Meghan Markle has become the subject of a viral video after footage from an interview filmed during a royal tour of South Africa in 2019 has resurfaced on social media.
The duchess married Britain's Prince Harry in 2018 and after two years spent working within the monarchy, sensationally split from the royals in 2020 with her husband, eventually moving to the U.S. with their young family.
During their time as working royals, Harry and Meghan undertook a number of overseas visits, including a lengthy tour of South Pacific islands in 2018 and visits to southern African nations in 2019.
The 2019 tour proved to be a pivotal moment for the couple, as they took their son Prince Archie along with them for the first time. It also came just months before the decision to formally separate from the monarchy, citing abusive treatment from the British tabloid press and issues with royal family members and their households.
During the latter stage of the visit, Meghan remained in South Africa with Archie while Harry made visits to Malawi and Angola by himself. Meghan gave a brief interview on the penultimate day of the tour in which she mentioned how much she had missed her husband.
Uploaded to TikTok by the account, popculture, footage from the interview has been viewed more than 180,000 times and received over 2,000 likes and 600 comments, many of which voice differing opinions of the duchess.
In the clip, Meghan is heard commenting: "It's been really powerful. Harry has continued on in a couple of other countries. We're reuniting today which I can't wait for, I miss him so much."
"So cute and she literally is so pretty," wrote one TikTok user of the video.
"Aww she is so adorable," posted another, with a further comment reading: "That's love."
However, some commenters questioned the duchess' authenticity. "Ugh I really wish I would believe her but I don't. I feel so bad for him," wrote one user, with another writing: "She is acting."
Meghan's brief interview about her impending reunion with Harry was largely overshadowed by a more dramatic conversation recorded during the trip which aired as part of a documentary of the tour.
Harry and Meghan spoke with British journalist Tom Bradby during the South Africa visit which aired after their return to the U.K. Their comments were surprisingly frank and touched for the first time on their unhappiness as working royals.
In her interview, Meghan addressed her treatment at the hands of the tabloids and Harry publicly acknowledged rumors that he and Prince William had grown apart.
When asked to describe how the last year had been for Meghan, having married in May 2018 and given birth to Prince Archie less than a year later, she said it had been "hard."
She also spoke of her struggle to deal with the negative coverage she received at the hands of British tabloids. The interview was conducted after Meghan announced her lawsuit against the publishers of the Daily Mail for printing the contents of a private letter she had written to her father a year earlier. She would later go on to win the lawsuit.
When Bradby asked how her mental health was, Meghan responded with the widely circulated quote: "Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I'm OK." This was interpreted as an early sign that relationships within the royal family were strained.
A month after their return to Britain, Meghan and Harry traveled to Canada where they intended on spending a vacation over Thanksgiving. While there, the couple discussed plans to step away from their senior working roles within the royal family. The plans were finalized in a January meeting between Harry and Queen Elizabeth II at Sandringham which was later named: "The Sandringham Summit."
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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