Duchess has shown courage, says Biden
White House praises Sussexes’ disclosure of struggles in Oprah interview as Palace comes under intense pressure to respond to racism claims
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN yesterday praised the Duchess of Sussex’s “courage” in her interview with Oprah Winfrey, as Buckingham Palace was engulfed in a racism crisis in the wake of her claims.
In the most damaging allegation for the Royal family during the two-hour broadcast, the Duchess, 39, said that when she was pregnant with her son, Archie, “concerns” had been raised with the Duke of Sussex about how dark the baby’s skin might be.
“Those were conversations the family had with him,” she said.
Other claims in the interview include: the Duchess felt suicidal when she was pregnant but accused Palace aides of blocking her attempts to get help; Prince Harry had a rift with his father, the Prince of Wales, who stopped taking his calls; the Duchess of Cambridge reduced Meghan to tears; the couple got married three days before the royal wedding, although they later clarified they did not mean that a formal ceremony had taken place.
Buckingham Palace was last night under intense pressure to react to the couple’s claims but failed to issue a response within 24 hours of the interview being aired in the US. It is understood that palace officials have prepared a statement but the Queen had not signed off on it last night as she wanted more time to consider it. However, all senior members of the Royal family are expected to carry out a succession of public engagements this week where they are likely to come under pressure to address the interview.
A senior royal source said: “The institution needs to lead the response to this. What a sad, terrible morning.”
The White House yesterday indicated that Mr Biden watched the interview and was impressed by the Duchess’s disclosures about her mental health. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said: “For anyone to come forward and speak about their own struggles with mental health, and tell their own personal story, that takes courage. And that’s certainly something the president believes. And he’s talked about the importance of investing in these areas.” She described the couple as “private citizens” who were sharing their own story and their own struggles.
When asked about the couple’s interview, Boris Johnson said: “I have always had the highest admiration for the Queen and the unifying role that she plays in our country and across the Commonwealth.”
But on “all other matters to do with the Royal family, I have spent a long time now not commenting on royal family matters and I don’t intend to depart from that today”.
Zac Goldsmith, a government minister and an ally of the Prime Minister, made a more strident comment on social media, challenging an assertion that the Sussexes had “dropped a bomb on Buckingham Palace”.
“Not ‘Buckingham Palace’ – Harry’s family,” he said. “Harry is blowing up his family.” The interview, which aired last night in the UK, was watched by 17 million people on Sunday evening in the US, where reaction to the couple’s claims was overwhelmingly supportive.
Hillary Clinton said it was “heartbreaking” to watch and accused the British media of “outrageous cruelty”. She criticised the Royal family for failing to embrace and protect the Duchess.
Mrs Clinton, speaking at an International Women’s Day event, added: “I thought it was an extraordinary two hours of television. I’ve met both Harry and Meghan. I knew Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.” She said there should now be “serious, thoughtful consideration in all of the institutions across all of our society”.
In the interview, the Sussexes claimed they had been forced to flee the UK because of racism, accusing the Royal family of failing to support them at every turn. The Duchess revealed that when she was around five months’ pregnant, she felt suicidal, pleading for help. But she was told nothing could be done because it “wouldn’t be good for the institution”.
A further plea for support from human resources also failed when she was told they were unable to help as she was not a paid employee.
The Duchess suggested that her son’s mixed heritage might have contributed to the decision not to give him a royal
THE Duke of Sussex revealed that his relationship with the Prince of Wales had broken down, admitting that he felt “really let down” by his father’s lack of empathy over their predicament.
Prince Harry, 36, suggested that the only royal relative he still spoke to with any regularity was the Queen.
He told Oprah Winfrey that there remained “a lot to work through” with his father, who he claimed had stopped taking his calls after he “took matters into his own hands”.
The Duke suggested he had expected more from his father as he had been through a similar experience, an apparent reference to the toxic environment that ensued during the breakdown of his marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales, and the public’s attitude to Camilla Parker Bowles.
He said his family had “literally” cut him off financially, when he and Meghan made clear their intention to walk away from royal life, claiming they had only been able to forge ahead with their new lives because of the inheritance left by his mother.
He also characterised his relationship with his brother, the Duke of Cambridge, as one of “space”, expressing a hope that with both, time would prove a healer.
Winfrey yesterday likened the brothers’ relationship to that of the Duchess and her father, adding: “There is distance there and maybe with time things will get better but for now, no.”
‘Kate made you cry’
One of the scores the Duchess was keen to settle centred on the oft-repeated narrative that she had made the Duchess of Cambridge cry during Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress fitting.
Meghan, 39, said the failure of Kensington Palace to correct the false version of events portrayed in the media about that had proved “a turning point”.
She suggested that the entire institution knew the story was not true but failed to speak up for her, apparently as part of an orchestrated campaign to protect Kate.
The reality, Meghan claimed, was the complete opposite of what was reported and that it was her sister-in-law who had made her cry over the dresses. “There wasn’t a confrontation… she apologised and I forgave her,” the Duchess said, adding that she sent flowers and a note “to take accountability”.
‘It’s a girl’
In a lighter moment, the couple revealed that they were expecting a baby girl in the summer.
“It’s a girl,” said the proud Prince, to a gasp of delight from Winfrey.
Clearly delighted, he added: “To have any child, any one or any two, would have been amazing. But to have a boy and then a girl, I mean, what more can you ask for? Now we’ve got our family, we got the four of us and our two dogs.”
Asked if they planned any more, the Duchess smiled: “Two is it.”
The Queen
Her Majesty was the only member of the Royal family singled out for effusive praise by the couple.
The Duke insisted that he had never “blindsided” his grandmother over their “Megxit” announcement, as he had too much respect for her.
The Duchess also spoke incredibly warmly about the Queen, revealing that she was one of the first family members she met during a lunch at Royal Lodge in Windsor, home to the Duke and Duchess of York.
Laughing, she described her shock when, in the car on the way over, Prince Harry asked if she knew how to curtsy, prompting a hasty practice in the courtyard outside under the careful direction of “Fergie”. “It was lovely and easy,” she said. “The Queen has always been wonderful to me. There wasn’t actually a huge formality. I just really loved being in her company,” the Duchess said warmly. She later revealed that she had called the Queen to “check in” as soon as she heard the Duke of Edinburgh was in hospital.
Invitation pulled
Just two days before the Sussexes released their bombshell statement confirming their plan to step down as working royals, they found themselves blocked from meeting the Queen.
The Duke said his grandmother had suddenly and inexplicably become indisposed despite an earlier invitation to visit her at Sandringham on their return from Canada in January 2020.
He insisted he did not blame the monarch but instead believed she had received “really bad” advice from courtiers – the “men in grey suits”, as Meghan is said to have described them.
“My grandmother had said: ‘The moment you land, come up to Sandringham’,” he said. But when the couple landed in the UK on Jan 6, the Duke received a message from his private secretary, passing on a message that they could no longer go to Norfolk as the Queen was “busy”. In fact, they were told, she was busy all week.
Californian life
The couple lifted the lid on the joys of their new life in the wealthy enclave of Montecito, California, describing it as “greater than any fairytale you’ve ever read”. In previously recorded footage taken in the grounds of their home, they showed Ms Winfrey their chicken coop, filled with hens rescued from a factory farm. She said their new home represented “peace”. Harry later spoke of his delight at taking Archie for walks on the beach with the dogs.
Archie’s skin colour
One of the most shocking and damaging claims the couple made about race concerned comments apparently made by a member of the Royal family about Archie’s skin tone.
Meghan said that when she was pregnant, there were “several conversations” in which concerns had been raised about how dark her unborn child’s skin tone might be. Clearly stunned, Winfrey asked: “Who is having that conversation?”
She replied: “That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations the family had with him.” The Duchess acknowledged that if she revealed who was involved in such talks, it “would be very damaging to them”. Winfrey later pressed the Duke about the conversations about his son’s appearance but he said: “That conversation I’m never going to share. But at the time I was awkward, I was a bit shocked.”
Archie’s title
When Archie was born in May 2019, it was claimed he would not have a title because his parents were keen for him to be raised as a private citizen.
However, the Duchess revealed that in fact, it was the Palace that decided the matter for them, against their wishes. “It was not our decision to make,” she said. It is understood that they were told their son would not become a prince when Charles assumed the throne because of his desire for a slimmed down monarchy.
Both Meghan and Harry wanted their son to have a title, The Daily Telegraph understands, because they believed it would guarantee his protection and afford him lifelong police security. They had seen intelligence reports that
‘The Queen has always been wonderful to me. There wasn’t actually a huge formality’
pointed to specific threats against him and were told he was at heightened risk, partly because of his dual heritage.
The Duchess told Winfrey it was her son’s “birthright” to be a prince and that the decision not to give him a title went against convention. She expressed her shock at learning that he would “not be safe”.
Meghan suggested that the decision had been taken because of Archie’s race, sharing her upset about “the first member of colour in this family, not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be. It’s not their right to take it away”.
A source close to the couple yesterday suggested that they did not believe there was a direct link between Archie’s ethnicity and his lack of title.
As the firstborn son of a duke, Archie could be styled Earl of Dumbarton – one of Harry’s subsidiary titles – or Lord Archie Mountbatten-windsor.
Eventually, he will also be entitled to succeed Harry as the Duke of Sussex
Racism
Discussing the family’s attitudes towards race, the Duchess said it was particularly “hard to understand” as the Commonwealth, the Queen’s beloved family of nations, was such an integral part of the monarchy. The Duke expressed disappointment that none of his relatives spoke out in support of Meghan when she was subjected to racism over three years.
Meghan said her experience of dealing with the press differed from that of the Duchess of Cambridge, saying: “Rude and racist are not the same.”
The Markles
The Duchess said she did all she could to protect her parents from a “media frenzy” for more than a year. Asked if she considered it a “betrayal” when she discovered her father, Thomas Markle, was “working with the tabloids”, she replied: “I’m just trying to decide if I’m comfortable even talking about that.”
She said that she confronted Mr Markle when she first heard he had posed for paparazzi pictures but that he did not tell her the truth.
“For me, it has really resonated, especially now, as a mother,” she said.
Lack of support
The couple suggested that despite repeated pleas, they had received “no help at all” from the Royal family.
They said they were told continuously: “This is just how it is, we’ve all been through it…”
“It was desperate,” Prince Harry said. “I went to all the places I thought I should to ask for help.”
The Duke suggested that, in a way, he was ashamed of admitting his true feelings to his family. He added: “The Queen has always been wonderful to me. There wasn’t actually a huge formality.”
Security
The Duke said they were in Canada when they were told, with a moment’s notice, that their security detail would be removed. “Their justification was a change in status,” he said. “I pushed back and said is there a change of threat or risk? Eventually, I got the confirmation that no, the risk hasn’t changed but due to our change of status – we would no longer be ‘official’ members of the Royal family.” Meghan said she even wrote to the Royal family, pleading with them to keep her husband safe, if not her and Archie, but was told: “It’s just not possible.”
Attitudes towards Meghan
The Duke claimed the family’s attitude towards Meghan had changed after their hugely successful tour of Australia, when she was pregnant.
“It was the first time the family got to see how incredible she was at the job,” he said. Asked if they were jealous, he replied: “To see how effortless it was for Meghan to come into the family…. to just be able to connect with people.” He described his wife as “one of the greatest assets to the Commonwealth that the family could have ever wished for”.
Backlash
Asked if she feared a backlash from her revelations, the Duchess replied: “I’m not going to live my life in fear. I grieve a lot. I’ve lost my father, I’ve lost a baby. I nearly lost my name. But I’m still standing.” She compared herself to the Little Mermaid, a Disney character who married a prince then lost her voice, but got it back.