As you’ve no doubt heard by now, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have stepped down as senior members of the royal family.
What exactly does that mean?
Well, no one is really sure, as no one has ever done this before.
We know that Meghan and Harry plan to step away from the bulk of their royal duties while becoming financially independent and maintaining their residence at Frogmore Cottage, at least on a part-time basis.
The couple reportedly hopes to divide their time between the UK and Canada, where they’ll continue their humanitarian efforts and finally be able to spend time with Meghan’s loved ones.
For the most part, the public has been supportive of the Sussex’s decision.
After all, Meghan is a new mom, and Harry’s number one responsibility is to his wife and son, not the British taxpayers.
But this is 2020, a time when you can find some loser troll willing to spew contrarian nonsense on just about any topic.
And when seeking some bitter hater willing to publicly represent the anti-Meg minority, the media didn’t have to look far.
You may remember Samantha Markle as the wicked half-sister who tried to make a career out of destroying Meghan.
It didn’t work, because who cares about the opinion some failed actress who hasn’t seen the duchess in over a decade?
But now, Scammy Sammy — as the internet has dubbed her for her con-woman ways — is enjoying one last moment in the spotlight, as the tabloid press desperately seeks a dissenter willing to go against the consensus that the royal family is a sinking ship and the Sussexes are 100 percent right to flee.
“It is a slap in the face,” Samantha told Inside Edition when asked about Megxit this week.
“I think what is shocking is the lack of consideration for the people involved, the British royal family, the promises that were originally made to honor royal duties and to lead by example," she continued.
Yeah, well, life’s complicated, right?
Promises were made, but when your mental health and the welfare of your baby are at risk, sometimes promises need to go out the window.
“They stepped into the spotlight knowing what the duties were, knowing what the media would be like for them,” Sammy continued.
“If she wanted to be so private, she wouldn’t have sat at Wimbledon with 40 empty seats around her.”
Yes, clearly it’s Meg’s fault that the royal family follows a strict security protocol.
Sam’s just bitter because Meg was front row at Wimbledon, while she couldn’t get tickets to a beer pong tournament at Buffalo Wild Wings.
Of course, in the end, no one will really cares about Sam’s opinion, and with any luck, this is the very last we’ll hear from her.
What people do care about is the hidden causes of Megxit, and now, royal expert Tom Bradby is voicing the most expert opinion yet offered on what might have prompted this shocking turn of events:
“It is just really bad personal splits — that’s the honest truth … There’ve been a lot of fallouts; a lot of harsh things were said around the time of the wedding. And it’s gone a bit too far," Bradby tells People magazine.
"And certainly the rest of the family find Harry and Meghan very difficult and, from Harry and Meghan’s point of view, they’re just being driven out as they see it. And it’s sad.”
Yes, Bradby stops just short of saying the Meghan vs. Kate Middleton feud is at the center of this, but clearly there’s a lot of bad blood within the family.
“There are going to be so many complications, so many controversies," he added.
"There needs to be a peace deal really soon because this is so toxic, there’s so much anger and, to be honest with you at the moment it looks like it might get worse, not better.”
As for their royal titles and the swanky digs at Frogmore, Bradby says the Sussexes don’t really care if the Queen decides to take it all away.
"They’re philosophical as in it’s up to [the royal family] — protection, Frogmore, everything else, the titles. You want to take it all away, fine. That’s okay. But it’s sort of up to you," he says.
"We’d like to be involved, we’d like to do our charities, we’d like to support the Queen and we’d like to do stuff through the Commonwealth, but we accept that we’ve got no right to do that anymore.”
Sounds like 2020 will be the year of the Sussexes and the royals figuring out their new normal and taking passive-aggressive pot shots at one another in the media.
We’d be lying if we said we’re not looking forward to it.
As for Samantha — can we arrange some sort of trade in which we ship her off to the UK in exchance for Meg, Harry, and Archie.
Sure, it’s not remotely fair, but the Brits still kinda owe us for stepping in during World War II.