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"It's a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes," she told journalist Tom Bradby, who traveled with the couple as they toured southern Africa.
Since Meghan and Harry began dating in 2016, the intrusion of the British tabloids has been incessant and, for the most part, vicious. Meghan's personal relationships have been widely judged and heavily scrutinized. A BBC Radio host was fired after he compared her newborn son to a chimpanzee. The Sun was forced to issue an apology after it claimed she was "on Pornhub."
Admitting that a British friend once warned her about the nature of the British tabloids and said they would "destroy" her life, Meghan told Bradby that at the time and as an American, she "didn't get it."
When asked whether she can continue to face the mounting pressure, Meghan said she had tried to adopt the famous British "stiff upper lip" mentality but expressed concern that "what that does internally is probably really damaging."
"It's not enough to just survive something; that's not the point of life. You've got to thrive, you've got to feel happy," she said.
Reflecting on the past year, she added: "I never thought that this would be easy. But I thought it would be fair."
The raw footage of Meghan speaking openly about her struggles sparked an outpouring of online support, with thousands of people using the hashtag #Weloveyoumeghan.
"I so admire #MeghanMarkle for being honest, open and vulnerable about the struggles she's faced as a new mother and very public figure. #WeLoveYouMeghan," journalist Katie Couric tweeted Friday.
"Thank you Meghan Markle, for every new mum, for every woman who is expected to always be ok. For every woman who has answered 'fine' when asked how they are. For every woman who hasn't been fine and who hasn't felt they could tell anyone. Thank you," read another tweet.
Rumors of a rift between Princes William and Harry have been widely reported in Britain's media, with Meghan frequently being accused of inserting a wedge between the brothers.
When asked about the relationship with his elder brother, Prince William, who is second in line to the British throne, Harry acknowledged that the two do not see each other "as often" but that the love between them still remains.
"Part of this role and part of this job and this family being under the pressure that it's under, inevitably stuff happens, but we're brothers, we'll always be brothers," Harry said while adding that the two are on "different paths at the moment."
"The majority of stuff is created out of nothing," he said, alluding to media reports. "As brothers, you have good days, you have bad days."
Earlier this month, Meghan filed suit against the Mail tabloid for "unlawfully" publishing a private letter. "There's a lot of stuff that hurts, especially when the majority of it is untrue," Harry told Bradby during the documentary.
While in Angola, the prince retraced the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana, who visited the country in 1997 just months before she died after the car she was in crashed while she was fleeing the paparazzi. The princess stunned the world when she was pictured walking across a minefield in a bid to highlight the problem.
Speaking of his mother, Harry said: "Everything that she went through and what happened to her is incredibly raw, every single day."
Moving on to talk about how he manages the pressures of trying to protect his family, Harry said: "It's constant management. I thought I was out of the woods, and then suddenly it all came back. I suddenly realized this is something that I have to manage.
"I will not be bullied," he concluded, "into playing a game that killed my mum."
