Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's 'Turning Point' in Their Royal Roles: 'They Wanted to Be More Down to Earth'

Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex endured more than their fair share of negative press before they decided to pack it all in and leave their royal duties behind. There was one shining moment, however, when their actions weren’t, for once, criticized by the public and the press and when they demonstrated a real turning point as royals, one expert shares.

Prince Harry and Meghan’s ‘turning point’ identified them as ‘down to earth’

There was a moment that one expert calls the “turning point”for Prince Harry and Meghan, where they showed how they were anything butstuffy or “high glamour royals.” The Sussexes’ first day of their Africa tourshowed a “new side” of the couple, as they shed any notions of royal formalitiesin favor of a more casual visit that allowed them the opportunity to reallyconnect with the people they encountered on the trip.

Christine Ross, the editor of the Meghan’s Mirror blog, noted that the first day of their tour, Sept. 23, 2019, Prince Harry and Meghan arrived and were dancing with locals during their visit to a Justice Desk initiative in Nyanga township.

“She was dancing with the children and it was such a stark contrast to some of the events we had seen before her pregnancy,” Ross noted during the Pod Save the Queen podcast. “She’s in this very affordable dress, she’s in affordable wedges, her hair is in a ponytail… she’s dancing with children.”

Ross continued, “We didn’t know then what we know now but I think that tour and even just that moment and that look was a turning point in their roles, in that they weren’t going to be these high glamour royals anymore.” 

“They wanted to be more down to earth, with the people, dancing with the children, getting out into the crowds,” she explained.

Meghan went with a more casual look for the visit

Meghan opted to dress more casually during their visit and didn’t wear her wedding ring or any fancy accessories. On the first day of their tour, Meghan wore a black and white dress designed by Mayamiko and she and Prince Harry wore ‘Justice Desk’ beaded bracelets.

“I love that wrap dress because it’s not a royal color,” Ross shared. “She was still showing a very normal post-partum body which so many women around the world appreciated and that outfit to me, especially as it marked the beginning of the tour, was a turning point in her relationship with her role as a duchess.”

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?? South Africa ?? • After months of planning, Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in South Africa today for their official Royal Tour of Southern Africa – focusing on community, grassroots leadership, women’s and girls’ rights, mental health, HIV/AIDS and the environment. Their first stop was to the incredible Justice Desk Project which works to make women and children safer in Nyanga. It’s an issue of vital importance in South Africa and across the globe, their Royal Highnesses wanted to learn first-hand about the issues people face and the work being done on the ground. One of the workshops Their Royal Highnesses saw was the Mbokodo project which provides self-defense classes and female empowerment workshops to young girls who are overcoming major traumas. This project's powerful motto is "wathint' abafazi wathint' imbokodo" which means "you strike a woman; you strike a rock" • “And just on one personal note, may I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of The Royal Family, I want you to know that for me I am here with you as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of colour and as your sister.” – The Duchess of Sussex • @TheJusticeDesk Project is supported by the @Queens_Commonwealth_Trust and works with community leaders in Nyanga, with the firm belief that if you can change the mindset of a community, you can change the mindset of a country. #SussexRoyalTour #RoyalVisitSouthAfrica • Photo ©️PA images / SussexRoyal – video SussexRoyal

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on

Even their critics had nothing negative to say

The Sussexes could do no wrong during their tour — even their toughest critics couldn’t fault them at the time.

Piers Morgan, one of the couple’s most vocal critics, had nothing but praise for them. “Their tour of South Africa has been an unqualified success,” Morgan wrote on the Daily Mail at the time. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex haven’t put a foot wrong as they’ve toured the country shining an important light on many issues from gender violence to poverty and education.”

He added, “They’ve behaved like royals should behave — withdignity, grace, good humor and empathy.”

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