Politics
Queen responds to Meghan Markle race claims saying ‘recollections may vary but we take them very seriously’
THE “saddened” Queen today responded to Meghan Markle’s race claims in her bombshell interview, saying: “Some recollections may vary”.
Buckingham Palace finally responded to the tell-all chat that saw Meghan break down in tears as she and Harry revealed the pressures they faced within the Firm.
Read our Meghan and Harry live blog for the latest news...
Pregnant Meghan spoke with Prince Harry by her side – making bombshell claims including that she faced racism from the Firm[/caption]
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are seen here with the Queen – with Oprah later saying the 94-year-old monarch had not been the one involved in conversations about Archie’s skin[/caption]
The interview was first aired in the US before being broadcast to British TV screens on ITV last night
A statement from the palace said: “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.
The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst 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.”
It comes as…
- Prince Harry hit the ‘nuclear button’ on his family in the interview, insiders claimed
- Thomas Markle hung up on ‘snotty’ Prince Harry
- Meghan Markle is reported to have slammed the door in Kate Middleton’s face when the duchess tried to apologise over an incident over flower girl dresses
- ITV Hub crashed as the interview was broadcast on the UK screens
- Oprah revealed Prince Harry insisted the Queen and Prince Philip were not the Royals who expressed concerns about Archie’s skin colour
- A new photograph of the couple with Archie was released
- Thomas Markle will be interviewed on GMB
- Harry and Meghan held a private ‘exchange of vows’ before their wedding
- The full transcript of the interview can be read here
Senior members of the Royal Family – including the Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William – were said to be locked in crisis talks after it aired in the US.
The Queen had initially refused to sign off a prepared statement that officials hoped would ease tensions and show the royal’s love for the couple.
The monarch was understood to have wanted more time to consider her response.
A royal insider says Harry pressed the “nuclear button on his own family” with the sensational two-hour interview.
They claimed there was a sense of “intense personal shock and sadness” – with the palace said to be paralysed with “horror and dismay”.
One insider said: “There’s a lot people want to say but no one wins with a tit-for-tat battle.”
Concerns have now been raised that this week, all senior members of the Royal Family are expected to carry out public engagements – where they could face questions about the Oprah interview.
Meghan, 39, broke down in tears during the explosive interview with Oprah – revealing she had been left suicidal after joining the Royal Family and that she had faced racism within the institution.
Recounting how she sobbed in her husband Prince Harry’s arms, she said: “I just didn’t see a solution. I didn’t want to be alive anymore.”
The Duchess of Sussex said there had been conversations with Prince Harry and a “family” member about their unborn son and what colour his skin would be – and “what that would mean or look like”.
But she declined to say who had started those conversations, saying it would be “damaging” for them.
Prince Harry, 36, said he would “never share” the full details of the discussion but that he was asked at the start of his relationship with Meghan, how dark the skin of their children might be.
Oprah Winfrey revealed it was not the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh who made the comment about Archie’s skin.
But the host had been left shocked by the revelations by Meghan, with the Duchess claiming the Firm had not wanted her son to be a prince and that he would not receive security.
Meghan said: “In those months when I was pregnant, all around same time: we have in tandem he won’t be given security, a title and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”
Meghan Markle
Oprah was left stunned and replied: “What? There is a conversation… hold on. Hold up. Hold up. Stop right now.
Asked whether there were concerns that her child would be “too brown” and that would be a problem, Meghan said: “If that is the assumption you are making, that is a pretty safe one.”
Prince Harry confirmed he had been involved in the conversations but said he would never share the details.
He said: “At the time it was awkward but I was a bit shocked.”
Oprah introduced the interview by confirming that “no subject is off limits” and that Meghan had not been paid for the chat.
And the US chat-show queen quizzed Meghan over the decision that son Archie would not be a prince.
However, Meghan said of the lack of title: “It was not our decision to make.”
Meghan – who is now pregnant with a little girl – added: “That was when they were saying they didn’t want him to be a prince or a princess.”
Under rules brought in by George V in 1917, only the children and grandchildren of a sovereign have the automatic right to be a prince or princess, and use the HRH title.
TITLE ROW
Archie is the great-grandchild of the Queen, but will be a grandchild of the ruling sovereign when Charles becomes King, and thus would then be entitled to the titles.
Under George V’s declaration, of the Queen’s great-grandchildren only Prince George is actually entitled to be a prince because he is in the direct line of succession to the throne as the eldest son of Prince William, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales.
However, ahead of George’s birth, the Queen stepped in to issue letters patent, ensuring that Kate and William’s children would have the prince and princess titles.
They are the children of a future monarch, but Archie is not.
Prince Harry insisted he would never blindside his grandmother with an interview – saying he had too much respect for the Queen.
Most read in News
However Meghan and Harry claimed the 94-year-old did snub them by cancelling an overnight stay at Sandringham amid Megxit.
Other bombshells revealed by the couple in the two-hour special on CBS included confirmation of a falling out between Meghan and Kate Middleton.
Meghan claimed she had been the one left in tears after a confrontation over the bridesmaid’s dresses with the Duchess of Cambridge.
Meghan Markle said concerns had been raised by the Royal Family over how dark her son’s skin would be when he was born[/caption]
Buckingham Palace has hit back after the allegations[/caption]
Meghan spoke candidly about her relationship with Kate Middleton[/caption]
Meghan Markle said she and Prince Harry were shocked at the concerns[/caption]
