Oprah reveals Meghan told her she was ‘advised’ to be ‘half herself’ after joining Royal Family
Oprah reveals Meghan told her in 2018 that she was ‘advised’ to be ‘half herself’ after joining Royal Family – and says she was ‘surprised’ by couple’s racism claims during CBS interview
- On Sunday night, Meghan revealed there was ‘a conversation’ about ‘how dark’ Archie’s skin would be before he was born
- She wouldn’t say who made the comment to Harry and neither would he
- It was a stunning claim against the monarchy that prompted Oprah and the millions watching to ask who said it?
- Harry, behind the scenes, told Oprah that it was neither The Queen nor Prince Philip
- Oprah revealed on CBS on Monday morning that even when the cameras were down, he would not say who it was but he wanted her to know it was ‘neither of his grandparents’
The Duchess of Sussex was advised ‘it would be best if she could be 50 per cent less’, according to Oprah Winfrey.
The talk show star said Meghan confided in her in 2018, and the conversation left Winfrey ‘disheartened’.
Miss Winfrey appeared on US breakfast show CBS This Morning to discuss her bombshell interview with Meghan and the Duke of Sussex and recalled a conversation she had with Meghan when she first approached her in 2018.
She also said she was ‘surprised’ the Duke and Duchess of Sussex revealed details of an alleged conversation with a member of the royal family who expressed ‘concern’ before he was born about how dark their son Archie’s skin tone might be.
Both Harry and Meghan refused to identify who made the alleged racist comment, and Winfrey has said the couple did not confide in her off-camera.
However, she said on Monday that Prince Harry told her it it was neither The Queen nor Prince Philip who had concerns over Archie’s skin color.
‘He did not share the identity with me but he wanted to make sure that I knew and if I had an opportunity to share it, that it was not his grandmother nor his grandfather that were a part of those conversations.
‘As you can see I tried to get that answer. On camera and off,’ Miss Winfrey said.
Other bombshell claims on Monday included;
- Oprah revealed that in 2018, Meghan told her that she’d been told by Palace aides to be ’50 percent less’ than she was; Oprah said she told her ‘I don’t know how you’re going to survive’
- Meghan said she hadn’t seen her half-sister Samantha Markle for ’18 or 19′ years and they do not ‘know each other’
- Harry said the UK press was ‘bigoted’ – not the UK public
- Meghan texted Oprah on Sunday night as the interview was airing across the East Coast, and asked: ‘How’s it going?’
On Monday morning, Oprah said on CBS This Morning that when the cameras were down, Harry made it clear to her it was neither of ‘his grandparents.’
On Sunday night, Meghan revealed there was ‘a conversation’ about ‘how dark’ Archie’s skin would be before he was born
Harry told Oprah afterwards that the conversation about Archie’s race did not involve The Queen or Prince Philip
Speaking of Meghan, Miss Winfrey told CBS This Morning: ‘She had just joined the royal family and she shared a conversation with me then that made me feel somewhat disheartened.
‘She said she had been told, been given advice, that it would be best if she could be 50 per cent less than she was. That was the quote, if she could be 50 per cent less.
‘I remember hearing that in 2018 and I said to her, “I don’t know how you’re going to survive, being half of yourself”.’
Winfrey was a guest at the couple’s 2018 wedding and given a prime seat at the ceremony.
She had reportedly been courting Meghan for an interview for a number of years before the couple stepped back from royal life.
She has also been photographed with Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland.
The couple’s home in California is close to Winfrey’s in the affluent neighbourhood of Montecito and Winfrey’s best friend Gayle King, an anchor on CBS This Morning, was a guest at Meghan’s baby shower.
And speaking of the alleged racism, Miss Winfrey added: ‘I think the skin tone, the discussions about what colour Archie’s skin tone would be.
‘What also surprised me, and that is why I clarified, were you just feeling badly, were you feeling sad or were there suicidal ideation thoughts of harming yourself, that also surprised me.
‘It surprised me Harry said he was trapped.’
Asked if she was surprised that the conversation about skin tone happened or that they were revealing it, Winfrey replied: ‘I was surprised they were telling me about it.
‘Even on the tape you can hear me go “Whoa, I cannot believe you are saying this right now”.’
Asked how the couple are feeling today, Winfrey said: ‘I haven’t really spoken to them since the interview because we are in different time zones.
‘I got a text from Meghan yesterday saying “How is it going?’ because she was putting Archie to bed waiting on the west coast feed and had no idea what was happening on the east coast. I said ‘I don’t either but from what I can tell it’s going well, I know it’s airing.”
‘I will probably have a conversation with them later on today.’
Meghan first revealed the ‘concerns’ in her one-on-one with Oprah, saying there were ‘concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born.’
‘In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time, so we have in tandem the conversation of, ‘you won’t be given security, not gonna be given a title’ and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.’
She packaged it into her discussing how the Royal Family allegedly stripped Archie of his Prince title before he was born, and said she felt from the start of her pregnancy that the rules were being unfairly and inexplicably changed for him.
Oprah was stunned and asked her if the unidentified person was concerned he would be ‘too brown’.
Meghan replied: ‘If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.’
Oprah said on Monday morning that as the interview was airing across the East Coast on Sunday night, Meghan texted her from California asking ‘how’s it going?’
‘I got a text from Meghan yesterday saying, ‘how’s it going?’ because she was putting Archie to bed, waiting on the west coast feed, and had no idea what was happening on the east coast.
‘I said, ‘from what I can tell, it’s going well.’
‘I will probably have a conversation with them later today,’ Oprah said.
She also revealed that she was ‘surprised’ by Harry’s comments about feeling ‘trapped’ in the ‘system’ of the Royal Family, and was particularly surprised that he said his father and brother are trapped too.
‘It surprised me that Harry said he was trapped. I said, ‘how are you trapped if you’re in a palace?’ and he came back at me,’ she said.
Harry and Meghan revealed on Sunday night in their bombshell interview with Oprah that there was a ‘conversation’, before Archie’s birth, about his skin and how ‘dark’ it would be.
MEGHAN ON HER HALF-SISTER SAMANTHA: SHE DOESN’T KNOW ME
Samantha Markle, Meghan’s half-sister, trying to get into Kensington Palace in 2018. She was denied entry. Meghan told Oprah the pair do not have a relationship
Of her half-sister, Samantha Markle, Meghan said the pair do not know each other well enough for Samantha to make public comments about her.
‘It would be very hard to tell all when you don’t know me.
‘This is a very different situation than my dad. Betrayal comes from someone you have a relationship with.
‘I grew up as an only child, everyone who grew up around me knows that.
‘I wished I had siblings, I would have loved to have had siblings.
‘It’s really interesting… the last time I saw her must have been 18 or 19 years ago, before that, 10 years before that.
‘She changed her last name back to Markle only when I started dating Harry.
‘That says enough.’
HARRY: RACISM WAS PART OF WHY WE LEFT AND PALACE AIDES GIVE ‘VERY BAD ADVICE’
Harry made the allegation that the British media is ‘bigoted’ and insisted that journalists there dictate attitudes across the public.
He said he was told at a charity event: ‘You need to understand that the UK is very bigoted,’ to which he replied: ‘The UK is not bigoted, the UK press is bigoted, specifically the tabloids.’
He added: ‘But unfortunately if the source of info is inherently corrupt or racist or biased then that filters out to the rest of society.
The Duke of Sussex also accused the Queen of snubbing him after she was allegedly overruled by royal aides when she tried to invite him and Meghan on a trip to Sandringham after they announced they were stepping down.
Meghan said that she and Kate Middleton were treated differently and that while the media was ‘rude’ to Kate, they were ‘racist’ towards her
Harry said he received a message from the Queen saying he wanted them to visit ‘the moment you land’ in December 2019, but he later got a message from his private secretary at the time saying the trip had been cancelled.
Harry said he then rang the Queen from Frogmore cottage and she said: ‘Yes, there’s something in my diary that I didn’t know that I had.’
The prince claimed the exchange showed that even the Queen could be overruled by aides, despite them giving her ‘very bad’ advice.
Meghan said that the press was ‘rude’ to Kate Middleton, dubbing her ‘waity Katie’ while she waited from a proposal from William, but that they were ‘racist’ to her.
‘Kate was called Waity Katie, waiting to marry William, while I imagine that was really hard and I do… this is not the same and if a member of his family will comfortably say we’ve all had to deal with things that are rude…
‘Rude and racist are not the same.’
Other bombshell claims on Sunday night included Meghan’s revelation that she felt suicidal and could not be left alone.
She said she was having ‘real thoughts’ in the middle of the night about harming herself and that she asked the Palace for help but was told she could not seek help because it would not ‘look’ good for the ‘institution’.
