There is a very important person in Duchess Meghan’s life that the public has not known until now: Ashleigh Hale – and the reason is explosive. How the drama ended, we resolve at the end of the article.
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In the explosive Netflix documentary series “Harry & Meghan”, Duchess Meghan, 41, reveals her truth about the relationship with half-sister Samantha Markle, 58. Contrary to Samantha’s statements, Prince Harry’s, 38, wife emphasizes that she has not had any contact with her for a long time. By the time her half-sister spoke publicly about Meghan, she hadn’t seen Samantha in “over a decade.” “I don’t know her middle name or her date of birth,” the Duchess continued.
But there is one relative who is very close to Meghan: niece Ashleigh Hale. Of all people, she is Samantha’s daughter – and this is where the problem comes in, which is why the public has never heard of her before.
UPDATE: After a long radio silence, Meghan and Ashleigh got back in touch a few months ago. The Duchess revealed this in episode six of her documentary – you can read it at the end of the article.
Duchess Meghan: This is her secret niece Ashleigh
But from the front: Immigration lawyer Ashleigh Hale is Duchess Meghan’s maternal niece and the daughter of Samantha Markle, with whom she never grew up. It was agreed that she and her brother would be raised by the paternal grandparents; they got custody when Hale was two years old, later they were adopted, Meghan’s niece recalls in the documentary.
My mother [Samantha] I hadn’t seen it since I was 6. We have been in contact again since 2007.
Duchess Meghan’s family tree
© netflix.com
Ashleigh was Meghan’s confidant
From the moment Meghan found out that Samantha had found her daughter, she contacted her lost niece via email. Emails turned into long phone calls several times a week. “We hit it off right away,” Ashleigh said. Meghan was already shooting for the later successful series “Suits”. The lawyer recalled that they went on vacation together and that there were celebrations. “[Meghan] fulfills many roles for me. She’s my sister, my mom, my best friend, she’s everything.”
Duchess Meghan’s Ashleigh Hale
© netflix.com
When the relationship with Harry became known, Meghan’s sister Samantha began to publicly speak negatively about her half-sister. A found fodder for the press. Samantha also spoke negatively to her daughter. “She felt a great dislike [Meghan] opposite,” says Ashleigh. It got so bad that Meghan’s niece broke off contact with her mother.
Meghan’s niece wasn’t allowed to come to her wedding to Harry
Although Meghan and Ashleigh remained very close, the future Duchess was not allowed to invite her confidant to Harry’s wedding. The problem: Meghan’s bad relationship with Samantha.
“How do we explain that Meghan’s half-sister is not invited to the wedding, but her daughter is?”
, the Duchess recalls in the Netflix series. It was painful for Harry’s wife to have to tell Ashleigh not to come to Windsor for the big day.
Duchess Meghan often spent vacations for two with her niece Ashleigh Hale – a “special time”.
© netflix.com
Her niece was injured, but she understood why this decision had been made. That her biological mother would have such a profound impact on her relationship with someone she cared about so much, “to feel like she meant me because of her [Mutter Samantha, Anmerkung der Redaktion] was taken”, according to Ashleigh it was hard. The immigration lawyer is in tears, apparently she has not overcome the pain to this day. Contact with Meghan breaks off …
UPDATE: Meghan got back in touch with her niece after radio silence
The scandalous “Harry & Meghan” documentary closes like any good Hollywood fairy tale: with a happy ending. After the wedding to Harry, there was radio silence between the Duchess and her niece. After all the Megxit drama, Meghan had to find herself again, she emphasizes in the Netflix series. In the process, she helped rekindle her relationship with her once-beloved Ashleigh.
“She came back into my life late last year,” Meghan said. She wrote to her and Hale was happy, then even spent Christmas 2021 with Harry, Meghan and the children.
Duchess Meghan’s niece Ashleigh Hale with Lilibet Diana in late 2021 in Montecito, California.
©Netflix
Ashleigh baked zucchini muffins with Archie and said: “I’ve missed so much of his life but it doesn’t feel like it because we bonded immediately.” Being part of the Sussexes’ life again – and now Lilibets too – means a lot to Meghan’s niece.
Sources used: “Harry & Meghan”, retrieved from netflix.com