In 2021, Prince Harry and Megan Markle sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a tell-all interview that shocked the world. The interview came after Harry and Meghan made the decision to leave the Royal family as working members.
In the interview, Meghan and Harry shared their side of the story, explaining how and why the Royal family fractured. The couple mainly cited how Meghan was treated differently and various comments made about their children’s skin colors.
Now, a new book written by Omid Scobie is detailing the fault out post interview and who responded to their comments on racism within the Royal family.
According to E! News, King Charles, Harry’s father and Meghan’s father-in-law was reportedly the only member of the royal family to respond. He allegedly wrote a letter to Meghan “expressing his sadness over the division in the family.”
The King also allegedly voiced “his disappointment that she and Harry had aired so much publicly.” The letter also allegedly revealed that Charles wanted to be clear that his comments about his grandchildren’s skin color weren’t made with ill intent or “casual prejudice.”
Sources claim that Meghan and Charles had a “respectful back and forth,” though it is reported that they likely didn’t come to a mutual agreement but “there was at least a feeling that both had been heard.”
As E! News continued to report, despite the claims, Prince William and Kate made the decision not to address Harry and Meghan, even privately. Instead, in a quick snippet to reporters, William insisted, the Royal Family “are very much not a racist family.”
“The silence has caused a lot of confusion and upset,” a source claimed.
Did you miss Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s bombshell interview with Oprah? We have the highlights for you below…
The interview tackled everything from when the couple first began dating — to their challenges with “The Firm”, or The Royal Family.
“I wasn’t planning on saying anything shocking,” Markle joked to Oprah. “I’m just telling you what happened.”
The first shocker of the interview? Harry and Meghan secretly were married before the Royal spectacle wedding.
While the wedding was televised in May of 2019 — Markle admitted the couple was wed three days prior with just herself, Harry and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
But most of the interview was centered around how the UK press affected Meghan’s mental health — resulting in her considering suicide.
Markle revealed how she had to turn over her passport, driver’s license, keys and other personal belongings when she moved into Nottingham Cottage (part of Kensington Palace), and had to be granted permission to leave the palace grounds.
“I left the house twice in four months,” she told Oprah, adding how palace officials constantly told her to stay out of the public eye. And while it seemed to the public she was living a perfect life, she revealed she “couldn’t feel lonelier.”
Markle said she recalled watching The Little Mermaid at one point while stuck in the house and felt similar to the main character: “She falls in love with a prince and because of that she loses her voice.”
“Were you silent or silenced?” Oprah asked Markle in response.
Markle continued on, revealing that it wasn’t the rumors that got to her — but the lack of support she received in response to them. There were on multiple occasions where tabloids would spew rumors and not one of them were refuted by royals.
Markle’s feelings of helplessness only intensified as British tabloids seemingly found a way to find fault in every aspect of her life.
“I didn’t want to be alive anymore,” she told a clearly emotional Oprah in the interview. “It was a clear and real and frightening constant thought.”
And when Meghan did ask to “go somewhere” for help, the “institution,” said no. It wouldn’t be a good look for the family, she recalled them telling her.
Last but certainly not least of the shocking information relayed in the interview: both Harry and Meghan revealed how members of the Royal Family were concerned about their son’s skin color even before his birth.
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“When I was pregnant,” Markle recalled, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin would be when he was born. People were concerned with how dark Archie’s skin would be.”
Since the bombshell interview, Buckingham Palace has released an official statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II which states:
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” the statement reads.
It continues, “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much-loved family members.”