Prince Harry clearly finds online chatter about the state of his marriage to Meghan Markle to be a royal pain.
The Duke of Sussex spoke on stage with Andrew Ross Sorkin during The New York Times’ 2024 DealBook Summit on Wednesday, when Sorkin admitted to Prince Harry that he “Google News-ed” him prior to their conversation, per People.
Sorkin then revealed the results of his search, and noted that people seem “fascinated by everything you’re doing, all the time” — and noted that an overwhelming amount of recent articles about the pair was centred around why he and the “Suits” alum were attending professional events solo.
“There’s articles left and right about, you know, ‘Why are you making, doing independent events? Why aren’t you doing them together?’” Sorkin said.
On Wednesday, while Prince Harry was at the NYT summit, his wife remained in California to attend the Paley Center’s Fall Gala, which was honoring Tyler Perry — who is a close family friend and godfather to the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Princess Lilibet. In recent months, Markle also showed up to a few events without her husband, and it’s been reported that Prince Harry will be attending a Christmas charity event without Markle later this month.
Considering that other famous couples don’t always receive the same level of scrutiny as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Sorkin asked the royal if he thinks having this much attention dedicated to the banal minutiae of his daily life is “a good thing for you, in a way, that there’s so much interest in you?”
“No, that’s definitely not a good thing,” Prince Harry said before getting a bit snarky. “Apparently we’ve bought or moved house 10, 12 times. We’ve apparently divorced maybe 10, 12 times as well. So it’s just like, what?’”
“It’s hard to keep up with, but that’s why you just sort of ignore it,” he continued. “The people I feel most sorry about are the trolls. Their hopes are just built and built, and it’s like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,’ and then it doesn’t happen. So I feel sorry for them. Genuinely, I do.”
Despite the current status of the couple’s relationship, it’s understandable why the royal is irritated by the public and media’s fascination with his personal life.
Last year, a spokesperson for the couple said they were involved in a “near catastrophic” car chase by the paparazzi in New York City, which is reminiscent of the way Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in 1997. She and boyfriend Dodi Fayed were killed in a car crash while being chased by paparazzi in Paris.