Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex, Megan Markle, opened up in her documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey about the fact her friends even warned her about dating Prince Harry and marrying into the Royal Family. She said she was naive to the fact that her whole life would be under the scrutiny of the British media.

Markle began her relationship with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, back in June 2016, when she was set up on a blind date by a mutual friend. Their engagement was announced on November 27th, 2017 and announced that she would retire from acting and became a British citizen. She and Harry were married on May 19th, 2018 at Windsor Castle. Markle became a mother on May 6th, 2019, when she gave birth to seventh in line to the throne, Archie Mountbatten-Windsor. Since taking maternity leave, she was out of the public eye and that’s when tabloids swirled, creating lie after lie about the duchess.

In the documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, the couple goes to South Africa to work for an organization teaching women to literally fight back against endemic violence. Markle told  ITV’s Tom Bradby that she truly had no idea what she was getting into with the pressures and scrutiny of the British media picking apart her life. When asked about her first year as a newly-wed and new mother in the Royal Family, she said, “It’s hard.” She explains, “I don’t think anybody could understand that.” Markle believes that part of the reason the first year has been hard on her because she really was naive of what she was getting herself into. Watch the full clip below:

Markle went on to explain, “In all fairness, I had no idea, which probably sounds difficult to understand and hear.” Meghan said of when she began dating Harry in 2016, “But 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.’” The Duchess explained, “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.’” She explained how hard the culture shock was for her, “I didn’t get it. So it’s been, yeah, it’s been complicated.”

It’s been quite a journey from Markle going from American actress to being married into the Royal family, producing the seventh-line heir to the British throne, and now being scrutinized by the British media at every turn. Fans can watch more behind-the-scenes of these royal’s lives on their documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey.

Next: Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle’s Favorite Reality TV Show Is RHOBH

Harry and Meghan: An African Journey premieres Wednesday, October 23rd at 10pm EST on ABC.

Source: ITV