Prince Harry and Meghan Markle famously stepped down from royal duties in 2020 and headed to California for a fresh start. But according to a new documentary, their decision may not have been as sudden as it seemed at the time.
Channel 5’s latest royal deep dive reportedly suggests the couple may have started planning their big royal exit as far back as 2018—less than a year into their marriage. In the program, lip reading expert Nivola Hickling claims she reportedly decoded a private conversation between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during the 2018 Service of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey.
At that point, they were still fresh off their star-studded Windsor Castle wedding and fully active in royal life. But according to Hickling, their body language and words told a different story. She claims Meghan turned to Harry during the event and told him to “take advantage of the situation,” then looked around at the royal family members sitting near them.
Hickling says Harry replied, “Today?”, to which Meghan responded, “Do it tonight.” Then, according to the expert, Harry asked Meghan, “You do realize that this is the end?” and she answered, “Yeah, I do know.”
This bombshell exchange, if accurate, would suggest the pair had been eyeing an exit from royal life well before the public saw any cracks forming. That conversation happened just six months after their fairy tale wedding, and two full years before they officially announced they were stepping down.
Royal historian Dr Tessa Dunlop also weighed in, suggesting the couple’s dramatic departure wasn’t exactly a spur-of-the-moment decision. She believes the signs of discontent were visible even then and that their frustrations with the institution may have been simmering quietly for years.
“Even back then, there was clearly something going on beneath the surface,” she noted in the Channel 5 special, adding that the couple’s growing discomfort within the royal system likely played a role in their eventual decision to walk away.
While Meghan and Harry have spoken publicly about their struggles with royal life—especially when it came to media pressure, mental health, and a lack of support behind the scenes—this alleged moment adds a whole new layer to the story.
It paints a picture of a couple who were already quietly making plans, calculating the right moment to leave long before the infamous announcement that shocked Buckingham Palace and royal watchers alike in 2020.
The Channel 5 documentary doesn’t claim the lip reading is definitive, but it certainly adds fuel to the ongoing debate about when the Sussexes really decided they were done with royal duties for good.
Whether it was a carefully timed move or an emotional reaction to growing tension, one thing is clear Meghan and Harry’s royal exit might have started long before anyone on the outside realized.