If you thought going in that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry would be pulling any punches in their highly-anticipated sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, You were proven very wrong. To say that there were surprises is a massive understatement – here are but a few:
- Before getting to the meat of the interview, we got a gander at the couple’s life now, which involves raising chickens!
- But we also discovered Harry and Meghan were actually married three days before the televised event. For the couple, it was a way to make their marriage about them and their commitment.
- As you might recall, after the big wedding, tabloid headlines began swirling about Meghan making Kate Middleton (aka Duchess of Cambridge) cry in the days before the wedding ceremony. Word was that it was something about the flower girls’ dresses. According to Meghan, “The reverse happened.” She also said that Kate owned her part in the disagreement and even sent flowers along with an apology that Meghan says she accepted.
- Meghan clarified that she didn’t share the story to make Kate look bad, but rather, to provide an example of the way the press would get things wrong – and how the institution of the Royal family – never took steps to set the record straight.
- Upon learning that Meghan was pregnant, she says members of the institution told her and Prince Harry that their child would not be made a prince or princess. As such, the child wouldn’t even have security provided for him/her. Both she and Harry said that no real explanation was given to them about why their child was being treated differently than those of others.
- Perhaps one of the most intense admissions from the couple? That there had been conversations within the royals – specifically one member of the Royal family – about what the color of Harry and Meghan’s son might be. Similarly, when Archie was born? after Archie was born, no one asked the couple to make the traditional photo call with their newborn outside the hospital.
- Meghan also shared with when the public scrutiny was at its worst, she “didn’t want to be alive anymore” and she admitted to having suicidal thoughts. She also says that no matter who she asked for help, she couldn’t get any.
- For his part, Harry backed up his wife – especially as it relates to the question of son Archie’s skin color. While Oprah pressed them separately and together on the “who said it,” both declined saying it would be very damaging to that person.
- Harry didn’t hold back about the at-times very uncomfortable family dynamics at play – he admitted that he and brother William aren’t exactly on the best terms right now. He also revealed that for a time before “the big announcement” about the couple’s ‘changing roles,’ that his father, Prince Charles, had stopped taking his calls.
- To that end, both Meghan and Harry were both very clear about their adoration of Queen Elizabeth II. Harry maintains that she was never ‘blindsided’ by the announcement of their intentions to shift their duties – and Meghan remarked that once they’d gotten word of Prince Phillip’s heart condition, that Meghan called the Queen to offer support.
So what was the final straw for the couple? There really wasn’t one – at least, not one that they’d admit to. In all, couple says that the strain of feeling that they’d never be truly supported took hold. To that end, before their departure was even finalized, the couple says they were cut off financially. While the family relations certainly aren’t the best at the moment, both Harry and Meghan say they look forward to wounds healing.
On that note, may people say that babies have a way of healing hurt hearts – and it seems the Royals will have a chance to see how correct that is. The couple’s new child – which they’ve revealed will be a girl – is due to arrive this summer.
See some of the highlights in the video below