Meghan Markle recalled sneaking away to New York City in 2019 during her tenure as a senior working royal.
Markle, 43, went incognito as she traveled to NYC from London to watch Serena Williams play in the U.S. Open.
The Duchess of Sussex wore a hat and kept her head down while visiting a bookstore to seek the "safety" she was craving at the time. Markle and Prince Harry were still working as senior royals in 2019. Later, the "Suits" star would complain about the media scrutiny that came along with her title.
"For me, sneaking to New York five years ago was a really big deal," Markle said at the opening of the Montecito bookstore, Godmothers, per Town and Country. "I was still so uncomfortable being out in the world. The safety of what I was craving, I knew I could find in a bookstore."
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from their roles as working royals in January 2020. The couple, who now share two children, moved to California months later and no longer have an official U.K. residence.
The new neighborhood bookstore, owned by literary agent Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and entrepreneur Victoria Jackson, was celebrated by a long list of celebrities over the weekend. Besides Meghan and Harry – Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos, Jane Lynch and more attended the opening.
The name for the new community space was coined by Harry at the book party for his memoir, "Spare." At the time, the prince acknowledged the support he received from Winfrey, Jackson and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh – dubbing them his "fairy godmothers."
Godmothers features an "Our Local Authors" display where Harry's memoir and Markle's children's book, "The Bench," live, along with titles from Rob Lowe, Cameron Diaz, Winfrey, DeGeneres and others.
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Godmothers is nestled on a street corner in Montecito, which is home to celebs such as Ariana Grande, Jennifer Aniston, Adam Levine, Gwyneth Paltrow and more A-list stars.
Prince Harry and Markle have called the Santa Barbara County neighborhood home since 2020. It's where they have spent their lives outside the working royal bubble.
The royal couple later sat down with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 to discuss the reasons behind leaving their roles as senior royals. Markle revealed she suffered from suicidal thoughts after joining the family.
"I just didn't want to be alive anymore," she told Winfrey. "That was a clear and real and frightening and constant thought."
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Prince Harry and Markle also criticized the royal family's handling of the racism seen in the press regarding the actress. The couple claimed they requested the palace "call the dogs off" and "share some truth," but that never happened.
"The way that I saw it was there was a way of doing things, but for us, for this union and the specifics around her race, there was an opportunity, many opportunities, for my family to show some public support," Harry said at the time.
