Meghan Markle Reveals Miscarriage in Heartbreaking Essay

Meghan Markle has revealed that she suffered a miscarriage in a deeply personal essay titled “The Losses We Share,” published today in the New York Times.

The Duchess of Sussex, 39, described experiencing a “sharp cramp” in July after changing her 18-month-old son Archie’s diaper. “I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second. Hours later, I lay in a hospital bed, holding my husband’s hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wet from both our tears. Staring at the cold white walls, my eyes glazed over. I tried to imagine how we’d heal.”

Markle and her husband, Prince Harry, chose to reveal the news on the third anniversary of their engagement announcement -- and the eve of American Thanksgiving. She wrote, "[On] a holiday unlike any before — many of us separated from our loved ones, alone, sick, scared, divided and perhaps struggling to find something, anything, to be grateful for — let us commit to asking others, ‘Are you OK?’”

Though the op-ed begins with a very personal account of the couple’s tragedy, Markle then segues into the struggles of 2020, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the pandemic, and the U.S. presidential election. “On top of all of this, it seems we no longer agree on what is true. We aren’t just fighting over our opinions of facts; we are polarized over whether the fact is, in fact, a fact. We are at odds over whether science is real. We are at odds over whether an election has been won or lost. We are at odds over the value of compromise.”

However, she ends on a hopeful note: “We are adjusting to a new normal where faces are concealed by masks, but it’s forcing us to look into one another’s eyes — sometimes filled with warmth, other times with tears. For the first time, in a long time, as human beings, we are really seeing one another. Are we OK? We will be.”

A source close to the couple told Vanity Fair that they hoped revealing their personal struggle would help to break the stigma associated with talking about miscarriage, which affects 1 in 4 pregnancies.

"They decided that they wanted to talk about this and that this was the right time to do so," the source said. "There's a tone of hopefulness and optimism at the end of the article which I think shows where they are today. They are doing well."

The couple remained active and engaged in public appearances over the summer despite suffering the loss. In August they took part in a drive-through event with Baby2Baby, an L.A.-based national nonprofit organization, just one month after the miscarriage.