Just a hop, skip and a couple of days after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry dropped numerous bombshells on Oprah Winfrey over at CBS, the Royal Family has made an official statement, thus breaking the silence on some of the claims the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made. Specifically, in terms of comments Meghan Markle made alleging a member of the Royal Family had voiced concerns about the color of their child Archie’s skin before his birth.
The bombshell statement spread like wildfire as the interview was airing and after it aired Sunday evening on CBS. The next day, Oprah Winfrey herself cleared up some of the claims, stating on a Good Morning America appearance that it was neither Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip who had made the claims. Here is the Royal Family’s official statement on the matter:
The whole family is saddened to learn the extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family in private. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.
The statement, made on “Royal communications” stationary to boot, was featured by Harper’s Bazaar Royal Editor Omid Scoobie on social and on various other outlets online. It’s the first official statement the palace has made about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex since they officially left their Royal Duties back in February. Just a few weeks ago, it was "officially" confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would no longer be "returning as working members of the Royal Family." At the time, the press release mentioned "all" were "saddened by the decision."
This leads to another point of contention in which the official release by the Royal Family and the stories from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry don't quite match up. In the interview, both Harry and Meghan said that they wanted to continue to be a part of the Royal Family with its duties, just no longer as "Senior" members, which they say would have given them more freedom and flexibility. At the time, they had already moved from the U.K., first to Canada and then to the Los Angeles area.
From their points of view, they weren't given the option to only partially step down, which led to other issues and inconsiderations, like losing security for Archie and Meghan, but also Prince Harry, who said he was surprised given he didn't choose his role in society but inherited it. This was only one of many stories that Markle in particular told about her life at the palace, and the biggest had to do with race. Prince Harry confirmed the aforementioned Archie story, noting a role family member had question how dark their first child might be, and that the conversation happened right at the beginning of his marriage, noting,
That was right at the beginning, when she wasn’t going to get security, when members of my family were suggesting that she carries on acting, because there was not enough money to pay for her, all this sort of stuff. Like, there was some real obvious signs before we even got married that this was going to be really hard.
Both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declined to mention who in the Royal Family had voiced any concerns over how Archie might look when he was born.
Meanwhile, the CBS interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry was the first foray the formerly Royal Family members took into the world of entertainment. They have also kicked off their own production company and will be producing content for Netflix moving forward. Though Prince Harry says he still has a legacy from his famous mother Princess Diana, he and Markle will be supporting themselves through their ventures moving forward, though it's worth noting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle already put the kibosh on plans to trademark Sussex Royal after leaving their Senior duties, with rumors intimating the Queen may have had thoughts on that matter.
