Harry, meanwhile, admitted that his relationship with his father and heir to the throne, Prince Charles, and his brother, Prince William, has come under severe strain in recent years, suggesting that the institution may have planted stories in the media that relate him and Meghan in a negative light.
The palace faced storms on multiple fronts on Monday at sunrise in London.
The interview had been watched relentlessly in the media for the past few days, drawing comparisons to a royal story given by Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, in 1995 that sheds light on the breakup of her marriage to Charles.
But the revelations in Sunday’s broadcast may have overshadowed even that in scope, as Harry and Meghan’s confessional posed problem after problem for palace executives and senior royals.
Perhaps most relevant was Meghan’s claim that an unnamed family member had asked about Archie’s skin color and “what that would mean or look like.” She said those discussions had been passed on from Harry to her.
Harry declined to name the relative, but said he was “a little shocked” by the conversation. Winfrey said on CBS Monday morning that “it wasn’t his grandmother and grandfather who were part of those conversations.” In Britain, shadow education secretary Kate Green said Buckingham Palace should open an investigation.
Palace officials are also struggling to respond to claims made by both the Duke and Duchess that their pleas for help with their mental well-being and safety were being ignored by the institution.
Meghan fought back tears at one point, saying that her thoughts of suicide were incredibly hard to bear, and that she was reluctant to share them with her husband. “But I knew if I didn’t say it, I would – and I just didn’t want to live anymore,” she said.
Harry, whose mother Diana was murdered when he was a boy, said he was “terrified” by his wife’s confession. The prince, who is sixth in line to the throne, said there is a culture of suffering in silence in the royal family. But Meghan’s race and the abuse she endured made the situation even more difficult for the pair, and their perceived lack of support ultimately led, above all, to their dramatic decision to retire as working royals in January 2020.
They described in emotional detail the most difficult moments – Meghan revealing her thoughts to Harry hours before going to an event; the prince who came home from work every day to see his wife crying while breastfeeding their newborn baby – saying that a “lack of support and misunderstanding” were the reasons they chose to leave.
Harry added that he had discussed the matter with the royal family. He told Winfrey that he believed there were many opportunities for the palace to “show some public support” in the face of ongoing racist abuse in the press, “but none of my family has ever said anything. That hurts.”
“I’m sorry I had to believe them when they said I was going to be protected,” Meghan told Winfrey.
CNN has contacted the Royal Family for comment.
Harry reveals serious fractures in the family
If there was even the slightest suggestion that Harry and Meghan could ever participate in the royal family’s mission again, Sunday’s broadcast likely extinguished it for good. The interview exposed the deep division between the couple and the rest of the family, a divide that would have been unimaginable when they got married in Windsor just three years ago.
They told Winfrey that the family had initially welcomed Meghan, and that when they got married, they were committed to their role.
But things quickly changed. Harry told Winfrey that his relationship with his father Charles reached the point where the heir to the throne stopped taking his calls, so angry at the couple’s decision to leave as working royals in 2020. “There is a lot of work out there. to the shop “, said Harry. “I really feel let down because he’s been like that – he knows what pain feels like.”
Regarding his brother, William – with whom Harry grew up and whose shared childhood was closely followed by the media – the prince suggested that communication is virtually non-existent. “We’re on different paths,” he said, adding that “the relationship is space right now,” and that “time heals all things – hopefully.”
Perhaps the only silver lining to the family is that the leader survived the interview relatively unscathed. Harry and Meghan both spoke profusely about the Queen and described her as caring and kind from the start.
“My grandmother and I have a really good relationship, and I understand and have a deep respect for her,” said Harry. Meghan said she has spoken to her many times over the past year, including on the day Prince Philip was hospitalized last month.
Meghan added that despite the ordeal, it was important to distinguish the royal family from “the people running the institution.”
She discussed rumors of a dispute with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Meghan said the reports that she made Kate cry about the flower girl dresses at her wedding were untrue, and it was, in fact, the Duchess of Sussex who was crying. But “there was no confrontation,” said Meghan, who described her sister-in-law as a “good person.”
But the clearly tense family dynamic will overshadow the royals’ upcoming engagements. In the wake of the interview, no statements have yet been made by any of their communications teams.
Breathless response in Britain
As is so often the case with the couple, coverage ranged from measured to hysterical. The Daily Mail headlined “Kate Made Me Cry” on the 2am issue, before leading to Meghan’s accusation of racism later in the morning. The tabloid’s website also featured a prominent banner that read, “I WANTED TO KILL MYSELF.”
The Sun had a new nickname for Meghan amid her split from the royal family: “Megxile,” and the Daily Express dismissed the broadcast as “a self-service TV chat with Oprah.”
Monday afternoon, several journalists used Boris Johnson’s press conference on Covid-19 to ask his opinion on the Oprah interview. The prime minister refused to participate, except that he said he had always had “the greatest admiration for the queen and the unifying role she plays in our country.”
The media’s treatment of the royal couple was an important part of the interview, with the couple both targeting parts of the press.
Harry said the palace is “afraid” of the media coverage, meaning they had little freedom while being part of the family.
“To simplify it, if you, as a family member, are willing to drink, dine and give full access to these reporters, you will get better press,” said Harry. “There is a level of fear control that has been around for generations.”
The interview was to be broadcast in Britain at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, with terrestrial broadcaster ITV winning the race to acquire rights. But the main topics of conversation were already dissected in detail by the British and in the media long before the UK broadcast.
Charles Anson, a former press secretary for the Queen, said on Monday that the couple “raised issues that need to be carefully considered,” but claimed to the BBC that there was “no form of racism of any kind” within the royal family.
But Julie Montagu, Viscountess Hinchingbrooke, told the BBC that their revelations were “astonishing,” and that as an American woman married into the British aristocracy, she could relate to Meghan’s descriptions. “You don’t really know until you’re in it, and I think she made that very well known in her interview last night,” she said.