Questions the royals still need to answer after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah interview
Meghan and Harry’s tell-all offered juicy details about the royal family’s drama, but a lot of new questions have emerged.
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It was the explosive interview that shocked the royals … and the world.
While Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah Winfrey tell-all offered juicy details about intense drama behind palace walls, it raised a lot of new questions.
Dropping bombshell after bombshell, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made explosive allegations about the reality of what their lives were like inside the royal family, accusing members of racism and cruelty.
It included details about Meghan’s private mental health battle, a racism-fuelled comment by an unnamed senior royal about “how dark” Archie’s skin tone would be, Meghan’s falling out with her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, and Prince Charles ghosting his own son by refusing to answer Harry’s distressed phone calls.
Days after the Oprah interview aired around the world to huge ratings which were close to 20 million, there is still a game of “he said, she said” being played out by the royals (and unnamed sources) in the public eye.
These are some important questions that remain answered.
WHO DENIED MEGHAN’S CALLS FOR HELP?
In a heartbreaking confession, Meghan revealed she suffered from suicidal thoughts and “begged” palace staff, including “one of the most senior people”, for help.
“I was ashamed to admit it at the time, and admit it to Harry, because of how much loss he’s suffered, but I knew that I didn’t want to be alive anymore,” the Duchess of Sussex told Winfrey.
“That was a very clear, and real, and frightening, constant thought.”
She said she repeatedly the institution to “go somewhere to get help”, even approaching the palace’s human resources department. But who exactly did she approach? And who refused to help her?
“I went to the institution, and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help,” Meghan said, not naming names.
“I said that I’d never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution.”
She continued: “This wasn’t a choice. This was emails, and begging for help, saying very specifically, ‘I am concerned for my mental welfare.’ And people going, ‘Oh yes, yes, it’s disproportionately terrible, we see out there, compared to anyone else.’
“But nothing was ever done. So we had to find a solution.”
Did any of the royal family members know? And if so, why didn’t they intervene? Could “Megxit” have been avoided if Meghan and Harry were given the support they asked for?
Would they still be full-time (or even part-time) working royals today if they were given that help?
Prince Harry said he “went to all the places which I thought I should go to ask for help. We both did, separately and together”.
“So you left because you were asking for help and couldn’t get it?” Oprah asked him.
“Yeah. Basically,” Harry replied.
WHAT DID WILLIAM AND KATE KNOW ABOUT MEGHAN?
While their relationship with Harry has been distant lately, did William and Kate know Meghan needed help? And if so, why didn’t they offer to assist?
Harry and Meghan repeatedly alleged that they tried to seek help from within the royal institution and were denied … or completely ignored.
William today confirmed he had not spoken to Harry since the Oprah interview aired, adding that he “will do”.
“No, I haven’t spoken to him yet but I will do,” Prince William said while accompanying Kate on a royal engagement in east London.
ARE HARRY AND WILLIAM TALKING?
Opening up to Winfrey, Harry insisted he still cared for his brother and that they were giving each other “space” right now.
It’s understood the brothers are looking for ways to have a “heart-to-heart talk”.
“They have opened communication channels,” a source told Page Six.
While it’s not clear how much contact the pair have had, they are still on speaking terms after the tell-all, and have been communicating via WhatsApp for the better part of a year, New York Post reported.
WHO MADE A RACIST REMARK ABOUT ARCHIE’S SKIN TONE?
Someone within the royal family expressed “concerns” about “how dark” Harry and Meghan’s baby might be, and “what that would mean or look like”.
It has since emerged that neither Queen Elizabeth nor her husband Prince Philip were behind the racist remark. So who was?
“You’re not going to tell me who had the conversation?” Oprah asked.
“I think that would be very damaging to them,” Meghan replied.
Oprah grilled Harry on the matter once he joined the interview.
“That conversation I am never going to share,” he told her. The Queen has since launched a private investigation into the matter.
“The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning,” the Queen said in a statement this week.
“While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”
HOW DID KATE REACT TO MEGHAN’S REMARKS ABOUT THEIR FEUD?
WHY ISN’T KATE SPEAKING PUBLICLY ON THE MATTER?
Known for her stoic and very regal disposition, Kate Middleton has remained silent in the aftermath of Meghan’s allegation that Kate made her cry in the lead up to the royal wedding (Meghan claimed it was over Princess Charlotte’s outfit and that Kate later apologised with flowers).
The Duchess of Cambridge made her first public appearance today since her brother-in-law’s TV tell-all.
While William briefly addressed the interview (when asked if he had spoken to Harry), Kate remained silent, perhaps following the longstanding royal tactic of “never complain, never explain”.
Did Kate cry over the disagreement? Or did she bring Meghan to tears, as Meghan publicly alleged?
WHY WASN’T MEGHAN GIVEN A PROPER INDUCTION INTO ROYAL LIFE?
The Duchess of Sussex claimed she was given no formal royal training before marrying Prince Harry, telling Oprah she had to Google the British national anthem, “God Save the Queen”, to learn the words before a public appearance.
“There was no guidance as well and there were certain things that you couldn’t do, but you know, unlike what you see in the movies, there’s no class on how to speak, how to cross your legs, how to be royal,” Meghan told Oprah.
“There’s none of that training that might exist for other members.”
She went on to say she took matters into her own hands, researching like an actress would a new Hollywood role. “Even down to like the National Anthem. No one thought to say, ‘Oh, you’re American, you’re not gonna know that,” Meghan said.
“That’s me late at night googling what’s the National Anthem, I’ve got to learn this, I don’t want to embarrass them.”
Sources have since denied Meghan wasn’t given appropriate royal training, saying she and Harry were given access to some of the Queen’s most experienced aides to assist with her transition into royal life.
WILL HARRY STILL TRAVEL TO THE UK, WITH OR WITHOUT MEGHAN?
Prince Harry was said to have been contemplating a trip to London to see his family in the coming months however he did not confirm these plans publicly.
He said he as committed to repairing his strained relationships with Prince William and Prince Charles, confirming to Oprah that his father was now taking his calls.
Last year, Harry – who is now based in California with Meghan and Archie – went on record saying that he was planning a UK trip in 2021.
“We’ve got a whole Rugby League World Cup coming next year, so I definitely plan on coming back,” Harry said during a video call with members of the league.
“I would have been back already had it not been for COVID.”
Any travel plans may involve Harry solo as Meghan is pregnant with the couple’s second baby.
She and Harry confirmed they are having a girl due in the US summer (generally spanning June to August/September).
HOW WILL THE ROYALS REPAIR THEIR DAMAGED REPUTATION?
The Oprah interview gave unprecedented insight into the reality of royal life not seen since Princess Diana’s infamous Panorama interview, conducted in November 1995.
The royal family will not easily recover from the PR disaster of having their so-called dirty laundry aired in public.
What’s worse is what Meghan and Harry were forced to ensure at the hands of “the institution”.
The Queen has showed class by mounting an investigation (in “private”, as she said in her statement) into her grandson and Meghan’s serious complaints.
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” Queen Elizabeth said in her statement.
“Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
Prince Charles, who faced intense public backlash after his divorce from the late Diana (which took years to rectify), is said to be in a state of despair over the Oprah broadcast.
One thing’s for certain: the world will be watching how the royal family reacts and behaves in the aftermath.
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