Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had a lot of emotional revelations during their tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, but the part that made Oprah get visibly upset was when Meghan discussed the royal family's views on race. When she and Harry were expecting their first child, a high-ranking member of the family asked Harry about the baby's skin color, specifically how dark it would be. Despite the interest of Oprah and the public, Meghan and Harry have not revealed which member of the family it was.
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00:00As promised, Oprah Winfrey's tell-all interview with Meghan Markle included no shortage of
00:06revelations about what life was like as the Duchess of Sussex.
00:10One of the most upsetting things she shared was how the royal family handled the topic
00:14of race, specifically when Meghan became pregnant with her and Prince Harry's first child, Archie.
00:21Meghan said she learned through Prince Harry that members of the royal family had spoken
00:26expressed concerns about whether or not their unborn baby would have dark skin.
00:31As she recounted to Oprah, there were, quote,
00:33"...concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he was born."
00:38Meghan clarified that no one spoke directly to her about the potential skin color of her baby-to-be.
00:44The conversations were between Harry and members of his family.
00:48Harry then relayed the conversations to Meghan. The couple also both refused to
00:52clarify who it was exactly that had made the comments to Harry in the first place.
00:57Oprah became visibly upset about this horrifying bombshell,
01:01and asked Meghan to name the royal family members who had raised the issue of Archie's skin color.
01:07She declined.
01:08"...and you're not gonna tell me who had the conversation?"
01:12"...I think that would be very damaging to them."
01:14The new book, Finding Freedom, Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family,
01:19addresses the role that racism played in the British media's treatment of Meghan Markle.
01:23According to Harper's Bazaar, the palace refused to refute negative stories about
01:28Meghan the same way they did other members of the royal family.
01:31The outlet shared an excerpt from Finding Freedom.
01:34Traditionally, the palace has had no comment when it comes to rumors,
01:38but the Sussexes felt it wasn't afraid to bend the rules if it was to correct
01:42a story about higher-ranking family members. Case in point?
01:46A spokesman went on the record in July 2019 to deny claims by a cosmetic clinic
01:51that Kate had had baby Botox. Harry and Meghan were frustrated by this approach.
01:56As reported by NBC News, the treatment of Meghan sent a loud and clear message to Black Britons.
02:03Eniola Lotipo, a student at the London School of Economics,
02:07told the outlet that she didn't pay much attention to the royal family
02:10until Meghan became engaged to Harry. She recalled thinking how powerful it
02:15would be to have a child of African descent in the monarchy. She told NBC News,
02:20This has been a very rude awakening. It reminded us that we shouldn't get too comfortable,
02:25and no matter how much we think we are accepted into society, we really aren't."
02:30There were those who felt as Oprah did and were shocked by the racist comments made by
02:34the royal family. But it appears there were more than a few members of the Twitterati who
02:38might have seen this one coming. One user wrote,
02:41The people in that house are old as hell, dating back all the way when slavery was still around.
02:47I absolutely, positively believe that there were conversations about that baby's skin color."
02:52Another person pointed out that the idea that the royal family of Great Britain
02:56might have some racial biases is hardly a new one. They wrote,
03:00Everyone acting surprised that the royal family is racist,
03:03as if their entire existence isn't based in colonial exploitation and imperialist expansion.
03:09A third said,
03:10For anyone who dares to say the royal family isn't racist,
03:14Princess Michael of Kent showed up to a dinner where she was going to meet Meghan,
03:18a mixed woman, wearing a black brooch and with a smirk on her face.
03:22However, not everyone in the Twitterverse came out in support of Harry and Meghan. One user wrote,
03:27Anyone who has had a biracial baby has had the question asked.
03:31That is not surprising at all. Racism is alive and well among us."
03:36Another said,
03:37I sympathize with her, but she did marry into one of the oldest,
03:40most famous, talked-about institutions in the world. There are rules. It's complicated,
03:46but I will say that if the royal family were racist, they would never have been allowed to
03:50marry. Regardless of how fans and royal watchers may have felt about the bombshell interview,
03:56it's certainly gotten people talking.