Meghan Markle reportedly jetted off for at least 13 foreign holidays - despite telling US chat show host Oprah Winfrey that her passport was taken away when she joined the Royal Family.

The Firm was left scrambling after the bombshell tell-all televised interview Harry and Meghan had with Oprah in March 2021.

This came around a year after the couple stepped down from their roles as senior working royals and relocated from the UK to the US.

Meghan claimed in the interview with Oprah that after joining the royal fold, she did not see her passport again until she was in the California.

She told Oprah: "You couldn’t just go. You couldn’t. I mean, you have to understand, as well, when I joined that family, that was the last time, until we came here, that I saw my passport, my driver’s licence, my keys.

"All that gets turned over. I didn’t see any of that anymore."

According to The Sun, royal sources said it was understood that her passport had to be kept secure to make sure it did not fall into the wrong hands. However, it would still have been used by her for her holidays.

The publication claimed that the former Suits star must have shown her passport to border forces in at least 13 countries she visited as a tourist during the period in question.

The luxurious trips she took after she started dating Harry included those to New York, Ibiza, Italy and Botswana. They also took part in three official royal tours, taking in Morocco, South Africa and Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and Fiji.

Royal author Margaret Holder was reported to have said of the passport comments: "Of course the Royal Family would want to keep Meghan’s passport safe.

“But it’s unthinkable she didn’t carry it for personal and private trips such as her New York baby shower, travelling to see friends in Canada, partying in Amsterdam, and going to Lake Como with George Clooney."

With the exception of the monarch, all royals need their passport to travel abroad.