One month after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (still known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex) confirmed they wouldn’t be returning to their royal duties, the couple sat down with TV legend Oprah Winfrey to talk about their experiences as members of the British Royal family.
The intimate special marks the first time Meghan and Harry have done a televised interview since settling in California and as expected, it was full of shocking reveals.
The wide-ranging interview covered everything from Harry and Meghan’s initial courtship to the moment they knew it was time for them to break out on their own. The pair was also honest about their feelings, revealing details about Markle’s relationship with Queen Elizabeth, their ongoing relationships with Harry’s brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton, and so much more.
Here are some of the biggest moments from Oprah’s interview with Harry and Meghan, which aired Sunday evening.
The Most Shocking Reveals
They are having a baby girl.
Markle and Harry revealed they’re expecting a baby girl in the summer, and they will not be having any more children.
Meghan had suicidal thoughts.
Meghan revealed she had suicidal thoughts as Royal life took a toll on her mental health.
“I just didn’t want to be alive any more. And that was a very clear and real and frightening, constant thought. And I remember how he [Harry] just cradled me.”
Harry and Meghan were told their son wouldn’t receive a Royal title.
Meghan said that while she was pregnant with Archie, the family decided that their unborn child would not be given a formal title within the Royal Family and that he would not receive personal security.
“There was a fear surrounding it, because we were scared of having to offer up our baby, knowing that they weren’t going to be kept safe,” Meghan said.
The family was concerned about the colour of Archie’s skin.
Meghan said that while she was pregnant with Archie, the family had multiple conversations with Harry about their unborn child’s skin colour and what it would mean for the family. Meghan did not specify who made the racist remarks.
"That was relayed to me from Harry,” Megan said. “Those were conversations that family had with him. And I think it was really hard to be able to see those as compartmentalized conversations."
Meghan and Harry were secretly married before their televised wedding.
Meghan said she and Harry were married at a private ceremony three days prior to their public wedding in 2018.
“No one knows that, but we called the Archbishop and we just said ‘Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us,’” Meghan said. “The vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
Harry’s relationship with his family is rocky
When asked about his relationship with his father Prince Charles, Harry pauses.
"There's a lot to work through there," he said. "I feel really let down because he's been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like.”
When asked about his relationship with his brother, Harry said it is “spaced at the moment.”
“Time heals all things, hopefully,” he said.
Harry and Meghan have a healthy relationship with the Queen.
Contrary to tabloid reports, there is no bad blood between the couple and Queen Elizabeth II.
Harry said he’s spoken with his grandmother more in the past year than he has for many years and has a good relationship with her, calling her the “colonel-in-chief.”
Harry also said he spoke at length with his grandmother about taking on a “reduced role” within the Royal Family, contradicting reports in the press that the Queen was “blindsided” by the couple’s decision.
Most Memorable Quotes
Meghan on their son Archie, not being a prince or receiving a title:
"They didn’t want him to be a prince or princess, not knowing what the gender would be, which would be different from protocol, and [said] that he wasn’t going to receive security."
Meghan on how Archie’s skin colour:
"In those months when I was pregnant … we have in tandem the conversation of ‘you won’t be given security,’ ‘not going to be given a title’, and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born."
Harry on royals feeling ‘trapped’ and also the issue of race:
"I was trapped but I didn’t know I was trapped. Like the rest of my family are, my father and my brother, they are trapped. They don’t get to leave and I have huge compassion for that."
"For the family, they very much have this mentality of: ‘This is just how it is. This is how it’s meant to be. You can’t change it. We’ve all been through it."
"What was different for me was the race element, because now it wasn’t just about her. It was about what she represented."
Meghan on considering suicide:
"I just didn’t want to be alive any more. And that was a very clear and real and frightening, constant thought. And I remember how he [Harry] just cradled me."
Meghan on asking for help:
"I went to the institution and I said that I needed to go somewhere to get help … And I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution."
"I remember this conversation like it was yesterday, because they said: my heart goes out to you because I see how bad it is, but there’s nothing we can do to protect you because you’re not a paid employee of the institution."
Meghan on the royal family, senior staff and the Queen:
"There’s the family, and then there’s the people that are running the institution. Those are two separate things and it’s important to be able to compartmentalise that, because the Queen, for example, has always been wonderful to me."
"Harry on the Queen:
"I’ve never blindsided my grandmother. I have too much respect for her."
"I’d hazard a guess that it probably could have come from within the institution."
Harry on Prince Charles:
"I had three conversations with my grandmother, and two conversations with my father before he stopped taking my calls. And then he said: “Can you put this all in writing?”
"By that point I took matters into my own hands. It was like, I needed to do this for my family. This is not a surprise to anybody. It’s really sad that it’s got to this point, but I’ve got to do something for my own mental health, my wife’s and for Archie’s as well."
