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Meghan Markle & Prince Harry Are Headed To The U.S. This Holiday Season

by Jessica Wang
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are taking time off to spend with family
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex are headed to the U.S. soon. Meghan and Harry will take some time off this holiday season for family time, according to various reports. The two, along with 5-month-old son Archie Harrison, will take a six-week sabbatical toward the end of the year. Meghan and Harry are expected to spend time in the U.S. and the U.K., which would mark baby Archie’s first time in his mother’s home country of America.

A royal source confirmed to multiple outlets, "The duke and duchess have a full schedule of engagements and commitments until mid-November, after which they will be taking some much-needed family time.”

As for their itinerary, the royal family-of-three are expected to celebrate Thanksgiving with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, at her home in California, and spend Christmas with Queen Elizabeth II and the rest of the British royal family in England, according to E! News.

The break comes after Meghan opened up about the toll of the negative press on her mental health amid her pregnancy with Archie, whom she welcomed with Harry in May. In a clip from ITV’s documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey shared on Friday, Oct. 18, Meghan addressed the media scrutiny she endured during such a vulnerable time.

"Any woman, especially when they're pregnant, they are vulnerable. So, that made things very challenging, when you have a newborn," Meghan said in the clip. “Also, thank you for asking because not many people have asked if I’m OK, but it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”

When pressed by British journalist Tom Bradby over whether it would be fair to suggest that she really hasn’t been doing OK, and that it has “really been a struggle,” Meghan replied, “Yes.” The clip quickly gained traction online, with the hashtag #WeLoveYouMeghan trending on Twitter shortly after.

Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, set to air in the states on Wednesday, Oct. 23 on ABC, chronicles the couple’s 10-day royal tour in South Africa that began in late September and concluded in early October. In the documentary, Harry even toyed with the possibility of living in South Africa since he felt “more like [himself]” on the African continent.

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“We’ve just come from Cape Town, that would be an amazing place for us to be able to base ourselves, of course it would,” Harry told Bradby in the documentary. “But with all the problems that are going on there, I just don't see how we would be able to make as much difference as we want to without the issues and the judgement of how we would be with those surroundings.”

Toward the end of their tour, Harry and Meghan announced a lawsuit against the British tabloid The Mail on Sunday and its parent company Associated Newspapers for invasion of privacy. In a statement issued on Oct. 1, Harry cited alleged “relentless propaganda” and “false and malicious” media harassment against Meghan, which she has endured since the two became a couple in 2016.

In the statement, Harry also invoked the death of his mother Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997 while pursued by paparazzi. It read, "I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.”

Tune into Harry & Meghan: An African Journey on Wednesday, Oct. 23 on ABC at 10 p.m. EST for more behind-the-scenes insights of the royal tour.