Two days after Prince Harry, 36, and Meghan Markle, 39, revealed unflattering details about the way they were treated while serving as senior royals in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Buckingham Palace has responded with a statement. Queen Elizabeth and the royal family are “saddened” by what Meghan and Harry say they experienced, they expressed in a heartfelt letter.
Buckingham Palace have just released a statement: pic.twitter.com/JzlYvef4Wn
— Omid Scobie (@scobie) March 9, 2021
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” reads the March 9 statement. “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
The statement comes after Harry and Meghan made headlines for opening up about their struggles within the royal family before they decided to step away from their senior royal duties and move to California in early 2020. During a solo chat with Oprah in the first part of the interview, the Duchess of Sussex claimed there were discussions about how dark their son Archie‘s skin would be when she was still pregnant with the now one-year-old and insisted the palace wouldn’t let him have the title of a prince. She also claimed he was denied security protection.
“In those months when I was pregnant, all around this same time… we have in tandem the conversation of, he won’t be given security, he’s not gonna be given a title and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might when he’s born,” she said in the shocking sit-down.
![Prince Harry, Meghan Markle](https://hollywoodlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/prince-harry-meghan-markle-oprah-interview-shutterstock-post.jpg)
Meghan, who is the daughter of an African American mother and white father, refused to mention what member of the royal family commented on Archie’s skin tone because she said it would “be very damaging” to them. She further explained that the conversations were “relayed” to her from Harry, who was the one having them with the unidentified person.
Another shocking claim Meghan made was about her sister-in-law Kate Middleton, 39, who is married to Harry’s brother, Prince William, 38. After being asked whether or not rumors that she made Kate cry were true, she denied them and said, “The reverse happened.”
“No [I did not make Kate cry]… The reverse happened. And I don’t say that to be disparaging to anyone, because it was a really hard week of the wedding and she was upset about something, but she owned it and she apologized and she brought me flowers and a note apologizing, which is what I would do if I knew that I hurt someone… just take accountability for it,” she said before admitting the incident had to do with “flower girl dresses.”
In the interview, Harry also opened up about his late mother Princess Diana, who tragically died in a car accident at age 36 in 1997 after being chased by the paparazzi, and seemingly compared his and Meghan’s problems with the British press to hers.
“For me, I’m just really relieved and happy to be sitting here talking to you with my wife by my side because I can’t begin to imagine what it must have been like for her going through this process by herself all those years ago. Because it’s been unbelievably tough for the two of us, but at least we have each other,” he told Oprah.