Money, marriage and mental health – key points from the incendiary interview

THE Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s televised interview with Oprah Winfrey unleashed a dramatic set of bombshell revelations.

From Meghan’s suicidal thoughts to accusations that the Royal Family is racist and the full extent of Harry’s fractured relationship with his father, the Prince of Wales, here are the major developments:

■■Meghan’s mental health

The Duchess of Sussex shockingly revealed she had suicidal thoughts as she struggled with life inside the Royal Family, saying: “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”

She said she begged for help, and asked to go somewhere to get help, and approached one of the most senior people in the institution, but was told it would not look good.

She told how Harry cradled her when she was in the depths of despair and how she sought help from one of Diana, Princess of Wales’ best friends – which may have been Julia Samuel, who is a psychotherapist.

■■Royal Family accused of racism

Meghan said that when she was pregnant with Archie, an unnamed member of the Royal Family raised “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.

Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be “too brown” and that would be a problem, Meghan said: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.”

Pushed by Winfrey on who had those conversations, Meghan refused to say, adding: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”

Harry refused to give details, adding: “That conversation, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”

It is not known who the royal was but Winfrey said on CBS This Morning that Harry told her it was not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh.

Meghan also suggested Archie was not made a prince because of his race.

The duke said that none of his relatives spoke out in support of Meghan following the racism he said she faced in the media.

“No-one from my family ever said anything over those three years. That hurts,” Harry said.

Asked by Winfrey if the couple left the UK because of racism, Harry replied: “It was a large part of it.”

■■Harry felt let down by the Prince of Wales

Harry said he felt let down by Charles and that “there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened”.

Speaking about his father, the duke said: “I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, [and] Archie’s his grandson.

“But at the same time – I will always love him – but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened and I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.

“But they only know what they know, or what they’re told.”

Harry said his father stopped taking his calls while he and Meghan were in Canada “because I took matters into my own hands. I needed to do this for my family”.

■■Baby Sussex is a girl

Harry and Meghan revealed they are expecting a baby girl.

The duke joined his wife in the second half of the interview, and told the chat show host: “It’s a girl” and said it is “amazing” to be having a daughter.

Asked if they were “done” with two children, Harry said “done” and Meghan said: “Two is it.”

She also confirmed the baby is due in the “summertime”.

■■Rift with the Duke of Cambridge

The rift between Harry and William continues.

Harry revealed: “The relationship is ‘space’ at the moment. And time heals all things, hopefully.”

He did not criticise his brother, and echoed past comments, saying: “I love William to bits, he’s my brother, we’ve been through hell together, we have a shared experience, but we were on different paths.”

■■The Queen

Harry denied he had “blindsided” his grandmother the Queen with the bombshell statement about stepping down as a senior royal.

The duke said he believes the report probably could have come from “within the institution”.

Meghan lavished praised on the monarch and said the Queen gave her “some beautiful pearl earrings and a matching necklace” for the pair’s first joint engagement.

She added that she had not realised she would have to curtsy to the Queen in private.

■■Queen “advised to not see Harry”

Harry spoke of his close relationship with his grandmother, but he also revealed in an additional clip he was told he could no longer visit her in Sandringham in January 2020 as he tried to work out his future, after she had invited him.

He received a message via the monarch’s private secretary and rang the Queen, who said she had something in her diary she did not know she had and was too busy.

Harry blamed courtiers, saying: “When you’re head of The Firm there is people around you that give you advice. And what has also made me really sad is some of that advice has been really bad.”

■■The Duchess of Cambridge

Meghan said Kate made her cry ahead of her wedding at a bridesmaid dress fitting – not the other way round.

The duchess said Kate was “upset about some things and she owned it and apologised” and sent flowers.

But Meghan added that the false reports were a turning point.

She said “everyone in the institution knew that wasn’t true” and she hoped Kate “would have wanted that to be corrected”, adding: “She is a good person.”

■■Trapped royals

Harry said he had been “trapped within the system, like the rest of my family are”.

“My father and my brother, they are trapped. They don’t get to leave,” he added.

■■Shock at loss of security protection

Meghan revealed that she wrote letters pleading with Harry’s family not to take away his personal protection officers, warning he was facing death threats.

■■Royal Family cut Harry off financially

Harry said his family “literally cut me off financially” in the first quarter of 2020 and he went for the Netflix and Spotify deals to pay for his security.

He said he had what Diana left him and “without that we would not have been able to do this”.

■■Archie’s title

Meghan suggested she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince so he would have security and be protected.

The duchess expressed her shock at “the idea of our son not being safe” and the “idea of the first member of colour in the family not being titled in the same way as other grandchildren”.

But Archie, who is seventh in line to the throne, is not entitled to be an HRH or a prince due to rules set out more than 100 years ago by King George V.

■■Jealousy of Meghan

Harry said the Royal Family welcomed Meghan but things changed after their tour to Australia and New Zealand.

He suggested they were jealous of her because of the ease with which she carried out royal duties on the trip.

“That brought back memories,” he said, in an apparent reference to Diana.

■■The other wedding

Meghan said she and Harry had a secret marriage ceremony with the Archbishop of Canterbury in their “backyard” three days before their grand royal wedding.

The duchess said “no-one knew” and the couple shared personal vows for “just the two of us”.

All Church of England weddings legally require two witnesses, so the “marriage” could have been a blessing.

■■Meghan should be “50% less”

Winfrey later recalled a conversation she had with Meghan in 2018.

“She said she had been told, been given advice, that it would be best if she could be 50% less than she was. That was the quote, if she could be 50% less,” Winfrey said.

CONTENTIOUS plans to build 164 homes on a greenfield site in Blackwood have been approved.

A reserved matters application to build on the 14.5-acre site in Cwmgelli, Blackwood, was approved by Caerphilly Council’s planning committee on Wednesday.

A petition against the plan was signed by 241 people, with concerns over building on a greenfield site, drainage and the number of homes.

An outline application for the development was granted following an appeal in 2016, but it indicated that between 115 and 120 homes would be built.

However, council planners who recommended approval said they were satisfied the higher number of homes proposed was suitable for the site.

Objector David Chivers raised concerns over drainage issues at the site and said it would cause more flooding to the Cwmgelli Villas area. Mr Chivers also raised concern over the impact of the additional homes on traffic in the area which he said is “bad enough now”.

Blackwood councillor Kevin Etheridge said there had been “a significant change” under the reserved matters application and asked why an environmental impact assessment was not required to be submitted as part of the plans.

Fellow ward councillor Nigel Dix raised concerns the increase in properties would result in “greater drainage issues” and present a “significant risk to properties”.

However, Mark Roberts, speaking on behalf of developers Taylor Wimpey, said the number of homes proposed could be “suitably accommodated on the site”.

Mr Roberts said that issues such as drainage would be addressed as part of a planning condition.

But Councillor Tom Williams objected to using a greenfield site for the development.

“We are going to be hammering greenfield sites by allowing this to take place when there are other areas that are not greenfield sites we could use,” he said.

However, Chris Boardman, from the council’s planning team, said the loss of the greenfield site is “beyond the scope of this application”.

The committee was told that reserved matters applications are limited to considering the appearance, landscaping, layout and scale of development.

The development will include 41 affordable homes, managed by housing association Pobl.

The committee approved the application by 10 votes to four.