Prince William

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.

But in the almost two years that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been living 5,500 miles away from London in a peaceful coastal subdivision near Santa Barbara, CA, it's often seemed as though their rift with the royal family has been progressively getting worse.

It's been four months since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed their second child, a girl named Lilibet.

The couple's choice for a name is both significant and a little surprising.

Earlier this week, Time Magazine released its annual list of the world's 100 most influential people.

Few readers on this side of the pond were surprised to see Meghan Markle and Prince Harry cover the issue, but apparently the news came as much more of a shock overseas.

Earlier this week, Time Magazine released its list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

The magazine released several editions of this week's issue, each featuring one -- or, in this case, two -- of the movers and shakers who make an appearance on the prestigious list.

It's almost impossible to believe that Meghan Markle is a day over 29, but the Duchess of Sussex hit the big 4-0 on Wednesday.

Of course, Meghan is one of the most beloved women on the planet, so any anxiety that she might be feeling about crossing the line into middle-age is surely allayed by the loving tributes that have poured in from every corner of the globe.

They say the best revenge is living well.

And it seems that Prince William and Kate Middleton have accepted that maxim as their guiding principle in their ongoing war with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Earlier this week, we reported on the news that Prince Harry plans to publish a memoir that will offer new insights into his tumultuous life from childhood to the present day.

Needless to say, the royal family is less than thrilled with this development.

It's about to be on, Royal Family followers.

Even more so than it has been over the last several months, that is.

After this weekend's alarming events, Prince William asked British soccer fans to be less racist.

Any condemnation of vicious bigotry is to be welcomed.

On Sunday afternoon, the England national soccer team lost to Italy in the Euro2020 final.

They did so in heartbreaking fashion, too, missing three penalty kicks in the sport's version of super duper overtime and therefore failing -- once again -- to bring home a major international title.

The people of England are in a state of mourning today.

But this time, their grief has nothing to do with Covid variants, or their Muppet-resembling prime minister, or the fact that even in mid-July, their weather sucks out loud.

It's been nearly a year and a half since Meghan Markle and Prince Harry moved to Los Angeles, and by all accounts, the duke and duchess are thriving in their new environment.

Of course, even though they've managed to put thousands of miles between themselves and Buckingham Palace, the Sussexes still can't escape the influence of Harry's family.

Over the past few years, there's been a great deal of discussion regarding exactly when relations between Meghan Markle and the royal family began to go awry.

Some say the trouble began when Meghan and Kate Middleton argued in the days leading up to Markle's wedding.

On this side of the pond, it's widely agreed that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were fully justified in their decision to leave the UK and start a new life in Southern California.

But a majority of Brits still take an unfavorable view of the couple and believe that their actions have been harmful to the royal family, and by extension, the nation.

Meghan Markle has been the target of so many allegations during her time in the spotlight that it can be difficult to keep them all straight.

One of the most persistent, of course, has been the claim that Meghan bullied staff members during her time living at Kensington Hall.

While the feud between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton may have garnered the most tabloid headlines, it seems the beef between Meghan and Prince William is just as intense -- if not more so.

As far as William is concerned, all of the problems that are currently troubling his family began the day that Prince Harry met Meghan.

To say that there have been reports of tension between Prince Harry and his royal relatives would be an understatement.

Not everyone sees eye-to-eye on things. Some may even be jealous that Harry got away from that life.

Now that the dust has settled, we can see Meghan Markle's Oprah Winfrey interview for what it was.

For millions of viewers, it was the television event of the year, but for Meghan it was nothing more than an opportunity to tell her story on her own terms and without interruptions.

Highly anticipated network television events have a long history of failing to live up to the hype.

But that certainly wasn't the case with Oprah Winfrey's interview with Meghan Markle, which left viewers stunned with its vivid descriptions of a woman held captive by palace walls.

And they said it would never last!

Okay, fine. 

Last week, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 95th birthday.

The occasion was a bittersweet one, of course, as it came just days after the death of Prince Philip, Elizabeth's husband of 73 years.

British tabloids have managed to blame Meghan Markle for Prince Philip's death and everything else that comes to mind.

The hatred for the Duchess of Sussex is not a mystery, but her strongest critics of course deny racism.

It's no secret that there's been quite a bit of strife within the royal family in recent months.

Tensions have been bubbling for several years, but the situation really boiled over in the wake of Meghan Markle's Oprah interview.

We probably don't need to tell you that these are very tumultuous times for the members of the British Royal Family.

In fact, you'd have to go back to the death of Princess Diana to find a time in which the royals were so much on the minds of casually-interested outsiders.