Why Meghan Markle’s Friends Didn’t Want Her Dating Prince Harry

Meghan Markle is now the Duchess of Sussex, but she might not have joined the royal family if she had listened to her British friends. They specifically told her that dating Prince Harry was a bad idea.

In the new documentary “Harry & Meghan: An African Journey,” airing in the U.S. on Wednesday, Meghan opened up to journalist Tom Bradby about the negativity from the U.K. press. It seems the former actress hadn’t paid much attention to royals in tabloid before.

“When I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy but my British friends said to me, ‘I’m sure he’s great but you shouldn’t do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life,’” she recalls, according to Good Morning America.

“And I very naively -- I’m American. We don’t have that there -- [I said], ‘What are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense. I’m not in any tabloids.’ I didn’t get it. So it’s been, yeah, it’s been complicated.”

It was actually Meghan’s lack of knowledge about the royals that made Harry feel more at ease. “It was hugely refreshing. To be able to get to know someone who isn’t necessarily within your circle, doesn’t know much about me, I don’t know much about her,” Harry said in their engagement interview with the BBC. “To be able to start almost afresh right from the beginning in getting to know each other step by step and then taking that huge leap of only two dates and then going effectively on holiday together in the middle of nowhere and sharing a tent together and all that kind of stuff. It was fantastic.”

Clearly, the Duchess now knows plenty about the royal tabloid speculation. Meghan and Harry are currently in a legal battle with a couple of lawsuits. They’re suing Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers, accusing them of illegally publishing a private letter. They’re also taking The Sun and Daily Mirror’s publisher, New Group Newspapers, to court over alleged phone hacking.

“Harry & Meghan: An African Journey” aired Sunday in the U.K. American viewers will get to see it on Wednesday at 10 p.m. EDT on ABC.