Even as they were taking Manhattan, though, Meghan was shadowed by the couple’s old life in London.
But the tabloids, which have been at war with the couple since before they abandoned Britain for Southern California, leapt on the admission.
Nine months after she and Harry gave a sensational interview to Oprah Winfrey in which Meghan accused the royal family of callous and racist treatment, she has re-emerged in the United States as a formidable mix of A-list celebrity, business owner, investor and social activist.
In Britain, however, Meghan remains a polarizing figure.
“The majority of people are fed up, to the back of the teeth, with them,” said Penny Junor, a royal historian.
Harry and Meghan have been able to control their image much more effectively in the United States than in the tabloid-dominated British media.
Meghan, also known as the Duchess of Sussex, addressed that difference in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, though she put it in the context of gender bias rather than culture.
Both have raised eyebrows in Britain by wading into American politics.
When asked about her legal case, Meghan avoided details, except to note that she had won a ruling against The Mail.
The trouble is, Meghan admitted she erred in telling the court that she had not cooperated with the authors of a flattering book about the couple.
All of this is somewhat peripheral in a case that turns on whether The Mail on Sunday invaded her privacy by publishing the private letter to her father.