As a member of the royal family, Meghan Markle said she couldn’t hold on to her passport, driver’s license, or keys.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
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Markle told Oprah Winfrey in her 2021 CBS interview that she had handed over her keys, passport, and driver’s license after marrying Harry, meaning she was essentially trapped inside Kensington Palace and couldn’t leave to get help for her mental health on her own.
“You couldn’t just go,” Markle said. “I mean, you have to understand as well, 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. All that gets turned over.”
Robert Finch, dominion chairman of the monarchist advocacy organization The Monarchist League of Canada, told the BBC in 2021 that he’d never heard of royals being required to give up their documents, but that it may have been done to keep them safe and readily available on royal tours and engagements.
“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,” he said.
Buckingham Palace released a statement after the CBS interview aired saying that the royal family was “saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.”
“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately,” the statement read. “Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
