Meghan Markle was reportedly ‘devastated’ as she bid an emotional goodbye to her royal duties before returning to Canada.
Prince Harry and Meghan have been in Britain performing their last royal duties before starting their new lives across the Atlantic.
The Duke of Sussex stayed in Britain to continue working while the Duchess flew back to Canada after the Commonwealth Day Service on Monday.
Meghan Markle shed a tear during a ‘bittersweet’ farewell to royal staff as she left the UK for Canada on Tuesday, according to the Telegraph.
She also appeared to be ‘quietly devastated’ and had tears in her eyes at her last private function for Commonwealth students in Buckingham Palace before heading to Westminster Abbey for the service.
Telegraph columnist Bryony Gordon, who was at Meghan’s last official engagement as a frontline royal, described how the Duchess was feeling in the candid behind-the-scenes moment.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at their last engagement together at the Commonwealth Day Service 2020 on Monday
Prince Harry hugging journalist Bryony Gordon as he meets panellists and beneficiaries during the first annual Royal Foundation Forum held at Aviva in London in 2018
She said that Meghan had ‘tears glistening’ in her ‘bright friendly eyes’ as she met with attendees and spoke with them about their work.
Gordon wrote: ‘The pervading emotion on Monday, as I watched the Duchess carry out her final private engagement, seemed to be profound sadness.
‘Sadness that it had come to this; sadness that they could not make it work and sadness that less than two years since that glittering fairy tale wedding, the first person of colour to join the British royal family was off.
‘How ironic that her final engagement was to be a Commonwealth service that celebrated diversity, uniqueness, and the strength we draw from embracing each other and our differences.’
The event was for 23 young students and academics who won scholarships from the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) – an organisation Meghan will continue to be a patron of after stepping back from royal duties.
Gordon added that ‘there is a feeling that they have been hung out to dry’ in the way the couple were treated in Britain.
She added: ‘Those who are aware of what has gone on behind the scenes say that she took her role seriously, and was not just prepared but proud to deliver whatever was asked of her.’
Meghan Markle embracing at the Royal Foundation Forum in 2018. She was also at a private Commonwealth function that was the Duchesses last royal engagement
The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) meeting on Monday attended by Meghan Markle (centre)
On Tuesday Meghan returned to the couple’s 10-month-old son, Archie, who remained in Canada while they attended functions in the UK.
Harry, 35, will now stay in Britain to continue working after the couple’s final official event at Westminster Abbey on Monday.
It is understood that Harry will fly back to Vancouver Island soon, where the couple have been living in recent months their son at a luxurious £14million waterside mansion.
Gordon also said Meghan seemed sad for Harry having to leave his military roles.
She wrote: ‘Watching from the sidelines, her departure seemed bittersweet and tinged with huge sadness – not for herself, but for her husband.’
The couple are understood to be keeping their Windsor home, and will start paying commercial rent and pay back £2.4million in taxpayers’ money spent on its renovations.
The Duchess of Sussex met with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) at Buckingham Palace before attended the Commonwealth Service
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex meeting children at the Commonwealth Day Service
Harry and Meghan are also believed to have been looking at rental properties in California, including an eight-bedroom Malibu mansion worth £15million.
This would locate them near Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, and it is also close to Silicon Valley and Hollywood where the couple might have meetings.
The couple aim to become nearly financially independent, although the Prince of Wales will also continue to offer private financial support to the couple.
This is expected to come from his £21 million a year Duchy of Cornwall income. The couple also intend to ‘develop a new way to effect change’ with a non-profit organisation.
They will not be able to use Sussex Royal as their brand, with the Queen and her senior officials said to have declared they must drop the use of the word ‘Royal’.
The situation will be reviewed by the monarchy in 12 months’ time, leaving the door open in case of a change of heart.
The Queen has told Harry the couple are much loved by the royals and would welcomed back if they wanted as working royals in the future.