PRINCE HARRY and Meghan Markle have sent shockwaves through the watching world following the broadcast of their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The extraordinary interview saw the couple make a series of major allegations about life inside Buckingham Palace. Here are the 10 biggest revelations.
1. Suicidal thoughts
Markle revealed she experienced suicidal thoughts during her time working as a royal. “I just didn’t want to be alive any more. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember how he [Harry] just cradled me.”
She also claimed that despite asking the palace for help, she was ultimately denied it. “They said, my heart goes out to you because I see how bad it is, but there’s nothing we can do to protect you because you’re not a paid employee of the institution.”
2. Racism Accusations
Arguably the biggest claim was that, while pregnant with Archie, concerns were expressed to Harry about the colour of the baby’s skin. “In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time, so 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 the Royal who raised these concerns explaining: “I think that would be very damaging to them.” When asked by Oprah about what the discussions entailed, Harry said it involved questions like: “What will the kids look like?”
(Image: CBS)3. Feud with Kate
Markle refuted newspaper reports that she made Kate Middleton cry before her wedding to Harry, claiming instead that “the reverse happened.”
Though she was keen to stress Kate was a “good person” Meghan explained “A few days before the wedding she [Kate] was upset about something, pertaining to – yes the issue was correct – about the flower girl dresses, and it made me cry. And it really hurt my feelings.”
Markle said Kate apologised at the time and later sent her flowers.
4. Markle was “silenced”
The Duchess of Sussex concurred with Oprah’s assessment that she had been “silenced” rather than “silent” ever since she began dating Harry.
“Everyone in my world was given a very clear directive from the moment the world knew Harry and I were dating, to always say no comment,” Markle said.
“It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected but … they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.”
Asked if she felt unsupported as a royal, Markle said: “There’s the family, and then there’s the people that are running the institution, those are two separate things and it’s important to be able to compartmentalise that because the queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me.”
5. Prince Charles ghosted Harry
Harry’s biggest revelation came with the claim his father Prince Charles stopped taking phone calls from his son after he announced his intention to step aside from Royal duties.He also refuted claims he had blindsided the Queen.
Prince Harry said: “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?”
Asked why his father stopped taking his call, Harry replied: “By that point I took matters into my own hands, it was like, I needed to do this for my family. This is not a surprise to anybody. It’s really sad that it’s got to this point, but I’ve got to do something for my own mental health, my wife’s and for Archie’s as well.” He did confirm that he and Prince Charles are now back in contact but added “there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened” and they have “lots to work through.”
“I feel really let down,” Harry said. “He’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like.”
Image: CBS6. Harry has been cut-off
Prince Harry said he stopped receiving money from the palace at the start of 2020. The lucrative deals with companies like Netflix are needed in order to pay his own security costs. Any other money he has left was inherited from Princess Diana.
Markle added that the couple are receiving no fee for the Oprah interview.
7. The Secret Wedding
Markle surprised many with the revelation the couple actually officially became married three days prior to the televised cere,pmy watched around the world in 2018. She recalled how they exchanged vows “just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury”.
8. A prisoner in her own home
Markle spoke about the fact she was rarely able to leave the house because “the Firm” were worried about “how things might look”.
“I know you’re worried about how it looks,” she recalled telling them, “but has anyone thought about how it feels?” The decision left her feeling lonelier and more isolated than ever
9. Harry was ‘trapped'
Asked whether he would have stepped back had it not been for Markle, Harry replied “no”. He went on to explain that while he was ‘trapped” he didn’t necessarily realise it at the time.
He clarified his remarks, explaining he was “Trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are. My father, my brother, they are trapped."
Prince Harry, Prince WIlliam, Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton at Buckingham Palace in 2018 (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)10. The Queen and baby plans
There were some positives though. Meghan described the Queen as “wonderful” and recalled a train journey they took together where the Monarch gifted her jewellery and they shared a blanket while Prince Harry said she remains his “commander in chief.
The couple also confirmed they were due to have a girl and that they had no plans to have any more children. Harry said he felt “amazing, just grateful”. “To have a boy and then a girl what more can you ask for, we have our family.”
