Former Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle recently opened up about her struggles with the royal family during an unprecedented tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Throughout the two-hour special, which aired on Sunday, March 7 on CBS, the actress made several shocking allegations, including claiming there were ‘concerns and conversations‘ among members of the royal family over the skin color of her and her husband’s son, Archie, before his birth in May 2019.
When asked by Winfrey if the cause for worry was that he’d be “too brown and that would be a problem,” Markle replied, “I wasn’t able to follow up with why, but if that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one.”
Markle clarified that she was not a part of these conversations, but that they were relayed to her through her husband, Prince Harry. She also refused to reveal the identities of those who had voiced these concerns, citing that it would be “very damaging to them.” When Prince Harry later joined the two women on the interview, he declined to reveal those responsible. “That conversation I am never going to share, but at the time, it was awkward, and I was a bit shocked,” he explained. “That was right at the beginning … what will the kids look like?”
The pair also revealed that Archie, the great-grandson of the current Queen of England and grandson of the future King, would not receive a courtesy title or be provided with security that usually accompanies that title — a direct violation of traditional royal protocol. When Winfrey asked Markle if she believed that his race played a role in that decision, she expressed that Archie’s access or lack of a title wasn’t a factor to her as much as his safety was. However, she stated, “the idea of the first member of color of this family not being titled in the same way” did not please her.
Markle’s remarks stunned viewers who took to social media to voice their opinions on the allegations. One Twitter user wrote, “The royal family was more concerned with Archie’s skin color than this actual ghost living in Buckingham Palace.”
Another person commented, “That statement Meghan made about the concern of Baby Archie’s skin color even made Oprah angry, and me, too!”
“You know how racist you gotta be to worry about Archie’s skin color? He’s the same shade as his cousins. #HarryandMeghanonOprah,” a third wrote.
The following day, during an interview with Gayle King on CBS, Winfrey said that off-air Prince Harry confirmed that it was neither the Queen nor Prince Philip who expressed concerns over Archie’s skin tone.
Markle revealed more details surrounding her and Prince Harry’s shocking decision to “step back as ‘senior’ members” of the British royal family — now infamously titled Megxit — including new information that director and actor Tyler Perry provided them with shelter after their location near Vancouver, Canada, was publicized by a British tabloid and their security services would be revoked by the palace.
The couple revealed that for three months in 2020, they and their infant son stayed at one of Perry’s homes in Southern California with a full security detail.
