Meghan on returning to Insta, whether she’d forgive the royals and her dad

Just a week after her inaugural Spotify podcast broke the internet with its saucy revelations, Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle dropped more bombshells on Monday.

In a sit-down with The Cut magazine, she discussed a range of issues that have arisen since she and Prince Harry moved to the US in 2020 to lead more independent lives.

They live in a mansion in California with their son Archie and daughter Lilibet.

One of the bombshells Meghan dropped was that she was returning to Instagram after closing her account ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018.

This, she said, was a “big adjustment — a huge adjustment to go from that kind of autonomy to a different life”.

She also spoke of constraints she was under regarding what she could post on social media, including the stipulation that images she or any member of the royal family wanted to share online first had to be shared with the UK's royal media pool.

“Why would I give the very people who are calling my children the N-word a photo of my child before I can share it with the people that love my child ... you tell me how that makes sense and then I’ll play that game,” she's quoted as saying.

The duchess also opened up about the way in which she and Prince Harry raise their children, saying Archie has always been taught the importance of manners and sharing.

The interview offered glimpses into the couple's private life, showing Archie interacting with his parents and classmates, and Lilibet's more “serious” demeanour.

Markle also touched on her and Harry's strained relationships with their fathers, blaming the “toxic tabloid culture”.

Prince Harry has previously spoken of his uneasy relationships with his father, Prince Charles, and brother, Prince William, after he and Meghan stepped down as working members of the royal family.

Meghan's relationships with her father, Thomas Markle, and half sister, Samantha Markle, have also been affected because of the pair's repeated media interviews about the duchess. 

Meghan's father wasn't at her wedding after it emerged he staged paid-for paparazzi shoots showing him trying on his wedding outfit.

“Harry said to me, ‘I lost my dad in this process’. It doesn’t have to be the same for them as it was for me, but that’s his decision,” she told the publication.

Other issues included their projects with Spotify and Netflix, controversial renovations to Frogmore Cottage, where they resided before stepping back from royal duties, and whether there's room for forgiveness within both families.

“I think forgiveness is really important. It takes a lot more energy to not forgive. But it takes a lot of effort to forgive. I’ve really made an active effort, especially knowing I can say anything,” she said.

— Additional reporting by Reuters