Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Harry and Meghan has been broadcast in the US – UK viewers will be able to watch on Monday night.
The Duchess of Sussex says “concerns” were raised about baby Archie’s skin colour before he was born and she had suicidal thoughts during her time in the Royal Family.
In a two-hour interview aired in the US – Oprah With Meghan And Harry: A Primetime Special, the couple made a series of bombshell claims – including Harry saying Prince Charles had at one point stopped taking his calls, and alleging he had been “trapped” in the royal system, “like the rest of my family”.
The couple also discussed racism, with Harry saying it “hurt” that his family did not speak out against articles “with colonial undertones” written about his wife.
Meghan told Winfrey she married into the royals “naively, because I didn’t grow up knowing much about the Royal Family”.
While the couple were respectful of the Queen, with Meghan saying she had “always been wonderful” to her, the interview will no doubt have shocked the Royal Family.
Key points from the bombshell interview
- Meghan revealed she had suicidal thoughts and said: “I just didn’t want to be alive any more”
• The couple alleged a member of the Royal Family raised “concerns” about Archie’s skin colour
• Harry said Prince Charles stopped taking his calls when the couple left the UK
• He denied that he had “blindsided” the Queen with the news the couple were stepping down
• The duke claimed he had been “trapped” in the royal system – “like the rest of my family”
• Meghan denied reports she made Kate cry ahead of her wedding – claiming “the reverse happened” - The couple revealed they are expecting a girl – and that they were married three days before their big ceremony
• Tennis star Serena Williams and poet Amanda Gorman were among stars posting support for Meghan
Speaking about her pregnancy with baby Archie, Meghan claimed the Royal Family did not want him to be a prince or offer him security.
Asked why by Winfrey, she said there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
Winfrey asked if her son being “too brown” would be a problem, to which Meghan replied: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one”.
Under rules set down by George V, Archie cannot be a prince because he is too far removed from the line of sucession, but he will be entitled to become a HRH or prince when Prince Charles takes the throne.
However, she declined to say who raised the concerns, saying that would be “very damaging to them”.
She added: “That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations the family had with him, and I think it was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalised conversations.”
-Skynews
