Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have come a long way in five years.
The couple, who just wrapped a Nigeria tour, are in a much better place now than when they visited Africa in 2019.
“We’re just doing great. And happy to be watching our family grow up and evolve. Of course I’m happy. We’re really happy,” the Duchess of Sussex told People Tuesday.
During the pair’s three-day stay, they stopped by an Invictus Games-affiliated charity called Nigeria Unconquered, spent some time at a military hospital in Kaduna, participated in a panel discussion about women in leadership and spoke to students at Lightway Academy in Abuja.
Markle, 42, told the students how the duo’s daughter, Princess Lilibet, almost 3, recently remarked, “Mama, I see me in you.” Reflecting on those words, the former actress shared, “Looking around this room, I see myself in all of you as well.”
Meanwhile, Harry, 39, reminded the group that it’s “OK not to be OK” — an obvious callback to the duo’s tumultuous last time on the continent.
At the time, their son, Prince Archie, was only a few months old, and Markle was admittedly struggling with all the negative press she was receiving.
“Any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable, so that was made really challenging,” she said at the time in an emotional interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby.
“And then when you have a newborn, you know, especially as a woman, it’s a lot,” she went on. “So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed, it’s, um, yeah. Well, I guess, and also, thank you for asking ’cause not many people have asked if I’m OK, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
Markle added that she was warned before marrying Harry, “The British tabloids will destroy your life.” However, she had “no idea” just how “hard” and “complicated” it would be.
A few months later, she and the Duke of Sussex stepped back from their royal duties and moved to North America.
They now live in California with their two children, and their relationship with Harry’s family remains strained.
