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

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.

They say 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 been dubbed #Megxit, provoking vitriol from British tabloids, royalists and pundits.

Commentary in The Daily Mail — which traditionally supports the monarchy — 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.”