Buckingham Palace has broken its silence on the allegations made by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in their interview with Oprah Winfrey Sunday, in which they detailed their rift with the royal family, as well as allegations that family members expressed “concerns” about how dark their son Archie’s skin would be, and Markle’s struggles with suicidal thoughts.
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” the statement issued on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II reads.
“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning,” the statement continues. “While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
Meghan said when she was first pregnant with son Archie, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.” The statement led Winfrey to ask “What?” incredulously and sit in silence for a moment.
Meghan declined to say who had this conversation with Harry that he relayed to her, saying revealing their name would be “very damaging.”
“That conversation, I am never going to share,” Harry later told Winfrey. “At the time, it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”
Meghan also said she was stunned when she was told he would not be a prince and would not receive security from the palace. Meghan said she did not worry about being a divorced, mixed-race American actress entering the British royal family, but later she “thought about it because they made me think about it.”
Meghan said it was not so much the royal family members themselves who treated her this way, but the people behind the institution.
She emphasized that the queen herself “has always been wonderful to me.”
In the later months of her pregnancy — amid the struggle with the family over Archie’s potential title — Meghan revealed that she struggled with intense suicidal thoughts.
She said she went to a senior royal staffer and said she needed to get help for her mental health, but was told it would be bad for the family if she did.
“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,” Markle told Winfrey. “And that was a really clear, and real, and frightening, and constant thought.”
“I went to the Institution and I said I need to go somewhere to get help … and I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the Institution,” she continued.
When asked why she didn’t check herself into an institution on her own, Meghan described feeling trapped by her circumstances, explaining that her keys, passport, and all forms of identification were taken once she formally joined the Royal Family.
The statement concludes by saying that Harry, Meghan, and Archie “will always be much loved family members.”
When Harry and Meghan moved to Canada in late 2019, many in the media speculated that their decision to move on from royal duties was a sudden one. That wasn’t so, Harry and Meghan said — in fact, they had offered to simply step back into less senior roles, but were told that wasn’t an option.
Harry went on to say that the firm’s decision to remove the couple’s security was a contributing factor to their departure. After confirming with team members that the level of threats against them had not decreased, Harry said he “was desperate” to ensure his family’s safety, adding: “I went to all the places to which I thought I should go to to ask for help,” but was repeatedly denied.
Still, Harry insisted that his family was not taken by surprise by his and Meghan’s ultimate departure.
“I never blindsided my grandmother. I have too much respect for her,” Harry said. “When we were in Canada, I had three conversations with my grandmother and two conversations with my father, before he stopped taking my calls.”
Harry later said that while his father is now taking his calls, “there’s a lot to work through there” in order to mend their relationship.
“I feel really let down, because he’s been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like. And Archie’s his grandson,” Harry said of his father. “But at the same time, of course 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.”
The palace often tries to stay above controversy by remaining silent and riding out the storm, but the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s charges were so damaging that the family had to respond.
Earlier, some observers had said that Buckingham Palace’s silence on the topic has only added to the furor surrounding the TV interview.
The interview, which aired Sunday night in the U.S. and a day later in Britain, has rocked the royal family and divided people around the world. While many say the allegations demonstrate the need for change inside a palace that hasn’t kept pace with the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements, others have criticized Harry and Meghan for dropping their bombshell while Harry’s 99-year-old grandfather, Prince Philip, remains hospitalized in London after a heart procedure.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, or text HOME to 741741 for support from the Crisis Text Line.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
