Meghan Markle Recalls Leaving Archie and Lilibet Behind for Elizabeth’s Funeral: ‘I Was Not Well’
It’s no secret that Meghan Markle dotes on her two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The Duchess of Sussex, who always dreamed of being a mother, opened up in Season 2 of her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, about the emotional toll of being apart from them for three weeks. She admitted to guest Tan France that she was 'not well' and could not handle being away from her kids. While Markle didn’t mention Queen Elizabeth’s funeral directly, her remark appeared to reference her extended 2022 U.K. trip following the monarch’s sudden passing.
As reported by PEOPLE, while chatting with France in episode 3 of her cooking show, the Duchess reflected on how motherhood surpassed her expectations. Recalling her nearly three-week separation, which was extended at the last minute due to the late Queen's funeral, she shared, "You want to be the parent who’s like, 'Yes, go do it...Go live that life. But I’m going to miss you so much.' ...The longest I went without being around our kids was almost three weeks. I was...not well." France agreed and said, "I might die without my kids. I need my boys. If I don’t see them for a couple of days, I feel like my heart is broken."
In September 2022, Prince Harry and Markle were in London for a series of charitable engagements when they received word that the Queen was ill. The couple had already visited Manchester and Germany for charity events before returning to London, this time without their children. In total, they were away from Archie and Lilibet for 17 days. Harry also reflected on the pain of that separation in his memoir, Spare, writing, "Our quick trip would now be an odyssey. Another ten days, at least... More, we'd have to be away from the children for longer than we'd planned, longer than we'd ever been."
According to Marie Claire, after the funeral, when back in the US, a hummingbird made its way into the Sussexes' Montecito home, which prompted Harry to write about how he thought it could be a sign. He penned, "I had a devil of a time guiding it out, and the thought occurred that maybe we should start shutting the doors, despite those heavenly ocean breezes." He added, "Then a mate said: Could be a sign, you know? …Visitors, as it were. The Aztecs thought of them as reincarnated warriors. Spanish explorers called them 'resurrection birds.'"
Coming back to Markle and her hopes as a parent, she once also told PEOPLE in an interview that it is 'super joyful' to raise her family away from the spotlight in Montecito. She explained, "As a woman, a mom and a wife, to be able to find yourself again — in a way that was always present but that you maybe couldn’t put as much attention on as you now can when your kids are a little bit older — is a wonderful feeling." As for her season 2 episode with France, the two shared lighthearted banter, joking about everything from flower sprinkles to her favorite radio station, and, of course, her undying love for Harry.