Prince Harry set the record straight after he and Meghan Markle have stepped out separately to several events, the New York Post reported. He chalked it up to rumors while the pair practiced a "twin-track approach" to overhaul their tarnished image.
There have been several rumors about a split between Harry and the Duchess of Sussex as they appear alone on separate coasts. On Wednesday, Markle stepped onto the red carpet at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills for this year's Paley Honors Fall Gala.
The 43-year-old was decked out in a designer gown but did not have her prince on her arm. Instead, Markle was at the event as the guest of Tyler Perry, a longtime friend and godfather of her daughter Princess Lilibet.
Meanwhile, Harry was on the other side of the country in New York City to attend the New York Times’ DealBook conference. The couple insists they are not headed for divorce despite the thousands of miles between them.
Royal experts see the physical separation as a sign of a marriage in shambles. Harry attempted to dispel those rumors with his own take when asked about the chatter about his marriage.
"Apparently we’ve bought or moved house 10, 12 times. We’ve apparently divorced maybe 10, 12 times as well," Harry clumsily said of the rumors surrounding the couple.
"So it’s just like, 'what?'" he added. "It’s hard to keep up with, but that’s why you just sort of ignore it," Harry went on.
"The people I feel most sorry about are the trolls. Their hopes are just built and built, and it’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,’ and then it doesn’t happen," Harry said.
"So I feel sorry for them. Genuinely, I do," he added.
Despite the couple's insistence that all is well for the ex-royals, who relinquished their royal duties and moved to California in 2020, there seem to be plenty of signs of trouble. As Fox News reported, watchers of the royal family note that the pair have increasingly seemed at odds.
Harry has all but severed ties with most of his family, thanks in no small part to his wife's accounts of how she was mistreated. The move to California was supposed to be a fresh start, but their attempts at increasing their fame and popularity have fallen short.
Kinsey Schofield, who hosts the "To Di For Daily" podcast about the royal family, believes this has caused a rift in the marriage. "Last summer, Rolling Stone ran the story, ‘Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Are in Their Flop Era.' The Sussexes have accomplished nothing significant since. Are they still technically in their flop era?" Schofield questioned.
"I am not going to applaud Prince Harry for successfully networking… I have higher expectations than that. But if we continue to see Prince Harry work away from Meghan after the new year, I think it’s fair to debate what a professional divorce means for the couple personally," the podcaster added.
It's unclear whether these signs point to a divorce or if they're strategizing to recapture some of the fame that now eludes them since moving to the U.S. However, it's undeniable that the relationship seemed doomed as soon as Harry gave up his family and identity because of Markle.
