Meghan leaves U.K. days after she and Prince Harry drop royal bombshell

Image: Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex reacts as she arrives to visit C
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrives to visit Canada House in London on Tuesday. Copyright Daniel Leal-Olivas
By Isobel van Hagen with NBC News World News
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The couple caused an uproar earlier this week when they announced that they would "step back" from their roles as senior members of the royal family.

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LONDON — NBC News confirmed Friday that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, had left the U.K. for Canada less than two days after she and husband Prince Harry made the shock announcement that they would "step back" from their roles as senior members of the royal family.

The two had been in Canada — where Meghan lived for seven years while she starred in the TV legal drama "Suits" — over Christmas. According to multiple reports, the couple's son Archie is still there.

On Wednesday in a bombshell announcement, Meghan and Harry said that they planned to split their time between the U.K. and North America, while "continuing to honor our duty to the queen, the Commonwealth, and our patronages," according to a post on their new website.

It has been widely reported they would like to keep their recently refurbished home in Windsor, and their royal protection and security, but plan to take a new approach to the British press after scathing coverage of the couple — in particular Meghan.

The couple's decision to have a more independent life has provoked vitriol from British tabloids, royalists and pundits, as #Megxit continued to dominate British tabloids, broadsheets and social media channels.

Commentary in The Daily Mail and other mass market tabloids has been scathing.

"It's almost as if nothing matters to this couple apart from their own immediate happiness and gratification, as though they are incapable of seeing beyond their own little bubble of privilege," one columnist wrote.

In October,the couple filed suit against the Daily Mail's parent company after the tabloid published a private letter written by Meghan earlier this year.

In The Sun, Hugo Vickers wrote that it was "impossible not to think" that Harry "has been influenced by his wife with her Californian ideas."

On Wednesday, couple said they would take control of the relationship with the media by releasing information from their own social media channels, as well as "engage with grassroots media organizations."

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