Search icon

Family dynamics

08th Mar 2021

Royal family had “concerns” about Archie’s skin tone, says Meghan

Jade Hayden

“I think that would be very damaging to them.”

The royal family had “concerns” about Archie’s skin tone before he was born, Meghan Markle has said.

The Duchess, whose interview with Oprah and husband Prince Harry aired last night in the States, said that prior to the birth of the couple’s first child, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be.”

Meghan, who is mixed race, said that she had “several conversations” with members of the “family” on the topic.

“About how dark your baby is going to be?” asked Oprah. “Potentially,” said Meghan, “and what that would mean or look like.”

When Oprah asked which members of the family raised the supposed issue, Meghan said she wouldn’t name any names: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”

meghan and harry

Meghan discussed the racism she experienced as a member of the family candidly in last night’s interview, stating that when she was discriminated against in the press, she received no help from “the Firm.”

“It was all happening just because I was breathing,” she said, struggling through tears. “I just didn’t want to be alive any more. That was a clear, real, frightening and constant thought.”

Meghan added that her requests to ensure Archie was protected within the family were largely ignored.

“They didn’t want him to be a prince or princess,” she said, “not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol, and that he wasn’t going to receive security.”

“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.'”

Meghan added that before joining the royal family, her race or background played no part in her and Prince Harry’s relationship.

“I thought about it because they made me think about it,” she said.

In the tell all interview, Meghan also discussed her suicidal thoughts as part of the family, and how her requests to seek help were repeatedly shot down. 

“That was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought,” she said. “And I remember how [Harry] just cradled me.

“I went to the institution, and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help. I said that I’ve never felt this way before and I need to go somewhere. And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution.”

Meghan said that at one point, she “just didn’t want to be alive anymore.”

Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah airs tonight on RTÉ 2. 

Topics:

celeb