Queen to grill senior royals over Prince Harry, Meghan’s racism claims
Prince Charles and Kate Middleton are said to be among royals the Queen will quiz over racism claims, as fallout from Harry and Meghan’s interview continues.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Queen will personally quiz senior royals amid Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s claims of racism in the royal family.
Her Majesty said in a statement she was “concerned” about what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had alleged in a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
The pair claimed that one royal questioned “how dark” baby Archie’s skin would be. The Sun reports the Queen will have private conversations with Prince Charles, Prince William, Camilla, Kate Middleton and others “to establish what may have been said.
The 94-year-old monarch also said she did not know the full extent of the couple’s pain, which included revelations that Meghan endured suicidal thoughts while she was pregnant.
In a carefully worded statement a day after the interview first aired in Britain, the Queen attempted to calm the racism storm engulfing the Firm.
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” a statement issued by Buckingham Palace on behalf of the Queen said.
“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.”
The statement also made an attempt to keep the door open for Prince Harry, 36, Meghan, 39, Archie, 1, and the couple’s expected baby girl due in the American summer.
“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members,” the Queen added.
Buckingham Palace had a statement ready to be released shortly after the program aired in the UK on Monday night, but the Queen held it back while she considered her response.
Prince Harry’s anger at the “how dark” remark, which he indicated was said when Meghan was pregnant with Archie, was still palpable in the interview.
The comment was made to him and then he relayed it to Meghan, who let it slip in her chat with her Californian neighbour and master interviewer Oprah Winfrey.
It underscored the couple’s continuing claims that Meghan was subjected to racist attacks by the British Press.
Prince Harry did not reveal who made the comment, but clarified that it was not the Queen, nor Prince Philip, 99, who has previously made questionable comments.
In 1986, he told a group of British students during a visit to China that “If you stay here much longer you’ll all be slitty-eyed.”
BREAKING: Statement from Buckingham Palace following Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah pic.twitter.com/U05xEX2aka
— Lizzie Robinson (@LizzieITV) March 9, 2021
The fallout from Prince Harry and Meghan’s interview also continues to make front page news across the world.
The Daily Mail splashed with a poll result to strip the royal couple of their titles, while The Daily Mirror borrowed from the Her Majesty’s statement for its front page headline: “Queen: We will always love you”.
Wednesday’s Mail: “Poll: Now strip them of titlesâ€
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 9, 2021
#BBCPapers#TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/7FuHsAa3Vzpic.twitter.com/rGnFdERKqP
Wednesday’s Mirror: “Queen: We will always love youâ€
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 9, 2021
#BBCPapers#TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/7FuHsAa3Vzpic.twitter.com/hywKFBKdpy
Wednesday’s Express: “Recollections may vary says Queenâ€
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 9, 2021
#BBCPapers#TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/7FuHsAa3Vzpic.twitter.com/mzvS27Tyu2
Wednesday's Telegraph: “Issue of race concerning, but recollections vary, says Queenâ€
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 9, 2021
#BBCPapers#TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/7FuHsAa3Vzpic.twitter.com/USA6cFGGlI
CHARLES DODGES QUESTIONS
Prince Charles, 72, was out in north London at a vaccination centre, which was set up in a church popular with the area’s black community, on Tuesday local time.
A reporter asked: “Sir, what did you think of the interview?”
Clearly taken aback, Prince Charles turned to look at the reporter as he left the building and said “oh” and gave a nervous chuckle and carried on walking.
Prince Charles gave a speech praising the role black majority churches played in their local communities.
“As I’ve seen today, you’ve opened your church to the vaccine program to the whole community and you’ve been collecting and distributing food to those who need it most, as I’ve also seen,” he said.
“If ever we needed an example of how to be a good Samaritan, we need look no further.
“We are all immensely proud of the role black majority churches have been playing and it is a source of profound sorrow to know that black communities have been hit particularly hard by this pernicious virus.”
As he chatted to healthcare worker Caroline Olodimeji, 67, he asked where she came from and was originally from Nigeria but had lived in the UK a long time.
The prince said “oh fantastic”, adding that he had been to Nigeria, and spoke about how many “different ethnic groups” there were in the country.
The Royal Family had been sweating on what to say in the statement for fear of further angering Prince Harry and Meghan.
“A denial could lead the Sussexes breaking their vow and naming the member of the royal family who discussed their son’s skin colour. There is a lack of trust,” an insider told The London Evening Standard.
“The feeling is it will be better to try to build bridges with the couple and to embrace them.
“However, this incendiary interview has caused pain and division. Trust is an issue.
“For Harry to say he feels ‘let down’ seems a little rich when you consider what he has done.
The Duke of Sussex continues to say he respects his grandmother, but he has ridden roughshod over the institution she represents. Time is said to be a great healer, let’s hope so.”
A Black Lives Matter co-founder Opel Tometi demanded a boycott of the Royal Family.
Ms Tometi told American website TMZ that the comments referred to by Prince Harry showed that the royals may not value black lives.
FRIEND OF CHARLES AND CAMILLA REACTS
Aussie expat and friend of Prince Charles and Camilla, Republican Kathy Lette, said the Queen’s response was “conciliatory” and out of the ordinary.
“You’ve got to understand about the upper class British you have to do open heart surgery to know what’s going on inside them. They’re incredibly emotionally reserved,” she told Sunrise.
“So the fact that’s it’s even taken her 48 hours or whatever to make a comment is interesting, it’s interesting that she even made one because normally they never explain and they never complain.
“I thought it was a very carefully worded and quite conciliatory statement but she did make the point that there were differences of view about what was said.”
Ms Lette said public opinion in the UK was split with the older generation seeing Harry and Meghan as “narcissistic, spoiled brats”, but the younger generation “sympathetic” towards the young royals.
She said the royal family will need to be more transparent about the matter if it is to repair its image.
“This has done so much harm to the royal family, to the brand,” she added.
Lette said she did not believe Charles or Camilla would have asked about Archie’s skin colour after it was revealed a senior royal privately posed the question during Meghan’s pregnancy.
“I know them to be the most compassionate people, there’s no sexism or racism from either of them,” Ms Lette said.
INTERVIEW WAS RATINGS SMASH IN UK
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s bombshell interview with American TV talk show guru Oprah Winfrey was watched by an average of 11.3 million people in the UK, according to overnight figures posted on Tuesday local time.
The interview aired on UK broadcaster ITV on Monday in a 9pm local time slot.
The CBS sit-down tell-all exclusive attracted 12.3 million viewers tuning in, according to Variety.
Those figures make the US special the second most watched TV program of the year so far in England, second only to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s national address in January in which he announced new coronavirus lockdown measures.
It also rivalled the 2019 Rugby World Cup final and was the biggest finale on any TV channel, outside of BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing”.
As a comparison revealing the impact of the historic broadcast, the 2019 Prince Andrew interview on BBC special edition “Newsnight” about the royal’s relationship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein drew 1.7 million viewers.
Some top officials spoke out before Buckingham Palace responded with its official statement. UK Minister Zac Goldsmith said he was appalled by the interview, tweeting: “Harry is blowing up his family. … What Meghan wants, Meghan gets”.
Not ‘Buckingham Palace’ - Harry’s family. Harry is blowing up his family.Â
— Zac Goldsmith (@ZacGoldsmith) March 8, 2021
“What Meghan wants, Meghan getsâ€. https://t.co/2ui5anDvpg
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to get drawn into the row and when asked if he thought the palace should investigate the allegations, Mr Johnson told a Downing Street press conference: “Perhaps the best thing I can say is that I have always had the highest admiration for the Queen and the unifying role that she plays in our country and across the Commonwealth. And as for all other matters to do with the royal family, I’ve spent a long time now not commenting on royal family matters and I don’t intend to depart from that today.”
MEGHAN’S DAD DEFENDS ROYAL FAMILY
Meghan Markle’s dad has begged her to forgive him, saying he has apologised “100 times” but claimed that the royal family was not racist.
Thomas Markle, 76, appeared on British television on Tuesday night where he made an impassioned plea for a reconciliation with his daughter, and asked to see his grandson Archie.
The last time he spoke to his daughter was via a text message when he was in hospital getting two stents put in for a heart condition that hospitalised him just before the couple’s 2018 nuptials.
“I’m very disappointed about it, I’ve apologised about this thing that happened at least 100 times or so,” he told Good Morning Britain.
“Bottom line is I’ve never heard back from Meghan or Harry in any shape or form.
“Basically what I do is if I haven’t heard from them I do a story with the press. I’d love to talk to them.”
Mr Markle, dressed in a dark blue jacket and open necked light blue shirt, spoke slowly during the interview and at times appeared confused.
He said that Meghan and Harry now only lived 110 kilometres away from him in Montecito, California.
But his home in Rosarito, Mexico, is 400km from Prince Harry and Meghan’s new home.
Prince Harry and Meghan claimed that a senior member of the Royal Family asked “how dark” baby Archie’s skin would be when he was born.
SKIN COMMENT ‘DUMB, NOT RACIST’
There was now a hunt for the “racist” royal, with the Queen, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, cleared of making the statement.
“I have great respect for the royals, I don’t think the British royal family is racist,” Mr Markle said.
“I think Los Angeles is racist, California is racist.
“The thing about what colour will the baby be I’m guessing or hoping it’s just a dumb question from somebody.
“It could be just that simple someone asked a stupid question rather than being racist.”
Meghan said her father had betrayed her by speaking to the press, but he said he did the photographs with a paparazzi to improve his image.
“They were making me an alcoholic, they were calling me names,” he said.
“So yes I went for this deal where this man said he would make me look better. Maybe I got sucked in.”
He said he tried to apologise to Prince Harry, but hung on him after the royal said that he should have heeded his warnings about the media.
And Mr Markle also revealed he had criticised Prince Harry at the time of the photographs release, referring to his infamous night of strip poker in Las Vegas and when he was caught dressing up in a Nazi uniform for a fancy dress party in his youth.
“I wish I hadn’t done the whole thing but here’s the other side of this coin, no one took any time to protect any member of our family,” Mr Markle said.
“We were attacked by the press every day. Nobody was there to care for us.
“No-one helped us and then I saw a headline that said they recommended to Harry and Meghan that someone come and help me.
“I was left out to dry. Despite all that I still apologised, I’m apologising today again.
“I also said we all make mistakes but I’ve never played naked pool and I’ve never dressed up like Hitler.
“I’m sure that made Meghan very angry with me but that’s how I felt at the time.”
Mr Markle also said that he released a letter Meghan had sent to him to the Daily Mail because he was criticised by her friends in an article for People magazine.
“I’m one who released a part of the letter that was because a magazine was doing a story about me, Meghan’s friends were telling a story about me that were mostly lies,” he said.
“After reading these lies I said I had to retaliate.
“I didn’t release the whole letter. Had I done that you would have seen something that was horrible.
“I had held that letter for six months and I was going to destroy it, it was that bad.”
WINFREY SHARES UNSEEN MEGHAN FOOTAGE
Oprah Winfrey has shared more unseen footage of Meghan Markle’s tell-all interview where she also spoke about how her privacy has been invaded during her relationship with Prince Harry.
When Oprah asked: “Shouldn’t there be an expectation that you’re going to lose a certain degree of privacy?”, the Duchess of Sussex replied by saying, “I think everyone has a basic right to privacy. Basic. We’re not talking about anything that anybody else wouldn’t expect.”
“If you’re at work and you have a photograph of your child on your desk, and your co-worker says, ‘Oh, my gosh, your kid’s so cute. That’s fantastic! Can I see your phone so I can see all the pictures of your child?’ You go, ‘No. This is the picture I’m comfortable sharing with you,’” she said.
Markle then said photographers have gone to many lengths to invade her own privacy.
“And then if they double down and say, ‘No, but you already showed me that one. So you have to show me everything. You know what, I’m just gonna hire someone to sit in front of your house, or hide in the bushes and take pictures into your backyard, because you’ve lost your right to privacy … because you shared one image with me,’” she added.
Markle said they were not asking for complete privacy.
“They’ve created a false narrative. I’ve never talked about privacy,” she said.
Instead, she said they would share the “parts of their lives” they were “comfortable” with giving the public access to — just like the rest of us.
“There’s no one who’s on Instagram or social media that would say, ‘Because I shared this one picture, that entitles you to have my entire camera roll,” she said.
“Go ahead and look through it.’ No one would want that. So it’s about boundaries. And it’s about respect.”
Watch the clip below:
MEGHAN’S INTERVIEW CLAIMS DISPUTED
Some parts of the interview have been contested, with the couple’s revelation they had a private wedding three days before their Windsor Castle extravaganza being challenged.
The couple invited the Archbishop of Canterbury for a private service in their garden, however such a union would have been invalid because it was not performed in a church or in front of witnesses.
And Buckingham Palace’s “refusal” to call Archie a prince was following rules set out by King George V in 1917.
Archie would be entitled to be called Prince when Charles ascended the throne, as the title was reserved for grandchildren of the monarch, rather than great-grandchildren.
Children in a direct line to the throne, such as Prince William’s children George, Charlotte and Louis, were an exception and given a prince or princess title.
Prince Harry also claimed that the Queen had agreed to meet with him at her Sandringham estate at the height of the Megxit drama in January 2020 when he and Meghan had returned from Canada.
But the Queen was then overruled.
“The moment we landed in the UK, I got a message from my private secretary, cutting and pasting a message from the Queen’s private secretary basically saying, please pass along to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that he cannot come to Norfolk. The Queen is busy. She’s busy all week,” Prince Harry said.
Buckingham Palace rarely comments on individual stories, taking a never complain, never explain stance, hoping that they will eventually fade from the news cycle.
Prince Harry was still expected to return to the UK for the unveiling of a statue in honour of his mother Princess Diana on July 1 despite the interview.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan’s friend posted a new photograph of them on Instagram, showing the Duke and the pregnant Duchess holding baby Archie, whose face was obscured.
The image posted by Misan Harriman said it was “wonderful news to celebrate on International Women’s Day” that Meghan was pregnant with a girl.
If you or someone you know needs assistance: Lifeline on 13 11 14 or www.lifeline.org.au
Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 or at www.beyondblue.org.au
More Coverage
Originally published as Queen to grill senior royals over Prince Harry, Meghan’s racism claims
Join the conversation
Queen of the Amazon: Mary stuns in Brazil
Australia’s Queen Mary has set out on an adventure in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest without King Frederik. See stunning photos.
Read more
New pic reveals Kate has ‘changed’
New photos of the Princess of Wales has shown off a major change as the 42-year-old royal mum of three gets back to work.
Read more