Social media reacted with wide-ranging discussions on racial attitudes Monday morning after Sunday night’s nationally broadcast interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
In a two-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, painted a deeply unflattering picture of life inside the royal household, depicting a cold, uncaring institution that they had to flee to save their lives.
Meghan told Winfrey that at one point “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore” and that she had uncontrollable suicidal thoughts. She said she sought help through the palace’s human resources department but was told there was nothing they could do.
Meghan Markle is less than 25% black.
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) March 8, 2021
Her son is less than 12% black.
Her and Harry implying that everything that happened to them is because of her blackness is a sickening level of scapegoating.
What Harry is doing to his family (who cannot respond) is unforgivable.
Meghan, 39, admitted that she was naive at the start of her relationship with Harry and unprepared for the strictures of royal life.
The former television star, who identifies as biracial, said when she was pregnant with their son, Archie, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Has Harry ever stopped to look at himself and wonder why his Dad started to ignore his calls?
— Rule Brexitannia (@RuleBrexitannia) March 8, 2021
Has Meghan ever stopped to look at her own behaviour and understand why people may take a dislike to her?
The lack of self awareness coupled with a victim mentality is astonishing. pic.twitter.com/7VBvBfVfIe
Harry confirmed the conversation, saying: “I was a bit shocked.” He said he would not reveal who made the comment, but Winfrey revealed Monday morning that it was not Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip.
I don’t know Royal Protocols, but Harry & Meghan, they’re ours now right?
— Kilogram Parsons 🌹 (@KilogramParsons) March 8, 2021
For the Olympics, the Oscars, Health Clinic openings, floods - they’re going to show up and, just like root for everyone right?
Because we really need to get the racism tamped down before we blow it, too pic.twitter.com/26sJc4Boqz
The pair, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced they were quitting royal duties last year, citing what they said were the unbearable intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media. That split became official earlier this year, and the interview was widely seen as their first opportunity to explain their decision.
Tyler Perry offered Harry and Meghan his home for months when they moved to the US. He gave them security when the royal family wouldn't. Oprah allowed them share their story. Black people showing love &support❤ #OprahMeghanHarry pic.twitter.com/wZctYkba4I
— Dr Toolz (@toolzbeib) March 8, 2021
The interview was broadcast Sunday night in the United States and will air in Britain on Monday night.
How all this Meghan and Harry stuff is playing out is literally the worst nightmare of every racist parent who has said “just don’t bring one of them home...”
— machine gun Kele (@kelechnekoff) March 8, 2021
Harry, born a royal prince, described how his wife’s experience had helped him realize how he and the rest of the family were stuck in an oppressive institution.
Prince Harry is the man to Meghan that Prince Charles never was to Diana in all aspect
— Aderinsola.oj #endsars (@Adufe_oniCake) March 8, 2021
And that hits different.... #HarryandMeghanonOprah
“I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped,” Harry said. “My father and my brother, they are trapped.”
Meghan, he said, “saved me.”
I believe what’s been exposed over Harry and Meghan is how racism has become normalised in U.K. Some of the comments with regards to Meghan, are the most racist I’ve ever encountered in my life. Encouraged by MSM and blue tick accounts. It’s repugnant. #RacistUK
— Teri ⚫️ #CorbynProject 🏳️🌈🤘🏻 (@MettlesomeTeri) March 8, 2021
The younger royals — including Harry, Meghan, Harry’s brother, Prince William, and William’s wife, Catherine — have made campaigning for support and awareness around mental health one of their priorities.
So Meghan attended an evening event with Harry because she was ‘too afraid to be left at home alone’
— sandieshoes (@sandieshoes) March 8, 2021
And if you believe that 🤦♀️
But Harry said the royal family was completely unable to offer that support to its own members.
British media: Meghan is a disgrace to the monarchy, and brings shame on the country - poor Harry!
— Nadine Batchelor-Hunt (@nadinebh_) March 8, 2021
British media: *crickets on Prince Andrew*
“For the family, they very much have this mentality of ‘This is just how it is, this is how it’s meant to be, you can’t change it, we’ve all been through it,’” Harry said.
Harry and Meghan’s escape from the limelight hits a small snag after they accidentally record a two-hour interview that will dominate the global news cycle until April.
— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) March 8, 2021
The couple had faced severe criticism in the United Kingdom before the interview. Prince Philip, Harry’s 99-year-old grandfather, is in a London hospital after recovering from a heart procedure, and critics saw the decision to go forward as being a burden on the queen — even though CBS, rather than Harry and Meghan, dictated the timing of the broadcast.
Meghan — then known as Meghan Markle, who had starred on the American TV legal drama “Suits” — married Harry, a grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle in May 2018.
Meghan is biracial with light skin and is getting so much hate. I wonder what would have happened if Harry married a dark chocolate full blown African woman?!
— Gracey 🦋 (@Gracebal0) March 8, 2021
But even that was not what it seemed: The couple revealed in the interview that they exchanged vows in front of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby three days before their spectacular wedding ceremony at the castle.
“We called the archbishop and we just said, ‘Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us,’” Meghan said.
Kate (Karen) Middleton made Meghan cry days before her wedding only to paint herself as the victim to British tabloids.
— M Jjunju (@J_______mahm) March 8, 2021
This is why Black women believe Meghan, they’re always painted as the antagonists & aggressors even in the face of abuse #MeghanandHarryonOprah #HarryandMeghan pic.twitter.com/ExmutIHPqs
Archie was born the following year, and in a rare positive moment in the interview, the couple revealed their second child, due in the summer, would be a girl.
Holding hands, Harry and Meghan sat opposite Winfrey while she questioned them in a lush garden setting. The couple lives in Montecito, California, where they are Winfrey’s neighbors.