Buckingham Palace on Tuesday issued the first statement since Prince Harry and Meghan’s shocking interview with Oprah Winfrey. In it, Queen Elizabeth says, “The whole family is saddened to learn how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.”
“The issues raised, especially those related to race, are worrying,” the statement continued. “Although some memories may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be approached by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members.”
While the interview was broadcast on Sunday in the US, it was not broadcast until Monday evening in the UK. On Monday, the official Instagram account used by Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, showed him visiting a vaccination site of the UK National Health Service and highlighted his work with a black church organization to encourage vaccinations.
Among the bomb’s revelations in the interview, Meghan said there were “several conversations” between the royal family about “how dark” their baby’s skin would be. Oprah confirmed to CBS This Morning that Harry had said those conversations did not involve Queen Elizabeth or her husband, Prince Philip.
Meghan and Harry also revealed what appeared to be other family breakups. Meghan condemned the effort to change royal protocol who automatically gave the monarch’s grandchildren a title, starting with their son, Archie. While their son is the queen’s great-grandson, he is the nephew of the next king, Charles.
“Even with that convention I’m talking about – while I was pregnant, they said they wanted to change the convention for Archie. Well, why?” Meghan said. She said she was never given an answer.
Meghan also revealed that a tabloid story once made by her sister-in-law, Catherine, spitting in tears over the flowery girl’s dresses for her wedding was actually the “opposite” – as in, Catherine made Meghan cry. . She said Catherine later apologized and sent her flowers and a note.
Meanwhile, Harry said that he was “disappointed” by his father and that, while he loves his brother William “in pieces”, they are on “different paths”.
Harry described an incident last year, when the queen suddenly called for an invitation for the couple to visit and he blamed the palace staff.
“When you’re the boss, there are people around you who give you advice,” he said. “And what really saddened me was that some of that advice was very bad.”
Roya Nikkhah, royal correspondent for The Sunday Times, told CBS This Morning on Tuesday that the interview was “certainly a crisis” for the British monarchy.
“That interview, and I’ve watched it twice now, threw in a lot more questions than answers,” she said.
According to Nikkhah, the interview “turns out to be extremely divisible” for the British.
“I just saw the results of a survey that just came out here, which shows that a lot of young people here are supporting Harry and Meghan to do that interview,” she said. “And the elderly are firmly, clearly behind the monarchy now.”
Although Harry and Meghan praised Queen Elizabeth in the interview, Harry also told Oprah that he and Meghan had been invited to stay with the queen at her Sandringham property. However, when they arrived in London, Harry was informed by his secretary that the queen’s schedule was full, according to his own personal assistant.
Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.