The Duchess of Sussex has revealed in an emotional interview that she has struggled under the intense media spotlight during her pregnancy and now as a new mother.
The former Meghan Markle spoke with London's ITV News during her recent trip to southern Africa with Prince Harry about how negative press has weighed on her since becoming a mother to their 5-month-old son, Archie.
"Look, any woman, especially when they're pregnant, you're really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging,'' she said. "And then when you have a newborn, you know?"
She then became emotional when talking about the toll the glare of intense public scrutiny has taken on her.
"And especially as a woman, it's really, it's a lot, so you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed, it's...well, I guess I also thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I'm OK,'' she said.
"But it's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes."
She was then asked if that meant she really was not OK and that it has been a struggle.
"Yes," she replied.
The interview is part of an ITV documentary airing Sunday night about the couple's 10-day trip to Africa that wrapped up earlier this month.
Harry released a rare statement during the trip in which he spoke out against the treatment his wife has received from the media and revealed that she is suing Associated Newspapers, which owns the Mail on Sunday, for publishing what was a private letter to her estranged father earlier this year.
Harry has also filed lawsuits against the owners of a pair of British tabloids for alleged phone hacking that involved illegally intercepting voicemail messages.
"I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long,'' he said in his statement.
He also compared the treatment of his wife to the tabloid furor that surrounded his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash when Harry was 12 while being chased by paparazzi.
"I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person,'' he said. "I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces."
The Duke of Sussex had an emotional moment in memory of his mother during the Africa trip when he followed in her footsteps through a minefield in Angola for the charity HALO Trust, an organization Diana championed.
He also opened up in the ITV documentary about how his mother's death is "a wound that still festers."
“I think being part of this family, in this role, in this job, every single time I see a camera, every single time I hear a click, every single time I see a flash, it takes me straight back,” he said in the documentary. “So, in that respect, it’s the worst reminder of her life, as opposed to the best.”