Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stunned the world in early 2020 when they announced they were stepping down as senior royals.
The couple relocated to Montecito, California, with their children, Archie and Lilibet. Though they kept their HRH titles, they stopped receiving financial support from the palace and ceased all official royal duties. Their revealing 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, where they criticized aspects of royal life, drew both backlash and widespread support.
In California, the Sussexes have focused on building their own identity through their organization, Archewell. Meghan launched the podcast Archetypes, exploring stereotypes that limit women, while Harry released his memoir Spare, described as a candid look at love, grief, and personal growth.
Their Netflix series Harry & Meghan chronicled their journey, from the early days of their romance to life after leaving the royal family. The documentary highlighted their wedding, the media scrutiny, Meghan’s challenges adapting to royal life, and Harry’s desire to shield his family. It also delved into their strained relationships within the monarchy. While the series garnered attention, it wasn’t without criticism.
British TV host Piers Morgan, known for his polarizing opinions, unleashed scathing criticism on the couple. In The Sun, he dismissed the docuseries as “nauseating, tawdry and staggeringly narcissistic.”
His feud with Meghan traces back to when they were reportedly on friendly terms—until she “ghosted” him, as he told the Mirror. Since then, Morgan has frequently disparaged the couple, branding them “the two most spoiled brats in history,” and publicly doubting Meghan’s accounts of racism and mental health struggles.
Morgan’s fierce commentary sparked debates over whether his attacks on Meghan amounted to bullying. One particularly tense moment came during a live interview with presenter Alex Beresford, prompting Morgan to walk off the set.
On December 15, 2022, Morgan doubled down in a lengthy piece blasting the Netflix docuseries. He described it as a “whine-a-thon” and accused Meghan of having an “unquenchable craving for barrelling her way into the news cycle.” While his usual criticism of Meghan remained sharp, he focused much of his ire on Prince Harry.
Morgan wrote the series “confirmed everything I thought about (Meghan), and none of it is complimentary.” He accused her of discarding her own family—particularly her estranged father—for self-interest, adding, “She wouldn’t think twice of encouraging her hapless husband to torch his family.”
Calling Meghan a “divorced American C-list actress now gleefully playing the role of her life,” Morgan turned to Harry with even harsher words. “My real fury is with Harry, whose betrayal of his family and his country has now been laid bare in hideous, eye-popping detail.”
He condemned Harry for accusing Prince William of bullying, labeling King Charles a liar, and even criticizing Queen Elizabeth II for not helping him. “Watching him publicly attack his ‘screaming’ brother… made my stomach churn,” he wrote.
What Morgan found especially offensive was Harry “fueling a false but incredibly damaging narrative that Britain’s a racist country with a racist royal family at its head.” He added, “How could this horribly privileged halfwit… become such a cold-hearted traitor to both?”
Morgan concluded by accusing the Sussexes of “spewing endless toxic hate at their families,” saying their actions had caused “huge anger and pain” while damaging an institution they continued to “trade off” even as they tried to tear it down.
Unsurprisingly, the series hasn’t softened Morgan’s view. If anything, it’s intensified his disdain for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.