Five years ago today, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sent shockwaves around the world with their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey – but some the the claims they made have seemingly changed with time
Five years ago, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sat down with Oprah Winfrey and delivered a shocking interview that sent shockwaves around the world and through the Royal Family.
It was on this day in 2021 that their bombshell chat with the TV host first aired, where they made some scathing allegations about their time as senior working royals. Since then, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have starred in a tell-all Netfllix docuseries while Harry also released his controversial memoir, Spare. But it seems several of the claims made in the Oprah chat seem to have been rowed back on – or ignored completely in the couple’s later projects…
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Archie skin colour ‘concern’
One of the biggest talking points that emerged from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s explosive chat with Oprah Winfrey was when they revealed a senior royal questioned the colour of their unborn son’s skin.
Harry and Meghan sent shockwaves through the monarchy when they spoke of their disgust at “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born”. It even prompted Prince William to defend the royals by saying at an engagement: “We are very much not a racist family.”
However, Harry chose to not include incident in his memoir Spare. He was however questioned about it in an interview to promote the book on ITV, and he told News at Ten’s Tom Bradby that they did not label the royal family racist.
During the interview Bradby said to Harry: “In the Oprah interview you accused members of your family of racism”, the Duke snapped back, saying “no I didn’t”, adding “the British press said that”. In a further snipe at his family, Harry denied he’d “describe that as essentially racist”, retorting: “I wouldn’t, not having lived within that family.”
Harry once again refused to name the royal individual concerned, saying: “The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different. But once it’s been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you, therefore, have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.”
Secret wedding claim
Another claim that sparked confusion from Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview was that they secretly tied the knot two days before their Windsor wedding in the garden of Kensington Palace in 2018.
Meghan told Oprah: “You know, three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that.” She added: “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.’ So, the vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the archbishop of Canterbury.”
However, in his book, Harry described the secret ceremony in the garden, saying the nuptials were “unofficial, non-binding, except in our souls”.
First meetings
In the Oprah interview, Harry and Meghan spoke about the first times Meghan met with Royal Family members including the now-King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales. Harry remarked: “You know, my father, my brother, Kate and . . . and all the rest of the family, they were, they were really welcoming.
“But it really changed after the Australia tour, after our South Pacific tour.” However, both Harry and Meghan have expanded on Meghan’s first meetings with William and Kate, which appear less than welcoming.
In the Netflix series, Meghan recalled an awkward first dinner and said: “When Will and Kate came over, and I met her for the first time, they came over for dinner, I remember I was in ripped jeans and I was barefoot. I was a hugger. I’ve always been a hugger, I didn’t realise that that is really jarring for a lot of Brits.
“I guess I started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside.” While in Spare, Harry explains there was a “discordant note” between Kate and Meghan.
He said: “The only possibly discordant note I could think of was the marked difference in how the two women dressed, which both of them seemed to notice. Meg: ripped jeans, barefoot. Kate: done up to the nines.”
Hospital snap
In the Oprah interview, the chat show host quizzed them on why they did not pose for pictures on leaving hospital after Archie was born. Oprah said: “OK, so it feels to me like things started to change when you and Harry decided that you were not going to take the picture that had been a part of the tradition for years and…” To which Meghan immediately replied: “We weren’t asked to take a picture.”
But in the Netflix series, she said: “There was already the pressure of the picture with Archie on the steps.” Instead, Meghan said she and the palace came up with an alternative plan and asked instead if she could give photographers more time at Windsor Castle to take pictures of her and the newborn. She added: “It was like, ‘Yes, yes, oh great, yes.’ At no point did someone go, ‘Absolutely not’.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
