In the Oprah interview, the Duchess of Sussex spoke about how alone and isolated she felt during her pregnancy, and how her isolation was made worse by the fact that she didn’t have any tools to escape at her fingertips. The palace had confiscated her passport, car keys and driver’s license when she joined the Firm. Some people – idiots – claim that Meghan is lying about her passport being confiscated because derp, she traveled internationally as a duchess. You do understand that she was saying that the palace HELD her passport and made her go through official channels (likely twenty snotty, racist aides and two corgis) whenever she wanted to take a step out of her door?
Meghan Markle revealed that she didn’t have access to her passport, driver’s license and keys while behind palace walls — protocols that likely were for her own protection, royal experts said. The Duchess of Sussex, 39, revealed how “all that gets turned over” in her tell-all Oprah Winfrey special that aired earlier in the week.
“Meghan had to hand in her driving license under security rules. If she went out driving on her own, she would not be protected,” historian Robert Lacey, who consults on the Netflix series “The Crown,” explained to the BBC.
As far as having to hand over her passport, that may have been taken for safe-keeping. Robert Finch, who chairs the pro-monarchy group The Monarchist League of Canada, said that “one assumes that royals’ valuable personal documents are kept in a safe or safes — under the eye of the overall palace security.”
“Sounds as if it fitted Meghan’s narrative of being trapped and isolated, but really was routine, and probably anything would be accessible to her if she wanted it,” Finch told the outlet.
In her bombshell Winfrey interview, Markle said that the items weren’t returned to her until she stepped down from the royals and moved to California. “When I joined that family, that was the last time, until we came here, that I saw my passport, my driver’s license, my keys,” she said.
“Probably anything would be accessible to her if she wanted it…” is not the point they think they’re making. The fact that British aides confiscated an American woman’s American passport and made her play Twenty Questions to get it back whenever she wanted to travel is not how this is supposed to go. They took her passport to control her, to keep tabs on her, and to leak her location to make her unsafe. Speaking of:
Meghan Markle made at least 13 trips abroad after her relationship with Prince Harry emerged – despite claiming her passport was seized when she ‘joined the family.’ The Duchess of Sussex told Oprah Winfrey she ‘turned over’ her passport alongside her driving licence and keys when she was welcomed into ‘The Firm’ in 2016.
In her bombshell interview with the US talk show host – in which she also alleged she was ‘silenced’ by the Palace – the mother-to-be said ‘all of that gets turned over’ once you join the Royal Family.
However, it has emerged the Duchess visited 13 countries as a tourist from when she started dating Prince Harry to September 2019 – when the couple jetted off to Italy for fashion designer Misha Nonoo’s lavish wedding. Sources have claimed Meghan must have presented her passport to officials at 12 countries she visited during this period, the Sun reported.
Although the Queen does not require a passport to travel, all other members of the Royal Family are required to carry one when heading abroad.
Again, they’re not making the point they think they’re making. They’re able to track Meghan’s travels – even when she was traveling in a private capacity – because she had to go through the palace to simply get access to her PERSONAL documents. There’s a reason why we don’t know how many times William and Kate have needed their passports in the past five years – it’s because the palace wasn’t looking to withhold their personal documentation in an effort to control them and endanger them by leaking their travels and locations.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
We even know of the keen one holidays just because they were caught not because the cambridges had staff leaking to the press as soon as they asked for their passports. But of course people are missing the point as soon it’s Meghan complaining about not being allowed to manage her own passport. She who isn’t even a British citizen so why should a British institution hold her American passport.
Why the emphasis on AMERICAN CITIZEN? It wouldn’t be any different if she were Dutch or Cambodian. On a side note, not to diminish their, and especially Meghan’s trauma, but I haven’t been this entertained by gossip for a while. Thanks to H&M for providing such excellent distraction from all things covid.
That’s my phone autocorrection putting the emphasis on nationalities, same as the british press putting emphasis on her being an american citizen like known nazi Wallis Simpson.
I meant in general, the media coverage…
It could have been for several reasons. If you want to exchange your foreign drivers license for a UK one, you need to post your drivers licence and your passport to the DVLA, since they closed their offices in 2013.
The passport could also have been taken to start Meghan’s naturalisation process and/or because her passport needed to be updated for diplomatic purposes. Royals travel with diplomatic passports.
Not Meghan’s. The US doesn’t recognize noble titles so what can a british institution do with an american passport? Take it to the american embassy without the name holder to make changes not recognised by the USA? Makes no sense. Meghan probably had a special greencard like document that coupled together with her passport were used to travel for royal work, but even then they could have kept the UK documents and not her passport hostage. The process for naturalisation takes years and even then then usually copies of ones original passport are required, Meghan not being a UK citizen couldn’t be issued a UK passport even if they wanted. It’s more probable that an american diplomatic one was issued for her.
People are enjoying willfully misunderstanding parts of this interview. She never said they took her passport away forever. It’s obvious that she meant her travel documents were not readily available to her; she couldn’t pull out her laptop and type her information in to book a flight on a whim.
willfully understanding or just plain stupid? Candace Owens (i don’t really know who she is, but i have heard her name come up once in a while, not in a good way) made some nasty comments about how did Meghan hear about the bad press when she said she didn’t listen to any – she must be lying! and she defended Tucker Carlson, who called the pre-wedding fight with Kate, Meghan’s 9/11. Again, it wasn’t about the fight itself, but what it escalated into and who was named as the evil one in the media because of it. So yes, mocking her mental health because of their own stupidity!
Candace Owens is shameless grifter who couldn’t get traction as a civil rights activist so she restyled herself as a right wing nut job. The only people who GAF about what she has to say are the same people who watch Carlson.
I wondered this two for a moment re: the press and how it impacted Meghan, because she did say she tried not to listen to it. But she said how people in the inner circle reacted to it — how they told her to lay low even though she was home all the time, and I’m sure countless other ways they mentally abused her because of things being said that were out of her control. Even if she didn’t read the papers herself, she knew exactly what was going on, and knew the death threats against her and her family.
Candace Owens = Ben Shapiro. They’re exactly the same type.
Same with her keys and driving license. They’re saying, “Oh, but she had a driver.”
Ok and if the driver refuses to drive her what then?
Right and I’m also assuming that when she traveled internationally, at least for official trips, there was someone with her who handled her passport, so when she says she didnt see it, she’s not joking.
@Becks This is what I was thinking. One time, a prince from Saudi Arabia (there seem to be a lot of them) came into my job. When I asked for his ID, he nodded his permission to his security guy, who had it in *his* possession, to give it to me.
The proof that she had access to her passport is how much she traveled before she joined the royal family and had to turn it over?
Also, her keys and driver’s license had to be turned over because “if she went out driving on her own, she would not be protected”? How does that justify making her turn anything over? She is an adult woman, if she wants to go out, knowing she “would not be protected,” that should be her decision to make.
Eh… I think that the firm probably does this for all the senior royals. If it was odd, Harry probably would have prevented it from happening. Meg wasn’t crafting a narrative with these details, imo. She was just giving an example of how much she lost control of simple things like managing her documents. How everything else was managed for her, but they couldn’t make a mental health appointment when she was suicidal.
Yes, this is it. I agree that she was just using that as an example of how isolated and out-of-control her life became when she joined the family.
I don’t think she was saying that she alone was treated this way or that it was nefarious. It was just said to explain how taking away those things made her *feel.*
To me it makes sense for the palace aids/security to have the passport and documents because they are the ones making all the arrangements for these tours. If Meghan were to misplace it around her home or something else equally realistic it could be an absolute nightmare for a planned tour. So, yes Rapunzel, I think you’re spot on for the loss of control.
One thing I don’t understand is why Meghan couldn’t have had duplicates made of her passport. I have friends who travel internationally with some major bands as part of their crews and they have to have two passports as they’re traveling so quickly across boarders. Why couldn’t Meghan have a backup as well?
You cant duplicate passport. At least, my passport cant because we have a special chip in it.
Ex artist manager here. You can’t have duplicate passports. They may have traveled with photocopies (which I recommend) so that if the real one got lost or stolen, it’s much quicker to get a replacement if you have copies. My Dad has been traveling internationally since 1969 and he probably hasn’t seen his passport since the late 70s. His assistants handle everything, including walking him up to the Customs and handing over his passport. The first time our family traveled together internationally (mid-80s), it was without his assistants, and we couldn’t believe that he didn’t know how to do anything. He didn’t know where to go or that you had to fill out those Customs Declaration form the flight attendants gave you before getting off the plane.
I know they have special documentation that’s more than photocopies so that they can get cleared by customs faster than the average border crosser. I was told that those documents travelled ahead of the crew because they bounce around so much in Europe. I’ll look into it more because it’s been a year since I’ve seen these folks and covid killed all the tours, but it’s definitely a higher security document.
edit to add, I think it’s a second passport book which makes sense with visas. Maybe not applicable to Meghan, but definitely a real thing
I can see how it could make sense in theory, but considering that it meant she was completely beholden to people who definitely weren’t looking out for her best interests it might have looked very different in practice.
I think it was probably that it was normal – I also think its being taken out of context. Meghan’s point was partially to illustrate her lack of control and what a shock that was for her, but it was also specifically about wanting to get help for her suicidal thoughts. She wanted to go to a facility, they said no, and they had her IDs, her car keys, etc – she had no way of getting there (I’m sure her security was told not to drive her) and no way of checking in without ID, etc. It was specifically about that incident.
All rich and famous people have others handle documents and travel arrangements for them.
The difference is that the handler is someone that works directly for you, that you trust, and you can get your stuff back at any time. None of that applied to Meghan.
@Rapunzel, completely agree – M was very clear and not making a big deal about it; more like, this was one thing, in addition to others, which made me feel very isolated and not in control (which she had been in the 30+ years leading up to the marriage).
the Daily Fail are always going to spin ridiculous stories, but I’m surprised about the take on the story in this site, particularly the emphasis on how British people are taking an American woman’s passport. I agree with commentors saying that nationality does not play a part in this – imagine if there was a theft and someone got hold of a passport from the BRF. Disaster doesn’t even begin to describe. If you leave out the shameful way the BRF aides treated M, this would be a very common sense approach.
Of course, taking into account the blatant racism and smear campaign, it just meant that M was really stuck in between a rock and a hard place so further emphasises that leaving was really the ONLY choice. It doesn’t make the principle of the security protocol less valid though.
Watching the same media (and family members) that drove her to the brink of suicide now intentionally misinterpret and nitpick every single thing that was said (or not said!) in this interview is a whole new level of dehumanizing. Just shameful.
They know it made them look bad. They know Meghan has receipts. So now instead of denying they beat you, they will say it was for your own good. Next they will say you secretly enjoyed it and after that they will say you asked for it. These people are next level evil.
oh, they’re already saying she asked for it. that started up immediately.
The media are frantic and scrambling. The good thing is that the Sussexes were able to drown out their voices and millions of people around the world got to hear their compelling testimony directly. The papers have to scramble to try to catch up and try to counter but their reach is much more limited
I feel bad for her with the whole passport issue especially as most of her friends and her mom live outside the country. I don’t understand the driving issue. Even the Queen drives. I remember Ken Wharfe (Diana’s bodyguard) saying he let Diana shop on Kensington street by herself as long as she had her walkie. I don’t get why Meghan couldn’t drive to shop or lunch on her own or with friends. Or even with a security car behind her.
I think they were keeping her contained so that she doesn’t get any press at all. They know that she get really good press so if they keep her hidden, the other members will have an opportunity to get more press.
So they were really controlling her and she probably didn’t realize until it was too late.
That’s because they didn’t want her to. They wanted her locked away in her home because she was too interesting. She outshone them all just by being out and about, even if just going shopping or out for lunch.
Remember they said that she was everywhere, meaning that she was constantly being written about in the newspapers, in magazines. They didn’t want her going out probably unless it could be a carefully controlled photo op like the ones that Kate does to show what a regular woman she is.
@ ArtHistorian: Exactly.
Harry mentioned that they had said that Meghan will need to keep acting because there would be no money made available for her. So did they change their mind ?
Damn! That is so cold. This family sucks.
So she wouldn’t be protected if she went out on her own? I thought they didn’t need protection.
So the plan is to pick apart everything they can in the interview to discredit H&M and justify the abuse they received. The tabloids have to maintain the “symbiotic relationship” with the palace by doing the job of spreading disinformation about the Sussexes. What a toxic stew that exists between the U.K. Media, Royal Family and government. It seems the goal is to continue smearing and trying to destroy the Sussexes while the whole world is watching. They really need to back off. H&M will drop the receipts if need be.
It’s so mind boggling to me. They’re doubling down on the hatred, instead of just going radio silent after the interview. Unbelievably stupid.
People is for Americans and Americans support Meghan. Are they dumb?
i don’t think these people are missing the point. they are all acting in bad faith, purposely misconstruing the situation.
One of my favorite parts of royal tours is when they get off that big plane that has been reserved just for them, meet local heads of state on the tarmac, wave to crowds, and then go stand in line at immigration/passport control.
Pretending the process that works for royal travel is the same as personal travel for us plebs is deliberately ridiculous.
See, I think this was for security and safe keeping purposes. I understand how it made her feel, but that doesn’t mean there was anything malicious behind it. I would guess that it’s security protocol and all the other Royals don’t have their documents either. Otherwise, Harry would have stepped in. Like, why would Harry just stand back while she has to turn all these things over to the Royals if it wasn’t normal. I’m sure it felt horrible for her because she is used to her independence. I just can’t see Harry allowing this to happen if it wasn’t business as usual.
I think the problem wasn’t the passport or drivers licence. Thats part of a job that requires 24h protection, but rather that it was missused to controll her.
I think to clear every move with RPO is part of the job, but it is the job of RPO to make the most normal life possible.
And thats where they failed her. Instead of checking where she wants to go and secure the location they tried to lock her in.
Totally agree. If Charles or William (or their wives) wanted to go somewhere, they can say, “Give me my license and keys right f-cking now!” and the little men in gray will do their bidding.
Meghan didn’t have that kind of standing in the Firm, and they knew it. So when she asked to go to lunch with friends, they said, “No, you don’t need to do that. You need to keep a lower profile.”
So they were keeping her prisoner, isolating, and gaslighting her into thinking she was too attention-seeking all the same time. The more I think about it, the more I see how abusive they were.
She discussed the passport/keys/license in the context of how impossible it was to get help for her mental health crisis. She was told ‘no’ at multiple levels and lacked the agency to do it on her own because the necessary tools of independence were no longer in her control. Could she have said fuck it and done something anyway? Theoretically yes, but as she made clear, she was still wholly invested in protecting the institution despite the great personal toll that was taking.
The UK media is stuck on stupid. This mess is picked up on US media and it is looking bad for them. CNN is running daily reports. The BM may appeal to right wing media here but
but left leaning will challenge more.
I saw a post on another site that said Meghan was a liar for this statement. I didn’t read any further because it’s not hard to figure out that what she was saying was true from a security standpoint. But no, it’s Meghan, so of course she’s lying and trying to be a victim. Kate can drive where she wants to. The Queen can. Phillip did. It’s all so racist it makes my teeth ache. Once she married, she gave up all her freedoms. Even the freedom to do a midnight run or drive by herself or head out for a weekender to just relax and get away. But that’s too much consideration to give to the black duchess. They can’t and won’t see her side of things because they feel she should have been grateful to be trapped in her gilded cage with vipers surrounding her. Always.
I keep seeing shifting goalposts from the royal defenders when it comes to the drivers license.
Oh the royals don’t drive—-pics of the royals driving.
Oh the royals always ask before they drive—for the daily school run? For Anne puttering around town?
Oh the royals always have a security team they never drive alone so they don’t need to actually have a paper license on them—then why couldn’t Meghan drive?! (I also think that in the country they are driving without the full 3 car security team but can’t prove that)
So now I think what happened is that someone told her she couldn’t drive without it. And being a rule follower she thought that was policy-meanwhile all the rest of them are driving with/without hard licenses and no big deal. I guarantee if that happened there’s a email backing that up 🙄
I think she was clear on this, her movement was restricted. In the Omid piece, it says that she and her mother were not allowed to go out for coffee. Unlike the other royals she was not allowed to drive and I believe she was living under different rules which served to control her and which the family hoped would force her to leave. The plan worked but Harry left with her.