Last November, the Duchess of Sussex wrote an op-ed for the New York Times where she revealed that she had a miscarriage months earlier, in July. The essay was about giving people space and time and understanding, but she also ended up confirming why paparazzi had gotten photos of the Sussexes exiting a medical center in July. I remember those photos, because Meghan and Harry have rarely gotten photographed since moving to Montecito, and because people were making a big deal about how they were leaving a medical center. We didn’t publish those pics and hardly anyone did because they were so exclusive. Of course, the Daily Mail splashed those photos across their pages a million times and made the story about how Harry & Meg were getting into a SUV. Apparently, in Finding Freedom, sources say that Meghan and Harry were “furious” about all of that.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were “furious” after a photographer snapped pictures of them leaving a medical appointment following Meghan’s miscarriage, a new biography of the couple has claimed.
Some of the contested images were taken in July last year, and show Harry and Meghan leaving a medical centre in Beverly Hills. The pictures, which were obtained and published by the Daily Mail, accompanied a story criticising the couple for getting into a “gas-guzzling” Cadillac SUV.
The report focused on the couple’s use of the Cadillac Escalade, quoting online reviews that described the vehicle as being “as far from environmentally friendly as you can get”.
According to the authors of Finding Freedom, the couple were “furious” when they discovered the photographer had been tipped off about their presence at the medical centre.
The duchess revealed in November that she had a miscarriage in July, writing in the New York Times that she felt “an almost unbearable grief” and watched Harry’s “heart break as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine”.
It is unclear if the images of Harry and Meghan leaving the medical centre were taken immediately after the miscarriage happened, or during a follow-up appointment. But the authors of Finding Freedom wrote: “What should have been a deeply personal moment quickly became the top story on the Daily Mail Online, with a dozen photos of the masked couple getting into a Cadillac SUV.”
The legal team for Harry and Meghan has said that Scobie and Durand do not speak for the couple, and that the couple “did not collaborate with the authors on the book, nor were they interviewed for it”.
I know why Harry and Meghan were furious and why they felt like that particular invasion at that moment was particularly awful. Though it sounds like they’re angrier about the Daily Mail’s “story” which accompanied the photos, which was about the SUV. The Daily Mail just did a version of that recently too, like they’ve done consistently for years now: Harry played a charity polo match last week and announced a huge personal donation to Sentebale, and the Mail’s biggest story about all of that was… Harry took a private plane.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I really don’t know how Meghan and Harry do it. They are so much kinder and stronger than I would be in their position. I’ll say it again, I’m glad they took their baby and fled with their lives and sanity in tact.
I agree. I wouldn’t have the strength to behave so gracefully from being attacked so much for no reason. I’d burn the entire royal family down in revenge.
I remember those pictures, and I remember how people were speculating that they were pregnant etc. Another reminder that pregnancy speculation can be very intrusive and hurtful. It must have been devastating to be photographed during such a time.
I also remember some here saying that it looked like Harry was ready to murder the photographers – and now we know why, it wasn’t just the fact that they were photographed, it was the circumstances as well.
It is heartbreaking and I think adding it to the book was thoughtless. That is information that if the Sussex’s want the public to have they will let us know.
@Cessily: I agree with you. And people still believe that Omid is a close friend of Harry and Meghan.
@ Amy Bee : I’m confused by this because IMO Omid Scobie has always put himself forward as someone who had an inside track with the Sussexes. But this article seems to imply he’s just making it up, correct? Now I am confused.
@Becks: Not only that, we had the fashion blogs IDing her outfit. Terrible. This is why the fashion blogs should stay away from paparazzi shots.
I literally went and bought a hat from the same atelier her hat is from. I feel ill.
@ Becks1 : Of course, medical issues are private. But I wondered why they came out the front door as opposed to an entrance/exit that was out of sight. I read that there was an underground or private entrance to the building.
Yes, Still_Sarah, you WOULD wonder that. Why didn’t they use another exit? Why didn’t they wear wigs and a Groucho nose? Why didn’t they send out a double? Why didn’t they alter their lives and actions @ such a traumatic time in order to allow the poor, poor media the freedom to live? What’s wrong with them not hiding? Look, if they didn’t want to be harassed, they should have hidden away or stayed home instead of going to a medical appt.
That reminds me: Why was she wearing such a short skirt? Why did she walk on the same side of the street w/ the yelling construction workers, if she didn’t want to be harassed? I read that there was another entrance/exit underground of the building she was in. I think she asked for it.
Or for God’s sake! They’d probably just had a miscarriage and were in an utter daze and wanted to get out of there and home as soon as possible.
‘Why didn’t they use the private entrance?!’ is such a victim-blaming thing to say. People cannot always manage to papparazzi-proof every second of every day!
I have never seen those pictures and I also wish that Meghan and Harry miscarriage would only be written about by them because it’s so personal.
I think like all Royal commentators they have one truth that they spin into an entire soap opera. This is all to sell a book I won’t be purchasing..
I read the first edition of the book and I won’t be buying the “revised/updated” version. Everything that’s happened since then has been very public, so I don’t see the book really having any new untold information.
I read the first book and even if I were inclined to buy it again (I’m not) I don’t have to because I feel like the entire epilogue is being excerpted.
I can’t imagine being photographed at a time of such profound grief.
I hope whoever tipped off the paps got fired.
I hope they were jailed. You can be charged for violating HIPAA regulations .
Is that why the Daily Mail’s cover story today is about the Royal racist?
It’s things like this that make it clear that in many ways in terms of his reporting Omid has no reservations about engaging in the same speculation/assumptions as fact reporting as other royal reporters. His being “nicer” or “fairer” doesn’t make up for the low journalistic standards in royal reporting. He takes two events that are in the public domain. Meghan said the miscarriage was in July. They were papped in July. The article in the Independent makes it clear that it is uncertain if that visit to the medical building was even related to the miscarriage. But still he conflates the two and then adds his opinion about them being furious. In her deposition for the trial Meghan’s lawyer make this point about finding freedom. That mush of it was information in the public domain filled in with speculation/opinions that could not be substantiated. I don’t believe that anyone close to them would talk to anyone about anything related to the miscarriage. Look at way they kept the pregnancy and miscarriage quiet and then kept the pregnancy and birth of LiliDiana quiet. The times the Sussexes have sued over pictures we don’t hear about their feelings about it we just he hear about the lawsuit after the fact. So the they were furious line just feels like him making an obvious guess. I think it’s wrong that Omid is trying to bolster his “insider” reputation with this so called insight related to the the miscarriage. This should have been off limits. Meghan shared what she wanted to share. Respect those boundaries. If they wanted to make an issue of the photos they would have. You don’t have to be an insider to conclude they would have been upset about being papped especially since it’s clear their location had been leaked. This is similar to him writing that the “recollections may vary line” did not go unnoticed. Well of course it didn’t. That’s not inside information.
I remember at the time a bunch of Sussex haters and stalkers were looking up details of the building and the types of offices in there. They were mostly dentists or cosmetic so there was all this nasty speculation they were getting Botox or teeth whitening, or some crazy nonsense. Honestly, if Scobie hadn’t brought this up, I think most of us would not have linked that photo to the miscarriage. That is purely the speculation of the book authors and so incredibly inappropriate and intrusive. Where in this excerpt have they mentioned that they directly asked the Sussex team? He should just take his checks, buy a summer house and stop writing useless speculation that seems like sh*t stirring.
@L4frimaire: I saw those photos again about a month ago and put two and two together. Considering the timeline it wasn’t hard to do.
Scobie is a bright guy. It’s not difficult to come to the conclusion that they were upset by paparazzi intrusion into something so intimate. He’s not breaking new ground here.
@Catherine: THIS
+100000
Exactly @ Catherine.
I remember those photos – people on SM were even trying to read the writing on the items in her hand and some were speculating they were fertility drugs….which, knowing now what she was going through just makes those comments ever worse than they were at the time .
I read that as well. I also read they were there to “insert fertilized embryos” or something in that range. I swear, these people lack a soul.
As noted above, that’s Omid’s and Durand’s take and no one so speaks for them. No one knows what they were doing at the time that photo was taken. Is that the one where the linen dress Meghan is wearing sold out? Obviously that photo wasn’t immediately after the miscarriage since she said in her op-Ed that they were in the hospital. There is also no confirmation from the Sussexes why they were even at that medical center. These new excerpts from this book seems particularly nasty and malicious, and shows lack of journalistic due diligence. In every interview and podcast, Harry has mentioned how irritated he is with the paparazzi, especially on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. He clearly noted his irritation when they photographed Meghan carrying Archie to nursery school. All this speculation and hyperbole from “ sources”. This seems highly invasive and very inappropriate to me. Meghan chose to share the information of her miscarriage with all of us in a very resonant essay that eloquently described her feelings. Guess being upset about some tabloid going on about an SUV wasn’t remarkable enough to make it into her NY Times essay, or maybe it wasn’t a factor because no one knows how they felt that particular day. If this is how these new pages to this book is written, hard pass, not that I ever intended to get it anyway.
I was wondering what pictures those were, because I remember Meghan wearing the white linen dress. Harry and Meghan were also wearing face masks and from my recollection Meghan was wearing sunglasses and a hat so you really couldn’t make out her facial expressions (probably by design). I don’t know what other pictures this article is referring to otherwise, but to guess those were taken right after her miscarriage seems grossly inappropriate. We have no idea if she had miscarried or not at that time. Not sure why the Finding Freedom authors are claiming this, it just seems so irresponsible of Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
If the photos were taken in Beverly Hills, I don’t think that was them leaving after a miscarriage. Isn’t Santa Barbara a couple hours from there? I’m sure there local hospital could safely assist with a miscarriage and not have to drive in LA traffic a few hours away. It might have been a day or so after though and still gross.
I think it might be from the time there were living in Tyler Perry’s home in Beverly Hills.
Thry bought their Montecito house in June, and Meghan said the miscarriage happened in July, so assume they were already in Montecito. She also stated in the op-Ed they were in the hospital. Why they were there in Beverly Hills that day is their business and I don’t know what the point of the blurb is. It’s very Rota level tabloid speculation to speculate that they became “furious” because they were dragged about the type of car they were in. Seriously?
Unpopular opinion but why don’t Harry & Meg invest in some fuel efficient ways to travel? I get that they’ll be critizied by the rabid British press no matter what they do, but I personally think EVERYONE should invest in fuel-efficient vehicles and cut back on air travel, and H&M have the means to do it and the platform to make their personal choices have impact.
Also I get the point is more the heartlessness and intrusion, and I agree with everyone else here on that, but the travel thing has been bugging me for a while.
Well I’m not sure if this is the same photo I’m thinking of, but if it is then the SUV in question was a hybrid.
Apparently, MsIam, it’s not hybrid enough for some people. They should hybrid harder! Maybe with a horse and buggy, or a Flintstone mobile.
I also heard the car was a hybrid. Escalades are very popular vehicles to armour with antiballistic and bulletproof technology.
In those medical center pics, Meghan was wearing a huge hat, sunglasses and a mask. Even an oversized dress. She clearly had no desire to be photographed. Harry was with a hat and mask, though I feel like he is hard to not recognize, and that isn’t his fault.
HE TOOK A PLANE because a HUGE stretch of I-70 is still blocked by the Glenwood Canyon mudslide. The traffic has to re-route through STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, a 3 hour detour under GOOD circumstances. It isn’t like the Leo Dicapriho types really GAS about climate change, but HARRY’s time is actually valuable, and better utilized than sitting in that much traffic.
The miscarriage was not known by most of the world until they reported it had happened some months report.
Who wears white linen?