‘Saddened’: Queen breaks silence after Meghan and Harry interview
The Queen has broken her silence following her grandson’s explosive Oprah interview.
The royals called the allegations of racism made by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle concerning, and said they would privately address issues around race.
But they noted “some recollections may vary”.
“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Wednesday morning (Australian time).
“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.”
Earlier, Harry’s father Prince Charles had declined to comment on the interview.
The public statement from the palace came after the Queen hosted a crisis meeting with senior royals to discuss the claims aired during the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s explosive tell-all.
The British monarchy had maintained its silence as Buckingham Palace did “not want to feel rushed into saying something” about the explosive allegations of racism and dysfunction inside the royal family.
That’s according to BBC royal correspondent Daniela Relph who, along with another unnamed royal source, said the Queen wanted to take some time before the palace issued a response.
Publicly, the drama continued as Meghan’s estranged father Thomas Markle spoke out.
Mr Markle said he did not think the royal family was racist, despite she and Harry revealing a family member had expressed concerns about the skin colour of their baby son Archie.
He said he hoped that the alleged remark was just a “dumb question”.
“The thing about what colour will the baby be or how dark will the baby be; I’m guessing and hoping it’s just a dumb question from somebody,” he told ITV.
“It could be somebody asked a stupid question. Rather than being a total racist.”
In the two-hour sit-down with TV queen Oprah Winfrey, Meghan said her son Archie, now almost two, had been denied the title of prince and that there were concerns within the royal family about “about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”.
She declined to say who had voiced such concerns, as did Harry.
Winfrey later told CBS that the duke had said it was not the Queen or her 99-year-old husband Philip, who has been in hospital for the past three weeks.
Mr Markle said he had “great respect for the royals” and didn’t think the royal family were at all racist.
“I think Los Angeles is racist, California is racist, but I don’t think the Brits are,” Mr Markle told ITV.
“This whole thing about colour and how dark the baby is is bulls–t.”
He thought the comment should be investigated.
Mr Markle and his daughter have been estranged since just before her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018.
Mr Markle pulled out of attending the wedding days beforehand after undergoing heart surgery.
He said Meghan had let him down while he was ill.
“I was in a hospital bed the last time we talked and I never heard from them again – they didn’t care if I died,” Mr Markle said.
Asked about Meghan and Harry’s interview with Winfrey, Mr Markle said “they went way over the top”.
“They should have waited considering the Queen’s age and Philip’s age,” he said.