As the world digests the details of the first couple stepping back from the royal family voluntarily, another interview with Oprah Winfrey shocks the public. The claims made in the interview, such as Meghan’s suicidal thoughts and racist conversations about her baby’s skin color with a senior royal, are extremely serious. Earlier, Prince Harry had talked of the royal family’s lack of support and understanding on the couple’s mental health, and emphasized that their struggles might have been coming from “within the institution.”

After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had announced that they were leaving the British Royal family in 2019, many questions were asked of the British monarchy’s continued relevance in the 21st century. Previously, Prince Harry opened up about what made them quit, saying that the “toxic” press was “destroying” him as an individual as well as his mental health. In “The Late Late Show” hosted by British James Corden, he reasoned that “[he] was stepping back rather than stepping down,” as a result of the very difficult environment that he had been surrounded by. He also added that the decision he made was “what any husband, what any father would do.”

 The claims made by the couple in the interview with Oprah paint a picture of a very outmoded institution that has failed to face challenges completely normal in the 21st century, even though Harry marrying Meghan marked a massive step forward in modernizing the royal family.  “Harry and Meghan were superstars who could have been such a positive thing for the family in modernizing,” according to Kate Williams who is a leading royal historian and professor of public engagement with history at the UK’s University of Reading. 

Trying to fight her tears back, Meghan said that she had never been more isolated and lonelier than when she was working as a royal that she was having suicidal thoughts, since she felt like she “just didn’t want to be alive anymore.” She also revealed an allegation of racism from a member of the family who was raising concerns about her baby’s skin color and threatened her that he would never get any royal titles. 

The unnamed family member asked Meghen about her son’s skin color and “what that would mean or look like.” Harry refused to name the family member, yet explained that he was “a bit shocked” by the conversation. Meanwhile, he also admitted that his relationships with his father, Prince Charles, and Prince Williams, have worsened during the recent years and stated that the British media put him as well as his wife in a very negative light. 

As the Buckingham Palace remained silent, the British media, including tabloids and newspapers, covered the fallout. Journalists, during a press conference on COVID-19, asked Jorris Bohnson, prime minister of England, for his thoughts on the Oprah interview, yet he declined to comment it, as in his response he stated that he always had “the highest admiration for the Queen and the unifying role that she plays” in England. In addition, Harry criticized the palace that they are in fear of media coverage and expressed that they had very little freedom while part of the family.