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King Charles III may be gearing up for some rest and relaxation at Balmoral Castle (the Sussex family wasn’t reportedly invited), but three words from Meghan Markle should have him concerned, according to a commentator. What the Duchess of Sussex, 43, said in a sit-down interview with Prince Harry about their latest project suggested more “shots” at the royal family could be on the way. 

Meghan hasn’t ‘scraped the surface’ of talking about her mental health as a working royal 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex discussed the Archewell Foundation Parents’ Network, a program aimed at children’s social media safety, in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning’s Jane Pauley. It aired on Aug. 4, 2024, Meghan’s birthday. 

At one point, the anchor addressed Meghan’s comments to Oprah in the couple’s 2021 interview. Specifically when she revealed she “didn’t want to be alive anymore” in 2019 after intense tabloid and social media scrutiny. 

“The connection that you have with people,” Pauley told Meghan, “is that they know that you have suffered too, personally contemplating killing yourself.” Pauley went on to note the former Suits star appeared “uncomfortable” with “going there.”

“I understand why you are though,” Meghan replied, noting she “wasn’t expecting it. There is a through line, I think. And when you’ve been through any level of pain or trauma, I believe part of our healing journey, certainly part of mine, is being able to be really open about it.” 

“You know, I haven’t really scraped the surface on my experience,” she continued. “But I do think that I would never want someone else to feel that way. And I would never want someone else to be making those sort[s] of plans. And I would never want someone else to not be believed.”

“If me voicing what I have overcome will save someone. Or encourage someone in their life to really genuinely check in on them. And not assume that the appearance is good, so everything’s OK, then that’s worth it,” Meghan added. “I’ll take a hit for that.” 

King Charles may not be ‘clear’ of shots from Harry and Meghan

Meghan’s “scraped the surface” comment took the spotlight, according to commentator Daniela Elser. “It’s those three words–’scraped the surface’–that have promptly sucked up all the oxygen. And understandably so,” she said (via news.com.au). 

After the Oprah interview, Harry & Meghan, and Spare, “it had appeared that a sort of ‘all clear’ siren was sounding from the direction of Montecito.” 

“The couple was done excavating their painful royal lives and brighter futures, broad horizons and jam empires beckoned. Only, not quite, it might seem.”

The idea that Meghan could discuss her experience would make the king nervous

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Meghan’s words will only add to the palace’s concern she may write her own memoir after Spare‘s success. (Harry inked a reported four-book deal with Penguin Random House in 2021. Spare hit shelves—and quickly broke records—in January 2023.) 

There’s “nothing to indicate that Meghan might ever want” to write a memoir. The potential for a “lengthy, painful trip down memory lane” could be a disaster waiting to happen for King Charles. 

If one thing’s “guaranteed to put” King Charles “off” his Scottish Highlands vacation, “it’s even the remote possibility that his daughter-in-law might decide to properly ‘scrape’ deep beneath the surface of her royal travails.” 

How to get help: In the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Or text HOME to 741-741 to speak with a trained crisis counselor at the free Crisis Text Line.