Meghan Markle's Weight Loss Accelerates as Stress Mounts: 'Managing an Overwhelming Load'

Meghan Markle is known for her great fashion, but a recent look has left some scratching their heads. She stepped out in Montecito, California, on August 11 — a warm, sunny day — wearing a wool coat and a scarf wrapped around her neck. The duchess also captured attention with what was on her wrist: a NuCalm biosignal processing disc the company claims can “lower…stress, improve sleep quality and increase…focus.” Meghan has used stress patches over the years, “but more so lately, especially when [husband Prince] Harry’s not around,” a source tells Life & Style exclusively, noting that the Duke of Sussex was in the midst of a trip to Japan and Singapore to play a charity polo match when Meghan was spotted wearing the sticker. “And she’s been wearing winter coats in the summer, which is comforting to her, but it’s also odd.”

So odd that it’s sparking concern. “Meghan’s anxiety kicks in when she’s not in control,” explains the source, who says that after losing their lucrative contract with Spotify two months ago and being labeled “grifters” by a podcast exec at the company, Meghan, 42, and Harry, 38, are eager to find new ways to establish themselves as a success story since pivoting to the entertainment world following their 2020 exit from royal life in Britain. “It seems that the pressure of making her mark in Hollywood is finally getting to Meghan. Trying to reestablish herself, constant money problems, Harry traveling and leaving her home alone a lot — it all adds up. She’s stressed, and friends are afraid she could be spiraling.”

Meghan’s trying to mitigate the tension — she enjoyed a night out with friends at one of Taylor Swift’s L.A. Eras tour stops in early August — but it doesn’t always work. “When Meghan is stressed, she barely eats. Friends say she’s dropped at least 15 pounds,” shares the source, explaining that “she doesn’t have an appetite when she’s juggling a lot.”

And when Harry’s away — after returning from Asia, he heads to Germany for his beloved Invictus Games in September and later will travel to Africa solo to film a Netflix docuseries, according to reports — Meghan is on her own as she juggles caring for their kids, Archie, 4, and Lilibet, 2, with work and larger worries. “Being millions in debt is extremely stressful. Sometimes she’s not able to sleep at night because of it,” claims the source, explaining that “keeping up the lavish lifestyle they lead isn’t easy.”

Harry’s confessed they rushed to ink their reported $20 million Spotify deal in 2020 because they were desperate to pay for security after King Charles III cut them off. They also took out a $9.5 million mortgage on a $14.65 million estate in Montecito. Meghan’s admitted they were initially reluctant because “we didn’t have jobs” at the time and it felt like “it wasn’t possible” to buy it. “It’s like ‘I don’t want to go and look at all the things that I can’t afford,’” she explained. “That doesn’t feel good.”

But they did “everything they could” to get the home, she said, and closed the deal. Now, however, their income stream is less secure. “There’s a lot on Meghan’s plate,” says the source, noting that the Sussexes reportedly didn’t get their full Spotify payout since they only produced a single podcast series in more than two years. “This is not the life she expected.”

Yet she’s not without support. Her mother, Doria Ragland, 66, is just a few hours away in L.A., and “on the bright side, Meghan still has support from some A-listers who continue to come to her and Harry’s rescue,” says the source. Tyler Perry, who lent his LA home and security team to the Sussexes when they moved to America, remains a good friend, as do tennis champ Serena Williams and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. “Adele is also in Meghan and Harry’s corner,” says the source of one of the duo’s lesser-known confidantes. “She’s good friends with them both and wants them to succeed. Adele loves them — she still jokes about the years-ago crush she had on Harry.”

Another positive? The Sussexes’ Netflix deal is still intact. Though development of Meghan’s animated children’s show, Pearl, was halted last year, an August 7 announcement revealed that the couple’s Archewell Productions is developing the bestselling romance novel Meet Me at the Lake into a Netflix film, and Harry’s Heart of Invictus docuseries debuts on August 30. “Meghan’s trying to be hopeful,” says the source. “There are good days and bad. But it’s been an uphill battle, to say the least.”