Meghan Markle Thinks It’s ‘Important’ to ‘Stand Out Independently’ From Husband Prince Harry

Looking glam in a low-cut red Carolina Herrera gown , Meghan Markle made a surprise appearance on the red carpet at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles 2024 Gala October 5. After a brief interview and some chitchat and photos with fellow guests, however, the Duchess of Sussex made a quick exit. “She couldn’t stay for the whole thing,” an insider exclusively tells Life & Style . “No reason was given.”

The anti-Meghan brigade quickly attacked the 43-year-old for “just being there for the photos,” noting in a number of opinion pieces that her attention-getting red dress — recycled from a 2021 event in NYC — was decidedly unroyal. It didn’t help that her husband, Prince Harry , was thousands of miles away, continuing on a series of solo engagements that took him to New York and London. (A few days before Meghan’s outing, the 40-year-old took the stage at the WellChild Awards, one of the few patronages the dad of two kept after stepping back as a royal in 2020).

“Meghan and Harry have been branching out on their own more and more these days,” explains the insider. “They want to be seen as individuals doing good works, not just as a couple. He has his charities, she has hers.”

As they move in separate directions, adds the insider, the former Suits star is struggling to be seen as her own person. After all, her American Riviera Orchard brand has hardly gotten off the ground and her planned Netflix lifestyle show is still in the pipeline. “It’s important for Meghan to stand out independently,” adds the insider. “Hence the red dress.” And if it seems too “Hollywood”? “Harry would never criticize her.”