More than four years ago Prince Harry and Meghan Markle dramatically revealed they were quitting royal duties.

The pair stunned the world with their shock statement that confirmed they would be stepping back from engagements and forging a new life away from the Royal Family and indeed the UK. It came after months of speculation that all was not rosy between the Sussexes and the rest of the Firm.

But before their final departure, the couple got down to completing some of their final ever royal engagements – and on her last solo outing, it seems Meghan became tearful as she gave a poignant speech that included a seven-word response to her situation.

For her final solo engagement, she held a private meeting at Buckingham Palace with Association of Commonwealth Universities scholars – during which she spoke to students about their work on subjects including climate change.

Omid Scobie was one of a number of journalists invited to the event, and he later wrote in the book he co-authored with Carolyn Durand, Finding Freedom, about how Meghan used that meeting to bid a final farewell to her team at Buckingham Palace. And he revealed Meghan hugged him before saying the tear-jerking seven words: “It didn’t have to be this way.”

Mr Scobie wrote: “Staff who had been with the couple from day one were mourning the end of what was supposed to be a happy story: two people fall in love, get married, have a baby, serve the Queen, the end. Instead, they were leaving the country. As Meghan gave me a final hug goodbye, she said, ‘It didn’t have to be this way’.”

Meghan’s final ever engagement was alongside Harry when they attended the 2020 Commonwealth Day service with the rest of the royals at Westminster Abbey – and many remarked on the tension between the family members. Harry later told how he felt at the service in his and Meghan’s controversial Netflix series released at the end of 2022. The service was the first time he and Meghan had seen many family members since an extended Christmas stay in Canada – and the news broke about them quitting the Firm.

Harry explained: “The first time that we saw the other members of the family was in Westminster Abbey. We were nervous seeing the family because all the TV cameras and everybody watching at home and everybody watching in the audience. It’s like living through a soap opera where everybody else views you as entertainment. I felt really distant from the rest of my family, which was interesting because so much of how they operate is about what it looks like, rather than what it feels like. And it looked cold. But it also felt cold.”