True to style, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are once again doing their own thing, this time for the holidays. According to royal correspondent Omid Scobie, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry opted to celebrate Thanksgiving in the States this year.
Scobie confirmed the rumours about the couple's holiday plans on a recent episode of The HeirPod Podcast. Meghan and Harry took six weeks off from their official royal duties for the holidays, and they booked it stateside to "celebrate Thanksgiving privately with close family." It's likely that the couple, with adorable baby Archie Harrison in tow, flew to California; Meghan was raised in Los Angeles, and her mother Doria Ragland still lives on the west coast.
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This visit to the States isn't just for Thanksgiving; it will also extend to Christmastime. "It's a long-time trip that they're on," said Scobie. "I think we are really going to see them away until Christmas as far as I'm aware, which is good for them."
Last month, Meghan and Harry's spokesperson told The Daily Mail that House Sussex would be absent from the royal family's usual Christmas engagements. It's tradition for everyone to join Queen Elizabeth at her estate in Sandringham for the holidays, but it's possible that Meghan wanted little Archie to celebrate his first Thanksgiving and Christmas American-style.
The timing of this vacation is perfect, especially in light of Meghan and Harry's recent battle with the British tabloids. In early October, the husband and wife announced that they were taking legal action against tabloids after Mail on Sunday published a private letter that the Duchess wrote to her father. Harry was quick to publicly admonish the publication in defense of his wife, also evoking the detrimental role of the tabloids in the tragic death of his mother Princess Diana 22 years ago. "I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person," he shared in an open letter. "I lost my mother, and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces."
2019 marks the couple's first time celebrating the holidays as a family of three, so it makes sense they want to keep it private. Even royals have the right to a silent night.