LONDON (AP) – Britain and its royal family absorbed the tremors on Monday of a sensational television interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, in which the couple said they encountered racist attitudes and a lack of support that led the duchess to think of suicide.
In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, which lasted two hours, the couple painted a profoundly unfavorable picture of life inside the royal house, depicting a cold, indifferent institution that had to flee to save its life.
Meghan told Winfrey that at one point “I didn’t want to be more alive.” He said he sought help through the palace’s human resources department, but was told there was nothing he could do about it.
Meghan, 39, admitted that she was naive at the beginning of her relationship with Harry and that she was not prepared for the restrictions of real life.
The former TV star, who identifies herself as biracial, said that when she was pregnant with a child, Archie, there were “concerns and conversations about the darkness her skin might have when she was born.”
Harry confirmed the conversation and said, “I was a little surprised.” She said she would not reveal who made the comment, although Winfrey told her it was none of her grandparents, Queen Elizabeth II or her husband, Prince Philip.
Harry and Meghan, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced they would step down from royal duties last year and cited what they said were the unbearable racist intrusions and attitudes of the British media and moved to America. of the North. This division became official this year and the interview was widely seen as the first opportunity to explain their decision.
In a clip released Monday that was not aired the night before, Harry reiterated that racism was “a big part” of why the couple left Britain and blamed the “toxic” British tabloid press.
“The UK is not a fan,” he said. “The British press is a fanatic, specifically the tabloids.”
The implications of the interview, which aired Sunday night in the United States and will air in Britain on Monday night, are just beginning to be understood. Emily Nash, real editor of Hello! Magazine said the revelations had left her and many other viewers “shocked.”
“I don’t see how the palace can ignore these accusations, they are incredibly serious,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. Then you also have the statement that Meghan did not receive support and even asked for help from the human resources team of the house and she was told that she could not seek help ”.
The anti-monarchy group Republic said the interview gave a clearer picture of what the royal family is like and that it is not pretty.
“Whether for the sake of Britain or for the sake of younger kings, this rotten institution has to go,” said Graham Smith of the campaign group.
Harry, born a royal prince, described how his wife’s experience had helped him realize how he and the rest of the family were trapped in an oppressive institution.
“I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped,” Harry said. “My father and my brother, they’re trapped.”
Meghan, he said, “saved me.”
Younger families, including Harry, Meghan, Harry’s brother, Prince William, and William’s wife, Catherine, have made the mental health support and awareness campaign a priority. But Harry said the royal family was completely unable to offer that support to its own members.
“For the family, they have a lot of this mindset of,‘ That’s right, that’s how it should be, you can’t change, we’ve all been through it, ’Harry said.
The couple had faced severe criticism in the UK prior to the interview. Prince Philip, 99, is in a London hospital after recovering from a heart procedure and critics saw the decision to move forward as a burden for the queen, although CBS, in instead of Harry and Meghan, it dictated the time of the broadcast.
In the United States, sympathy for the couple arose after the interview. Britain might be less forgiving, as some believe the couple puts personal happiness ahead of public duty.
Tennis star Serena Williams, a friend who attended Harry and Meghan’s wedding, said on Twitter that the duchess’s words “illustrate the pain and cruelty she has experienced.”
“The consequences of systemic oppression and victimization on mental health are devastating, isolating and all too often lethal,” Williams added.
Meghan – then known as Meghan Markle, who had starred in the legal American television drama “Suits” – married Harry at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
But not even that was what it seemed: the couple revealed in the interview that they exchanged vows before the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, three days before their spectacular wedding ceremony at the castle.
Archie was born the following year and, at a rare positive moment in the interview, the couple revealed that their second child, who is due to come in the summer, would be a baby girl.
Harry said he had lived in fear of repeating the fate of his mother, Princess Diana, who was constantly covered by the press and died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 while being chased by the paparazzi.
“What I was seeing was that history was repeating itself, but certainly much more dangerous, because then career is added and social media is added,” Harry said.
Both Meghan and Harry praised the support they had received from the monarch.
“The queen has always been wonderful to me,” Meghan said.
But Harry revealed that he currently has a bad relationship with William and said that things went so badly with his father that at one point Prince Charles stopped receiving his calls.
“There’s a lot to work on,” Harry said of his relationship with his father. “I am just disappointed. He has experienced something similar. He knows how the pain feels. And Archie is his grandson. I will always love him, but there is a lot of bad that has happened.
Although the clips from the interview have been shared online and the British press covered the main points, much of Britain will not see the full interview until Monday night, and many will want to know how the palace addresses this saga. The palace did not respond to the interview.
The royal family has already known the scandal, most recently over Prince Andrew’s friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This led Andrew, Harry’s uncle, to be removed from royal duties.
“I am very sad for the Queen,” said Ernest Lee, 76, when questioned in London. “I think he has a lot of problems right now, and with one of his children (Andrew) and scandals and now his grandson is ripping off, moving away from the royal family. … We have enough problems in this world without the people do more. “
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If you or someone you know has suicidal thoughts, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the United States for help at 1-800-273-8255. The Samaritans of the United Kingdom can be reached at 116 123.