Following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s explosive tell-all with Oprah Winfrey, which aired on March 8, Buckingham Palace has finally released a statement addressing the many allegations put forward by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” the palace said in a statement. “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,” it concluded.
Throughout the bombshell interview, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex got candid on everything from the Firm’s alleged “concerns” over Archie’s skin colour and claims Kate Middleton made Meghan cry weeks prior to her royal wedding to Harry in 2018, to parallels between their situation to that of the late Princess Diana.
“The first member of colour in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren…” Meghan told the host. “In those months when I was pregnant, all around the same time… So we have in tandem the conversation of, ‘He won’t be given security, He’s not going to be given a title.’ And also, concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Off camera, Harry told Winfrey that those racist conversations did not involve his grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, though he would not reveal the exact identity of the person in question.
“He did not share the identity with me but he wanted to make sure that I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother nor his grandfather, who were a part of those conversations,” Winfrey told Gayle King on CBS This Morning.
One of the most heartbreaking revelations came when Meghan and Oprah discussed her mental health as a result of the relentless public scrutiny she received following her royal wedding, especially while she was pregnant with Archie, which was only heightened by a lack of support from the royal family.
“Yeah, there was [a breaking point],” she told Oprah. “I just didn’t see a solution. I would sit up at night, and I was just like, ‘I don’t understand how all of this is being churned out’—and again I wasn’t seeing it—but it’s almost worse when you feel it through the expression of my mom or my friends or them calling me crying like, ‘Meg, they’re not protecting you.’ And I realised it was all happening just because I was breathing.”
She went on to say her mental health became so bad, she was having suicidal thoughts. “Look, I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it, to Harry especially, because I know how much loss he’s suffered. But I knew that if I didn’t say it that I would do it—and I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.”
“I share this because there’s so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help,” Meghan continued. “And I know personally how hard it is to—not just hard it is but when your voice is silenced, to be told no… This was emails, begging for help, saying very specifically I am concerned for my mental welfare…Nothing was ever done. So we had to find a solution.”
If you or someone you know needs help, it is available. Call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyondblue 1300 224 636.
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