Meghan and Harry’s interview: Seven bombshell claims

The Royal Family is waking up to a series of allegations set to rock the monarchy following Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's tell-all interview with Oprah. The two-hour show aired in the United States overnight – and will appear on ITV this evening. But with the main lines set to dominate the news agenda all day, Mr S has rounded up the biggest bombshells so far from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

1. Meghan claims Archie was subjected to racist comments

The most shocking moment in the interview was Meghan Markle's claim that a member of the royal family made racist comments about Archie’s skin colour. The Duchess of Sussex alleged that an unnamed royal in conversation with Harry had expressed concerns about 'how dark the baby’s going to be potentially and what that would mean or look like'. Markle said she would save that individual the horror of being named and shamed – because it 'would be very damaging to them' – instead leaving a wild guessing game by which any member of the royal family could be accused. Prince Harry said the conversation had taken place but added it was a conversation 'I’m never going to share'. 

2. Prince Charles cut off contact with Harry

While Meghan Markle talked the most in the interview, Prince Harry shared his own struggle. The prince talked of being financially cut off in the first quarter of 2020 (the reason they are apparently forced to do Netflix and Spotify deals). However, given that very few expected the royal family to keep funding the couple, the more curious claim related to Prince Charles' contact with his son. Prince Harry said that after having two conversations with his father about leaving, Prince Charles cut off communication: 'I feel really let down because he’s been through something similar, he knows what pain feels like, and Archie’s his grandson… I will always love him but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened. I will continue to make it one of my priorities to heal that relationship.'

3. Meghan suggests Archie's race was a factor in him not being made a prince

The Duchess of Sussex suggested her son Archie’s race was a factor in him not being made a prince or given security by the institution of the monarchy. She said she and Harry wanted Archie to be a prince so he would have security and be protected. She questioned to Oprah why 'convention' would be changed for 'the first member of colour of this family'. 'Okay, well, he needs to be safe so we’re not saying don’t make him a prince or princess, but if you’re saying the title is what’s going to affect that protection, we haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder you’ve allowed that to happen which means our son needs to be safe.'

4. Meghan comes for Kate

Watch out Kate. Ahead of the interview, royal aides spoke of their concerns that the pair could come after individuals – including the Duchess of Cambridge. Those fears came to fruition. The Duchess of Sussex mentioned a Sun front page story which claimed 'Meghan made Kate cry' over the choice of bridesmaids’ dresses at her wedding – which she described as the moment the press narrative changed. Markle said this never happened and instead the opposite was true – Kate was 'upset' about the dresses and made Meghan cry. Markle did say the Duchess of Cambridge was 'a good person' who had apologised for her behaviour and bought her flowers.

5. Royal life left Meghan not wanting to 'be alive anymore'

The couple said that they were considering quitting the firm within six months of the wedding – but things really took a turn for the worse during the Duchess of Sussex's pregnancy. Meghan said she had suicidal thoughts, telling her husband that ‘I didn’t want to be alive anymore’. The Duchess of Sussex said that things had gotten so bad, she did not went to be left alone without her husband – she wanted to get help but the palace suggested it would not be a good look. They put the stress down in part to the couple being 'silenced' by royal courtiers, having to 'no comment' untrue stories.

6.  Meghan didn't 'fully understand what the job was'

Markle told Oprah that she had not realised what she was signing up to when marrying Harry. She said she went in to the marriage 'naively' as she didn’t know much about the royal family and hadn't looked up her 'husband' online. The 'penny dropped' when Harry asked her whether she knew how to curtsey ahead of meeting the Queen. Comparing it to seeing celebrities in LA, she concluded: 'This is not the same'.

7. Meghan: I'm like Ariel the mermaid

Given all the hardship Harry and Meghan say they experienced, happily the Duchess of Sussex has managed to take inspiration from unusual places. Markle told Oprah of the similarities between her own story and that of the Little Mermaid's Ariel, the Disney princess: 'I was sitting in Nottingham cottage and The Little Mermaid came on. And who as an adult really watches The Little Mermaid? But it came on and I was like, ‘Well I’m here all the time, I might as well watch this,'' she recalled. 'And I went, ‘Oh my God. She falls in love with the prince and because of that she loses her voice!’ But in the end, she gets her voice back.'