Prince Harry’s ‘confused’ reaction to an unexpected text from Prince William during a pivotal moment.

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex announced they wanted to step back as working royals, the public was seriously taken by surprise. However, in the months before their shock announcement, the couple had made it clear they were having some issues living in the public eye, with Meghan opening up in a documentary made about their tour of Southern Africa that she had been struggling with the pressure and Harry admitting that he and his brother Prince William were on “different paths”.

Despite this, the extent to which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not coping well inside the monarchy only became clear a year later, when they sat down for an extensive interview with Oprah Winfrey and Meghan revealed that she had been struggling with suicidal thoughts, as the couple explored all the reasons why they had decided to step back from representing the crown officially.

This included the couple opening up about their issues with some of the other senior royals, and allegations that “concerns and conversations” had been raised during Meghan’s pregnancy over how dark their son Prince Archie’s skin would be when he was born. It was later claimed by royal author Omid Scobie in his book Endgame that the royals who had discussed Archie’s skin tone were King Charles and Princess Kate.

After Meghan and Harry’s interview was broadcast, the late Queen issued a statement saying that “some recollections may vary” about the couple’s time as working royals, but that the Sussexes “will always be much-loved family members”. Later, when the couple released their six-part documentary series with Netflix exploring their love story and royal exit in detail, scenes showing the immediate aftermath of their Oprah interview were shown, including one particularly heartbreaking moment.

Meghan was shown on a video call with the couple’s friend – and Princess Lilibet’s godfather – Tyler Perry, when Harry simultaneously received a text message from his brother Prince William, to which he immediately looked devastated in response. Harry showed his phone screen to his wife, and she commented “Wow” in response to reading the message, the details of which were not included on the screen. Meghan then explained to Perry, “H just got a text… H just got a text from his brother”. After ending the call, Harry said sadly to Meghan, “I wish I knew what to do,” and Meghan replied, “I know. Let’s take a breather. Get some air and then decide.”