend more local events.”
Then there is the thorny question of family time back in the UK,
In August, Harry returned to the UK for his maternal uncle Lord Robert Fellowes’ funeral, spending the night with his mother’s brother, Earl Spencer at Althorp House. The Express has reported that the Earl has now invited Harry and Meghan and the family to spend the holidays at the vast estate, an offer that Harry is “keen” to take up while Meghan is “reluctant”.
A well-placed source has told the paper that “the situation has become so bad that it could prove a real turning point in the couple’s six year marriage.”
So that is all one side of the ledger, but on the other we have sources and friends arguing that all is just fine and dandy.
One Sussex source assured the Sun, “It is normal for couples to not do everything together.”
Over at Newsweek, Jack Roylston has reported that, per his source, “the suggestion they are living separate lives was untrue and a bit much.”
Meanwhile, Chiara Riyanti Hutapea Zhang, 18, a recent winner of Diana Legacy Award, told People that after the London ceremony attended only by the duke last week: “Backstage, [Harry] was actually calling Meghan. I thought that was just so sweet”.
After all, busy people with careers to build and bills to pay can’t be attached at the hip, even if they do “always move together”.
Harry ended the statement he put out for his 40th birthday last year by saying, “bring on the next decade”.
Bring on the next outing of both the duke and the duchess, I say.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles.
Originally published as New photos reveal shocking Meghan change
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