Their story to tell
Harry and Meghan blast their family, press during interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Britain and its royal family absorbed the tremors Monday from a sensational television interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, in which the couple said they encountered racist attitudes and a lack of support that drove the duchess to thoughts of suicide.
In a two-hour interview by Oprah Winfrey, the couple painted a deeply unflattering picture of life inside the royal household, depicting a cold, uncaring institution that they had to flee to save their lives.
Meghan told Winfrey that at one point “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.” She said she sought help through the palace’s human resources department but was told there was nothing it could do.
Meghan, 39, admitted that she was naive at the start of her relationship with Harry and unprepared for royal life.
The former television star, who is biracial, said when she was pregnant with son, Archie, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Harry confirmed the conversation, saying: “I was a bit shocked.” He said he would not reveal who made the comment, though Winfrey said he told her it was not Queen Elizabeth II or her husband, Prince Philip.
Harry and Meghan, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced they were quitting royal duties last year, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media, and moved to North America. That split became official this year.
In a clip released Monday that was not broadcast the night before, Harry reiterated that racism was “a large part” of the reason the couple left Britain — and he blamed the “toxic” British tabloid press.
“The U.K. is not bigoted,” he said. “The U.K. press is bigoted, specifically the tabloids.”
The implications for the interview — which was to air in Britain on Monday night — are only beginning to be understood. Emily Nash, royal editor at Hello! Magazine, said the revelations had left her and many other viewers “shell-shocked.”
“I don’t see how the palace can ignore these allegations, they’re incredibly serious,” she said.
Harry, born a royal prince, described how his wife’s experience had helped him realize how he and he rest of the family were stuck in an oppressive institution. “I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped,” Harry said. “My father and my brother, they are trapped.”
Meghan, he said, “saved me.”
The younger royals — including Harry, Meghan, Harry’s brother, Prince William, and William’s wife, Catherine — have made campaigning for support and awareness around mental health one of their priorities.
In the United States, sympathy for the couple poured in after the interview. Britain could be less forgiving, since some see the pair as putting personal happiness ahead of public duty.
Meghan — then known as Meghan Markle — married Harry at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
The couple revealed in the interview that they exchanged vows in front of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby three days before their wedding ceremony at the castle.
Archie was born the following year and in the interview, the couple revealed their second child, due in the summer, would be a girl.
Both Meghan and Harry praised the support they had received from the monarch.
But Harry revealed he currently has a poor relationship with William and said things got so bad with his father that at one point Prince Charles stopped taking his calls.
“There is a lot to work through there,” Harry said about his relationship with his father. “I feel really let down. He’s been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like. And Archie is his grandson. I will always love him, but there is a lot of hurt that has happened.”
While clips of the interview have been shared online, Britain wasn’t to see the full interview until Monday night — and many will want to know how the palace addresses this saga. The palace has yet to respond.
Naked Cowboy arrested in Florida
A Times Square performer known as the Naked Cowboy was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence and cited for panhandling while working a gig at Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Court records show Robert Burck, 51, who is known for wearing only white briefs, boots and a cowboy hat while playing a brightly colored guitar, was arrested Saturday while performing at the annual event. Burck is a regular at Bike Week.
The panhandling citation was given after officers saw people tucking dollar bills into Burck’s guitar after taking photographs. Burck then refused to follow directions from a police officer and pulled away from her, according to an arrest report.
He was released from jail Sunday morning.