For American audiences just waking up, or British viewers on a lunch break, here’s what you need to know about Meghan and Harry’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey and the fallout in the UK.
On suicidal thoughts: Meghan said that life within the royal family was so isolating, lonely, and lacking in support that she had experienced suicidal thoughts. When Winfrey asked if she had been driven to the verge of suicide, Meghan replied, “Yes.”
She hadn’t wanted to admit it, but she eventually told Harry because “I knew that if I didn’t say it, that I would do it, and I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,” Meghan said.
Harry added that after she confided in him, he, too, had been in “a very dark place” — but wanted to be there to support his wife.
On their children: The couple dropped two bombshells about their children: First, and most shocking, that in the royal institution there had been “concerns and conversations about how dark (Archie’s) skin might be when he was born,” said Meghan. Harry confirmed the conversation, but declined to reveal who had posed those questions, or any other details about the exchange.
On a happier note, Harry and Meghan also revealed they are expecting a daughter this summer.
On conflicts with the royal family: Meghan told Winfrey that though she had been welcomed by the Queen and other members of the family, she was given little guidance or support — when she began having suicidal thoughts and asked for help, they told her no.
She also denied rumors that she had made Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, cry during her royal wedding. In fact, it was the other way around — a disagreement with Kate had made Meghan cry, she said, adding that Kate has apologized and the issue has been resolved.
Harry spoke about his own tensions with his family; his father, Prince Charles, stopped taking his calls while the couple prepared to step away from the royal family.
“I feel very let down because he’s been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like. And Archie is his grandson,” Harry said.
Charles has since started taking his calls again. “I will always love him,” Harry said. “I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.”
On being trapped and saved: Harry said that he had also been trapped within the system — but he hadn’t known it until he met and married Meghan. In that way, she saved him, he said.
But Meghan turned it around on him. “You made a decision that certainly saved my life –and saved all of us,” she told Harry, referring to the decision to step away from the royal family.
Calls for investigation: An official from Britain’s opposition Labour Party said Buckingham Palace should launch an investigation into allegations of racism made in the interview.
She told Sky News that “if there are allegations of racism, I would expect them to be treated by the Palace with the upmost seriousness and fully investigated.”
Vicky Ford, the UK Minister for Children, said there was no place for racism in British society.