A recently released documentary, titled "Meghan's Missing Years," is making waves by delving into the little-known period of Meghan Markle's life between leaving her home in Toronto and landing her breakout role on the TV show Suits in 2014.
According to the film, this three-year window, right before Meghan met Prince Harry, paints a very different picture of the Duchess than the carefully crafted public image she has cultivated.
The documentary features interviews with a number of Meghan's former associates and acquaintances from her time living in Miami's South Beach during that period.
They allege that rather than struggling to make it in Hollywood, Meghan was actively pursuing relationships with wealthy, influential men, leveraging her companionship and intimacy in exchange for luxurious trips, lavish gifts, and financial support to fund her acting aspirations.
Several interviewees claim Meghan maintained a "rotating roster of sugar daddies" that she would meet through the high society circles of South Beach.
One particularly damning piece of evidence presented is newfound footage of Meghan, dripping in diamonds, kissing and dancing provocatively with two wealthy oil tycoons at an exclusive yacht club just weeks before being introduced to Prince Harry through mutual friends in 2016.
This, the documentary argues, contradicts Meghan's narrative of being an outsider entering the elite social circles.
Meghan's former live-in boyfriend from her Miami days, identified only as "Jose," also provides a scathing firsthand account of Meghan's ruthless ambition and the dramatic breakup that nearly drove her to despair when he refused to commit financially.
While Meghan and Harry's representatives have dismissed the film's claims as "false narratives," the documentary presents a substantial amount of purported evidence, including emails, dated Polaroids, and eyewitness accounts that it argues are too credible to simply dismiss as tabloid fodder.
The overarching question the film poses is how much of Meghan's "rags to riches" story of struggle was fabricated or conveniently omitted to fit the image she crafted for Harry and the public.
It draws parallels between Meghan and infamous social climbers like Wallis Simpson, suggesting Meghan may have more in common with such figures than she would care to admit.
Meghan's Missing Years" presents a compelling, if unverified, alternative narrative that challenges the Duchess's public persona. Whether it will truly "expose" Meghan's "dirty past," as the sensational headlines suggest, remains to be seen.
But the documentary has certainly stirred up a fresh wave of controversy and debate surrounding the Duchess of Sussex's origins and motivations.
