The Duchess of Sussex has revealed she wanted to kill herself when she was heavily pregnant and alleged the royal family was racist in an explosive tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
With Prince Harry by her side, Meghan said during the two-hour interview she was denied help and alleged that there was official concern about the skin colour of her unborn son, Archie, and a conspiracy to denied him a title because he was of mixed race.
When the Duchess told the royal family’s human resources department that she was suicidal she was told that if she sought medical help it would harm the “institution”.
“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,’’ she says, revealing that prior to an official engagement she didn’t want to be left alone because she feared what she might do.
In the biggest royal tell-all since Harry’s mother princess Diana detailed her crumbling marriage to his father Prince Charles in 1995, the Duke when pressed by Winfrey said he was ashamed of revealing his wife’s condition to other members of his family.
Meghan, 39, also told of royal “concerns” about “how dark” her son’s skin would be, saying Harry revealed to her official conversations over Archie’s appearance, as well as the security he would be entitled to, ahead of his birth on May 6, 2019.
The Duchess refused to the name those people because “it would be very damaging,’’ while Harry said he would never reveal their identity.
Meghan — whose father is white and mother African American— went on to suggest that, because her baby would be mixed race, racism was behind the decision to deny Archie a royal title and personal security.
“In those months when I was pregnant... 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,” Meghan said.
“That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations the family had with him.”
After the couple’s surprise decision in 2019 to move to North America, the former television actress has been portrayed in some British newspapers as headstrong, calculating and spoiled, and the couple reckless and selfish for quitting royal life.
Harry, 36, revealed the deep divisions within his family, saying he felt “really let down” by how his father had handled the situation.
In his rearguard role late in the interview, Harry said he had been trapped within the royal family and added that Prince of Wales and brother William were still trapped.
He blamed the British tabloids for their aggressive criticism of his wife, saying it started shortly after their 2018 wedding and claiming it became worse after Meghan was so successful on their Australian tour.
He also revealed that, in the tumultuous months post Megxit, he talked to the Queen and speaks to his grandmother now more than before the couple left the UK last March, zooming with her to show off Archie.
But the rift with Charles, remains after the Prince of Wales at one point refused to take his calls. Harry said he still felt let down by his father, who also stopped sending money last year; he said it was only his mother’s inheritance (believed to be around $30m or $40m) that has helped him get through and, bizarrely, said Diana could see what would happen to her younger son.
“I have got what my mum left me,” he said. “I think my mum saw it coming. And I felt my Mum’s presence through this process,’’ he said
When Oprah asked why Charles stopped taking his calls, Harry explained: “Because I took matters into my own hands.” He went on: “I need to do things for my own family, I’ve got to do something, for my own mental health, for my wife’s and for Archie’s as well, I could see where this was headed”.
As for his William, Harry paused before replying to Oprah’s questions. Eventually he said: “The relationship is … space at the moment.’’
But he said he felt “deep compassion’’ for his father and brother for being trapped in a life they couldn’t leave, adding they were terrified of British tabloids, who held the royals hostage.
Certainly some parts of the interview were melodramatic: Meghan compared herself with the Little Mermaid who “falls in love with a Prince and loses her voice, but in the end she gets her voice back.”
There were some nice moments, such as Harry revealing they are expecting a baby girl in the summer and some cute footage of Archie running on the beach – all the more poignant because it’s difficult to see, in the current environment, just how or when Archie and the new baby will ever meet their British relatives.
These are two major and significant issues and the Palace, while initially indicating they wouldn’t be commenting on the Oprah interview, will be pressured into making some sort of response in the coming days.
But the public airing of such intimate family conversations is likely to have cast Harry and Meghan further adrift from their British family. The Royals will be deeply hurt that the couple continue to try and destroy the institution which provides them with a lucrative platform and title which they are commercialising.
The British public, who are yet to see the interview as it is broadcast on Monday night in the UK, are as likely to be harsh on Meghan, insisting she could have got mental health support – just as Prince Harry has done- and that she was never silenced, but rather had a very public platform upon which to voice her thoughts.
However across the Atlantic, the American audience is hugely sympathetic and believe Harry and Meghan have escaped an evil institution.
US celebrities also made it clear whose side they were on. Amanda Gorman, the poet who performed at Joe Biden’s Inauguration in January, tweeted: “They didn’t just maltreat her light – they missed out on it.”
Meghan was the Crown's greatest opportunity for change, regeneration, and reconciliation in a new era. They didn't just maltreat her light--they missed out on it.
— Amanda Gorman (@TheAmandaGorman) March 8, 2021
In the end, the most Oprah’s interview showed us is that Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the royals is even more toxic than we could ever have imagined.
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