Meghan Markle will need to show her “support” for Prince Harry’s solo trip to Asia as the couple navigate their next steps, according to a marriage expert.
The Duke touched down in Tokyo yesterday to attend ISPS Sports Values Summit-Special Edition, before he travels on to Singapore to take part in the 2023 Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup on Saturday.
Sentebale is Harry’s charity based in southern Africa, which helps to support children and young people affected by poverty, inequality and HIV/AIDS.
He flew to the Japanese capital with his friend and polo teammate Nacho Figueras, however Meghan appears to have remained home in Montecito with their two young children.
Senior therapist and relationship expert Sally Baker said Harry may have felt “obligated” to carry out the trip as speculation mounts that he and Meghan are looking to diverge professionally and pursue different avenues.
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She told the Mirror US that this trip to Japan would be “usually scheduled well in advance and may not always align perfectly with what’s going on in someone’s personal life.
“Harry may have felt obligated to follow through. While the optics of travelling alone aren’t ideal amidst rabid marital rumours, we don’t know what conversations Harry and Meghan have had privately about this. Perhaps they mutually agreed he should go.
“In any long-term relationship, partners need to sometimes support each other’s independent goals [and] work despite what’s happening between them personally.
“This may be one of those times. Equally many couples thrive with time apart that acts to renew and reinforce the quality of the time they spend together.”
Next month the Sussexes will be reunited as they travel to Düsseldorf in Germany for the launch of the 2023 Invictus Games, which will run from September 9-16.
The timing will be especially poignant for the royals as it comes the day after the one-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death on September 8.
Despite their proximity to the UK it is not thought that Harry and Meghan will meet up with the Royal Family, who are planning to be in Balmoral commemorating the occasion in their own way.
In spite of claims that Harry will be focusing more on his charity work, the latest project for him and Meghan could see them working closely together again.
It was reported this week that the couple had bought the rights to adapt the book Meet Me At The Lake by Carley Fortune for Netflix, with the story bearing some striking parallels to their own life.
The book tells the story of a couple in Canada who meet and fall in love in their 30s, and deals with themes such as trauma from losing a parent in a car crash and mental health struggles.
