Meghan Markle and Prince Harry told to ‘slow down’ by Palace aides over burnout fears

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have had an incredibly busy year, clocking up thousands of air miles with a number of engagements and tours around the world, as well as the birth of son Archie Harrison in May. When Archie was born earlier this year, Meghan and Harry had only just moved into Frogmore Cottage, their home in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Builders continued extensive refurbishment work on their new residence, whilst the couple readjusted to a new routine with their first child and attempted to continue their hectic schedule.

But a source told The Sunday Telegraph: “The Duchess was working on the Vogue edit and the Smart Set collection and remained very engaged with the office, participating in weekly team meetings.

“We were saying to her, ‘Wow, this is not what a maternity break looks like, you need to slow down."

In March, Meghan and Harry broke away from Kensington Palace to move into Frogmore Cottage.

Just three months later the couple announced they were cutting ties with the Royal Foundation, which was launched by Harry and his older brother Prince William in 2009.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex added they would be launching their own charitable organisation.

Royal sources said the huge move created a huge “whirlwind of activity” because of all the paperwork needed by the Charity Commission.

They revealed Meghan has wanted to keep on top of all the intense activity, even phoning aides close to her as easy as 8am to pose questions and ideas.

One source told the Sunday Telegraph: “We told her, look there is no rush with the foundation, come on, take a breath.”

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But while Meghan and Harry involved themselves into a hectic schedule which included planning their tour of southern Africa, most of the other working royals were enjoying their usual summer break.

The Sussex’s might finally enjoy some respite over the next six weeks, where they will split their time between the UK and US.

Here they will celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.

One source said: “I hope that they will actually properly unwind and unplug for initial couple of weeks.

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“I told her last week to please just turn your brain off. Enjoy Thanksgiving, focus on cooking some pies.”

This evening, Harry is attending the OnSide Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, which recognises the achievements of young people, volunteers and staff.

The Duke opened up about Meghan’s first Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham during an interview with the BBC in 2017.

Earlier this week, they informed the Queen they would not be joining her for the festive period.

Royal biographer Ingrid Seward said: “I think it’s sad they don’t want to be part of the family gathering, particularly now that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are in their dotage.

“The Queen might be a little hurt but she’s far too gracious to ever let it show or be known."

But during the interview two years ago, Harry revealed how Meghan really felt during her first year at Sandringham.

He guest-edited BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, where he interviewed former US President Barack Obama and sat for an interview himself.

The first topic of conversation was his first Christmas with at the time fiancé Meghan Markle.

Harry revealed it was “fantastic”, and said: “She really enjoyed it. The family loved having her there.

“There’s always that family part of Christmas, there’s always that work element as well.

“And I think together we had an amazing time.”