Transitioning into the royal life has come with plenty of obstacles for Meghan Markle — hardships that she has been quite open about. And because of that, the royal hopes that the public will take it a tad easier on her moving forward.

“She’s really hoping the critics will give her a break now they’ve been made aware of how the negativity is affecting her,” a source told Us Weekly. “She wants the public to know that she’s vulnerable just like everyone else. It’s been an extremely emotional few months having to deal with all the negativity whilst looking after [son Archie].”

Meghan Markle
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Recently, the Duchess of Sussex, 38, spoke out for the first time about the difficulty dealing with media and the criticism that she receives left and right. “Especially as a woman it’s really — it’s a lot,” the former actress told ITV News at Ten anchor Tom Bradby during an interview for the documentary titled Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, which will air on ABC on Tuesday, October 23. “So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom and trying to be a newlywed. … And also thank you for asking, because not many people will have asked if I’m OK. But it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”

“Look, any woman, especially when they’re pregnant, you’re really vulnerable,” the Suits alum continued. “And so that was made really challenging, and then, when you have a new born, you know?” Meghan also revealed that her pals warned her of the criticism headed her way when she started dating her now-husband, Prince Harry.

Meghan Markle
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“In all fairness, I had no idea, which probably sounds difficult to understand and hear,” Meghan said during the same interview. “But when I first met my now-husband, my friends were really happy because I was so happy but my British friends said to me, ‘I’m sure he’s great but you shouldn’t do it because the British tabloids will destroy your life.'”

“And I very naively — I’m American. We don’t have that there — [I said,] ‘What are you talking about? That doesn’t make any sense. I’m not in any tabloids. I didn’t get it. So it’s been, yeah, it’s been complicated,” Meghan added.

We just hope that Meghan will soon start feeling better with her role as the duchess!