Royals Who Have Publicly Spoken Out About Their Pregnancy Loss

"Women don't need to find a voice. They have a voice. They need to feel empowered to use it, and people need to be encouraged to listen."

— Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle opened up about her own miscarriage in November for the New York Times, writing that "it was a July morning that began as ordinarily as any other day."

However, the wife of Prince Harry realized while changing 1-year-old son Archie's diaper that something was wrong.

"I felt a sharp cramp. I dropped to the floor with him in my arms, humming a lullaby to keep us both calm, the cheerful tune a stark contrast to my sense that something was not right," she said. "I knew, as I clutched my firstborn child, that I was losing my second."

The Duchess of Sussex added, "Losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few."

Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter suffered two miscarriages before welcoming her second daughter in 2018.

"You need to go through a period where you don’t talk about it because it’s too raw but, as with everything, time’s a great healer," she told the U.K.'s Sunday Times.

Before Sophie and Prince Edward welcomed their daughter Lady Louise in 2003 and son James Viscount Severn in 2007, Queen Elizabeth's daughter-in-law was rushed to the hospital for an emergency surgery due to an ectopic pregnancy.

As the royal opened a hospital's new neo-natal unit in 2014, she said: "The service you can provide can literally make the difference between life and death. I can attest to that."

Queen Sonja was 32 when she lost a baby boy aboard the royal yacht in July 1970.

"I remember all the strange faces that bent over me when I was going into hospital," King Harald's wife recalled in a documentary. "It was horrid."

Though she faced speculation on if she would be able to provide an heir, Sonja went on to have two healthy children: Crown Prince Haakon and Princess Martha Louise.

Queen Fabiola spoke out in 2008 about the five miscarriages she suffered.

"I lost five children, but I've learned to live with it," the wife of King Baudouin said. "On the contrary, you learn from the experience. I had problems with each pregnancy, but in the end, I kept thinking that life is beautiful."

The royal couple had no children, so the crown passed to her husband's younger brother, King Albert II.

Queen Noor wrote in her memoir about her husband King Hussein's numb reaction to her suffering a miscarriage — saying others, including his friend the Shah of Iran, who had just been exiled from his country, had suffered far greater misfortunes.

"His response to any personal concern I expressed would be to counter with some greater problem that he was suffering from, in order to put my problem in perspective," she wrote, adding, "This man, who had the biggest heart in the world, could not talk about things that were personally painful to him precisely because he felt that pain so deeply. He simply could not handle it."

Before Tessy and Prince Louis divorced in 2019, they suffered the loss of a child.

"For me, of course, my divorce was definitely one of the most difficult situations I have ever faced. I experienced the same feelings and emotions when I miscarried my third child," she wrote on Instagram.

"I cried for years over these two situations. Yet, I always sourced strength from my two healthy and happy boys who mean the world to me," she continued. "My mindset was and remains always very clear: focus on the positivity around me, especially my two sons, and keep moving forward no matter how hard it is."