Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship has fallen under scrutiny ever since they got together. So when the couple split up to attend different events, people began to speculate about their separation. After seeing them as a couple since 2016, it’s a little strange to see one without the other. But at the Dealbook Summit 2024, Prince Harry refuted the rumors.
Rumors of a Professional Separation
In October 2024, Prince Harry traveled around the world without Meghan, and so the rumors began. By November, he had traveled to Vancouver, Canada, and made an appearance at the Grey Cup. He also went to the Seaforth Armoury to attend an event alongside schoolchildren, veterans, and Invictus Games competitors. Additionally, he visited the Musqueam Indian Reserve in Vancouver. While Prince Harry was in Canada, Meghan Markle hosted a dinner for the Southern California Welcome Project, according to their website.
Due to these solo public appearances, people began to speculate about trouble in paradise. Rumors spread about a “professional separation” where the couple would “divorce” from each other’s work lives while staying married. However, as these rumors continued, they evolved from just a professional separation into a real divorce with a custody battle.
Prince Harry’s Response
During the Dealbook Summit, journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin spoke with Prince Harry about a variety of topics, including the rumors. Sorkin acknowledged the intense interest with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. “…I Google News-ed you, and there were people fascinated by everything you’re doing, all the time.” He also posed the question the media has been asking: Why wasn’t the couple making professional appearances together?
Prince Harry responded cheekily, “Because you invited me, you should have known. You should have known that was going to happen,” and the audience laughed in response.
Then he took a more serious tone. “It’s definitely not a good thing. Because apparently we’ve bought or moved house maybe 10 or 12 times and we’ve apparently divorced maybe 10 or 12 times as well,” he said. “So, it’s just like ‘what?’. So, it’s hard to keep up with but that’s why you just sort of ignore it.
“The people I feel most sorry about are the trolls who, their hopes are just built and built and built so its like ‘yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’ and then it doesn’t happen. So I feel sorry for them, genuinely I do, I mean that.
Prince Harry added that “the trolls” were likely to misinterpret their interview. “…I have no doubt that everything I’ve spoken about today in the last 25 minutes will be spun or twisted somehow against me.” He added that Sorken may also become the subject of trolls, “but you did invite me, so it’s not my fault.”
Prince Harry’s “Main Goal”
Harry also mentioned how he grew up reading falsified stories about himself, friends, family, and strangers. “And I think when you grow up within that environment, you do find yourself questioning the validity of the information but also what other people are thinking of that as well, and how dangerous it can be over the course of time.” He concluded saying he is focusing on the charity work he does with Meghan, with an emphasis on improving children’s online safety, as well as his “main goal” of “being the best husband and dad that I can be.”
Around the same time as the Summit, Meghan was attending the Paley Center for Media’s fall gala in Beverly Hills, where they were honoring her friend, Tyler Perry. According to Newsweek, Meghan had stayed home during Harry’s travels to take care of their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. However, the couple’s appearances together before and after Harry’s trip showed them interacting warmly to each other as usual.
“You don’t do every single thing together…”
A source close to the couple explained the same idea to Page Six at the end of November. “They are going to be criticised no matter what. When they’re together, there’s headlines that Meghan is too controlling or trying to be the star of the show,” they explained. “The Duke and Duchess are a married couple and in a normal relationship, you don’t do every single thing together … they also have to raise a five and a three-year-old and somebody has to remain in California while the other person is out of state.
The source added that they each have different own charitable focuses, although they do overlap sometimes. “It also wouldn’t make sense for Meghan to be the focal point for Harry’s patronages, and the same goes for Meghan’s philanthropic efforts, for example if it’s something to do with women, which is near and dear to her heart.
“But you do see an appropriate overlap — for example when they went to Columbia to further the work of their foundation [the Archewell Foundation]. Then you see them work as a unit.”
