What to take away from the explosive interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry?
Long-awaited, the explosive interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry by American television star Oprah Winfrey aired Sunday night on CBS. We come back to the remarkable revelations of the Duchess and the Duke of Sussex.
For two hours, Meghan and Harry confided in Oprah Winfrey on CBS on Sunday March 7. Here's what to take away from this confession interview that really turned into a settling of scores with Buckingham Palace.
Meghan and Harry tied the knot three days before the official ceremony
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot three days before the grandiose official ceremony attended by millions around the world in 2018, the ex-American actress revealed to presenter Oprah Winfrey during the broadcast interview. Sunday by CBS.
“Three days before our wedding, we got married,” said the Duchess of Sussex, saying they said yes in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, before high mass on May 19, 2018. “ No one knows. But we called the Archbishop, and we just said, "Look, this show is for the world, but we want our union to be between us," "she told Oprah Winfrey.
She also said she was naive before her 2018 wedding, not realizing what she was getting into. "I'll say I went there naively, because I didn't grow up knowing a lot about the royal family," she said.
Thoughts of suicide and racism
Meghan Markle confessed to presenter Oprah Winfrey that she had suicidal thoughts while living with the royal family, adding that she received no psychological support despite repeated requests.
“I just didn't want to be alive anymore. And these were constant, terrifying, real and very clear thoughts, "said the Duchess of Sussex, blaming her psychological state on aggressive British media coverage. She says she went to see members of the royal institution to ask for help and to discuss the possibility of medical treatment, "and I was told that I could not, that it would not be good for. the institution, ”she added.
The former actress, who is of mixed race, also claimed that members of the royal family were concerned about her son Archie's skin color before he was born. They expressed "concerns […] about how dark her skin would be," "what that would mean and what it would look like," she explained.
The Duchess of Sussex also indicated that Buckingham Palace has refused to grant protection to the child and that members of the institution believe that Archie should not be given a title of nobility, although this is the tradition .
Harry regretted that the royal family had not taken a public stand to denounce what he saw as racist coverage by part of the British press.
No personal attack
While Meghan Markle has denounced a "real smear campaign" on the part of the royal institution and said she did not feel protected by the royal family, she was careful not to personally attack members of the crown.
She simply claimed that, contrary to what had been reported by the British press, it was not her who made Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, cry, but that the opposite happened during an incident that took place. before her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018. She said Kate apologized shortly after.
"There is the family, and then there are the people who run the institution, these are two separate things and it is important to be able to compartmentalize them because the Queen, for example, has always been extraordinary with me", - she wanted to clarify.
Prince Harry "really disappointed" by his father
Harry went further, admitting to feeling "really disappointed" with his father, Prince Charles, feeling that he had not supported him during the ordeal he went through. “I’m really disappointed,” said the Duke of Sussex, “because he went through something similar. He knows what pain is, "he said, recounting that Prince Charles even refused, for a time, to take his phone calls. Harry made it clear, however, that he was talking to his father again.
Prince Harry also claimed that his father and brother, Prince William, were "prisoners" of the system as members of the royal family, a situation which, he said, inspires him "a lot of compassion. ". “My father and my brother are prisoners” of the system, he said. "They can't leave him," as he did after realizing he himself was "a prisoner," he told presenter Oprah Winfrey.
During the interview, Harry said their decision to step back and leave England was made because he felt a lack of support and misunderstanding from the royal family. The prince said no member of the royal family would have spoken about the racist stories about Meghan. “It hurts,” he blurted out. Referring to his mother, Diana, Harry felt that she would have been "angry at the way this has all turned out."
The couple are expecting a girl
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also announced that they are expecting a girl, their second child after Archie was born a boy in May 2019. “To have a boy, then a girl, what more can you ask for? Prince Harry, who married Meghan Markle in 2018, rejoiced.