Meghan Markle and Prince Harry finally sat down with Oprah for a brand new — and highly controversial — interview on CBS where nothing was “off limits!”
With all the hubbub coming from across the pond — including the UK media’s desire to push the special to “a more appropriate time” considering Prince Philip has been in the hospital for a prolonged stay, and, of course, the allegations that the Suits actress bullied her former personal assistants to “tears” — we honestly got more and more excited for this premiere all week. And it certainly did not disappoint.
Related: Bethenny Frankel BASHES Meghan Markle Ahead Of The Big Interview
Speaking with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday for the first time since becoming an official royal (ties which the husband and wife have now officially broken), Archie Harrison‘s mom and dad dished all about mental health, racism in Britain, and the press. And the info was VERY shocking!
Here’s what they had to share.
Contents [hide]
Royal Wedding Tears
While Meghan did speak about entering royal life naively, — seriously, she said she “never looked up my husband online” and didn’t even know she had to “curtsy” for the Queen — the real tea came when she spoke about Kate Middleton for the first time. As most of you know, a major story that played out in the UK press following the wedding was that Meghan had made Kate cry over a flower girl dress. Well, as it turns out “the reverse happened.”
Meghan shared with Oprah about the incident:
“I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard…and she was upset about something and she owned it and she apologized and sent flowers and a note, apologizing. And she did what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone, right, to just take accountability for it.”
Meghan was vague when Oprah pressed her on the issue, but confirmed it had to do with the dresses:
“It made me cry and it really hurt my feelings. And I thought, in the context of everything else that was going on in those days leading to the wedding, that it didn’t make sense to not be just doing whatever—what everyone else was doing, which was trying to be supportive, knowing what was going on with my dad and whatnot.”
The former Duchess stressed it wasn’t “a confrontation” and Kate had “apologized and I’ve forgiven her,” Meghan was upset Kate wasn’t allowed to “negate” the story in the press, even though everyone knew what really happened.
“They wouldn’t let her, because she’s a good person. And I think so much of what I have seen play out is this idea of polarity, where if you love me, you don’t have to hate her. And if you love her, you don’t need to hate me.”
Meghan is speaking out about reports that she left Kate in tears leading up to her royal wedding due to a disagreement regarding bridesmaid dresses: "The reverse happened." https://t.co/apYNDM5HXC pic.twitter.com/dzxWAdw6oY
— People (@people) March 8, 2021
Yikes! Wonder what Buckingham Palace will say to that? It’s no surprise the Royal family has been dreading this TV special for quite some time. Sources previously told Page Six that Prince William and Kate had absolutely no interest in “this soap opera,” and that this scandal has been “like watching Elizabeth Hurley in The Royals.”
Duchess Unprotected
Meghan said that despite everything being taken from her — including her driver’s license, passport, social media, and website — she obeyed their rules and told her confidants to always answer “no comment” when asked about any of the royal happenings. She followed under the idea that she was to be protected by The Firm.
“I did anything they told me to do. Of course I did, because it was also through the lens of ‘And we’ll protect you.’ So, even as things started to roll out in the media that I didn’t see but my friends would call me and say, ‘Meg, this is really bad,’ because I didn’t see it, I’d go, ‘Don’t worry. I’m being protected.’”
But Meghan said everything started to get worse after the wedding:
“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, but they weren’t willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband.”
And the turning point was the dress story with the Duchess of Cambridge:
“The narrative about, you know, making Kate cry I think was the beginning of a real character assassination. And they knew it wasn’t true. And I thought, well, if they’re not going to kill things like that, then what are we going to.”
Suicidal Thoughts
Perhaps the most poignant moment of the sit-down was when the former actress opened up about the idea of taking her own life. She was pregnant with Archie, the UK press were relentless, and her mind would race in the evenings. She was constantly thinking that hurting herself would “solve everything for everyone”:
“Look, I was really ashamed to say it at the time and ashamed to have to admit it to Harry, especially, because I know how much loss he’s suffered, but I knew if I didn’t say it, then I would do it. I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening and constant thought.”
After her confession to Harry, both he and Meghan sought to get her help, but the requests were turned down:
“I went to the institution, and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that, ‘I’ve never felt this way before, and I need to go somewhere.’ And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution. I remember this conversation like it was yesterday, because they said, ‘My heart goes out to you, because I see how bad it is, but there’s nothing we can do to protect you, because you’re not a paid employee of the institution.’”
After that, she was forced to carry on with her Royal fanfare all while suffering:
“You have no idea what’s going on for someone behind closed doors. You have no idea. Even the people that smile the biggest smiles and shine the brightest lights.”
Meghan Markle says royal life took a staggering toll on her mental health, and revealed that she had thoughts of self-harm. ???? https://t.co/PrWj5RXGab pic.twitter.com/CMJtvYzezt
— People (@people) March 8, 2021
Concerns About Archie’s Skin Color
As it turns out, Meghan and Harry had no say in the decision to not give Archie a royal title — and the former Suits star says race was a factor:
“In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time—so we have in tandem the conversation of ‘He won’t be given security, he’s not going to be given a title,’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Oprah was of course SHOOK by this, as were we, and asked for clarification! Meghan shared that she was not privy to the convos, but that Harry had several chats with family about how dark Archie would be “and what that would mean or look like.” The Prince also confirmed the conversations happened, but would not go into detail.
Crazy, right??
Regarding the chats Meghan was not part of, Oprah asked:
“Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?”
She replied:
“I wasn’t able to follow up with why, but that—if that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?”
Meghan again stressed they had no say in the decision about Archie not being named a Prince:
“Even though I have a lot of clarity with what comes with the titles, good and bad, and from my experience a lot of pain, I wouldn’t wish pain on my child, but that’s their birthright to then make a choice about.”
And this all meant he “wasn’t going to receive security” without the higher title:
“It’s like, OK, well, he needs to be safe, so we’re not saying, ‘Don’t make him a prince or a princess,’ whatever it’s going to be. But if you’re saying the title is what’s going to affect their protection, we haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder. You’ve allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe.”
Meghan Markle is opening up about baby Archie and the "concerns" that were raised about his skin color. https://t.co/NzIAQaOchX pic.twitter.com/ffFAicU4ik
— People (@people) March 8, 2021
Not Concerned With Backlash
When asked by Oprah about how she thought the Palace would react, Meghan said:
“I wasn’t planning to say anything shocking. I’m just telling you what happened. It’s been a lot.”
Speaking on how she felt members of the Royal family were “perpetuating falsehoods” about her, the 39-year-old shared:
“I’m not going to live my life in fear. So much of it is said with an understanding of just truth… But I think to answer your question, I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time, we could still just be silent if there is an active role the firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us. If that comes with risk of losing thing, I’ve lost…there’s been a lot that’s been lost already. I grieve a lot. I lost my father, I lost a baby, I nearly lost my name. I mean, there’s the loss of identity, but I’m still standing. My hope for people in the takeaway from this is to know there is another side, to know that life is worth living.”
It’s a GIRL!
Meghan and Harry are expecting a baby girl sometime this summer!!
Harry shared his feeling on being a dad again:
“Just grateful, like, to have any child, any one or any two would have been amazing. But to have a boy and then a girl, you know, what more can you ask for?”
They also revealed they’re done having children. The family of four will be so sweet!
The Truth About Megxit
No, they did not blindside the Queen!! Harry said:
“I would never blindside my grandmother. I have too much respect for her.”
As for why they ultimately left, H said it was “lack of support and lack of understanding” from both the Royal family and the press. It’s all making way more sense why this “Megxit” was so unavoidable. And good for Prince Harry for sticking by his lady so Princess Diana‘s tragic history doesn’t repeat itself.
Royal Contract With The Media
Harry revealed the Palace and the press have an understanding:
“There is what’s termed or referred to as the ‘invisible contract’ behind closed doors between the institution and the tabloids, the UK Tabloids…. To simplify it, it’s a case of if you as a family member are willing to wine, dine, and give full access to these reporters, then you will get better press.”
Perhaps this is the exact reason why all the Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein stuff gets buried over and over again. Makes a whole lot of sense!
The institution, Harry said, “survives based on that perception” the papers print and:
“Everyone needs to have some compassion for [the royals] in that situation, right? There is a level of control by fear that has existed for generations…I mean, generations.”
Royal family members are terrified of what will be said about them, so tabloid reporters get to attend events at Buckingham Palace. Except with Meghan and Harry, there was no ease and the racism was rampant. Meg said:
“See, I think there’s a reason that these tabloids have holiday parties at the palace. They’re hosted by the palace, the tabloids are. You know, there is a construct that’s at play there. And because, from the beginning of our relationship, they were so attacking and inciting so much racism, really, it changed…the risk level, because it wasn’t just catty gossip. It was bringing out a part of people that was racist in how it was charged. And that changed the threat. That changed the level of death threats. That changed everything. “
Harry Was Cut Off Financially
Prince Harry confessed the idea of deals with Spotify and Netflix came after “my family literally cut me off financially” in the first quarter of 2020. He added that he had money left to him by his late mother and “without that, we wouldn’t have been able to do this.” He said:
“All I wanted was enough money to get security and keep my family safe.”
Ok, so….
Thoughts on this wild tell-all, Perezcious readers?? What stood out to you the most? What do you predict Buckingham Palace’s response will be to all this? Let’s talk all things royals in the comments (below)!
[Image via CBS/YouTube & WENN/Avalon]
The post Racism, Suicidal Thoughts, & Royal Tears — All The EXPLOSIVE Moments From Meghan Markle & Prince Harry's Tell-All Interview With Oprah! appeared first on Perez Hilton.
