It has been a year since Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior members of the British Royal Family. The couple has remained in the headlines due to a turbulent relationship with the royal family and looks like it will take a while for things to mellow down. On Sunday, in the long-awaited TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, the Duke and the Duchess shared their short-lived experience with the royal house as a couple.
Meghan was the star of the show as she laid bare all details of how she was being treated at the royal household. She didn’t hold anything back and spoke about her son Archie not being a prince or receiving a title.
“When I was pregnant, we have in tandem the conversation of, ‘you won’t be given security, not gonna be given a title’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Meghan refused to name who expressed those concerns but stated that if she did, it would be very damaging to them. Prince Harry, however, made it clear that it was neither The Queen nor Prince Philip who made these racist remarks.
Meghan revealed that she seriously considered suicide as a result of British tabloid intrusion and lack of support from the Royal Family.
“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember how my husband just cradled me.”
According to the Duchess of Sussex, she sent emails, begged for help, and specifically mentioned that she was concerned for her mental welfare. But she was denied any sort of help or assistance and told that there was nothing they could do to protect her because she was not a paid employee of the institution.
Meghan also cleared the air about a newspaper story that she made Prince William’s wife Kate cry over flower girls’ dresses before Meghan and Harry’s wedding and said that in reality, the reverse happened. However, Kate later apologized and was forgiven by Meghan.
Meghan believed she was being protected by the royal institution but after she got married, she realized that she was not. The institution was willing to lie to protect other members of the family and she was silenced on the matter.
“There’s the family, and then there are people that are running the institution, those are two separate things and it’s important to be able to compartmentalize that because the queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me.”
Prince Harry also spilled the beans about his plans to step away from royal roles and his father’s reaction to it.
“I had three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations with my father before he stopped taking my calls. And then he said, can you put this all in writing?”
Harry said he decided to take matters into his own hands after being shut out by his father. It was really sad but he had to do it for his own mental health, his wife’s, and for sake of his son, Archie.
Harry also commented on the ongoing comparison of Meghan and his late mother Princess Diana.
“My biggest concern was history repeating itself, but definitely far more dangerous because you add race and social media in. When I’m talking about history repeating itself I’m talking about my mother.”
He added that after being financially cut off by the royal family, inheritance from Princess Diana made it possible to leave the royal family. Princess Diana’s estate to be distributed to beneficiaries was nearly 13,00,000 pounds, or $17,973,800, and most of it went to Prince William and Harry.
Harry was asked whether he would have stepped away from the royal family if it had not been for Meghan:
“The answer to your question is no. I wouldn’t have been able to, because I myself was trapped but I didn’t know it. Like the rest of my family are, my father and my brother, are trapped. They don’t get to leave and I have huge compassion for that.”
On a lighter note, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry revealed that they are having a girl this summer and that they’re stopping at two children.
While Harry and Meghan’s interview divided people around the world on Monday, rocking an institution that is struggling to modernize with claims of racism and callousness toward a woman struggling with suicidal thoughts, the palace has not responded to the interview yet.
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