Meghan Markle Claims Royal Family Was Concerned About Archie’s Skin Color

Meghan Markle in her Oprah Winfrey interview accused the Royal Family of having ‘concerns’ about ‘how dark’ Archie’s skin would be before he was born because she is mixed-race and Harry is white.

The Duchess of Sussex also claimed that officials had denied Archie the title of prince and accused Buckingham Palace of failing to protect him by denying him 24/7 security.

Meghan refused to say which royal had the conversation with Harry about Archie’s skin colour, claiming it would be ‘damaging’ to the person in her husband’s family who raised it.

She told Miss Winfrey that it was ‘a pretty safe’ assumption to suggest that the royal family member was ‘concerned’ that Archie being ‘too brown’ was ‘a problem’. 

When asked if it was ‘important’ for Meghan that Archie be called a prince, she said she doesn’t have any attachment to the ‘grandeur’ of official titles.

But she said it was about ‘the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be.’ 

Prince Harry – who later joined his wife and Miss Winfrey for the last part of the interview – described the conversation as ‘awkward’, saying it left him ‘shocked’. 

But Harry declined to reveal anything more about what was said, saying: ‘That conversation I’m never going to share.’ 

Oprah asked Meghan if Archie was denied the title of Prince because of he is mixed-race, asking if the palace had concerns Archie would be ‘too brown’.

Meghan said: ‘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 going to be given a title,” and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.’

Oprah then interrupted and said: ‘Hold on. Hold up. Stop right now. There’s a conversation… about how dark your baby is going to be?’ 

Meghan replied: ‘Potentially, and what that would mean or look like’.

‘And you’re not going to tell me who had the conversation?’, Oprah asked. 

Meghan replied: ‘I think that would be very damaging to them. That was relayed to me from Harry. Those were conversations that family had with him’. 

Oprah asked: ‘Because they were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem? Are you saying that?’ 

Meghan replied: ‘I wasn’t able to follow up with why, but if that’s the assumption you’re making, I think that feels like a pretty safe one, which was really hard to understand, right?’ 

Oprah then asked Prince Harry about the conversation, saying: ‘Well, what is particularly striking is what Meghan shared with us earlier, is that no one wants to admit that there’s anything about race or that race has played a role in the trolling and the vitriol, and yet Meghan shared with us that there was a conversation with you about Archie’s skin tone. 

‘What was that conversation?’

Prince Harry replied: ‘That conversation I’m never going to share, but at the time, it was awkward. 

‘I was a bit shocked.’

Oprah asked him if he can reveal what the conversation was about. Harry refused to divulge, saying: ‘I’m not comfortable with sharing that.’  

He added: ‘But that was right at the beginning, when she wasn’t going to get security, when members of my family were suggesting that she carries on acting, because there was not enough money to pay for her, and all this sort of stuff.

‘Like, there was some real obvious signs before we even got married that this was going to be really hard.’ 

Meghan said Archie becoming a Prince was neither her nor Harry’s ‘decision to make’ and said it was palace officials who revealed Archie ‘wasn’t going to receive security’. 

When she was asked if it was ‘important’ for Meghan that Archie be called a prince, she replied that she doesn’t have any attachment to the ‘grandeur’ of official titles.

But she said it was about ‘the idea of our son not being safe, and also the idea of the first member of color in this family not being titled in the same way that other grandchildren would be.’  

Meghan and Harry also revealed: 

• Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, made Meghan cry ahead of the royal wedding – but ‘owned it’ and apologized;
• She described meeting the Queen for the first time and having to learn to curtsy  
• Meghan claims she was ‘naive’ when she joined the Royal Family – and never researched what it would be like, or Harry. She said that she was initially welcomed by the royals, but was later ‘silenced’ and felt trapped; 
• She described being cradled by Harry after feeling that she no longer wanted to live; Meghan claimed she begged for help from Palace but denied it because she wasn’t a ‘paid employee’;
• The Sussexes choose to reveal the gender of their baby to Oprah; “It’s a Girl.”