"It was very clear they would remain as very close members of the family.". The royal family and their aides have some challenging accusations to answer about why a suicidal Meghan was not supported and given help, and about the allegations of racism. While friends of Harry and Meghan, as well as Winfrey and even friends of the US talk show host, followed up the bombshell interview with yet more allegations and details, the official response from all three palaces was silence. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism. "It is a reminder that too many people experience racism in 21st-century Britain. "Talk of Royals “hiding behind the sofa” ahead of the primetime, no-holds-barred chat appeared to underestimate quite what the couple had in store. Dean Stott, who has known the Duke of Sussex for more than a decade after they met during military training, described the interview as "powerful", "honest" and "uncomfortable at times". Read more: Member of Royal family worried about colour of Archie's skin, says Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. "You can feel his sadness and I think what he said in the interview last night on continuing to mend that relationship is what he intends to do but it is very sad.". Vicky Ford has said there is "no place for racism", after the Duchess of Sussex claimed that a member of the Royal family raised "concerns" about how dark Archie's skin would be before his birth. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born.". One obstacle to improved relations may prove to be the 'tell-all' TV interview Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, have agreed to do with Oprah Winfrey. we've actually not just survived but are thriving" calling it a miracle". At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked.". As devastating accusations of racism played out in public after Harry and Meghan’s interview, the family held grimly to trusted PR strategy, Gordon Rayner writes. The formal ceremony was done by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Gayle King, a CBS anchor and a friend of the Duchess, told her morning show: "I don't know what people were expecting but they weren't expecting that.". ", In January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan announced plans to step back as senior members of the Royal family. The Duchess said she entered the Royal family "naively", but had since become aware of Diana's "famous" tell-all interview with Martin Bashir. The Duchess says that the decision not to give Archie a title was made by the Palace. The interview also produced new pictures of Meghan and Harry's son Archie running along a beach. The Duchess of Sussex said she felt so low at one point that she told the Duke of Sussex that she could not be left alone because she was afraid she might harm herself. Harry said his first thought was "amazing" when he discovered they were having a girl, adding: "Just grateful. Much of the focus was on the revelation that a senior royal discussed the Duke and Duchess's son Archie and "how dark his skin might be when he's born.". The Queen and Prince Philip have been ruled out after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed a senior member of the Royal family made racist comments about their unborn son. "In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time, so we have in tandem the conversation of, you won't be given security, not gonna be given a title and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born.”. New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with The Queen as Sovereign. "[They] said to me 'please don't do this with the media, they will destroy your life'...This person is friends with all the editors," the Prince said. Read Nick Allen's full story on reaction here. Past and present employees are to be invited to speak in confidence about their experiences of working for the duchess, after it was alleged she drove out two personal assistants and that staff were "humiliated" on several occasions. They include the fact the Sussexes left the UK in part due to racism, that Meghan believes her father betrayed her and the Queen being too busy to meet Prince Harry. But she added that the wider Palace institution denied her access to mental health help. "The issues that Meghan has raised of racism and mental health are really serious issues. All the astonishing claims about the Royal Family are made at the time and place they wanted to make them. The Duchess of Sussex said she knows the gender of her baby and it will be revealed later on during the interview, which was filmed at a friend's house. Two hours of the interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex failed to make it into the final edit, raising the prospect of further explosive revelations being drip fed by US television. She added: "We aren't going to provide additional commentary from here on behalf of the president, or others, given these are private citizens sharing their own story and their own struggles. Harry said he ultimately decided to step back because of a "lack of support and lack of understanding" from both the British press and the Royal institution. Oprah Winfrey also recalled a conversation she had with Meghan when she first approached her in 2018 and said: "She had just joined the Royal family and she shared a conversation with me then that made me feel somewhat disheartened. There are even calls for the monarchy to be abolished. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey will air hours after the Queen makes a televised address. “There was an incident at the wedding rehearsal,” a source said. In this exclusive clip, they tell @Oprah they were then invited to spend time with his grandmother, the Queen, but the plans abruptly changed citing she's "busy all week." I stopped and I said the UK is not bigoted. He sighed, he did a leg judder, he did a tongue poke. In that last section of the interview, Harry made a number of claims about the Palace: Prince Harry says he still feels compassion for his father and brother because they are also "trapped". “I’m acutely aware of where my family stand and how acutely scared they are of the tabloids turning on them,” he told Oprah. Prince Harry said the couple had done everything they could to try to remain a part of the Royal family and considered living in a Commonwealth country like Canada or New Zealand in order to satisfy the Palace. And then he said, can you put this all in writing? The incident was first reported in The Telegraph which claimed that there had been a “row” over whether the young bridesmaids should wear tights for the Sussexes' wedding in 2018. 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. "To have any child, any one or any two, would have been amazing. He said that any racism that existed was on social media. Meghan and Harry reportedly decided to sit for the TV interview with Oprah, who is a friend and neighbor of theirs, because they wanted to have the last word on Megxit, Express reports. But across the pond there was excitement as America celebrated bagging “the fun prince” and his glamorous American wife. Read more: Meghan told me about her problems – this is a storm that could have been avoided. The Telegraph's Associate Editor Camilla Tominey has written an analysis of the Oprah interview, complete with a number of "marmalade-dropper" moments. The interview ended with the Duchess declaring: "in some ways just the beginning for us. During their chat with Oprah Winfrey, the couple confirmed it was a Los Angeles mansion owned by Perry they fled to when leaving Canada early last year, days before the first coronavirus lockdown. "He said: 'You need to understand that the UK is bigoted'. ", Meghan, laughing, added: "I've watched some of it.". In the two-hour interview broadcast in the United States, the Duchess of Sussex revealed she had suicidal thoughts as a senior member of the Royal family and that there were "concerns" about Archie's skin colour before he was born. But after the wedding, things got worse, the Duchess says. If you're just waking up, our video team have this clip of highlights for you from the extraordinary two-hour interview of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's claims. Pressure is growing on the Palace after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the allegations made by the Duchess must be taken seriously. Congratulations my friends, and welcome to the #girldad club H ❤️#internationalwomensday #womenshistorymonth #remoteshoot #shotonipad #shotbymisan #itsagirl pic.twitter.com/OONzZrBBYK. The Queen is busy, she's busy all week'. I can't imagine it, so it's hard for me to reconcile that. "It was probably the most astonishing royal interview I have ever seen in my life", says Camilla Tominey. The spokesman sidestepped the question about whether Mr Johnson would agree with children's minister Vicky Ford that it is unacceptable to ask about the skin colour of an unborn child. "When he talked about 72 Members of Parliament stood up and none of his family did and that hurts, I could feel he really deeply meant that. I just didn't want to be alive any more". "There is no question they went to California with the good wishes of the Queen and her family. "I've said before that I've not sensed an appetite from New Zealanders for significant change in our constitutional arrangements, and I don't expect that's likely to change quickly," she said. It looks like Harry and Meghan's sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey will have to be heavily 're-edited' and on top of that, the Queen has now announced her own TV appearance. Oprah asked Prince Harry whether he was suggesting the Royal family were "jealous" of Meghan, in the same way the recent Netflix series The Crown had suggested they were of his mother. Prince Harry described attending a fundraising dinner for his Sentebale charity during which a well-connected friend warned him about racism in the UK. He said "the moment we landed in the UK" he got a message from his private secretary at the time, passing on a message from the Queen's private secretary. “Kate had only just given birth to Prince Louis and was feeling quite emotional,” one insider said at the time. Check back later this afternoon to see if your comment has been included in a round-up of the best reaction. The Prince said the turning point for the couple came after their tour of Australia. Harry said: "That conversion, I am never going to share. That's according to Rozina Sabur, The Telegraph’s Washington Correspondent, who added that American television anchors had been “full of condemnation” on Monday for the Royal family. Meghan dabbed away tears as she said she eventually told him just hours before they attended the premiere of Cirque du Soleil's Totem in January 2019 (you can see their appearance below), when she was around five months pregnant. @Oprah joins us exclusively with her reaction on that revealing interview. ", She added: "The stories about blindsiding the Queen were very damaging to them and hurtful to them, there had clearly been months and months of preparation before they moved to Canada.". Watch the video below: Here's what we found out in that last section of the interview: Now, the Duchess of Sussex tells Oprah she was "silenced" when she joined the family. "As for the rest of all other matters to do with the Royal Family, I've spent a long time now not commenting on Royal Family matters and I don't intend to depart from that today.". The Duchess opens the interview by invoking the infamous interview done by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995. Our video team has pulled together the new, unseen clips that have been released this afternoon from the interview. He added that it happened "right at the beginning" of their relationship. He describes the circumstances leading up to the couple stepping back from the Royal family. The Duchess added that the decision not to give Archie a title was made by the Palace. But the truth, Camilla Tominey says, is that there is no way back for the Sussexes from this incredible interview. The interview sparked a wave of goodwill for the Duchess in particular, and was widely seen as disastrous for the palace. The two-hour blockbuster will be broadcast by ITV and on ITV hub on Monday at 9pm. Telegraphcolumnist Allison Pearson says the Duchess of Sussex's claims of suicidal thoughts appeared to be little more than attention-seeking. Meghan beamed as she spoke about her unborn child, a girl, the Sussexes confirmed. By contrast, the Duchess said her mother Doria Ragland had been living in "silent dignity" despite being "hunted" by the press. ", "He said: 'No, the UK is bigoted.' The feeling is this was our decision therefore the consequences are on us. Oprah's interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry has sparked a bidding war among UK broadcasters with ITV emerging as the 'frontrunner'.. Coming up on @CBS. "It's extremely hard to refute a lot of what they said.". It comes after the pair officially left the royal family and they were stripped of their royal titles. Asking whether the couple have watched The Crown, Harry replied: "I've watched some of it. The Duchess has claimed the Palace was willing to "lie" to protect "other" members of the Royal family rather than correct reports about her. "They saw how good she [Meghan] was at the job," he said, adding: "That brought back memories.". But what we didn’t anticipate about the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ Oprah interview is how unvarnished their “truth” was actually going to be," she writes. He said that despite being "trapped", he "didn't see a way out" or realise he was trapped until he met Meghan. Hours later - at 1am British time - the interview with Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, will be broadcast on US network CBS. All the men in grey suits who she hates have a lot to answer for, because they did absolutely nothing to protect people.”. The Duchess described Harry cradling her and looking back on an event where he gripped her tightly by the hand to protect her. "But ultimately, the matters that are being canvassed here I see as for Meghan and Harry to respond to directly. PIERS Morgan compared "embarrassing" Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to dictators like Kim Jong-un after the first glimpse at their Oprah interview was …