MEGHAN MARKLE AND Prince Harry delivered a range of bombshell revelations during an interview with Oprah Winfrey on US television.
The primetime tell-all featured accusations of racism, details of inter-family strife and mental health struggles. It is being described as “devastating” for the UK royal family.
The format of the interview saw Winfrey engage Markle in a one-on-one conversation, before they were later joined by Harry.
Here’s the moments from the CBS interview that people will be talking about today.
Racism
Buckingham Palace has found itself at the centre of a racism storm after Meghan revealed that, when she was pregnant with her son Archie, an unnamed member of the royal family raised “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
The American is the first mixed race person to marry a British senior royal in modern history.
A stunned Winfrey asked: “What? Who is having that conversation?”
Meghan paused and said there were “several conversations” with Harry about Archie’s skin tone, and “what that would mean or look like”.
Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be “too brown” and that would be a problem, Meghan said: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.”
Pushed by Winfrey on who had those conversations, Meghan refused to say, adding: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”
Harry refused to give further details, adding: “That conversion, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”
Harry said that none of his relatives spoke out in support of Meghan following the racism he said she faced in the media.
“No-one from my family ever said anything over those three years. That hurts,” he said.
But I also am acutely aware of where my family stand, and how scared they are of the tabloids turning on them.
Meghan’s mental health
Markle revealed that she had suicidal thoughts at the height of her crisis in the monarchy.
The 39-year-old told Winfrey she contemplated taking her own life saying : “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”
Asked explicitly by Winfrey if she was thinking of self-harm and having suicidal thoughts at some stage, Meghan replied: “Yes. This was very, very clear.
Very clear and very scary. I didn’t know who to turn to in that.
Meghan said she also asked Buckingham Palace to seek professional help, but was told it would not look good.
She also said she no longer had access to personal effects such as her passport after joining the royal family.
Harry and Charles
Prince Harry said he felt let down by his father Charles and that “there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened”.
“I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, (and) Archie’s his grandson,” he said.
But at the same time – I will always love him – but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.
Harry said his father stopped taking his calls while Harry and Meghan were in Canada “because I took matters into my own hands. I needed to do this for my family”.
Meghan and Kate
Meghan said Kate Middleton made her cry ahead of her wedding at a bridesmaid fitting – not the other way round as was reported in the media.
The duchess said Prince William’s wife was “upset about some things and she owned it and apologised” and sent flowers.
However, Meghan added that the false reports were a turning point.
She said “everyone in the institution knew that wasn’t true” and she hoped Kate “would have wanted that to be corrected”, adding “she is a good person”.
Harry and William
The rift between Harry and his older brother William continues. Harry said “The relationship is space at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully.”
Harry did not openly criticise his brother, and echoed past comments, saying: “I love William to bits, he’s my brother, we’ve been through hell together, we have a shared experience, but we were on different paths.”
New baby
The Sussexes’ announced that they are expecting a baby girl. Harry joined his wife in the second half of the interview, and told Oprah: “It’s a girl” and said it was “amazing” to be having a daughter.
When asked if they were “done” with two children, Harry said “done” and Meghan said: “Two is it.” She also confirmed the baby is due in the “summertime”.
The two-hour interview will be broadcast on RTÉ2 at 9.30pm tonight.
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With reporting by Press Association
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