The highly anticipated prime time interview of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has wrapped up on the CBS. In a tell-all conversation with Oprah Winfrey aired on Sunday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle provided viewers an insight into what life was like for them inside the palace. The couple spoke about a range of issues, from racism and lack of mental health support to feeling ‘let down’ by the royal family. Here are some of the highlights:
Meghan Markle revealed palace conversations around “how dark” Archie’s skin is going to be
In the interview, Meghan revealed that in the months leading up to the birth of their son, there were conversations within the palace not only about whether Archie would be given a royal title and security but also about “how dark” his “skin might be when he’s born.” She said the concerns were relayed to her through Prince Harry but declined to share who made the comments, adding: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”
The Duchess said she was baffled by this alleged side-lining of her future child in the royal hierarchy, and the risk a lack of security could put them in. “We haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder,” Meghan said. “You’ve allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe.”
Meghan revealed that she was left suicidal
Meghan revealed her time as a royal was “almost unsurvivable”, adding that she was left suicidal while the palace staff ignored her pleas for help. “I was ashamed to say it at the time... I just didn’t want to be alive any more. And that was a very real and clear and frightening and constant thought.”
She then explained that when she went to “one of the senior-most people” to seek mental health resource but was told she could not and that it would not be good for the institution. “They said, ‘My heart goes out to you because I see how bad it is, but there’s nothing we can do to protect you because you’re not a paid employee of the institution,’” she said.
Harry felt “trapped”
Prince Harry told Winfrey that he felt “trapped” by his life as a member of the British royal family. “I didn’t see a way out. I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped,” the duke said.
“Trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are,” elaborated Prince Harry, adding that his father, Prince Charles and brother, Prince William are also trapped. “They don’t get to leave. And I have huge compassion for that,” he said. The couple had informed Queen Elizabeth II that they wouldn’t be returning as working members of the royal family.
Harry on being “let down” by his father
Prince Harry revealed that he felt “really let down” by his father Prince Charles as he longed for the public support of his family, particularly during a time when his wife Meghan faced scrutiny from the British tabloids.
“There was a way of doing this, but for us, for this union, and the specifics around her race, there was an opportunity, many opportunities, for my family to show some public support,” he said.
“No one in my family said anything in those two years,” he said, before describing what he saw as a mutually reliant relationship between the tabloids and the Palace. He said, that the alleged lack of support from his father was especially disappointing because Prince Charles had gone through “something similar” during his marriage with Princess Diana.
Harry also acknowledged during the interview that he had only spoken with his father twice about his eventual decision to step back from the royal family “before he stopped taking my calls”.
The financial cut-off
Prince Harry revealed that he had to make deals with Netflix and Spotify as the royal family “literally cut me off financially” after he and Meghan stepped back as working royals. He said that he needed the money so that he could afford to pay for security to “keep his family safe.”
He added that he had the money left to him by his late mother, Princess Diana.
“Without that, we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” he said, in an apparent reference to their decision to move to California. He added, “All I wanted was enough family to get security and keep my family safe.”
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