Exiled royal Meghan Markle was back at it again Monday, accusing the royal family of cruel treatment and saying how she was “happy” to quit her charmed life in the UK.
Here, The Post shares the key takeaways from the candid sit-down with New York Magazine’s The Cut — held at Markle and her prince’s $14.65 million mansion in Montecito, Calif.
‘Happy’ to leave royal life
“Just by existing, we were upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy. So we go, ‘Okay, fine, let’s get out of here. Happy to,’” the “Suits” actress recalled of her and husband Prince Harry’s decision to flee the UK and senior royalty.
All they wanted was permission to live cushy lives somewhere in the Commonwealth, and the freedom to make their own riches.
“That, for whatever reason, is not something that we were allowed to do, even though several other members of the family do that exact thing,” she complained, without citing examples.
They ‘lost’ both their families
“Harry said to me, ‘I lost my dad in this process,’ ” Markle said of UK heir-apparent Prince Charles, who stopped talking to his youngest son.
“It doesn’t have to be the same for them as it was for me, but that’s his decision,” Markle added, comparing it to her own estrangement from her dad, Thomas Markle.
The family rift made her rare trip to the UK this summer “bittersweet,” she said, “knowing none of it had to be this way.”
Losing her Instagram and the ‘N-word‘
“Do you want to know a secret? I’m getting back … on Instagram,” Markle said in the interview, suggesting it was huge news after having to give up her personal account under the control of the royals.
Worse, she had been forced to watch her historic moments shared with the world via the press, rather than for likes among her 3 million followers.
“Why would I give the very people that are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child?” she asked, with no explanation of exactly whom had used the vile slur.
“You tell me how that makes sense and then I’ll play that game.”
As important as Mandela’s release
Markle claimed a South African member of “The Lion King” cast pulled her aside at a premiere in 2019.
“He said, ‘I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when [Nelson] Mandela was freed from prison,’” she recalled.
She’s still a ‘princess’ role model
“Even with the Oprah interview, I was conscious of the fact that there are little girls that I meet and they’re just like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a real-life princess,’” Markle said, referring to the bombshell sit-down with Oprah last year in which she opened up about her life as a royal.
“I just look at all of them and think, ‘You have the power within you to create a life greater than any fairy tale you’ve ever read.’ … You can be up against what could feel like the greatest obstacle and then you can find happiness again.”
She thought she could ‘act’ royal
“I was an actress,” the former TV actress said. “My entire job was ‘Tell me where to stand. Tell me what to say. Tell me how to say it. Tell me what to wear, and I’ll do it.”
Now, she wishes she’d paid attention to movies about royal romances gone bad.
“Yeah. That would’ve been really helpful. That would’ve been a very key tutorial to have had in advance of all this,” she said.
She’s only getting started
“I feel different. I feel clearer. It’s like I’m finding — not finding my voice. I’ve had my voice for a long time, but being able to use it,” she said of her new podcast, which she’s also used to bash the royals.
“It’s interesting, I’ve never had to sign anything that restricts me from talking … I can talk about my whole experience and make a choice not to,” she said, saying she’s held back because she’s “still healing.”
“I’m, like, so excited to talk,” she told The Cut.
Forgiveness ‘takes a lot of effort’
“I think forgiveness is really important. It takes a lot more energy to not forgive … But it takes a lot of effort to forgive,” she said.
“I’ve really made an active effort, especially knowing that I can say anything … I have a lot to say until I don’t. Do you like that? Sometimes, as they say, the silent part is still part of the song,” she said.
Hunting their dream home while “jobless”
“We didn’t have jobs, so we just were not going to come and see this house. It wasn’t possible … It’s like when I was younger and you’re window shopping — it’s like, ‘I don’t want to go and look at all the things that I can’t afford. That doesn’t feel good.’”
Then the famous couple landed Spotify and Netflix deals, reportedly for $25 million and $100 million, respectively.
Now, the dream house brings “joy… and calm.
“It’s healing. You feel free,” Markle said of the sprawling property.
Their Netflix ‘love story‘
Markle also discussed her and Harry’s upcoming Netflix docu-series, describing it as a look into “our love story.”
“The piece of my life I haven’t been able to share, that people haven’t been able to see, is our love story.
“I hope that is the sentiment that people feel when they see any of the content or the projects that we are working on,” she said of Harry. “We’re like salt and pepper. We always move together.”
Still, she refused to explain how that made it different from a reality show.
“I’m not trying to be cagey,” she insisted. “When the media has shaped the story around you, it’s really nice to be able to tell your own story.”
