Inside the moment Meghan Markle made a swift exit from UN Women event

Seven years on from Meghan Markle’s curt exit from an event in Fiji, one question remains unanswered: why did she leave so early?

In October 2018 a clip emerged on social media of the Duchess leaving after just eight minutes.

She was due to make a 20-minute visit to the market in Suva, the Fijian capital, to see the work of Markets for Change – a project run by UN Women. 

The engagement marked day nine of Prince Harry and Meghan’s 16-day Commonwealth tour, and was the first full day in the country’s capital.  

The Duke and Duchess had earlier visited the University of South Pacific campus, and Harry unveiled The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy Project and laid a wreath at the Fiji War Memorial. 

Rumours began to swirl that the Duchess, who had announced her pregnancy at the beginning of the trip, had become unwell due to the heat and humidity.

Kensington Palace initially said this was due to ‘uncomfortable conditions’ but later added that the visit was cut short ‘due to crowd management issues’.

The market was busy with people, and apparently the crowds were greater than expected. 

Meghan was seen whispering to her aides moments before she was whisked away by her bodyguards from the busy marketplace. 

Footage of the event shows the pregnant Duchess smiling as she is escorted to her waiting vehicle.

Crowds had gathered outside the market to greet the royal guests, with locals singing songs and children waving flags.

Emily Andrews, The Mail on Sunday’s royal editor, was among the members of the press present at the time.

She said: ‘Many ladies that were told they were going to meet Meghan didn’t and voiced their disappointment afterwards.’

One onlooker reportedly said Meghan appeared to ‘look concerned’ before entering and ‘looked really disengaged, not her usual self at all’.

They told the Mirror: ‘She stopped to speak to a pineapple seller on one of the stalls and had a very blank and disengaged look on her face, which is very unlike her.

‘It was very hot and humid in there so perhaps it wasn’t the best environment for a pregnant woman.

‘After speaking for about a minute she broke off and spoke to the same aide again before she was whisked out of the market very soon after.’

But in a revised version of his book Battle of Brothers, royal biographer Robert Lacey suggested that the real reason Meghan left so soon was due to the involvement of UN Women.

In 2015, before she was dating Prince Harry, Meghan gave a keynote address on gender equality for UN Women in New York. 

Then an actress in the US legal drama Suits, she received a standing ovation from guests including Ban Ki-moon, then UN secretary-general.

Lacey wrote: ‘Meghan had rubbed shoulders with the likes of Hillary Clinton and might have hoped to join UN Women’s distinguished roster of goodwill ambassadors that included celebrities such as Nicole Kidman and Emma Watson. 

‘But in those pre-Harry days UN Women only assigned the cable actress the lesser role of advocate.’

Suggesting that Meghan’s swift exit years later was down to what she’d seen as a snub, Lacey quotes a Los Angeles screenwriter who told him: ‘Meghan does not cope well with what she perceives as rejection.

‘She’s nice and smiley as can be until you step in her way or don’t give her what she hopes for. Then she can be remorseless – heaven help you!’

At the time, an aide said of her early departure: ‘It was hot, humid and uncomfortably busy and there were far larger crowds than expected.’

However, a source told The Times that her decision to leave was down to UN Women – and that Meghan had only agreed to visit the market if there was no branding for the organisation. 

Lawyers for the Duchess denied she had left because of the organisation and said she met with other leaders from UN Women later in the tour.

After the event it emerged that a reporter who was on the trip saw Meghan ‘turn and ‘hiss’ at a member of her entourage, clearly incandescent with rage about something, and demand to leave’.

They wrote: ‘I later saw that same – female – highly distressed member of staff sitting in an official car, with tears running down her face. Our eyes met and she lowered hers, humiliation etched on her features.

‘At the time I was unable to document anything as I couldn’t conclusively link the two incidents together, despite my suspicions. I have subsequently found out from other sources that my instincts were right.’

This was not the only controversial moment from their royal visit.

Meghan’s half-sister, Samantha Markle, branded her sister a ‘liar’ after she gave a speech about the difficulties of paying to go to university – saying their father paid for her tuition. 

Meghan gave her first speech as a member of the royal family at the University of the South Pacific’s Suva campus in Fiji on October 24, 2018.

She discussed the challenges of funding further education, saying she relied on ‘scholarships and financial aid programmes’ to get through her university degree.

But her sister quickly took to Twitter to brand her ‘delusional’ and a ‘liar’, saying she ‘missed out a very important detail’ in her speech.

The Duchess was also criticised for wearing a hat during a traditional Fijian welcome ceremony where removing headwear is seen as a sign of respect. 

While royal observers have speculated on why Meghan left the event so early, the Duchess’ commitment to human rights and gender equality have remained a heavy focus of her work.

According to the Sussexes’ website, this includes her 2022 Archetypes podcast which ‘explores the labels that hold women back’. 

In 2016 she became a global ambassador for the charity World Vision, advocating for vulnerable populations, particularly women and children.   

And Meghan continues to serve as an Advocate for Political Participation and Leadership for UN Women, a role which she has held since 2014. 

While she stepped back from some other charitable roles following her engagement to Harry, she remains an advocate for UN Women’s work. 

During her time as a working royal Meghan was criticised for voicing her political beliefs, such as during the inaugural Royal Foundation Forum as she touched on the Time’s Up and #MeToo. 

She continues to identify as a feminist and has spoken publicly about her beliefs in her latest podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder.