“Silent or Silenced?: A Reaction to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Interview with Oprah and What We Learned”

Sunday night was highly anticipated by millions of people worldwide, as we awaited what was to be revealed and exposed of the Royal Family during Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah. For two hours, we sat in shock and disbelief after the interview covered mental health, suicide, racism, and lies within the institution that are hidden behind the smiles. Personally, knowing little about the Royal Family already and only seeing pictures and big events broadcasted on social media, what I learned Sunday night left me in surprise, and I am unsure of what to believe. 

Mental Health and Suicide

We all know the Royals as the family with smiles on their face, always looking as if they are enjoying each other’s company, and constantly wearing the best outfits. Although, we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, I for one, had no idea how horrific it may be until Meghan described it one-on-one with Oprah. 

According to Meghan, the immense pressure that came along with being married into the Royal family had its consequences. For a woman who had not left the palace more than two times in four months, she was constantly being targeted in news articles and social media, whether the rumors were true or not. Meghan claimed that she was told by the institution that she needed to stay inside and not go out in order to get the stories to end, which led her to become lonely and depressed. 

While pregnant with their first born, baby Archie, Meghan told Oprah that she entered a ‘dark place’ and began contemplating suicide because the pressure and stress became too much to handle. One story that left me with chills was when she explained that the morning she finally told Harry that she “didn’t want to be alive anymore,” they had a huge event to attend that evening. When Harry told her that she should just stay home, she told him that she couldn’t and that she was afraid to be left alone, in fear that she would harm herself or commit suicide. This was insane! I was left in chills, and when they showed pictures from the event that night, I would have never suspected what was actually going on. 

Another leading cause of Meghan’s diminishing mental health was the lack of protection being provided for her by the institution. While stories emerged in the media, accusing her of terrible things, Meghan claimed that both her and the institution were aware that these rumors weren’t true. Rather than supporting her and shutting down the rumors, the institution sat back and let it happen, as Meghan was violently attacked and threatened by people all around the world. 

Racism

Meghan Markle was the first mixed person to enter the Royal Family, and although she was welcomed with open arms, she described to Oprah the encounters she had during her time in the institution. 

The biggest, and I mean the BIGGEST issue that was brought up by Meghan, which I think many people are still having a hard time believing, and I still can’t believe, was when she told Oprah that a senior member of the institution approached Harry, concerned on how dark Baby Archie’s skin color would be when he was born. 

“Did she really just say that???” is something I believe everyone was thinking because nowadays in the world we live in, remarks like that aren’t taken lightly. When Prince Harry joined the interview later on, he refused to talk about the conversation, let alone mention the name of who had asked. 

Meghan spoke a lot on behalf of race when it came to problems she faced inside the palace, and it is unfortunate that no one is aware of the apparent degrading comments that have been made regarding her, her son, and future children they may have. 

A Financial Cutoff

Prince Harry was introduced into the interview during the last hour. As he followed up on some things already spoken about with Meghan, he also exposed personal problems he has been experiencing since arriving in Canada, and what his plan is moving forward. 

Harry told Oprah that after he had left for Canada, for the sake of his family, he was informed that his family “literally cut him off financially.” Although they lost a lot of money due to this, Harry inherited millions of dollars after Princess Diana’s death in 1997, and Meghan has money from her past acting career in Hollywood. 

Harry spent some time talking about his mother and her dedication to the public and attempted to bring awareness to what was happening inside the institution, just as Harry and Meghan had. He truly believed that Diana saw this day coming, and left him his inheritance to support him through this time. Harry told Oprah that he “felt her presence” through the hardships and the process.

My Take on the Interview

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t know much about the Royal Family other than the pictures or magazines I’d see while on line at the grocery store. So, for me, my jaw was literally dropped after some of the stories. While I feel pity for Meghan and Harry, we are not sure how much of what they said is 100% factual, and will probably never know. I find it crazy how much goes on behind closed doors, and how they are trained to keep a smile on their faces at all times. 

Mainly, one thing that caught my attention was while Meghan was talking about her mental health and how she kept begging for help and no one would, Harry came out later and told Oprah that he was too ashamed to ask someone for help for Meghan and never did. Well, who’s telling the truth? How can one of you say you begged for help and were denied, and the other say you never built up the courage to ask? Something was wrong here.

I also believe that had Meghan and Harry not met, Prince Harry would have never seen the emotional abuse and problems that went on within the Royal Family and would’ve never left. It took an outsider, and an everyday normal person, to show Harry that this is not what a family is supposed to do, and this is not what freedom and fairness looks like.