In July this year, Meghan Markle announced that she suffered a miscarriage, writing in the New York Times on Wednesday about the profound sorrow and loss she felt with her husband, Prince Harry. The Duchess of Sussex, who in 2018 married the British prince, had the first child of the couple, Archie, the following year.

In the Times article, the 39-year-old wrote that when she felt a sudden cramp and dropped to the ground, she had just changed her son's diaper.

"I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second, "I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second.

Markle said that it was a discussion that remained "unbearable grief" writing of the "taboo, riddled with (unwarranted) shame, and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning." of miscarrying a child.

The Duchess of Sussex however gave a message of optimism by touching upon the coronavirus, the Black Lives Matter campaign, and the recent tumultuous presidential election.

"For the first time in a long time, as human beings, we are really seeing one another."

The death of Breonna Taylor, as well as the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed African American killed in police custody, was also confirmed by Markle, whose mother is black.

"Loss and pain have plagued every one of us in 2020, in moments both fraught and debilitating."

The highly personal piece by Markle comes as she and her husband wage an increasingly public battle over their right to privacy with certain media outlets.

But the shadow of a former royal bride, Harry's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, takes it with it.

The British prince has been dogged by pressure from the tabloids all his life, and he blames them for his mother's death.

In 1983 at Balmoral, Diana, whose treatment by the royals is the subject of the fourth season of Netflix's highly successful "The Crown" also reportedly suffered a miscarriage.

The British establishment was surprised by Harry and Meghan when they revealed they were retiring from royal life.

In March, their withdrawal came after claims that she was profoundly dissatisfied with life within the royal family and fed up with the interference of the media.

The pair, who live in California with their young son, signed an exclusive deal earlier this year with streaming giant Netflix for an undisclosed fee.

The opinion piece of Markle comes after model and author Chrissy Teigen spoke candidly about a stillbirth she and her partner, singer John Legend, had this year.

Teigen released a collection of intimate pictures of the painful moments following the death of the boy, whom they nicknamed Jack.

In equal measure, the unvarnished post drew praise and critique, but Teigen was unrepentant about her decision.

"I lived it, I chose to do it and more than anything, these photos aren't for anyone but the people who have lived this or are curious enough to wonder what something like this is like," she said.

"These photos are only for the people who need them."

The use of the New York Times by Markle to write about her miscarriage has echoes of the 2013 op-ed essay by Angelina Jolie in which she announced her decision to have a preventive double mastectomy.

Jolie, who at the time was married to fellow Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt, said she had decided to disclose her decision "because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience."