On March 8, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down for a two-hour interview with Oprah, spilling all sorts of dramatic secrets. Here are a few of the most shocking details you need to know.
Meghan said that the royal family failed to correct the false narratives around her.
As a royal, and even before her wedding, Meghan was the target of a number of tabloid stories. In one particular example, Meghan spoke about how the tabloids reported that, during the week of her wedding she had made Kate Middleton cry, when it was actually the opposite.
“A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something—yes, the issue was correct, about the flower girl dresses—and it made me cry and it really hurt my feelings, and I thought in the context of everything else that was going on in those days leading to the wedding, it didn’t make sense to not be just doing whatever everyone else is doing, which was trying to be supportive knowing what was going on with my dad and whatnot.”
Kate apologized and sent her flowers, but when the news broke, no attempt was made to correct the record.
Meghan said that she came to understand that the royal family was “willing to lie to protect other members of the family, but they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.”
Meghan said that life as a royal had made her suicidal.
In a raw moment, Meghan spoke about her struggles with her mental health. “I was ashamed to have to admit it to Harry,” Meghan said. “I knew that if I didn’t say it, I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.” She came to understand, she said, that admitting you need help is an act of courage.
Meghan stated that her suicidal thoughts were constant, and when she sought help from senior royals, she was told that inpatient care was not a possibility, as it “wouldn’t be good for the institution.” “I share this because there are so many people who are afraid to voice that they need help, and I know how hard it is to not just voice it but to be told no,” Meghan said.
The Palace was concerned with the color of Archie’s skin, according to Harry.
In the months that Meghan was pregnant, there were conversations between a member of the royal household and Harry regarding how dark her son’s skin would be. “We had in tandem the conversation of ‘he won’t be given security; he won’t be given a title’…and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin will be when he’s born,” said Markle. “That was relayed to me from Harry, that was from conversations that family had with him. It was really hard to see those as compartmentalized conversations.”
Meghan wasn’t able to say who the conversation was with because she said it “would be damaging to them.” Harry agreed and said he will never share information about the conversation.
Harry stated that they were cut off financially.
As a member of the royal family, Harry had received money each year from the family coffers in exchange for carrying out official engagements. When the couple moved to the United States, Harry stated that they had stopped receiving money. “My family literally cut me off financially,” Harry said before clarifying, “the first half, the first quarter of 2020.” He said that without the money his mother left him, they would not be able to step down in favor of more private life.
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