It has just been revealed that Meghan Markle broke down as she gave an emotional final speech to staffers before she headed back to Canada after her last official royal engagement.

This was revealed by Omid Scobie, one of the writers of the bombshell new book “Finding Freedom.” He said that Meghan was visibly emotional as she hugged her aides and said goodbye hours before she left the United Kingdom to head to North America.

Scobie was one of the journalists who was invited to Meghan’s last royal engagement, which was a private meeting with the Association of Commonwealth Universities scholars. Meghan used this meeting as an opportunity to bid a final farewell to her team at Buckingham Palace.

The Mirror reported that Scobie said that Meghan hugged him before tearfully saying, “It didn’t have to been this way.”

“Staff who had been with the couple from day one were mourning the end of what was supposed to be a happy story: two people fall in love, get married, have a baby, serve the Queen, the end. Instead, they were leaving the country,” he recalled. “As Meghan gave me a final hug goodbye, she said, ‘It didn’t have to be this way.’”

Scobie added that “tears that the duchess had been bravely holding back [were] free to flow among familiar faces”.

“The Duchess of Sussex emotionally [bid] much-loved aides farewell, with her flight ‘home’ to Canada leaving in a matter of hours,” he said. “Meghan would fly back to Canada on the last commercial flight of the day, eager to be back in Vancouver Island by the morning before Archie wakes up.”

Meghan has also been quoted as “tearfully” telling a friend “I gave up my entire life for this family” after she was blamed for her and Harry’s decision to step down as senior royals. She reportedly added that she “was willing to do whatever it takes.”

After leaving the United Kingdom, Harry and Meghan moved to Canada briefly with their 1 year-old son Archie before relocating to Los Angeles, California. There, they spent months living in the Beverly Hills mansion of Hollywood mogul Tyler Perry. Last month, they relocated once again to Santa Barbara, where they have bought a mansion of their own.