Queen and Philip did not make the comment about Archie’s skin tone, Harry tells Oprah
8 March 2021, 13:31 | Updated: 10 March 2021, 05:11
The Duke of Sussex told Oprah Winfrey that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were not the royals who remarked on the colour of Archie's skin, it emerged today.
Oprah Winfrey told CBS This Morning that Harry told her it was not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh who made the racist comment about how dark their baby's skin would be.
She said: "He did not share the identity with me but he wanted to make sure I knew, and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother or grandfather that were part of those conversations."
Harry did not reveal to Oprah who made the comment. "He did not tell me who was a part of those conversations," Oprah said.
In one of the major bombshell moments from the couple's interview, Meghan told Oprah that there were concerns in the Royal Family about son Archie's skin colour before he was born.
The Duchess of Sussex claimed there were "several conversations" about her son's skin tone, but said revealing who was involved in the talks "would be very damaging to them".
Meghan made the allegation during her and Harry's highly-anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired in the US in the early hours of Monday morning.
During a discussion about one-year-old Archie and his role in the Royal Family, Meghan told the talk show host that there had been "concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he is born".
A shocked Oprah asked: "Who is having that conversation?"
Meghan replied by saying there were "several conversations" with the Duke of Sussex about Archie's skin tone and "what that would mean or look like" for the family.
Read more: Meghan tells Oprah: 'I just didn't want to be alive anymore'
Read more: Harry and Meghan reveal in Oprah interview they are having baby girl
Pushed on who had conducted those conversations with Harry, Meghan said: "I think that would be very damaging to them".
She added: "That was relayed to me from Harry, those were conversations the family had with him, and I think it was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalised conversations."
Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be "too brown" and if that would be a problem, Meghan said: "If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one."
When the Duke of Sussex joined the interview, Winfrey asked him to disclose the content of the conversation Meghan referred to earlier about the colour of Archie's skin.
Harry said: "That conversion, I am never going to share. At the time it was awkward, I was a bit shocked."
He added that he was "not comfortable" sharing the question he was asked by the unnamed person, but said it happened "right at the beginning" of their relationship.
Read more: Meghan's friends rally to her defence after bullying allegations
Read more: Queen stresses importance of family as royal rift deepens
He also claimed that none of his relatives spoke out in support of Meghan following the racism he said she faced in the media.
The prince said members of his family suggested Meghan "carried on acting because there was not enough money to pay for her".
He added: "There were some real obvious signs, before we even got married, that this was going to be really hard."
Meghan also suggested she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince so he would have security and be protected.
The duchess expressed her shock at "the idea of our son not being safe", and the notion that the first member of colour in this family would not be titled in the same way as the other royal grandchildren.
Archie - who is seventh in line to the throne - is not entitled to be an HRH or a prince due to rules set out more than a century ago by King George V.
Meghan Markle reveals to Oprah she had suicidal thoughts
Meghan: 'I just didn't want to be alive anymore'
The Duchess of Sussex confessed during the interview with Oprah Winfrey that she had suicidal thoughts at the height of her time in the monarchy.
Meghan told the American talk show host that she had contemplated taking her own life, saying: "I just didn't want to be alive anymore."
Asked directly by Oprah whether she was considering self-harm and having suicidal thoughts at one point, Meghan replied: "Yes. This was very, very clear.
"Very clear and very scary. I didn't know who to turn to in that."
She said she later reached out to one of the best friends of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Harry and Meghan having baby girl
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed that their son Archie will have a little sister as they are having a baby girl in the summer.
Harry and Meghan said their daughter will complete their family, with the duchess declaring: "Two is it."
At the start of the interview, Meghan said she knows the gender of the baby, telling Winfrey: "We do this time. I will wait for my husband to join us and we can share that with you."
The duke joined his wife in the second half of the chat, and told the chat show host: "It's a girl."
He said his first thought was "amazing" when he discovered the gender, adding: "Just grateful. To have any child, any one or any two, would have been amazing.
"But to have a boy and then a girl, I mean what more can you ask for? Now we've got our family, we got the four of us and our two dogs."
Asked if they were "done" with two children, Harry said "done", and Meghan said: "Two is it."
Key points from Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview
These are the key points following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's bombshell interview with American talk show host Oprah Winfrey:
- Royal Family accused of racism over son Archie's skin colour
- Meghan had suicidal thoughts and "didn't want to be alive"
- Duke and Duchess of Sussex having a baby girl in the summer
- Harry felt "really let down" by his father Prince Charles
- Rift between Harry and William continues and they're on "different paths"
- Harry denied "blindsiding" the Queen when stepping down as Royal
- Meghan said sister-in-law Kate made her cry ahead of her wedding
- Harry: Royal Family "cut me off financially" in first quarter of 2020
- Meghan suggested she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince
If you are affected by any of the above and need emotional support then contact the Samaritans helpline 24 hours a day on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch or visit their website.
