Meghan reveals friends warned her marrying Harry would ‘destroy her life’

Friends warned Meghan marrying into the royal family would “destroy her life” — a warning she says she didn’t understand at the time.

The Duchess of Sussex has revealed her friends warned her not to marry Prince Harry because the “British tabloids would destroy her life”.

Holding back tears in a raw interview for ITV’s new documentary, Harry and Meghan: An African Journey, Meghan said she had “no idea” of the immense pressure she would be under as a new royal.

“I had no idea, which probably sounds difficult to understand,” she told ITV news anchor Tom Bradby on the penultimate day of her royal tour of Southern Africa.

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Meghan opens up in Harry and Meghan: An African Journey. Picture: ITV

“When I first met my now husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy.

“But my British friends said to me ‘I’m sure he’s great, but you shouldn’t do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life’,” she revealed.

“And I very naively thought — I’m American, we don’t have that there — what are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense … I didn’t get it.

“So it’s been … complicated.”

Asked if she could continue to put up with the global attention and media scrutiny, Meghan was hesitant, saying she had “really tried” to adopt the “British upper lip”.

“Can you put up with this? Can you deal with it? Can you manage it? Can you continue with it? And what happens if you can’t” Bradbury asked.

“I’ve said for a long time to H — that’s what I call him — it’s not enough to just survive something. That’s not the point of life. You’ve got to thrive. You’ve got to feel happy,” she said.

Harry and Meghan: An African Journey. Picture: ITV

“I think I really tried to adopt this British sensibility of a still upper lip. I really tried.

“But I think that what that does internally is probably really damaging and the biggest thing that I know is that I never thought that this would be easy. But I thought it would be fair.”

The interview came just after Prince Harry and Meghan announced they would be taking legal action against British tabloid the Daily Mail over its publication of a private letter Meghan wrote to her father.

The couple allege the letter was published illegally and selectively edited to hide “lies” reported about her.

“That’s the part that’s really hard to reconcile,” Meghan told ITV.

“When people are saying things that are just untrue, and have been told they’re untrue but they’re allowed to still say them, I don’t know anybody in the world that would feel like that’s OK.

“That’s different than just scrutiny … it’s a really different beast.”

ARCHIE ‘HAPPIEST’ IN AFRICA

Meghan said Harry and their five-month-old son, Archie, helped to keep her spirits up.

“The good thing is I’ve got my baby and I’ve got my husband, and they’re the best,” she said.

But she told Bradby she hoped one day she and Harry wouldn’t be the world’s most talked about mixed-race couple.

“I think people are very interested in your experience of race in Britain and America and being a mixed-race couple,” Bradby said.

“I would hope that people in the world would get to a point where you just see us as a couple who is in love,” Meghan replied.

“I don’t wake up every day and identify as being anything other than what I’ve always been. I’m Meghan and I married this incredible man. This to me is just part of our love story.”

In an earlier scene in the documentary, Meghan and Harry could be heard telling a dinner party that Archie was “happiest” in Africa.

“He was happy before, (but) he’s the happiest here,” the Duchess gushed.

Archie made his first appearance on day three of the tour when he met Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town.

“It’s not lost on us what a huge and significant moment that was and I think Archie will look back at that in so many years and understand that at the beginning of his life, he was fortunate enough to have this moment with one of the best and most impactful leaders of our time,” Meghan said.

MEGHAN’S HEARTBREAKING RESPONSE

Journalist Tom Bradby trailed Harry and Meghan for An African Journey. Picture: ITV

In a clip from the doco first released over the weekend, Meghan is shown speaking to journalist Tom Bradby about negative public attention she’s received during her pregnancy and the first few months with she and Prince Harry’s son Archie, who was born this May.

“Harry is obviously very concerned about protecting you from what he felt his mother went through. It’s obviously an issue one has to tiptoe into very gently … I don’t know what the impact on your mental and physical health (is), all the pressure you feel?” asks Bradby.

Meghan pauses for a moment, smiling as she considers her words.

“I would say … any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging. And then when you have a newborn, you know. And especially as a woman, it’s a lot,” she tells Bradby.

“So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mum or trying to be a newlywed. It’s um … yeah. I guess, also thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m okay, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”

“And the answer is — would it be fair to say ‘Not really OK’? It’s really been a struggle?” Bradby asks.

“Yes,” Meghan responds quietly.

Harry and Meghan: An African Journey will air in Australia at 11am today on 10 Play and 7.30pm Tuesday on Ten.