Meghan accuses UK royals of racism, says 'didn't want to be alive'
Meghan said she was naive before she married into the royal family in 2018, but that she ended up having suicidal thoughts and considering self harm after asking for help but getting none
Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, accused Britain's royal family of raising concerns about how dark their son's skin might be and pushing her to the brink of suicide, in a tell-all television interview that will send shockwaves through the monarchy.
The 39-year-old, whose mother is Black and father is white, said she had been naive before she married into royalty in 2018, but that she ended up having suicidal thoughts and considering self harm after pleading for help but getting none.
Meghan said that her son Archie, now aged one, had been denied the title of prince because there were concerns within the royal family about "about how dark his skin might be when he's born".
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"That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations that family had with him," Meghan recounted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on CBS late on Sunday.
Meghan declined to say who had aired such concerns, as did Harry. He said his family had cut them off financially and that his father Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, had let him down and refused to take his calls at one point.
The couple also revealed that Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, was expecting a girl.
Buckingham Palace had no immediate comment about the interview, which aired in the early hours of Monday morning in Britain.
The two-hour broadcast was the most anticipated royal interview since Harry's late mother Princess Diana shared intimate details of her failed marriage to Charles in 1995, denting the heir's reputation and the family's standing in the eyes of the British public.
"The monarchy has just been hit by its worst crisis since the abdication" of Edward VIII in 1936, said Republic, a campaign group that wants to abolish the monarchy. "This rotten institution needs to go."
Nearly three years since her star-studded wedding in Windsor Castle, Meghan described some unidentified members of the royal household as brutal, mendacious and guilty of racist remarks.
She also accused Kate, the wife of her husband's elder brother Prince William, of making her cry before her wedding.
While the family came in for open criticism, neither Harry nor Meghan attacked Queen Elizabeth directly.
Still, Meghan said she had been silenced by "the Firm" - which Elizabeth heads - and that her pleas for help while in distress at racist reporting and her predicament had fallen on deaf ears.
"I just didn't want to be alive any more. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember how he (Harry) just cradled me," Meghan said, wiping away tears.
'Queen Has Been Wonderful'
Meghan said people within the royal institution not only failed to protect her against malicious claims but lied to protect others.
"It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family," Meghan said.
"There's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution, those are two separate things and it's important to be able to compartmentalise that because the queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me."
Meghan denied a newspaper story that she had made Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, cry before the wedding and said it was a turning point in her relations with the media.
"That was a turning point," Meghan said. Asked if she made Kate cry, Meghan replied: "The reverse happened."
"A few days before the wedding she (Kate) was upset about something, pertaining to yes the issue was correct about the flower girl dresses, and it made me cry. And it really hurt my feelings," Meghan said.
Meghan told Winfrey she had been naive before her wedding and did not realise what she was marrying into when she joined the British royal family.
"I will say I went into it naively, because I didn't grow up knowing much about the royal family," Meghan said.
Meghan explained that she was not being paid for the interview.
'Pople In The British Royal Institution Lied'
Meghan said that the British royal family tried to silence her and people within the institution not only failed to protect her against malicious claims but lied to protect others.
"It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family," Meghan said in an interview with US station CBS.
"But they weren't willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband," she said.
Asked if she was not supported by the powers that be, she said:
"There's the family, and then there's the people that are running the institution, those are two separate things and it's important to be able to compartmentalise that because the queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me."
Meghan says was naive before marrying into British royal family
Kate Middleton Made Meghan Cry
Meghan told Oprah Oprah Winfrey that Kate, who is married to Harry's brother Prince William, had made her cry just before her 2018 wedding.
Speaking on US station CBS late on Sunday, Meghan denied a newspaper story that she had made Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, cry before the wedding and said it was a turning point in her relations with the media.
"That was a turning point," Meghan said. Asked if she made Kate cry, Meghan replied: "The reverse happened."
"A few days before the wedding she (Kate) was upset about something, pertaining to yes the issue was correct about the flower girl dresses, and it made me cry. And it really hurt my feelings," Meghan said.
"There wasn't a confrontation and ... I don't think it's fair to her to get into the details of that because she apologised, and I forgiven her. What was hard to get over was being blamed for something that not only I didn't do, but that happened to me."
Meghan said she had been naive before her wedding and did not realise what she was marrying into when she joined the British royal family.
"I will say I went into it naively, because I didn't grow up knowing much about the royal family," Meghan said.
Secretly Got Married 3 Days Before Royal Wedding
Meghan also revealed that she and Harry got married in secret three days before the official ceremony. "Three days before our wedding, we got married," she said, revealing that they swapped vows in private before Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welsby ahead of the televised spectacle on May 19 2018 at Britain's Windsor Castle.
"No one knows that. But we called the archbishop, and we just said, 'Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us.'"
Meghan Considered Suicide While a British Royal
Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, said she was so unhappy in the British royal family that she considered suicide or self harm after asking for help but getting none.
"I just didn't want to be alive any more. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought. And I remember how he (Harry) just cradled me," Meghan said in an interview with US station CBS.
Asked if she thought of harming herself or having suicidal thoughts she said: "Yes. This was very, very clear, ... and very scary."
Lies And Tears
There have also been allegations of bullying against Meghan which appeared in The Times newspaper in the buildup to the couple's appearance. Buckingham Palace said it would investigate the claims, adding it was "very concerned".
Meghan told Winfrey that people within the royal institution not only failed to protect her against malicious claims but lied to protect others.
"It was only once we were married and everything started to really worsen that I came to understand that not only was I not being protected but that they were willing to lie to protect other members of the family," Meghan said.
Meghan, who said they were not paid for the interview, conceded she had not realised what she was marrying into when she joined the British monarchy and "went into it naively".
